Master's Project in Change Management-Technology Project Plan What was discussed in the business requirement analysis was the initial action to develop the website and online functionalities for Indiana 1st Partner Inc. A website development, online sales, web hosting, and the development of online advertising tools were among the topics discussed previously.
In addition, use cases were identified and the steps to get the web site developed and operational.Indiana 1st Partner Inc identified the following items to include in its technology plan. These are database roles, programming, and networks. In addition, analysis of security, business risks involved with the proposed solutions, projected financial plans, and metrics which will help management to make business decisions. There will be a number of hardware, software, database and networks in use in the Indiana 1st Partner Inc. The hardware will be: Dell desktops and laptops for users.
In addition, there will be Local Area Network (LAN) printers, fax machines, and copiers. The software contained within Indiana 1st Partner Inc will consist of Windows XP system, Microsoft Office 2003. In addition, the management would like to include ActivClient Agent Smart Card for security to each computer, and Java Runtime Environment. As the company expands, Indiana 1st Partner Inc database operate on separate servers that reside in Indianapolis with daily backups.
DatabaseA database will be the first tool which needs to be executed in order to get Indiana 1st Partner Inc business off the ground. A database is a structure that can store information about multiple entities types of entities, the attributes of those entities, and the relationships among those entities. According to Fosdick, A. (2005), the most frequently used model is the relational model, consisting of rows and columns. A relational database is a database in which data is organized in a series of relationships, or two-dimensional tables, where the columns (attributes) represent data fields, and the rows represent records. The hierarchical and network models use a more explicit illustration of relationships.
Linking of data between records in different files is done by means of a key field. To meet these requirements for Indiana 1st Partner Inc, a relational database system has been recommended.This database will become a part of everyday operations for most functions in the company. It is a very important instrument to provide the ability to manage information for use in a structured manner and improve overall operations.
The database of Indiana 1st Partner Inc. will consist of a number of tables that hold information on inventory, orders, shipping records, customers, sales, employees, and the relationship of those entities. The database will be very useful for manipulating large amounts of data and producing management reports and documents. This information will be available and accessible on the company's database that will provide the customers and staff with current and up-to-date information twenty-four hours a day, every single day.
Inventory levels will stay current, and the employees will provide the current status to every customer inquiry.The database will be the most important tool in providing important management reports such as sales statistics, how efficient the ordering process is and how quickly customers are receiving orders. The database contains all the information necessary to forecast future needs of the company. The Indiana 1st database will house both transaction and master data. The master data will house significant data that is needed in the processing of every aspect of a transaction. While transactional data will record the business events that are accomplished related to those elements.
Indiana 1st Partner's master data includes the customer, item, inventory, supplier and employee/salesperson master data. The customer master table is needed to store data on customer's profile such as name, account number, financial records, history and so forth. The salesperson table is needed to store data about each salesperson, so corporate management can utilize salesperson information for forecasting. In addition, the salesperson table will need a sales person id, sales person name, along with demographic fields for each sales person.
The item master will include a primary key, description, list price, and cost of every item of inventory.Day to day business events will be recorded in the transaction tables. The purchase of an item will trigger an entry into the inventory table. Similarly, a sale will trigger the reduction of inventory, as well as, make reference to the item purchased, the sales person assigned, and the customer involved in the transaction. This data will be pulled from the previously established master file.
Programming After the database structure has been developed, both the database and website need to be programmed to automate the population of transaction tables as well as share the necessary information with the website.According to Graham, P. (2003), computer programming is the art of making a computer do what someone wants it to do. At the very simplest level it consists of issuing a sequence of commands to a computer to achieve an objective. A computer program is simply a set of instructions to tell a computer how to perform a particular task such as receive an order, issue an invoice, take a payment, communicate what needs to be shipped and where and so forth.
As Knuth (2007) said in his book "Literate Programming", let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs, instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do (pg.57). It is very crucial to program a web site that is user friendly, inviting to the customer, and easy to navigate.In addition, it is very important to take customers into consideration when programming the web site.
Many customers may not be knowledgeable in using computers. It is very crucial to keep the web site very simple and not require any extra downloads or software. These could cause Indiana 1st Partner Inc. to lose customers. Building a very attractive and usable web site that communicates with the database must be at the top of the list.
