Systems Analysis and Redesign Project: Phase 1
Assignment Instructions
Overview
The System Analysis and Redesign
Project focuses on an original private cloud-based solution for a
company you understand well. The purpose of this project is to ensure that you
know how to analyze an organization and its’ associated systems. Therefore, the student is the architect. Successful
projects will have a brand-new design of a missing feature that is not seen in
existing information systems. The project should highlight your advanced skills
in information systems, displaying your knowledge of all domains of our
field.
A key objective of the project is
to analyze and design a new system that can function in a cloud-based and/or a
distributed computing architectural environment. This system should replace an
existing system at a company or a Church or another organization that you
understand well.
The re-designed system will be based upon at least one strong and well-respected
information systems and/or informatics framework and several associated
standards. The framework and associated standards (e.g. COBIT, NIST) will be
used to benchmark the existing system to the new system and determine if
improvements were made. A summary spreadsheet should be included in your final
project phase that shows how the new system meets improved framework guidelines
and sub-standards. Sub-standards that specifically identify how an information
system needs to be implemented are mandatory in contrast to subjective designs.
All
projects must use an original and new application/software design diagrams and
concepts. You must identify a new need that has yet to be programmed/coded. Use
of traditional classes/databases/sequence diagrams such as what you see in
existing ERPs, CRMs, web forms, etc. will not be given credit. For example, tables or classes like accounts,
persons, customers, employees, sales, orders, logins, movies/videos, inventory,
hotel reservations, restaurant orders, store fronts, shopping carts, and many
more will not count toward points in this class. It is your responsibility
to check to make sure what you design is new and original. We want to see what
you can design; not what others have already designed. Thus, please do not submit designs of
existing information systems.
As you will find, the design must also result in a working system that can be implemented.
Designs that do not show proficiency in parallel programming code (e.g. a working
object-oriented class implemented in Java, C++, Python, and/or C#) are not very
valuable at the more granular stage of design and thus this requirement. Software
engineers and/or developers should be able to interpret your diagrams and accurately
create the designed system with the level of detail provided.
All phases require screenshots for
credit that have details in the screenshot showing your personal computer was
used and include an operating system date/time. You must use optimized jpegs.
All jpegs should be 50KB or less and/or the total Word document file size
should be less than 1MB. Word documents that are too large cannot be checked by
our plagiarism detection tool and thus we cannot grade your work without this
validation.
Your project will be separated into
3 phases:
Phase 1: Introduction,
problem statement, feasibility study, project plan, and the conclusion
Phase
2:
Methodology to compare the old and new systems and the systems analysis
Phase 3: Benchmark
results of the old and new systems and the systems design
Instructions
This
report must contain the following elements:
I.
Please see the grading rubric for all
minimums.
II.
Cover page
III.
Table of Contents (TOC) that uses
proper headings for automatic updating.
IV.
Every section must be well supported
with scholarly information systems journal articles.
V.
Introduction and conclusion sections
a. You
will write an introduction and conclusion to the project that
is at least 500 words and well supported by scholarly journal articles. Each phase requires these.
b. The
conclusion should be the last heading and conclude the current phase and state
the upcoming objectives and deliverables in the next phase.
c.
This should include a description of
the client organization (including the organizational unit or functions served
by the system), motivation for the system (that is, why the client organization
wants the system, what problems it is encountering, what opportunities would
such a system provide), the users of the potential system, and the general
functionality the client wants in the system (the users and general functionality form a statement of scope for the
project and system).
VI.
Problem statement
a.
You must select either a business you
work with or an organization you know well and have expertise on that allows
you to re-design a new information system feature using your knowledge.
b.
At least 500 words should exist that supports
an original new software feature to be designed and the associated
information system problem(s) that will be addressed.
c.
Note the problem must meet later
project specifications. Please assure it operates within an information system
environment that allows all diagram requirements to be met.
i. It
must be able to be designed into an innovative, highly available, secure, and
scalable private cloud-based information system.
ii. It
must have key information system components due to design requirements such as
an associated storage area network, database, local area network, wide area
network.
iii. Use
of any existing third-party cloud solutions like Amazon, Google, Microsoft,
RedHat and many others will not be accepted.
The student is the cloud architect and should therefore design an original
on-premise private cloud for the company identified in the project problem that
operates in their datacenter.
VII.
Feasibility Study and Project Plan
a. Plan
is over 2,000 words with over 10 relevant supporting scholarly sources
justifying the methods, standards, estimations, and costs.
b.
Although phase 3 of the project stops
at the design stage of the SDLC, assure the feasibility study and project plan
covers the planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance aspects
of the SDLC.
c.
The plan should focus on updating the
old information system to the new private on-premise cloud-based information
system.
d.
Successful project plans will exceed
the textbook examples for each component.
i. Comprehensive
project charter and plan documents.
ii. Project
scope, alternatives, and feasibility documents.
iii. Project
schedule, tasks, resource estimations, labor, time, owners, and comprehensive
work break down structure (WBS).
1.
Use of Microsoft Project or alternative
open source tools is necessary for professional level documents.
iv. Financial
budget, cost, and benefit analysis documents and spreadsheets including line
item pricing estimations.
v. The
final outcomes should address these from a managerial and strategic business
perspective.
Note: Your assignment will be checked
for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
