Service Request SR-rm-022, Part 3
BSA/375

Service Request SR-rm-022, Part 3 Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastic manufacturer located in Albany, Georgia. Founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor of chemistry, he wanted to use existing patents to create a better plastic. He later bought a fan manufacturing company and became Riordan Manufacturing. Today Riordan Manufacturing is projected to earn $46 million annually and employs over 550 employees. With Riordan Manufacturing expanding the company needs to expand their Human Resources program to better the effectiveness of work within the department.
Interested Stockholders The CEO and President Michael Riordan is the main stockholder because he is who signs everyone’s checks. The Director of Human Resources would be beneficial to gather information from because he/she is the one running the department and knows the applications they are using now. Chief Operating Officer, Executive Assistant, and the Senior Vice President are stockholders we should gather information from as well. The Chief Operating Officer knows what every department is using to accomplish their work and can give feedback on certain applications being used. The Executive Assistant is good to gather information from as well because they know more than others about what is happening around the manufacturing plant. A couple floor employees working in the Human Resources Department would be useful as well because they use the programs on a daily basis and could have feedback on the applications they currently use and what is being requested for the new application.
Key Factors The key factors needed to consider when gathering the information are: purpose, length, weaknesses, strengths, risks, cost, and economic value. For any project there needs to be a purpose for starting a project. The purpose needs to be precise and feasible. If the project is not able to be done and within the budget given the stockholders will not approve the project. The project needs a time frame on how long the team has to get the project launched. As stated in the request they want it done by six months. When gathering information you need to know the weaknesses and strengths the existing process of the applications are so the new one can overcome the weakness and build on the strengths. The company must also think of any risks that may come up while working on the request. Not every project will run smooth and not have bumps in the road. Every project has a budget and the system will need to take the budget as is. The HR department may want the best of everything but the best cost a lot of money and if the budget does not allow it there needs to compromise and agreement on what exactly is important and what can do without. Before any stockholder will agree on setting a budget for the project they need to know how it is going to be beneficial to the company in the long run.
Scope
The scope of this request is to provide a new application for the Human Resources department to allow the workers to only use one application to complete their assignments. The new application will be up and running with bugs fixed before six months. The new application will have very minimal interference with the workers job functions.
Application Architecture Application architecture and the architecture design of the new system is a project within the SDLC. The application architecture is the organization of the software within the system. It shows the flow of how the databases re communicating with each other and where the information is going. The architecture design process is the road map of the organization.
The architecture design determines where the information will be transferred to in the hardware devises. The two major components of the architecture is the software and hardware. The software systems can be divided into four basic functions: data storage, data access logic, application logic, and presentation logic. The data storage is where the organizations, clients, and employees information is stored. The data access logic is how the system communicates with each database to make the information flow and be easily found. Application logic is the software finding the information or searching the information, the process the application takes to retrieve or store information. Presentation logic is the way the information is displayed, user interface. “These four basic functions are the building blocks of any information system” (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2015, Chapter 7).
The client-server architecture is the most versatile. The client-server allows the software components to be changed or removed if needed because of the way it is set up. The client-server is basically the client searching for information or inputting information and the server searches for it within the systems or distributes the information to specific areas of the databases.
The design for the system will need to meet some requirements to be successful. The operational requirements depends on what the organization want their system to do. The organization needs to figure out what type of hardware and software they will be using to function the new system but also to allow other systems to integrate with one another. Riordan Manufacturing will use Windows 8 has there operating system. They chose Windows 8 because Microsoft has many companies who utilize for a small fee or has a software for free. Most computers are already equipped with Microsoft software so the configurations setting will need to be changed minimally. Every location will have the new information system, so there will not be any need to have the application portable to a cell phone or tablet. The system will need to be able to import or export spreadsheets or reports if needed.
The new information system will need to be maintained and updated frequently by specific IT or managerial employees. The system will need to be able to adapt to changes and/or able to add more databases when needed. The system will need to be able to operate with mass amount of information so there need to be enough servers to accommodate the request. With that the system will also need an operating system and network fast enough to gather information quickly and accurately. The operating system need to be quick enough to get the request and the network need to be fast enough to get the information from the servers in adequate time. The system must also accommodate multiple users at any given time. There will be multiply users utilizing the application at different locations and will need to be able to access the information the complete there work.
The organization’s new application will have valuable information and confidential information about the employees there need to be a high security software to protect the system. The security system will need to prevent viruses, hackers, and attacks. Firewalls, routine backups and recoveries, will help with the security, but that is not all that needs to be done. There needs to have encryptions and passwords set up on information that is not needed for everyone to see. Limit the access to certain information so the information is not stolen internally. Access to any information needs to have an access code and the code needs to be identifiable to the person, so if needed the can identify who was accessing the information. There also needs to be regulations on documents downloaded to the system from the unknown and individuals. The files need to be scanned before opening and save to the system to prevent spam or viruses into the system. The security is also important because if the system goes down the organization could lose money for every hour it is down.
The system could also have cultural requirements but because the system will be used in the United States and only by Riordan Manufacturing there is no need for those requirements at this time.
With the design thoroughly laid out, the system can be modified or changed if need throughout the process. With the four basic software functions and the requirements being carefully looked at and agreed upon there should not be any complications when the system is completed. The Human Resource team will be able to use one application to utilize all there tools and complete their work without having to use several applications.
Implementation Stage The implementation stage consists of coding, testing, installing, documenting, training, and supporting the new system. The programming of the system, or coding, is the most time consuming and costly of the project. The programmers will program the system by coding it correctly. The analysts will create tasks in small portions to specific programmers based on their expertise. This process is scheduled and must be completed within the scheduled time. The cost is based on the amount of time each programmer spends on the tasks. The more experienced programmers will cost more than the less experienced so the tasks must be assigned to the correct programmer. The testing of the system will be done in small portions as well. As each task is completed that portion will be tested. After each test there will be documentation done on what the tester did and what the program did during the test. The testing portion of the implementation can be costly when the program is not tested throughout the project. If no testing is done until the end, the programmers will have to go over the entire coding to find where the bugs are. When testing is done as the project progresses the programmers can fix bugs as they encounter them. Once the coding and testing is completed documentation will need to be done. There are several documents needed for the new program. The users of the program will need a manual to learn the specifications of the new system. The user manual will show the users how to complete certain task within the program. There will also be an online help tool set up so if the user is stuck during a task then can click the help tool to ask a question. If they cannot find the answer then they can find it in the user manual or training guide. Accessing these resources need to be simple and fast, so the users are not spending their time researching or using trial and error. Training on the program will consist of a two day interaction either in conference or can be seen online at any computer with internet access. The benefits of attending the training in conference is the users are able to ask questions as the training is in progress. Online training the users may ask questions through email and will get a response as quickly as possible but may take a day or two for a response. All users will receive a training manual on the basic of the program. Managers will have the program user manual with all the specifications of the program. Once the program has been installed and training has taken place the program will need support from IT and knowledgeable system users. IT will help the system stay updated to allow the program run properly by itself and with other programs. If there are any problems that may arise with the coding of the program the IT department will assists in fixing the bugs. Not all problems will be coding problems, some problems may be user errors within the program. When this occurs knowledgeable program users will assist in overcoming the errors. Certain procedures will be placed to inform the users on whom they may contact for the errors that may arise. The benefits of using defined and repeatable processes for accomplishing the activities is to be able to see the entire process in the future or for other projects. The documentation done during the repeatable process allows the next programmer or manager create the program exactly as it was programmed to do. The documentation done allow the programmers to see where changes can be made if needed and know where opportunities are within this process. The repeatable process is a road map of how the program came together and for what reasons they took one direction instead of another. The benefits of the repeatable process is beneficial for the next person having to deal with the program. The new program allows the Human Resources department to complete multiple tasks within one program instead of having several different programs running. This allows the user to spend less time completing tasks. Each user will have a training manual to guide them through problems as they arise and IT and the knowledgeable users will assist with any questions or concerns they may have.

References
Bobby Stark. (N.A.). Achieving Predictable Results through Repeatable Processes. Retrieved from Bobby Stark, http://integralprocesssolutions.com/pdfs/projectmanagement-repeatableprocesses.pdf
Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H., & Roth, R. M. (2015). Systems Analysis and Design (6th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.
The Free Dictionary. (2003-2015). Retrieved from http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/application+logic
WiseGeek. (2003-2015). Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-application-architecture.htm#comments