IT System Analysis and Design - Report Example

IT System Analysis & Design UltraCoat Inc. Type here Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Problem ment 3 The Company 4 System Development Life cycle 4 Risk Analysis 6 Project Scope Statement 7 Business Requirements 8 Project Management Technique 9 Quality Management 10 System Specifications 13 Layout and Design 14 References 15 Problem Statement Almost all modern offices of today has long switched from manual environment to automated Information Systems. The major reason behind the migration is consistency, timeliness, ease of use, data protection and security besides various other advantages. UltraCoat Inc. is a printing press operating in the whereabouts of Manhattan, New York. UltraCoat Inc. is a fast growing printing press, which is rapidly expanding due to the increase in the number of orders it gets from its regular customers as well as newly acquired customers. The company is also serving the printing needs of some big companies that form the major chunk of its customers. The core product of the company is the security seal printing that it does for various companies. Historically, the company was using manual system for maintaining all sorts of records, finances, and performing day-to-day operations. However, with the expansion of the company as well as prospective benefits, the company has realized the need of having an automated Information System that would function within the whole enterprise, maintaining records of the employees, customers, carry out financial reporting and all sorts of other support. The Information system software would consist of three basic modules: Human resource management Customer management Financial Modules The organization has decided to move towards the most basic form of the Information System to make the transition as swift and easy as possible. They want that the system installed in the organization is easy and consist of the most basic modules so that it is cost saving as well. The logic that comes to one’s mind is that ERP are very easily available and they just need to be deployed. However, the argument here is that they have too many functions that the business does not plan on using right now so the investment in the software would not be worthwile, moreover, the software available are generic whereas the company needs a customized software. Later on when they have fully evaluated the benefits of investing in an Information System, the do plan to keep on adding more improvements and updates as they come with time. The Company Coatings & Others Numerous U.V. Printing with Security Technology, UltraCoat Inc. was established in 1990, and it is now one of the leading Brand Protection Company catering to the needs of leading manufacturers of consumer products, institutions and organizations to safeguard their Brands against counterfeiting. The company has a wealth of information, know-ledge, wide experience, sound understanding and in depth know-how to offer from the widest choice of highly efficient and cost effective intelligent solutions for every product. The core service or product that the company provides is brand protection and safety solutions using various methodologies to protect brands and their products from piracy, counterfeiting, especially for products such as life-saving drugs, edible items, etc. System Development Life cycle The system development life cycle provides a structure that the designers and developers of the system can follow. The cycle involves a sequence of activities that build upon on the results and outcomes of the previous activity. We can divide the activities of the system development life cycle into four major phases: planning, analysis, design, and implementation. A number of models of SDLC exist; some of the most popular ones are: the waterfall model, spiral model, prototype, incremental, fountain model. Each of these models have certain advantages and disadvantages and it depends on the type of the project, its requirements and the development team (Kay, 2002). The model that would be used to develop the system is the Prototype Model. Although, the prototype model is used for the development of completely unique and untested applications, however, in this case it is relevant to use the prototype model because the system specifications are not very clear to the company. According to their requirements, they just need a software to automate their daily operations, take them to a paperless environment, and backup and secure their data. They need the software to be simple to use and should not have too many functions that make it complex. It should have only those functions that they would need. Hence, it seems appropriate to use the prototype model, as the development phases of the model seem to suit the development requirements for the project. There are two versions to the prototype model; version one model uses prototyping to find out the software requirements whereas version two uses the model for specifications. Steps of the SDLC Identification of basic requirements – in this phase the requirement gathering team would have one-to-one as well as telephonic meetings with the client to jot down the requirements of the client and their expectations from the software. The client would also provide any particular specification regarding the software and its hardware pre-requisites if they have any. Development of Initial Prototype – Based on the output from the earlier phase, the design team and the development team would develop an initial working prototype of the software. The prototype would have some basic working functionality of the software that the customer can use and provide feedback. Review – This is the feedback phase, and in this phase the customer provides a feedback of the initial prototype that was presented to him. Revision and enhancement of the prototype - This is an iterative process, the feedback is passed onto step two, i.e. the development phase and the prototype is improved and submitted for review again until the customer approves the prototype. The next version of the prototype contains more specifications from the requirements than the earlier version. This process is continued till the team reaches on the software that the client can approve of. Risk Analysis Description of Risk event Risk Level H / M / L Consequences Solutions Installation team members leave or become sick L Delay in installation Human resource availability Lack of alignment between Information systems and business processes H Loss of investment, time and other resources Business process re-engineering Detailed requirement specification System testing prior to system implementation In-depth upfront project planning Loss of control due to decentralization of decision making H No adequate control and severe complexity in problem solving Project management techniques Formulation of steering committee Project sponsor and senior management support Project Complexity and Mismanagement of Complex Projects M Delay in installation and may need re-installation also Ensure the active participation of service sponsors, steering committee, project in-charge, consultant etc Detailed requirement specification and implementation plan Internal audit’s involvement Technical solution has major flaws L Service detainment Consult technical personnel for the identification of the problem Lack of In- House Skills M Postponement of service and monitoring The close working relationship between the project team and consultants System failures H Service detainment Alteration of the system and other diagnosis Users’ Resistance M Installation becomes useless Proper communication throughout the execution of the project Change in management policies need to be adopted Managerial “People” skills and frequent communication with the system users Staff fail to use the new system effectively and efficiently H Delay in actual service Appropriate training of the staff and other personnel Attempting to build bridges to legacy applications L Delay in installation and may need re-installation also Change management policies need to be adopted Technology planning & integration (Project Risk Management, 2004). Project Scope Statement Project Name: ERP system for Ultra Coat Inc. Department: Human Resource, Customer Relations, Finance Date: 9/08/11 Project Justification: To automate the current manual systems for: HR, Customer Relations, Financial modules Scope Statement The project is to create an information system for the company that could automate the recording and generation of employee records and data and to serve as the customer management system to the extent that it would maintain all data of the customers and their billing and orders information while generating financial reports. Work Break Down Structure Sr.No. Responsibilities Designation of responsibilities 1. Proposed ERP solution Developing Project Charter Submitting Project Charter Obtaining approval of project charter from administration Team Leader 2. Getting the demos approved Designing and programming the HR system Programming for the Customer relations system and Financial Modules Programming and design team 3. Bug testing Deployment of the final system Testing and Maintenance Deployment and QA team Quality All licensed software used in development Testing and debugging at every phase of project development Continuous communication with customer to remain on same page Human Resources Team Leader, SAP experts or programmers, Designer, deployment and QA manager Communication Constant communication between programmers, designers and the team lead Weekly meeting between the team leader and the team Risk Backup maintenance at a separate site to ensure data protection Insurance of all equipment and their parts Maintain time cushion between all tasks to avoid delays Procurement *Quotations For Software and Final System *Purchase Order For Software License *Invoices from vendors (Turban et al., 2008) Business Requirements The Printing Press Ultra Coat Inc. specializes in security seal printing and brand protection as their core product while they also print brochures, banners, cards, packages, etc. The company has a small plant, which comprises of three machines. The machines are automatic and require few operators to install the papers, ink, etc. The warehouse for storing raw materials and finished goods is also nearby the manufacturing facility. The administration department is on the top of the plant. The three departments are not under central control as the records of orders completed, raw material remaining and required, etc. are kept manually on computers maintained by each of the departments. If admin or some other department requires data of another department, they pass it on using a USB, email, printouts, etc. The customer contacts and details are on a separate computer and there is no connection of that computer with the manufacturing department. If the client wants to tell their customer to know the details of the progress of their order or some issue, it would be difficult as there is no connection. The absence of a centralized information system hampers effective management of customer relations, human resources, as well as finances. Therefore, Ultra Coat Inc. needs a centralized working environment where the information of one department is updated timely without any hassle and is accessible by all the other departments if required. Initially, the client needs the information system to be deployed in phases. The first phase would only involve development and deployment of the information system for managing human resource and customer relations. A careful analysis of the business and its operations, as well as the business requirements gathered from the initial discussions with the client, we have found out the following requirements that the Printing Press needs to fulfill with the project: An information system that could automate the recording and generation of employee records and data A customer management system to the extent that it would maintain all data of the customers and their billing and orders information Generation of financial reports such as balance sheets, cash flow statements, etc. Project Management Technique The project management would be carried out on the guidelines provided by PMIBOK (Project Management Institute Body of Knowledge) according to which, each project is divided into five phases during its development: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Under this technique, each process or activity of the project would be classified as a part of the one of the five phases and handled accordingly. For example, after sales service activity comes under the closing activity (PMI, 2010). Initiation Phase – The initiation phase would involve activities such as analysis of business requirements and setting of objectives, financial analysis of costs/benefits, stakeholder analysis, Project charter including cost, tasks, deliverables, etc. Planning – the planning phase involves the development of the scope statement, risk planning, identifying deliverables and work breakdown structure, resource requirements, scheduling of cost and activities and several other activities. Execution – The execution phase involves the implementation of activities planned in the earlier phases. Monitoring and Controlling – This phase involves a monitor and control procedure of all the ongoing project activities, measurement of project variables (cost, time, scope), corrective actions. Closing – Finalization of all activities of the earlier phases. (PMI, 2010) Quality Management Delivering a quality product is a major objective that every team seeks trying to earn a positive reputation for themselves. In order to maintain the quality of the project throughout its development, we have divided the whole process of project development into five phases of project management: Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. Each of these phases would have separate quality management objective to ensure that the software quality is not compromised throughout project development. Initiation process phase Timely submission and approval of project requirements Planning process phase Project scope should be properly defined and clarified All activities in the project should be completed on time or before schedule The project should not exceed budget Project team selected should be professionals. Communications at all levels should be conducted to avoid delaying of important information Risk identified should be qualified and quantified Supplier quality management: to ensure quality, supplier quality certificates should be reviewed and verified Executing process phase Programming and designing team should be assigned responsibilities so that monitoring can be done easily and effectively Information flow should not be restrained at any level To make sure the software procured for development and design i.e. operating system, SQL server, visual studio.net 2010, Adobe Photoshop and their licenses are in correct order and free from computer related viruses Software should be acquired on time or before schedule Monitoring and controlling process phase Tests should be performed regularly to ensure smooth running of software The software program should be compared with environmental and organizational standards External audit team should be hired to review software regularly Change requests at any level should be considered Closing process phase Technicalities involved in the software should be well communicated to employees before handing over the software to them System Specifications The following are the hardware and software specification necessary for the development and deployment of the project. The project is an ERP software with limited modules of Customer Management, Financial Modules, and Human Resource Management. The software would automate the customer relations, financial, and HR function of the company. The company is a middle-sized firm catering to the printing and brand protection needs of their customers. There has been rapid expansion and the company needs automation to increase efficiency. They do not want to purchase the software as they are more complex and come with unnecessary modules. They do plan to move to full automation, but the company wants to play it safe. Therefore, the ERP they want would maintain a database of customers, their orders, records, Human resource information, payroll, bonuses, etc. and generate financial statement automatically. The interface would be clear cut and easy so that there is very little or no need of trainings. Following are the pre-requisites for deploying the ERP on the systems of the company, and they would also serve as the development platform. Hardware CPU - Intel Pentium IV or better HDD - 30 GB or more RAM - 256 MB is minimum but recommended is 512 MB NIC - Intel compatible Ethernet card or Wifi Software Requirements: Windows NT Server 4.0 Windows NT Server Pack 6.0 Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Microsoft Visual Studio .net 2010 Adobe Photoshop for the front end (Napier, 2011) Layout and Design Following is a snapshot of the basic layout of the software that we had in mind. The snapshot is showing only the customer relationship management part, however, the layout of financial modules, and HRM would also be similar. References Kay, Russell (2002). QuickStudy: System Development Life Cycle. Retrieved on August 9, 2011 from Napier, Andrew (2011). Minimum System Requirements To Successfully Install SAP ERP. Retrieved on August 9, 2011 from PMI (2010). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Retrieved on August 21, 2011 from p.27-35. Project Risk Management, PMBOK, (2004). Retrieved on August 22, 2011 from Turban et al. (2008). Information Technology for Management, Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy. Massachusetts: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Read More