Case Study Toowoomba International Catering College

Case Study: Toowoomba International Catering College

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Case Study: Toowoomba International Catering College

Task 2.01 Draw an applications architecture diagram showing interfaces for all systems in the Case Study that will be operating at the Toowoomba International Catering College. Search for examples. (10 Marks)

An applications architecture diagram shows the helps system developers understand, communicate, and clarify ideas about the structure of a system and the user requirements that would be supported by the system. An applications architecture diagram is used during the planning stage to help partners have a better understanding of the architecture communicate the intentions clearly. Below is the systems architecture of Toowoomba International Catering College.

system

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

Task 2.02Develop a “TO BE” process for your new system using a UML Activity Diagram for students to enrol and select courses, process enrolments, manage class lists, pass information to the billing system (Xero) and the Learning Management System (Moodle) and producing reports. Assess the impact of the new system on previous pre-automation processes and prepare a briefing note for the Organisational change and Training Team on the anticipated business impact of the system. You should make recommendations on how these can be managed(15 Marks)

Despite the fact that the implementation of the new system would streamline communication, reduce costs and manual errors, and improve the efficiency of the operations of Toowoomba International Catering College, its implementation is bound to face resistance from various parties. For instance, employees of the college whose roles and duties would be affected by the new system would oppose the implementation of the system. Therefore, it is vital for the college to implement the system in an organized manner. It should ensure it incorporates the views of the major stakeholders of the system prior to its implementation. This would make the stakeholders have a sense of ownership of the new system, which would reduce their resistance to the new system. In addition, the employees of the organization who would be using the system should be trained on how to use it.

If there is resistance towards the implementation of the new system, Toowoomba should strive to determine the root causes of the resistance to change and not simply focus on the symptoms. The system of resistance to change can be easily observed. They include failure to use the information system, failure to adopt a change, complaining, and failure to attend to key meetings. Determining the root causes of the resistance to change would help in identification of how to tackle the issue more effectively.

Toowoomba should also acknowledge that resistance to change would be imminent. Therefore, it should formally manage resistance to change. Formal management of resistance to change involves three phases. These include preparing for change, managing change, and reinforcing change. Preparing for change involves the identification of points of resistance and the tactics that would be used to manage them. Managing change is the second phase of managing resistance to change. During this phase, a resistance management plan, communications plan training plan, and sponsorship roadmap would be developed. These plans would facilitate the movement of individual employees through the change process and tackle any likbhnely barriers to change they may have. Finally, reinforcing change involves the collection of feedback to determine employee adoption and compliance with the new processes and dictated by the change. Analysis of the feedback helps in determining gaps and managing resistance that may still be taking place.

Automation would reduce the need for employees of Toowoomba to engage in mundane clerical activities such as organizing student data and creating reports. It would provide them with time to concentrate on the most important aspects of the college, which is teaching students. However, automation would be expensive. The automated system would perform the work of several employees, which would lead to employee layoffs. These layoffs may have a negative impact on employee morale.

Task 2.03 Develop screen designs for two MUST stories created in Task 1.05 and identify any business rules; justify your design(10 Marks)

The new information architecture should enable teachers grade and update the grades of students easily. In addition, it should provide students with access to the web-based enrolment system. Below are the screen designs of the two MUST stories for students and teachers.

Figure 3.1: screen design of MUST stories for teachers

According to the above screen, teachers would write the student name and the student number would appear automatically. The teachers would verify whether the student number and name correspond to the information the student provided in the assessment. Verification of information would help in reducing errors. The teacher would then key in the course and grade. The name of the teacher should appear automatically after the teacher had logged into the system. The notes section would show whether the student has passed or failed.

Figure 3.2: screen design for MUST stories for students enrolment in online course

The above screen would be used by students to register for online courses. The student would key in their name and registration number upon which a list of courses for which they are eligible to enroll in would appear. They can then choose the course they would like to enroll in. They would be provided with the name of the instructor and how much it would cost for then to enroll in the course. In the notes section, the students would be provided with any other relevant information on the course. These may include the course requirements and when the course is expected to commence and end.

Task 2.04Write all acceptance criteria for these two stories to be done(10 Marks)

One of the acceptance criteria of the two stories is that the instructor and teacher should be recognized by the information system. The teacher and student should also have log in details to be accepted in the system. This would prevent corruption of the information in the system. The system should also provide restrictions to the users. For instance students should not have access to the interface that teachers have access to. The reverse is also true. The information system should only provide members of the senior management of the college with unrestricted access.

Task 2.05 Write a PD for another BA to be recruited to the project(10 Marks)

A business analyst is draw inferences from the process details and relates the inferences to the big picture by depending on the business objectives and determining the process improvements. The BA should have the ability to structure a large amount of data within a process framework. The BA should work with the business teams and IT department of Toowoomba to determine the most efficient method of designing a new process and any process-related problems that the organization may have. Therefore, some of the roles of the BA would involve mapping the existing processes and designing how to improve them. Since different parts of an organization speak different languages, it is vital for the BA to have the ability to interpret the business requirements for the IT staff and relate them to the needs of other departments of the organization. The BA should hold meetings with different departments of the college, undertake a critical evaluation of the processes of the college, collect data, and analyze information.

The BA should have good knowledge of process mapping and business process reengineering. The BA should analyze the business process and workflows of Toowoomba and determine how to improve or automate them. Therefore, the BA would be vital to the success implementation of the Student Management System. The BA should facilitate process workshops and document any information they would decipher from process maps and business requirements. The BA would also document procedures and identify new process designs. Other activities of the BA would involve managing process change and lead the process redesign workshops. The BA would monitor, measure, and provide feedback on the performance of the processes of an organization.

Task 2.06Presume you have completed all the “waterfall method” processes leading to RFT, evaluation of tenders and selection of a solution. Write the executive summary of a Report to the client where you explain the processes undertaken and recommend a preferred supplier. (15 Marks)

The waterfall method is significantly different from other information system implementation methods as it attempts to fully describe the system before the any code is written. It strives to develop a functional specification and a user interface specification. The approval of these two documents marks the onset of the project implementation phase. The waterfall method comprises of five phases. These include requirements, design, implementation, verification, and maintenance. Completion of the tasks in one phase prompt the commencement of the tasks in the next phase hence the name “waterfall.”

During the requirements phase all requirements of the project are captured. This bhelps in avoiding revisiting of requirements, which may be very expensive, once the project implementation has started. The waterfall method is ideal for large projects such as the one being implemented by Toowoomba. Nevertheless, if the requirements phase is not undertaken properly, the project would result in failure as the end result is dependent on the specifications identified in the requirements phase. It is also vital to note that the waterfall method assumes that it possible to determine all the requirements of a project upfront. Therefore, it is vital for the project manager and the project team members to have effective communication to have a detailed understanding of the requirements of the project (Cozzolino, Rossi & Conforti, 2012).

Design is the second phase in the waterfall method. This phase may be subdivided into the logical design and physical design sub-phases. The logical design phase involves the design of the system independent of any hardware or software system. The development is undertaken according to the information collected in the requirements phase. After the completion of the higher-level logical design, the system analyst should then starts transforming the logical design into a physical design that is dependent on the hardware and software specifications of the project.

The actual code is written in the implementation phase, which is the third phase of the waterfall method. This phase is undertaken by the programmers that the company would seek to help in the implementation of the project. The programmers would use the project requirements and specifications and use them to code various specifications of the project.

The verification phase – the fourth phase in the waterfall method – strives to determine whether the project meet the customer expectations. As such, this would involve determining whether the Student Management System can meet various expectations of the students and teachers in line with the needs of Toowoomba. Nevertheless, under real-world conditions this phase is usually ignored with the project being rolled out to the customer prompting the beginning of the maintenance phase.

The maintenance phase is the last phase in waterfall method. As mentioned above, the project is rolled out to the customer in this phase. Changes are made when problems caused by improper determination of requirements or any other errors are detected.

The waterfall method would enable Toowoomba implement the Student Management System in a systematic manner. This would help in detecting potential problems and solve them beforehand.

As noted above, the requirements phase is the most important step in the waterfall method. It outlines the system requirements. Therefore, it is vital for Toowoomba to choose the supplier that would detail the system requirements in the most effective manner. The supplier should provide a clear and concise manner in which the Student Management System they intend to develop would meet the requirements they have outlined in their RFT.

Task 2.07 List the key differences between Agile and Waterfall SDLC, the pros and cons of each approach. Explain when you might choose Agile for your project. (10 Marks)

The waterfall method has been losing its popularity slowly in the recent past as the adoption of agile methodologies has increased. This raises the question as to what are some of the differences between the two methods and what are some of the conditions that may make a project manager choose one method over the other.

The waterfall method was not developed for enterprise software developers. Instead they adopted it from other industries that involved production where it was expensive to make changes once a certain phase of production was completed. On the other hand, the agile method strives to shun a linear sequential approach and instead uses an incremental, iterative method of implementation. As such, one of the major differences between agile and waterfall method is the fact that the agile method divides the implementation process into phases whereas the agile method divides the project development process lifecycle into sprints (Davis, 2012). In addition, the fact that the waterfall method divides the project development lifecycle into sprints makes it be a rigid method of project development.

In waterfall project development, software development is undertaken as a single project that is divided into several phases. Each phase appears only once in the in the software development life cycle. On the other hand, agile method perceives software development as a collection of several different projects that comprise of iterations of different phases whose sole aim is improving the quality and feedbacks from users of the project (Davis, 2012).

When using the waterfall method all development requirements is determined beforehand since there is no scope for changing the requirements of the project after the commencement of the project. On the other hand, agile project development is flexible. Changes in the project development requirements can be made even after the initial planning of the project has been undertaken.

In a waterfall model all the development phases are completed once whereas the agile methodology uses an iterative development approach. Therefore, planning, developing, and prototyping of the software development are undertaken more than once during the software development life cycle.

The individual approaches of quality and testing in waterfall and agile are also difference. The testing phase in the waterfall model comes after the build phase. On the other hand, testing is usually performed concurrently with programming in the agile model.

Another major difference between waterfall method and agile method is that the waterfall method is suitable for projects that have clearly defined requirements and change is not expected (Davis, 2012). On the other hand, agile method can be used for projects whose requirements are expected to change or evolve.

Therefore, agile software development is suitable for projects that would involve frequent overhauls to keep up with the changes in customer requirements and technology (Cobb, 2015). On the other hand, the waterfall method is suitable for projects whose requirements are unlikely to change.

One of the pros of waterfall method is the design errors are determined prior to the writing of the code of the software. This saves time during the implementation of the project. Good documentation also enables new programmers to get up to speed with the project during the maintenance phase. Using a structured approach also makes measuring the progress of the project be easier as it references it to clearly defined milestones (Cobb, 2015). It is also easier to accurately estimate the total costs of a project after the defining the requirements in a waterfall model.

One of the disadvantages of the waterfall method is the fact that it is difficult for clients to identify their requirements at the abstract level of software development. They can only appreciate fully what they need when the application is developed after which it is difficult to re-engineer the software. In addition, the success of a project implemented using the waterfall method is heavily dependent on the initial requirements. Therefore, the project is bound to fail if the initial requirements are faulty. A project implemented using the waterfall method is tested at the end (Anderson, 2003). Therefore, if any problems are detected at this stage, it would be difficult to change the code that was written.

The advantage of agile method is that changes can be made after the initial planning. Since this method allows programmers to make changes, it is easier to add features to align with the requirements of the clients. After completing each sprint in agile method, the priorities of a project can be evaluated. This enables the clients to include their feedback, which enables the project to deliver exactly what the customers require. Testing at the end of each sprint also helps in the identification of any bugs that are subsequently taken care of (Layton & Maurer, 2012).

The disadvantage of agile methodology is that the project is implemented is a series of sprints. This may make the project exceed the projected budget or time for implementation. Since the project in the agile methodology does not have a definite plan, the final product may be significantly different from what it was initially intended (Davis, 2012).

References

Anderson, D. J. (2003). Agile management for software engineering: Applying the theory of constraints for business results. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Professional.

Christopher, M. 2005. Logistics and supply chain management, creating value-adding networks. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Cobb, C. G. (2015). The project manager’s guide to mastering Agile: Principles and practices for an adaptive approach. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Davis, B. (2012). Agile practices for waterfall projects: Shifting Processes for Competitive Advantage. New York, NY: J. Ross drafting.

Layton, M. C., & Maurer, R. (2012). Agile project management for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.