大作业

MILESTONE 1 – PRELIMINARYINVESTIGATION

 

: Synopsis

The purpose ofthe preliminary investigation phase is threefold. First, it answers thequestion, “Is this project worth looking at?” To answer this question, thisphase must define the scope of the project and the perceived problems,opportunities, and directives that triggered the project.

 

In this milestone you will prepare a Request for System Services, which isthe trigger for the Preliminary Investigation Phase. Also, you will usefact-finding techniques to extract and analyze information from an interview todetermine project scope, level of management commitment, and projectfeasibility for the IT Tracker System. With these facts and facts obtained from the Case Background, you willhave the necessary information to complete theProblem Statement Matrix and construct theProject Feasibility Assessment Report.

: Objectives

After completing this milestone, you should be able to:

 

Þ  Complete a Request for System Services form, which triggers the preliminary investigationphase.

Þ  Analyze a user interview and extractpertinent facts that can be used to assess project feasibility.

Þ  Complete a Problem Statement Matrix documenting the problems, opportunities,or directives of the project.

Þ  Prepare and understand the structureand content of theProject FeasibilityAssessment Report.

: Prerequisites

Beforestarting this milestone the following topics should be covered:

1.   The preliminary investigation phase –Chapters 3 and 5

2.   Optional – project management –Chapter 4

: Assignment

FrankBaravelli is a recent graduate of Huxley College who has just been hired ontothe system development team of Huxley’s Information Technology Department. Hehas been given the assignment of investigating and, if the project is approved,designing the IT Tracker system subject to the oversight of a steeringcommittee. Frank’s first task will be to prepare aRequest for Systems Services. To obtain information for that, hehas arranged an interview with Mr. Julius Marx, IT Director for Huxley. Secondly,by analyzing the interview transcript and by using fact-finding techniques, oneshould be able to determine the feasibility of the project, level of managementcommitment and project scope to compose theProblemStatement Matrix and aProjectFeasibility Assessment Report.

Refer to the Case Background found in the Introductionand the interview transcript in Exhibit 1.1 for the information necessary tocomplete the following activities.

: Activities

1.    Tocomplete the Request for System Servicesform, use information from the case background. Make assumptions wherenecessary.

2.    Tocomplete the Problem Statement Matrix,use the interview with Julius Marx and the case background for the basis ofyour information. Make assumptions where necessary. Place yourself in the shoesof Julius Marx. Which problems do you believe have the highest visibility, andhow should they be ranked? Try to determine the annual benefits. Stateassumptions and be prepared to justify your answers! Finally, what would beyour proposed solution based on the facts you know now?

Deliverable formatand software to be used are according to your instructor’s specifications.Deliverables should be neatly packaged in a binder, separated with a tabdivider labeled “Milestone 1” and accompanied with a Milestone EvaluationSheet.

References and Templates:

Case Background

           WorkbookIntroduction

Transcripts ofInterview with Julius Marx

           Exhibit1.1

 

      Templates

           Seeonline learning center web site for the textbook.

Deliverables:

Request for SystemServices:                 Due:  __/__/__
                                         Time:_______

Problem StatementMatrix:                    Due:  __/__/__
                                         Time:_______

ADVANCED OPTION

For the advanced option, prepare a ProjectFeasibility Assessment Report. Use the information provided by the casebackground, the user interview, and the completed problem statement matrix. Besure to include a Statement of Work and Gantt charts for the project schedules.Information on the Statement of Work and Gantt charts can be found in Chapter 4of the SADM 5th ed. textbook.

Project Feasibility Assessment Report:         Due:  __/__/__
                                                  Time:_______

 

Milestone’s Point Value:                               _______

 

The following is a copy of the transcript of aninterview between Mr. Julius Marx, IT Director, and Frank Baravelli, a newsystem development employee. This was the initial interview concerning theproposed IT Tracker system. Its goal was to obtain facts about the problems andopportunities that triggered the project request, plus other generalinformation needed to prepare theProblemStatement Matrix.

 

Exhibit 1.1

Frank:  Goodmorning, Mr. Marx. Are you ready for our interview?

Julius:  I sure am,Frank. Let’s see if we can get this system on the road.

Frank:  I’m excited about it myself – but a little apprehensive.

Julius:  Well,we’ll take it one step at a time. I’m sure you’ll do fine. You come highly recommended. The first step is to prepare a formal Request for System Services.That is a document used by anyone in the organization to request the investigation of a system development project.

Frank:  Do we have to do that even when we are requesting our own services? I mean, this system is for our own use.

Julius:  Yes, we do. We have to justify our allocation of human resources to this project. By doing this project we have to put off another project requested by someone else.

Frank:  Is there that much demand for system development?

Julius:  Why do you think you were hired?

Frank:  Good point.Well, then I better ask you a few questions. First, of all what do you want this proposed system to do?

Julius:  We want itto keep track of each piece of equipment (computers, printers, scanners, etc.)that we have in service throughout the college. We need to know how each computer is configured in terms of RAM, hard drive, video card, etc. And weneed each component tied back to the PO that purchased it so we can check warranty times.

Frank:  PO?

Julius:  A Purchase Order. It is an accounting document used to specify a purchase.

Frank:  Sorry. I know we covered that in accounting. Go on.

Julius:  Well,that’s one thing – knowing what is installed and when each component was purchased. But, of course, we do maintenance on the equipment, too.

Frank:  What should the maintenance part of the system look like?

Julius:  For onething, I’d like to know what components were previously installed on each machine. That way I can determine maintenance problems. Beyond that we need asystem that allows users to easily submit a service request, allows me toassign those service requests to techs, allows techs to quickly see a machine’s service history, and allows me to look at statistics and trends.

Frank:  I take it the present system doesn’t do that?

Julius:  The present system is a mess.

Frank:  How does it work?

Julius:  Well, on the equipment tracking side of the equation, we simply keep a spreadsheet witha row for each PC. It lists the current CPU, hard drive, RAM, etc.

Frank:  What’s theproblem?

Julius:  Theproblem is it is never up-to-date. Techs have to remember to update it afterthey come if from a service call. That rarely happens. Even when the list isup-to-date, it doesn’t show when each component was purchased.

Frank:  You need that for the warranty?

Julius:  Right. Currently, we have to get the serial number off the part that was removed and then manually scan through all the oldpurchase orders to find a match. This office probably spends $2000 per year inwork just doing that.

Frank:  How does the service request part of the current system work?

Julius:  Right now users call or e-mail in their requests. Whoever is here takes the information and records it on a servicere quest form. I get those forms and assign one tech or another depending on thenature of the problem. The tech goes out. It may take multiple trips. It mayrequire ordering a part and then going back. We may have to send a second person. When you change persons or just have the passing of time, information gets forgotten and lost. That whole process should be done electronically fromthe user’s request to recording each tech’s work.

Frank:  What would that look like? What are ouroptions for setting it up?

Julius:  We could put it all on an intranet. Or we could build a client-server app that was placed on each PC.

Frank:  Which way do you prefer?

Julius:  We don’t know enough at this stage to prefer anything. Don’t jump to implementation. However we do it, I want each user to be on the system and each tech to be able to get on the system from any PC oncampus. Plus I could use that information for better managing the departmentand the equipment.

Frank:  How so?

Julius:  I could track average number of days from request to resolution and track that for continuous improvement. I could track number of repeat trips for each tech. I could track maintenance history for each PC and calculate total cost of ownership.

Frank:  That would be great to have all that information.

Julius:  Yes, it would be great. But it isn’t going to happen unless we get a new system running.

Frank:  Are there any time tables I should be aware of?

Julius:  I would like to get the system analysis anddesign wrapped up this semester. Then we can get it programmed next semester.It might be somebody’s senior project. By the end of next semester, I want it operational.

Frank:  Do youthink we’ll need any additional hardware or software to drive the system?

Julius:  I doubt it. We have a good client-server back-end database. We have networkingthroughout campus. If we use a web front-end then every PC on campus is already powerful enough. By the way, that has to be a system requirement. I want this system to reduce our workload, not increase it by requiring updates.

Frank:  If every user can get on and techs can get onfrom every workstation, what about security?

Julius:  Good question. The system will have to have security to make sure that only the appropriate people can do various tasks.Some students would love to enter bogus computers and bogus problems. We also need to keep everyone but me out of the management reports. I don’t want all users requesting the specific tech with the best response time.

Frank:  OK. I’ll review this information. I’ll put together the Request for System Services and do some initial problem analysis.I should have all that done in a few days.

Julius:  Glad to hear it. Give me a call if you have any questions.

Frank:  I will. Goodbye, Mr. Marx.