Contents Page
Contents Page................................................................................................................ 2
Problem Definition ........................................................................................................ 3
Terms Of Reference ...................................................................................................... 4
Analysis Report ............................................................................................................. 5
Current System Report ........................................................................................................5
Alternative Proposed System ...............................................................................................5
Feasibility Report .......................................................................................................... 6
Technical Feasibility .............................................................................................................6
Economic Feasibility .............................................................................................................6
Social Feasibility ...................................................................................................................6
Legal Feasibility ....................................................................................................................7
Schedule Feasbility ...............................................................................................................7
Operational Feasibility .........................................................................................................7
Gannt Chart................................................................................................................... 8
Appendixes
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Problem Definition
IT Study is a company offering many diverse courses in Information Technology.
They have a manual system in place for all their administration work, which has
recently expanded beyond what the system can cope with due to demand. Naturally
this increase in workload requires a new system to ensure the successful running of
the company.
Obviously the system has many flaws otherwise it would be fulfilling the needs of its
users. Basically the underpinning problem is that the system is manual. It relies on
human performance and therefore increase in workload cannot be handled by this
system. It is very time-consuming and takes many working hours of its users.
Efficiency is not an attribute of this system. Also mistakes can go unnoticed for a long
time and rectifying them is also time consuming and requires effort. Also this system
has no valuable functions that a computer would have, such as sorting the
information in to a variety of formats for different purposes. Extracting data is again in
contrast to other system time consuming and inefficient. Overall this system is not
flexible to cope with the needs of the users and really has no beneficial advantages;
it makes the job of the users harder. The system is behind times and needs to be
bought up to date to cope with modern needs. This brings us to the next problem,
which is that the users are computer illiterate and so this problem will have to be
addressed too.
Terms Of Reference
1. The main objective of the new system, is to be able to cope with the huge
increase in workload.
2. An important objective of the new system is to enable the company to give a
better service to customers.
3. The new system will need to be able to keep up to date information on the
company’s client base, and courses on offer.
4. A primary aim is that the processing of applications must be speeded up, easier
to process, more efficient, and flexible to adapt to new requirements.
5. The new system needs to be accurate, complete and efficient
6. Cost reduction is also an issue to be addressed.
7. As the staff have no computing experience, training must be given to the staff.
8. As computers are going to be introduced for the first time into the company,
health and safety issues need to be identified and addressed, e.g. wires must be
hidden form the users as they are dangerous.
9. The project must be completed in the timescale (which needs to be identified, see
Gantt chart)
10. At the end of each stage a report/prototype will be produced, which the
managers/users can ‘sign off’ .
11. The management and staff need to be made aware of the data protection law,
which will affect the records they keep on the new computer system
Analysis Report
Current System Report
The current system is a manual system. It’s mainly an administrative system. It’s
operations involve receiving applications to enroll on the course, sending application
forms, receiving the forms and storing the forms and sorting the applications. It also
involves checking to see if the applicants have the correct qualifications and if the
courses are available. As there is a huge demand for the courses and as there aren’t
enough places, there is a waiting list. The information collected is confidential and
therefore the data protection act must be taken into account and security procedures
and recovery procedures are important. As security is not mentioned it is assumed
that there is no security procedures in place.
See appendices
Appendix a) interview form 1
Interview form 2
Appendix b) Rich picture
Appendix c) Flowchart
Appendix d) Data flow diagram
Alternative Proposed System
A database is needed because information about client and Information Technology
courses need to be recorded on the system. There may be networking, to link all the
computers together. For the front-end, Visual basic may be an ideal option, it is a
colourful, and graphical tool and helps with usability. Also Visual basic sits well on the
access database. This technical combination will be able to produce several types of
reports, such as courses available, client details report, entrance criteria required for
the courses, fees paid etc.
See appendix
Appendix e) Prototype screen 1
Appendix f) Prototype screen 2
Appendix g) Prototype screen 3
Feasibility Report
Technical Feasibility
Technically this project is feasible. There are a variety of databases we can use in
order to develop the system, we suggest access database, because it’s a fairly small
system and access is ideal for such systems.
Visual basic sits nicely on the access database and that is fairly reasonably priced.
Should a network be required, then access also allows for networking. Therefore the
technology exits for this system.
Economic Feasibility
The new software will mean a great advantage in terms of efficiency and speed of
service, and accuracy and correctness will be increased. The new workload will be
catered for and processing will be much faster, which means staff efficiency and
moral will be greatly increased.
Paper work will be minimised and so the paper costs and traditional filing system
costs will be reduced. Customer service will be greatly improved as information will
be available at the touch of a button.
A quantifiable benefit is that the staff required to process the applications will be
reduced, in order to maintain moral, staff no longer required could be relocated to
other areas of the company.
The cost of computers and software needs to be exactly quantified. Training costs
need to be established. Maintenance cost and health and safely costs need to be
identified and quantified.
Social Feasibility
 Social feasibility is concerned with the effect on employees and customers on the
introduction of a new system.
 The new system will produce a more efficient system and as such it may result in
redundancies, in order to maintain moral, the company may look towards
relocating the staff in other areas of the company.
 As the staff have no computer experience, they will need to be trained.
 The new system will decrease the work load on the staff, thus increasing moral
 Health and safety :- computers may cause eye strain, stress etc and so adequate
processes need to be put into place to address these issues and possible
counseling offered to any staff member suffering from stress.
Legal Feasibility
Determines if there are any legal implications / requirements associated with the
introduction of the new system. Laws that need to be addressed include :- violation of the data protection act
- violation of computer misuse act
- violation of copyright
- violation of heath and safety act
Schedule Feasibility
Looks at the time it will take to develop the proposed system and whether it will be
done within the proposed time frame.
- Each stage is completed within allocated time
- Will the system be completed at the time, given
Operational Feasibility
Operational feasibility is concerned with the organisational and political aspects. It
deals with issues such as training. As the users/staff IT study have never used a
computer, it is very important they are given training. This training will involve
acquiring basic computing skills and training on how to use the computer system.
This means the management must organise these courses prior to installation.
To help the users accept the system, it is important to involve them in the designing
process of the new system. We have achieved this by involving them right from the
start and getting their views and developing a prototype.
Also the company may require new departments because of the introduction of the
new computer system. As an example there may be a need for a help desk or
technical support department which will deal with technical queries.
A legal department may need to look at the issues of data protection act and explain
to the users the importance of following these procedure. Also issues of who owns
the software needs to be dealt via the legal department
Gantt Chart
Problem Definition
Feasibility Study
Analysis
Design Phase
Construction/Programming
1 month
1 month
1 month
3 months
6 months
Implementation
Maintenance
2 months
on going