Requirements analysis

Recommendations

 

With the volume of customers that Momma Jeans Restaurant serves there is a dire need for an automated computer application that will help them plan and assemble food and beverage recipes, inventory management capabilities, and cost control functions. By computerizing the restaurant this would make it easier for the staff to access a particular food or beverage recipe quickly. For example, a customer may want a type of beverage that is not often made. This would help staff find what the customer wants and thereby reduce wait time. The system would also provide a more robust method of performing inventory management and cost control. Inventory levels could be viewed very quickly. This would help eliminate errors with erroneous levels of inventory and thereby reduce overall costs of operation.

I am recommending that Momma Jeans consider the implementation of a database and other necessary software to streamline their current processes. This would also entail the purchase of necessary computers as well as the networking infrastructure needed to create a method for all to access the database.  In the case of the installation of the new software, the staff at the clinic would need to be trained for the use of the new system. There should be tutorials given to ensure that everyone knows how to access and feed information into the database. Access to such technology would only help the clinic prosper further in their business and possibly reduce the workload for the staff working there.

Time and Cost Estimates

 

It is estimated that amount of time needed to automate many of Momma Jeans Restaurant functions would be 3 weeks. Two weeks of which would include Charles Webb completing the systems analysis and the final week would be spent installing software and training staff. It is estimated that the cost would be $15,000. If the restaurant decides not to change their current business process within the next quarter, I expect them to lose about  $8,000 due to rework in time spent creating and filing new food and beverage recipes, staff overtime pay, and ordering more supplies. The company has reported errors in its day-to-day business, and these errors are potentially very costly to the company, costly enough that a $15,000 investment should be viewed as a viable option.  Hopefully, with the new system, improved employee productivity and fewer errors will offset the costs in the system.  

Expected Benefits

        The expected benefits from this project will far outweigh the costs. The measurement of the benefits of Information Systems is possible if the analysis is focused on the intended goals of the system and starts from its immediate operational environment, gradually building up the more indirect effects (Wiseman, 1992).

        Once an information system has been developed and implemented for Momma Jeans Restaurant, one can expect to see a greater efficiency in all its business process. For example, Mike Godwin would save time searching for, updating, and creating food and beverage recipes, and accounting for inventory. Greg Freed would find that financial transactions would also be done automatically with fewer errors. This would also reduce costs, resulting in great performance. Mark Dove would be able to accurately find needed ingredients when planning food and drink beverages, and spend less time performing inventory. Along with the improvement of business processes occurring faster, customer service will also improve as well because patients they will be getting faster, better, and more reliable service. Staff will be very pleased with the new system, because they will feel confident their customers would get their order in a timely manner, and accurately. Once all installation and training is complete, Momma Jeans Restaurant will experience a faster, more efficient workplace.  

Appendix

Systems Analysis Phase

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. List of Personnel to Interview at Momma Jeans Restaurant
3. Interview Objectives
4. Proposed Interview Questions for Staff
5. Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) For Momma Jeans Restaurant

1.        Introduction

        As the systems analyst assigned to work with Momma Jeans Restaurant to develop a plan for providing computerization to the business, specific tasks must be accomplished in order to reach the desired goal.  The next phase of the analysis will require the cooperation of selected staff members. I have decided to perform interviews on an individual basis rather than as a group, as this will help me gain a better understanding of job specific functions that each performs. This will also afford an opportunity for me to blend in with staff in hopes of making them feel comfortable and this will in-turn lead to a more open discussion about the current business practices.

2.        List of Personnel to Interview at Momma Jeans Restaurant

        Interviews are an important part of the systems analysis phase because much information can be gathered about job specific functions that may or may not be evident during other phases of the analysis. The following personnel have been selected for interviews during the systems analysis phase:

• Richard George, CEO
• Mike Godwin, Planner
• Greg Freed, Accountant
• Mark Dove, Helper

3.        Interview Objectives

        In order to conduct successful interviews with Momma Jeans staff, specific objectives must be identified. These objectives will help build the framework for deciding what questions will be asked and how the questions should be phrased. Some key objectives I wish to accomplish during the interviews are:

• Gain a better understanding of the current business systems.
• Understand various reports related to planning and assembling food and beverages, inventory management, and cost control functions. Identify reporting cycle for each.
• Understand the following processes

• Recipe ingredients and quantities
• Bulk inventory and costs
• Overall recipe costs

• Storage and maintenance of data

4.        Proposed Interview Questions for Staff

        In an effort to obtain the identified objectives, well-phrased questions must be asked. I will use a variety of open-ended and closed-ended approaches to asking questions to the clinic staff.  I will reserve any range-of-response questions for future use if further interviews are needed to clarify information gathered from other staff members. Specific questions for each individual are as follows:

Richard George: “Provide a brief overview of the current business systems and processes. Are there any processes unique to your operation?”

Mike Godwin, Planner: “What responsibilities do you have from a food and beverage recipe perspective? How do you keep track of the ingredients used in each recipe?”        

Greg Freed, Accountant: “What responsibilities do you have from an accounting perspective? What type of reports do you produce for Mr. George and outside agencies?”

Mark Dove, Helper: “How do you inventory supplies? What is your interaction with Mr. Godwin? Do you follow the same procedures for planning and assembling food and beverage recipes as Mr. Godwin? If not, please describe the procedures?”

 

5.        Momma Jeans Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD)

             The entity-relationship diagram is a graphical model of the information systems that depicts the relationships among system entities at Momma Jeans Restaurant.

 

System Design

Introduction

The purpose of systems design is to create a blueprint for the new system that will satisfy all documented requirements, whether the system is being developed in-house or purchased as a package (Cashman, 2001). This report will be used to identify and describe in detail the System Design phase of the project.  This report includes a project description, related documents, a system overview, design descriptions, file structure and data descriptions, and a section on interface design.

System Components Details

        This section contains the complete design for the new system, including the user interface, outputs, inputs, files, databases, and network specifications. The new system must be able to:

• Allow users to enter food and beverage recipe information
• Provide back-up and storage capabilities for the database
• Cost Control Functions

• Eliminate redundancy
• Establish Inventory levels
• Cost associated with food and beverage recipes

Environmental Requirements

        This section describes the constraints, or conditions, affecting the system, including any requirements that involve operations, hardware, systems software, or security.

Implementation Requirements

        This section contains the start-up processing, initial data entry or acquisition, user training requirements, and software test plans. At the present time the only environmental requirements for the new system is to have the computers and server in a room that is temperature controlled. The room should also be free from humidity as this can cause problems with hardware.

Time and Cost Estimates

        Due to time constraints a detailed schedules, costs estimates, and staffing requirements for the systems development phase for Momma Jeans Restaurant is not available.

REFERENCES

Cashman, T. (2001).  Systems Analysis and Design. 4th Edition. Course Technology.

Eagle Research. 2005. Requirements Analysis. Electronically retrieved from         http://www.xeaglex.com/Page260.RequirementsAnalysis.htm.

Mascarenas, J.R., January 12, 2005, Individual Assignment Thread for Week 3. Retrieved         January 09, 2005 from the University of Phoenix Online, System Analysis and Design         Course website  

Wiseman D. (1992). ‘Information economics: a practical approach to valuing Information

        Systems’ Journal of Information Technology, 7, pp. 169-176.