SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 4 – Introduction
Page: I-1
IT TRACKER SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
I
n this section you will learn the necessary background information to be able to
complete the twelve milestones of this case study. This information includes a
history of the organization, a description of the organization’s current facilities,
and the descriptions of the problems that triggered the project.
 Case Background
Huxley College is a small, private college located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The
college is staffed by 125 faculty and 85 administrative personnel, each with a PC on
his or her desk. In addition, with PCs in the library and computer labs and PCs used
for various other purposes around campus, the total number of PCs and servers on
campus is more than 400. A staff of 5 IT technicians attempts to keep up with the
service demands for all these computers as well as keep track of what hardware and
software is installed on each.
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 4 – Introduction
Page: I-2
 Organization Structure
 Information Systems Facilities
PCs
 Various kinds, including Dell, HP, Gateway, and IBM in the following
configurations:
o Pentium class machines with 32 MB RAM, 2-6 GB hard drives
o Pentium II class machines with 32-64 MB RAM, 2-6 GB hard drives
o Pentium III class machines with 64-128 MB RAM, 10-20 GB hard
drives
 Operating system – MS Windows NT 4.0 (Windows 2000 Professional on
PCs with 96 MB RAM or more)
 Tools – MS Office suite (2000) plus other software depending on use
 Internet Browser – Internet Explorer (version 4 or higher)
 Various inkjet and laser printers
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 4 – Introduction
Page: I-3
Servers
 Dell PowerEdge Server
o 256 megabytes of RAM, 25 GB RAID-5 hard drive storage
o Operating system – MS Windows 2000 Server
o Providing DHCP, Security, and Internet Access, and Database
Management (SQL Server 2000)
 Dell PowerApp Appliance Servers
o Providing Web hosting
o Operating system – Windows 2000 Server with IIS
 The Problem
The IT technicians are drowning in a sea of work. Users call and e-mail to the IT
Help Desk whenever they have any kind of hardware or software problem. The IT
Director assigns a technician to check and fix the problem. If the problem is complex
it may require multiple trips, and the technician has to keep track of what he or she
has done to try to fix the problem. Sometimes a second technician has to be
dispatched, necessitating communication concerning the previous work. If hardware
needs to be replaced, paperwork must be processed to indicate the PC’s new
configuration. Also, records must be checked to see if the old hardware was covered
under a warranty situation.
It is not unusual for users to say that they had to call multiple times to get a
technician out. It is not unusual for technicians to find a very different hardware
configuration in the field than what they expected to find.
The Director of Information Technology, Julius Marx, wants to develop a system that
is both more responsive to users and helpful to technicians. He would like to see a
system that allows users to directly enter their service requests. The system should
keep a record of each PC’s configuration tied to the original purchase information for
each component and allow technicians to update the configuration information
directly from the field. Mr. Marx also wants the system to be able to generate
statistics and reports so he can pursue continuous improvement in this area.
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001