Project Management for Multimedia Website and Commercial Video Resources - Assignment Example

Project Title: Project Analysis Report Project Working Title: Project Management for Multimedia Website and Commercial Video Resources Student Name: Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name Date Prepared: (17, January, 2015) Table of Contents Project Purpose 3 Business Problem 3 Project Business Objectives 3 Preliminary Project Description 5 E-business or e-commerce 6 Enterprise information systems 7 Security issues 8 Disaster recovery plan outline 9 Transformation through web-based technology 10 Proposed website design with analysis 12 References 13 Appendix 1: Web Design document produced in pet shop website Iteration Assignments 14 Project Purpose Explain the business reason(s) for doing this project. Business Problem This organization would like to promote their services and exciting products including such as 4 paws range such as day spa, day care, nutritional advice and general information on all dog and services within local area. The company will therefore offer play structures for the dogs, as well as bathing facilities, etc. as major products by the company. Moreover, the company will not provides only grooming, foods and cloths, but also eye wears for dogs which cares about the dog’s comfort. The one Line Pitch for company is therefore: “Pet's Favorite, Because We Care Your Pets” The company wants to inform customers that it is the best place for all pet supply needs and it is only stock the highest quality products plus we offer a 100% Satisfaction Money Back Guarantee on all products. Project Business Objectives The online pet shop company’s objectives for the initial three years of business encompass: The establishment of an upscale, unique, innovative setting that will distinguish the company from other pet shops; the creation of a background that will link individuals with different pet services. Keys to Success- The setting up of a matchless, innovative, fashionable atmosphere that will separate the firm from other domestic establishments and future online pet shops; the creation of Web as a social hub for day spa, day care, nutritional advice; and the establishment of an opportunity that is user friendly in the execution of duties Mission- As the fame of the Internet grows exponentially, affordability and proximity of resources of the online medium is significant. The website for pet shop provides both non pt and pet lovers with the capacity to connect with each other, regardless of where they are, purposely to advertise and ensure continuation of good services of dog. Risks-The risks the company is likely to undergo encompass: If there will be a market for the services rendered by company in local area; if there will be an exponential growth among parties keen on having their pets grooms, taken care off, or the business can be a fad; and if the customers will be ready to efficiently for the services offered by the company. The main objectives for pet shop are therefore: To initiate a business with sales surpassing the dollar amount of 25,000 each month With that achieved, the business aims to reach a breakeven in the year after that, by surpassing that line in the third year With that established, the mission of the company is to become the leaders in the canine care market through maintaining a comforting environment for the pets. The company will strive to achieve the confidence of the upscale community with care for the animals in fitting manners. The market share which the company aims for will be tightly controlled where it will slowly increase the revenue generated to achieve further expansion in its operations. The business plan for Pets Inc. is therefore generated in a conservative manner where the financing is being done through the operational revenue. Core Business Activity Impacted Core Business Activity Impact on Core Business Activity Tooth brushing, Nail Trimming, Hand Brushing and Loose Hair Removal Increase revenue day spa, Increase sales day care Increase sales nutritional advice Increase confidence Preliminary Project Description System and data integration are considered as very critical undertaking for the successful operations of the Pet shop website. This consideration goes beyond the processes of development and involves putting in place the necessary staff to ensure that this objective is achieved. This is likely to involve additional cost apart from the immediate development costs and is a necessary consideration by the management during strategic planning. After the analysis phase of the project that will include the development of a prototype to elicit the first round of user requirements further iterations will be conducted each of which requires client approval and feedback. The final iteration will also be combined with a partially working back-end database system to test the integration aspects of the Pet shop website. The website should be able to provide high-level interactivity that is typical of any e-commerce website. This requires integration processes not visible to the client. Such processes like authentication, authorization, secure electronic transfer are hidden from the user. In fact the user only drags pet services and products to the cart and thereafter, he or she is billed when they submit his or her credit card details, and the transaction is finalized. However, what goes into such a simple process from the user’s point of view involves the integration of a number of systems that exchange and authenticate the data in the background. These systems will be set to eliminate any fraudulent activities and ensure corporate and client data accuracy and security. Enabling an e-commerce website requires a number of considerations. It is necessary to have an implementation that would provide value for money while maintaining the corporate and client data and information intact. Deployment approach evaluation to this implementation was carried out focusing on approaches like cloud computing as one suitable options. It was necessary to keep the client and corporate data secure and centrally managed. A database management system was considered viable for the Pet shop website to handle all back-end processing activities. A well designed front end website with a simple and user friendly design would provide an adequate link point for the user to the system. The interface was designed considering the current human computer interface principles. The website itself is developed using W3C guidelines to ensure seamless integration with other systems. The system would allow a user to register and submit his or her details. These details will be stored in the company’s database for any eventual transacting or querying by the same client. E-business or e-commerce Web-based marketing has a huge potential to help business growth in Pet shop and stem competition through online transactions. Currently, Pet shop has undertaken a deliberate effort to embrace information technology in its business operations. Consequently, e-business and e-commerce have been explored as avenues of spurring business growth in Pet shop. Although a common mistake has been the use of e-commerce and e-business interchangeably, they are different business strategies. The difference arises from how information technology is used in the business. According to Keeney (1999, p. 538) in e-commerce, “information and technology is applied in business-to-business (B2B) and in business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.” However, information technology is used in business development in e-business. It consists of any transactions carried out by businesses over a computer-mediated network. According to Salnoske (1997), the adoption of e-commerce in a business depends on the perceived potential of the strategy to add on the value of business and awareness of its potential benefits by the stakeholders. E-commerce involves online buying and selling of goods and services. It includes any type of activity where the trading parties intermingle by electronic means instead of physical means. E-commerce is generally related with online business, or conducting any business concerning the change of property rights through a computer-mediated network. Keeney, (1999) argues that the main advantages of the uptake of e-commerce by a business include; improved business effectiveness, improved public relationships, ability to be more competitive, better computerization of practices and improved business revenue. The key disadvantages probable in the uptake of the e-commerce by Pet shop include; expensive to install the technology, lack of skills on the e-commerce, change management, financial planning, and matters related to back end systems. As an e-commerce implementation, the Pet shop website must subscribe to several requirements typical of an e-commerce platform. Critical to this is the data and information security and integrity. Implementing Pet shop as an e-commerce platform will ensure profitability. However, a primary requirement for the successful implementation of an e-commerce application requires careful planning, especially for data and information security. Full fledged e-commerce applications deal in sensitive data such as client credit card details that must be securely transmitted and stored eliminating the occurrence of theft or fraud. Summarily e-commerce is the latest trend suitable for companies considering using the Internet and other supporting technologies to promote their business and gain competitive advantage. Pet shop’s implementation of an e-commerce application in the form of a website will ensure increased sales, efficiency in order processing, and competitive advantage. It therefore is a viable option and well suited for a company like Pet shop. Enterprise information systems Growth, increased interconnectivity and increasing critical role played by information, has been a source of both reward and challenge. Challenge in the manner to handle so much data, but reward in the sense that much of information can be shared much quickly in real time and to multiple users at the same time. Because of the increasing amount of information going through any given system at any given time, the experts in information and data handling have toyed with a great number of solutions. One such solution which has gained a wide acceptance across the globe is the issues of enterprise resource planning applied as Enterprise resource information system (Yusuf, Gunasekaran, & Abthorpe, 2004). The concept takes into account all computer and IT applications that are deemed to provide efficient solutions at a wider organizational level. It implies the ability to offer high quality services, in large volumes to support the daily activities of large organizations it offers platform that allows an organization assemble and facilitate efficient performance of her business needs and responsibilities. The aim is to offer a central unit for processing and sharing of information that relieves organizations of the burden to juggle large amounts of information in disjointed and segmented manner. Enterprise information system has created a standard structure for data handling and storage that allows companies to access use, store and later retrieve without delay, any relevant data as the case may be. The major components of an EIS include a data centre where all data is stored and it runs on an enterprise software platform. Many a times, the system has applications that allow organizations to communicate broadly. For the case of pet shop, this system would ensure tracking of all order, reduce nay overhead costs, improve efficiency, and puts her at an equal pedestal with her competitors. Security issues The problem of security to information to organizations is double prong. The first challenge is that of ensuring safety of the physical asset from physical damage or losses. This is an area organizations must offer an absolute care in design and locking of the information so that the access to such places is guaranteed only to people who have authorization (Yusuf, Gunasekaran, & Abthorpe, 2004). The second and most critical challenge to information security involves safeguarding of data and customer information. Any organization contemplating the use of enterprise resource planning should better be prepared to go ahead and ensure security and safety of this system before they invest the money in it. In fact, the security of the system must be factored in from initiation of the project. It is important to note that security of information begins from accuracy, precision, and integrity of the data. Then, once the hardware is safeguarded, the first line of defense is the implementation of a firewall is the next step in ensuring data security. The connection between the web servers and the database should ensure strict encrypted language so that this information cannot be interpreted by unintended users. The web servers must be devoid of data, only WebPages that cannot give any hint about the data concerned. All information relating to customer orders, products, and services must be placed behind the fire wall. Access to the database must be an exclusive rights affair to only an authorized administrator. Each administrator should have a password that should be changed as regularly and should be used purely for transactions with no authority to alter any database content from the servers. The implementation of this system at pet shop may be a challenge at first as employees learn to adapt it. Successful implementation ensures pet shop of efficiency, through learner operations. Disaster recovery plan outline This disaster recovery plan provides pet shop with a step wise approach to the recovery of normal operations following disruptions in the network systems. The objective of this plan is to reduce the negative consequences of any disruptions on the operations of the company. This plan identifies areas of major concern in the network systems in pet shop and places priority on the time of recovery required in the event of any disaster. The procedure needed to offset the recovery process is delineated alongside the steps to initiate the reconfiguration and restarting of the systems after disruption. The key steps in the event of a disaster include the following: Conducting an impact assessment to help to determine and lay priorities for the recovery of critical network components that may have been disrupted. Identification of preventive measures to ensure a stop in the spread of the negative impacts to unaffected components of the network systems. Implementation of recovery strategies should be done to ensure a quick recovery of the normal system operations. This should be done with reference to disaster recovery guidelines. Additionally, access to backup data should be possible within the shortest time to enable quick restoration of the normal operations of the network systems (Hewinson, 2005). Pet shop should maintain backups on daily, weekly, and monthly basis that should be stored in a fireproof place away from the site. The availability of these backups determines the speed at which the recovery process is conducted. The ethics of handling customer data are important where customer data should be held confidentially and in the event of a breach following a disruption in the network, entities covered by the breach Act must provide the affected customers with a notification (Harney, 2004). The use of redundant hardware is essential for providing recovery measures following network system disruptions. Transformation through web-based technology Business renovation initiatives are necessary for a business to move from its ordinary level of business to a higher operational level that is more profitable and has suitable operating environment such as less pressure from competition, competitive pressures, expanded market, improved customer satisfaction, and reduced delivery time among others. According to Prem and Mathew (2012), business revolution involves a leadership initiative aimed toward business revitalization, comprising a variety of competitive plans affecting the main essentials of a business, thus ensuing in a competitive advantage for the business. On the other hand, Vigil (2006) argues that business renovation is a major managerial plan that tries to harmonize the operational and technical plans of a business with its strategy and vision. Web-based technologies have the potential to make the aforementioned benefits a reality in pet shop. For example, introduction of superior information technology in computerizing the pet shop business practices offers a great possibility of changing the business to give it a sustained competitive advantage. Web-based technologies have the capacity to transform the business approach and methods aimed at not only improving the competiveness of pet shop, but also to enhancing process-based transformation, and the role of information technology and e-commerce in their company. Further, Web-based applications could help in expanding the market of the pet shop because the web is visited by millions of online customers each day. The pet shop could also benefit from payment made by other companies that wish to post advertisements on its website. The introduction of web-based technologies in all the operations of an organization results in improved productivity. For example if pet shop incorporated the web into every corner of the firm– products, marketing, and practices, the company could save millions through interactive web sessions that allow customers to find answers to technical questions via its website. Prices and product range could also be posted on the web. Customers could be encouraged to open their accounts and transactions can be simplified to cut on calling costs among others. Proposed website design with analysis It is expected that the Pet shop website development process will be implemented iteratively using prototyping as the main development approach for the website. In this case an initial model of the website will be developed by the designers during the first month of the project and this model or prototype will be presented to user representatives within the developer’s laboratory for testing and approval. At this milestone the user is required to try carefully and note down any more requirements that were missed out in this initial model that must be added to the subsequent model. This prototype will be evolutionary and three iterations will be carried out each of which will elicit user requirements previously overlooked. The final iteration will give rise to the website that will be adopted by the company. The prototypes (models) from each of the iterations are important milestones for this project. As such after one and a half months into the project, a prototype will be ready marking one of the milestones. This will undergo a test with the user’s representative, and the user will be expected to fill a test approval form to capture the user feedback (Castro, 2004). Generally the proposed website will have a simple and usable layout. The general layout preferred is the left and bottom navigation structure as indicated in the layout shown below. According to this layout, the main content section of the page layout will receive attention immediately after the logo section because this content contains the most important content on the page (see figure1in appendix 1). The general website structure is illustrated in the site map (see figure 2 in appendix 1). Home page: This will be landing page of the website, and it is where the summary of what the company does is put. Links to other important pages such as about us or contact us pages will be found on the home page. A typical name for this page will be Home_Page.html. Products: This page consists of various other sub-pages each of which has important information about the products offered by the company. These sub pages will also include graphics of the products and links back to the main page. A typical name for this page will be Products and services.html Under the products page are other links to particular products such as Ear Cleaning, Nail Trimming, Tooth brushing, Shampoo and Blow Dry and nutrition advice, and day spa, day care. Images and embedded links related to layer depth feature of HCI design can be appropriately used, especially on the products page to enhance interactivity Staff: this page contains the organization structure and information about the employees of HHI. Contacts: This page contains the company’s contact information including the location address, fax, and phone numbers and postal address. Also contained on this page is the website address. References Castro, E., 2004. Creating a web page with HTML: Visual quick project guide. Berkeley: Peachpit Press. Chase, P.R., 2009. The Seven Hidden Challenges of Application Integration. New York: Scribe Software Corporation. Gable, J., 2002. Enterprise Application Integration. Information Management Journal, 3-12. Harney, J., 2004. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery: Backup or Shut Down. AIIM Resource Center Hewinson, H, 2005. Disaster planning and recovery- The Caribbean experience. Legal Information Management, 5 (3), 185-188. Keeney, L., 1999. The value of Internet commerce to the customer. Management Science, 45 (4), 533-542. Prem, H., & Mathew, G.E., 2012. Defining business transformation. Retrieved on 18th January, 2015 from Roth, B., 1998. An Introduction to Enterprise JavaBeans Technology. 1998 Oracle corporation, 1-8. Salnoske, K., 1997. Building trust in electronic commerce. Credit World, 85(6), 9-11. Vigil, M., 2006. ASIL BTM Methodology. Retrieved on 18th January, 2015 from Yusuf, Y., Gunasekaran, A., & Abthorpe, M., 2004. Enterprise information systems project implementation: A case study of ERP in Rolls-Royce. International Journal of Production Economics, 87(3), 251–266. Appendix 1: Web Design document produced in pet shop website Iteration Assignments Figure 1: Pet shop website page layout Figure 2: Pet shop website site map Read More