SADM 7/ed - ESSS CASE STUDY - Milestone 8: The System Proposal Page: 8-1 ESSS MILESTONE 8 - THE SYSTEM PROPOSAL Synopsis he purpose of the Decision Analysis Phase is to identify candidate solutions, analyze those candidate solutions, and recommend a target system that will be designed and implemented. Alternative solutions to be considered should be those that address the business requirements of the information system. T In this milestone you will complete a Candidate Matrix. This matrix will include three alternative candidate solutions that you have determined will meet the business requirements for the Customer Response System. Some of the solutions you will consider may have been posed from the design ideas and opinions from the system owners and users. Others may come from various sources including: systems analysts, system designers, technical consultants, and other IS professionals. Some technical choices may be limited by a predefined, approved technology architecture provided by system managers. When completing the matrix, it is not your intent to evaluate the candidates at this point, only to identify and define them. Objectives After completing this milestone, you should be able to: Identify candidate solutions that meet the requirements of the information system and document those solutions in a candidate matrix. Prerequisites Before starting this milestone the following topics should be covered: 1. Systems Analysis - Chapter 5 2. The System Proposal - Chapter 11 Assignment Given the business requirements established in the Requirements Analysis Phase of systems analysis, you can now identify alternative candidate solutions. Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for Systems Analysis & Design Methods 7ed by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2007 SADM 7/ed - ESSS CASE STUDY - Milestone 8: The System Proposal Page: 8-2 Activities 1. Complete a Candidate Matrix based on the standard workstation and server configuration defined in the Case Study Introduction. Identify and document at least three solutions that could meet the business requirements. Try to consider at least one \"buy\" candidate solution. Search the Internet for key words related to the system. You should be able to find a prepackaged system that supports some functions of the proposed system. Assume that Coastline Systems Consulting has the hardware listed in the Case Study Introduction. Make other assumptions where necessary. 2. The ESSS a special requirement mentioned back in Milestone 1. Jack Mills wanted the system to have "state-of-the-art for security - maybe some biometric device that can be used in the office and at home easily and cheaply." In addition (or as an alternate assignment) research hardware and software to meet this requirement. Search the Internet and find at least two competing solutions. Write a Technical Memo describing the advantages of each option and recommending a solution. Include web references to each of the solution alternatives. Deliverable format and software to be used are according to your instructor's specifications. Deliverables should be neatly packaged in a binder, separated with a tab divider labeled \"Milestone 8\" and accompanied with a Milestone Evaluation Sheet. References: All previous Milestones and Solutions Provided by your instructor. Templates See on-line learning center website for the textbook. Deliverables: Candidate Matrix: Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for Systems Analysis & Design Methods 7ed by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman Due: __/__/__ Time: _______ Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2007 SADM 7/ed - ESSS CASE STUDY - Milestone 8: The System Proposal Page: 8-3 ADVANCED OPTION For the advanced option, perform a feasibility analysis and complete a feasibility matrix for the three candidates identified above. This option will require research on the cost of the development software tools needed for each candidate solution. Assume Anna Kelly will develop the system by herself. Make the necessary assumptions to estimate development time, costs, and benefits. Feasibility Matrix: Milestone's Point Value: Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for Systems Analysis & Design Methods 7ed by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman Due: __/__/__ Time: _______ _______ Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2007 SADM 7/ed - ESSS CASE STUDY - Milestone 9: Application Architecture Page: 9-1 ESSS MILESTONE 9 - APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE Synopsis J ust as we modeled business requirements during systems analysis, we should model technology architecture and requirements during systems design. The models serve as blueprints for system design, prototyping and construction. In this milestone you will prepare a Physical Data Flow Diagram. Physical data flow diagrams model the technical and human design decisions to be implemented as part of an information system. They communicate technical and other design constraints to those who will actually implement the systemin other words, they serve as a technical blueprint for the implementation. Objectives After completing this milestone, you should be able to: Draw physical data flow diagrams for an information system's architecture and processes. Prerequisites Before starting this milestone the following topics should be covered: 1. Systems design - Chapter 12 2. Application architecture and physical DFDs - Chapter 13 Assignment In this milestone we will construct a physical Data Flow Diagram for a process. Activities 1. Prepare the physical DFD based on the narrative provided in Exhibit 9.1. Make assumptions where necessary. Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for Systems Analysis & Design Methods 7ed by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2007 SADM 7/ed - ESSS CASE STUDY - Milestone 9: Application Architecture Page: 9-2 Deliverable format and software to be used are according to your instructor's specifications. Deliverables should be neatly packaged in a binder, separated with a tab divider labeled \"Milestone 9\" and accompanied with a Milestone Evaluation Sheet. References: Export Production Information Narrative Exhibit 9.1 Milestone 4 Exhibit 4.2 Exhibit 4.4 Templates See on-line learning center website for the textbook. Deliverables: Physical Data Flow Diagram: Milestone's Point Value: Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for Systems Analysis & Design Methods 7ed by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman Due: __/__/__ Time: _______ _______ Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2007 SADM 7/ed - ESSS CASE STUDY - Milestone 9: Application Architecture Page: 9-3 Exhibit 9.1 The selected architecture for the ESSS will employ an Oracle back-end database and a front-end Java web application. The portions of the web application that must be available to employees at home will run over the Internet. The rest will be an intranet application running over the corporate WAN. Use the following narrative to construct a Physical Data Flow Diagram for the Enter New Employee Profile process. The first day an employee begins work, the employee will manually fill out an Employee Profile form (see Exhibit 4.2 in Milestone 4), a Miscellaneous Payroll Deduction form (see Exhibit 4.4 in Milestone 4). These paper forms are then routed to the Staffing Department who add it to a paper file that has been started with the employee's job offer and salary/wage information. A member of the Staffing Department then launches the ESSS intranet application. The application will prompt for a user name and password, which must be verified. Menu options will then be displayed according to that user's permissions. The user will click the Enter New Employee Profile link. A series of text boxes will prompt for the general employee information, pay rate information, and all possible miscellaneous payroll deductions. A dropdown box will allow the user to select the new employee's department from a list. When the web page is submitted, the data will be inserted to the various database tables. The EmpID is assigned sequentially, incrementing the current highest number in the Employee table. The user will then be redirected to a page for entering emergency contact information. This page will display identifying information for the employee at the top, list all previously entered emergency contacts, and provide text boxes for entering a new emergency contact. The user can enter a new emergency contact and click the submit button to have the new contact inserted. The list will then be redisplayed with the updated information. The user will stay on this screen until the Exit button is clicked. Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for Systems Analysis & Design Methods 7ed by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2007