Radio Maintenance and Tracking Systems - Assignment Example

Outline and Introduction Name: University affiliation Question 1 (A) A valid preamble of the report briefly highlights the existing system, the problem and the research into the system being carried out, showing the results (Akins & Akins, 2009). The system introduction does not provide thorough information of the existing system. There is no mention of research to determine the necessities of the users. There are, therefore, no outcomes of the existing system. Lack of a research into the existing system does not give enough foundation for the management to see the weaknesses of the existing system and therefore opt for a change. The report assumes that the intended managers know about the weaknesses of the existing system. Senior executives of the company may not even be familiar with ground operations of the company. It is the duty of the report to show the weaknesses of the previous system for it to propose a new system based on the necessities of the previous system. Without knowing the weaknesses, there is no need for a new system. The report lacks an essential part of giving enough information for use by the executive in deciding its usage and implementation. (B) There is a description of the application and its programs. The report describes the system briefly at first. The report does not present the main features of the login window. The report does not describe how to access the elements from the central part. It then goes to give its components, which in this case are three. These units include the programming component, maintenance component, and spare part component. In each component description, there is working of it. There are diagrams to emphasize understanding. In addition, there is an example of decisions depending on the available information. Although the components description is somehow clear, there is no enough description of the system and its unit’s interaction. (C) A good system description will involve a thorough description of the working of major components. It includes how they interact with each and how the user navigates from one component to another. It also gives the data capture method to use in the system. In addition, the output of the system needs to be clearly outlined so that user understands the system better. Things like user help also need to be described fully how the user can access them in the application. The report does not describe how the system works. It only gives a hint of the working of each module. The report does not give details of how the user accesses the system. There is no the information whether the user uses an installed application or a web-based application to enter the details into the system. It does not also describe the interactions between the user and the system. We do not have the information of how to register a user into the system and who verifies the registration of the new user. In addition, the report does not give information on how the user moves from one component interface to another. In addition, there is no description of data interaction between the units. The method of data entry is also not given. Therefore, the report is not clear on the operation of the proposed new system. Details of the component and overall system functioning have rather been left out. Therefore, the intended user remains guessing which methods to use for data capturing and how the system will function. This is evidence that there is no enough description of the working of the application. Question 2 Judging of the report will involve evaluating its alternatives and analyzing how it presents them. A decision depends on two or more choices known to the person making the decision (Beresford & Slope, 2008, p. 2). Without showing the options, the management does not have enough bases to select the best alternative. There is accounting for alternatives. They are not picked randomly. The report does not mention why we choose this kind of application over the other applications. It only gives the advantages of the system and not the comparison with the existing system or other similar systems in the market. Therefore, it is evident that it does not meet the needs for a good decision. It does not explain the other alternatives, there advantages and disadvantages. It just assumes the intended audience knows about the other systems, which might not be the case. The management would have evaluated the comparison, advantages and disadvantages of other systems to get the alternatives. These alternatives would have given the executives the choices to choose. There is also no explanation on the working of original system. The report ignores description of the uses and functioning of the existing system. The report ignores the problems of existing system, its advantages, costs, and disadvantages. A thorough description of the existing system would have given the executives a good basis to evaluate whether there is need for change or not. The executives need to know the weaknesses and pitfall of the existing system in order to determine whether there is need for overhaul of that system. A business is not necessarily in need of technology but profits in its operations. It would not invest in a system that is not profitable in pursuit of technology. Question 3 Cost-Benefit approach of analyzing system feasibility is an approach where we evaluate the time taken for project blueprint and its execution. In addition, work involved in it and the monetary value of the inputs during the design and implementation of the system are also estimated and analyzed. In the report of this system, such values are not given. To evaluate the cost-benefits of this system, the following steps: a) Highlight the cost-benefit assumptions – we state input items of the project at first before we give their monetary value. In addition, activities involved in design and the implementation of the proposed application need to be stated. These activities need to have cost value. In addition, three is outlining of maintenance activities and resources for the new system. b) Estimating costs – stated inputs, activities and resources are then in cost values. The value of each activity used in the system project design, implementation and maintenance need to be given. These costs are estimates. In addition, the costs of inputs during design, implementation and maintenance of the system should be an estimate. c) Benefits analysis – the benefits of the new system need to be stated. These benefits should be real and not virtual. They are on what the system can do based on test analysis of the application. These benefits will provide a basis for evaluating the new system. d) Time analysis – we give the time for both design and implementation of the new system. The time estimates depend on the complexity of the project and technological skills of the project team. e) Final analysis – a final analysis of the costs and the benefits is given. The total costs involved in the system are calculated and stated. In addition, we evaluate the benefits are evaluated depending on the overall costs of the system. We then remove unnecessary activities and resources are and give the final report. There is evaluation of period of the project is evaluated to determine the profitability (Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services, 2006). This gives the final cost – benefit analysis of the system For this system, the period for design and implementation is long unless more experts will be involved in system design and coding. The implementation of the system is also expensive as there is need to have new hardware and software resources. There is also need of updating due to current trends of technology. Question 4 To evaluate problems in an application, the application needs to undergo a testing. This testing will help to determine whether there are problems during program execution, what kind of problems they are and whether the programmer can solve them. In addition, there is program evaluation check whether it meets the user needs. To carry out the evaluation, there is selection of few executives for sampling. Then they undergo a training of using the system. We then are issue with sample data to work on. Then we provide a sample of expected results of the inputs. They then enter the data for processing by the system. The system then works on the data. We record system output against expected results and then evaluate them. In addition, there is interviewing of executives on the functioning of the system. They give the problems they have encountered during the operation of the system. Problems like a system failure, data corruption, data security and inaccessibility of some subprograms from the main components. The user friendliness of the program is also checked. Things like user interface, user – system interaction and help guides are evaluated for review. There is evaluation of the time taken to process data. The time taken to process each data input and the time taken to give the outputs analyzed. There is checking of system to analyze interference with other systems and operating system. In addition, there is testing to show whether it makes the computer slow. This information, it is easy to know and understand the problems in the system and propose possible solutions to these problems to improve the system. Question 5 The system has various advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of the new application are: a) The application is in line with the technology in use. The current technology does not use much of paperwork in decision-making process. The new system proposes a computerized approach to decision-making process. This approach is faster and efficient with greater output. This is the current trend of decision making in the world today. b) The program is secure in data storage. The organization may need to refer to the previous data. Data stored in paper work is both space consuming and insecure. People can steal the papers or they get lost. In addition, they tear due to old age. Unlike that system, the new application ensures long time data security and protection for future reference. c) Ease of access of data. The users in different locations can easily access data stored in the application database. The web deployment of the application enables users to retrieve and update data remotely. This simplifies data manipulation process. The disadvantage of new system is that it is both time demanding and cost demanding. When these disadvantages evaluated against the advantages, it is clear that the new system meets the intentions of the company. Question 6 There are proposals highlighted to advance the application and its usage. The project team will with the application clients and the executive to make the programs better and in line with the current technology. To assess the recommendations, we need to determine whether the proposals for the program that are in the report are attainable. In addition, we need to analyze whether the proposals are in line with the intended functions of the new system. The proposals of the new system are both attainable and meet the intended functions of the new system. References Akins, L.M., & Akins, J.H. (2009). Technical Report Writing Guidelines Retrieved on 24 September 2014 from http://www8.sunydutchess.edu/faculty/akins/documents/TechnicalReportWritingGuidelines.pdf Beresford, B., & Sloper, T (2008). Understanding the Dynamics of Decision Making and Choice: A Scopic Study of Key Psychological Theories to Inform The Design and Analysis of the Panel Study. Retrieved on 2 September 2014 from http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/pubs/pdf/decisionmaking.pdf Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (2006). Cost Benefit Analysis Guidelines. Retrieved on 25 September 2014 from https://www.its.ms.gov/Services/Documents/CBA-GUIDELINES.pdf Read More