Stakeholder Analysis
This section will focus on identifying the key stakeholders of our proposal, recognizing their interests, and discovering the ways that those interests affect the Colorado Department of Revenue’s project viability. By creating a logical framework, this stakeholder analysis can contribute to the projects design. The goal of this analysis is to provide cooperation between the project team and the stakeholders identified below.
Stakeholders:
§ Colorado Department of Revenue
§ Super User Team
§ Auditors
§ Businesses
§ Colorado Residents
Nature and Timing of Impact:
The Colorado Department of Revenue, as a single entity, has the greatest stake in the outcome of this project. Their tax division brings significant revenue into the state of Colorado, and this project directly affects the efficiency of how they perform their audit process. As a result, management will be challenged to restructure their policies throughout their tax division.
The Super User team that the CDoR must develop is critical to the success of the project. They will have the responsibility to specialize in the new IT system and will constantly be called upon to help facilitate the new system on a firm-wide basis. The key to the success of this project is for the Super Users to help market and train end users, while the developers tell the Super Users what GenTax can actually do.
Similarly, the auditors themselves will have a significant stake in this process. Many of them will be challenged by the reorganization of their department, as well as having to adapt into a restructured workflow. Overcoming the auditors’ initial resistance to using an unfamiliar software system is crucial to the success of the project. Gaining remote access to Gentax will facilitate greater communication between members of the Super User team and auditors who have IT questions in the field.
Businesses, both inside and outside of Colorado, are also being considered as stakeholders. Upon the successful implementation of this project, businesses will need to hold themselves more accountable for paying their taxes, as the department of revenue’s increased efficiency will better identify those who have short-paid taxes. Some businesses will be affected more than others and their compliance with the auditor’s requests will dictate the success of the audit.
Residents of Colorado are considered stakeholders because of the amount of money flowing into the state through business taxation. The amount of revenue that the Department brings in directly affects their budget, which can influence Colorado legislation and citizens in various income tax brackets. Although they are considered stakeholders, the citizens of Colorado have a low impact on the overall success of the project.
Stakeholder AnalysisStakeholder Group / Description / Nature and Timing of Impact / Impact Assessment / Criticality to Project Success / Anticipated Concerns
{Stakeholder being analyzed} / {Description of Stakeholder} / {Description of the anticipated impact} / {Level of impact expected} / {Degree to which group will affect success} / {Key concerns of the group}
Colorado Department of Revenue / The organization as a whole / The CDoR will be challenged by new change management strategies and must grant remote access to their employees in order to fully utilize the GenTax software’s capabilities. / High / The CDoR has already purchased the software and must now focus on increasing the return on their investment by extending network access to client sites / Gaining remote access to the GenTax software at client sites will create more access controls by reducing workpapers. A VPN client is a cost efficient solution to increase security
Super User
Team / CDoR employees who are specially trained in the GenTax software / The team of Super Users will have the dual responsibility to both promote the new software and to provide support to other employees throughout the CDoR / High / Through remote access, auditors on clients sites will be able to communicate with members of the Super User team / The Super Users' must become experts in the software's capabilities, in order for the CDoR to successfully manage the changes brought about by their new IT infrastructure on a firm-wide level
Auditors / Those who travel to client sites in order to perform the audits / The auditors will face the challenge of adapting into new IT processes, which will affect their everyday workflow / High / The auditors must feel that the new way of processing the audits is more efficient than before, thus being worth their time and effort / Enhanced communication, through remote access to GenTax, will help the auditors to over come their initial resistance to using an unfamiliar software system
Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder Group / Description / Nature and Timing of Impact / Impact Assessment / Criticality to Project Success / Anticipated Concerns
{Stakeholder being analyzed} / {Description of Stakeholder} / {Description of the anticipated impact} / {Level of impact expected} / {Degree to which group will affect success} / {Key concerns of the group}
Businesses / The organizations that are being audited / Businesses, both inside and outside of Colorado will have a greater chance of being audited by a more efficient system / Low / Their compliance with the auditors will determine the extent to which the audit was done efficiently. The more information available to the auditors at the client site, the more efficient the audit / The audits that occur at client sites that do not provide internet access will be less efficient and will require more effort by both parties if the CDoR does not provide remote access to their auditors
Colorado Residents / Those who are affected by the amount of revenue flowing into Colorado / Residents of Colorado are affected by the amount of revenue generated by these audits / Low / Colorado’s residents have a low impact on the overall success of this project / If the CDoR does not fully utilize their investment in GenTax, then their system could fail and citizens of Colorado could be held accountable through higher taxes