English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

The second source that I found to offer a lot of information was:
http://humanresources.about.com/od/hristechnology/a/assess_needs.htm

Since I am the writer for my group's white paper, I need to be able to write a paper that is designed for our audience (an IT department) and focuses on the needs of our audience. So I decided to try and find out exactly what an IT department would look for in a web browser. This web-site article was written by the Vice President of Sales for BeneTrac (a company that focuses on employee benefits data management), and focuses on several key features to look at and questions to ask before committing a company to a particular technology. There is no particular set of needs that all IT departments have. Every company is different, uses the web for different things, and values different aspects in a web browser.

The main features to look at before committing:
-How flexible and scalable is the technology?
-Will the technology be able to grow and scale with the company?
-Will the technology work with existing systems?
-What level of training is involved and how much will it cost?
-Who will own the data?
-How much maintenance and upkeep will be involved?
-What security features are built in?
-Will employees be able to make real-time off-site changes?
-Will IT be able to decide who is allowed access and to what degree?
-Does the technology offer specific features that will save time?
-Does the technology offer a system of checks and balances?
-What level of customer service is provided?

As I begin to write our white paper, I have a feeling that I will be referencing this article often. If I can answer most or all of these questions for each browser, I will be able to give our audience exactly the information that they need to make their decision.