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.
Networks
Networks are very important for improved communication and more efficient job process. As Indiana 1st Partner Inc grows, good communication between employees, suppliers and customers is very important for the company to survive and compete well in the market. According to Business Links, website Businesses can improve communication through networks so that staff, suppliers, and customers are able to share information and get in touch more easily, more information sharing can make the business more efficient.
Indiana 1st Partner is going to include internet networks in order to communicate between customers, employees, and suppliers. In addition, an intranet will be a very important tool to communicate confidentially among employees as well as between employees and management efficiently and privately.
The company can reduce errors and improve consistency by having all staff work from a single source of information, so that standard versions of manuals and directories can be made available, and data can be backed up from a single point on a scheduled basis, further ensuring consistency. For Indiana 1st Partner Inc, networks will be an incredibly useful tool to manage customer orders and inventory. In cooperation with the database, the network will be the most important tool for ensuring timely customer service.
It can reduce costs and improve efficiency by storing information in one centralized database and streamlining working practices. This will make it possible for the staff to deal with more customers at the same time by accessing customer and product databases. Network administration can be centralized, less IT support is required costs are cut through sharing of peripherals such as printers, scanners, external discs, tape drives and Internet access.
Use Cases in Systems Analysis and Design
A software system is brought into existence to serve its users. Therefore, to build a successful system Indiana 1st Partner Inc must know what its prospective users want and need.
The term user refers not only to human users but to other systems. In this sense, the term user represents someone or something (such as another system outside the proposed system) that interacts with the system being developed.
A use case helps the organization to define goals. A use case captures functional requirements and creates what is probably the most important step in publishing a web site. It is the most important tool to define the company’s goals.
The most important aspect of a use case is that it is a tool to effectively lay out how to implement an analysis of the present and future systems. It also includes a design process. The use cases is effective in evaluating every single step in the process and creating alternate design.
In general, the use cases identified in week 3 were essential to establishing requirements of the tables that needed to be included and the programming required making use of stored data.
(1) The customer will enter the site which will preview promotional items. (2) The customer will select from 4-5 different inventory categories. (3) The selection will result in the display of all items within the selected category. (4) Once an item within the category is selected, the item details to include picture, price, and description is displayed. (5) Payment method is determined. (6) Shipping method is finally determined.
The use cases, however, do not identify all required configuration in order to accomplish identified goals. Further, potential changes in circumstances that result in an adjusted process have not been addressed in the use cases. Therefore, such potential deviations from day-to-day processing will be assessed in the design of the products.
Internal and External Stakeholders
Today, all players in business are concerned with the interest and impact of different people and groupings. Organizations operate within a complex system of interests and influences. Management has to assess and evaluate these external forces in order to adjust them with corporate objectives. These individuals and groups who depend on the organization to fulfill their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organization depends, are called stakeholders.
Having said that, Indiana 1st Partner Inc is a newly founded corporation and it has internal and external stakeholders. Therefore, in its current status it has an obligation to answer to various internal and external stakeholders. These include a Board of Directors, shareholders, employees, customers, creditors, suppliers, government and so forth.
Internal stakeholders are members of the business organization such as shareholders, managers and employees, and they are providing the capital and the initial workforce. In addition, they are very integral to the day-to-day operations.
External stakeholders are not members of the business. Some of them, such as local government customers and the community; however, have great impact on the organization. Customers buy the goods and services, such as used cars and spare parts. Indiana 1st Partner Inc must understand when it builds its web-based sales it also must continue to meet the needs of its customers. Otherwise, it will fail to make profit.
All the above stakeholders will be impacted greatly the effectiveness of the technology implementations. A quick and efficient implementation will reduce the risks and put Indiana 1st Partner Inc on the right path to success immediately.
Risks
The assessment of risk is an integral part of any organization’s life. To be competitive and create profits, risks are taken. However, they are often not managed well. Indiana 1st Partner Inc is facing issues dealing with implementing a system. The company should develop a process to analyze alternatives and integrate the appropriate opportunity into the company’s system.
Indiana 1st Partner Inc will be considering the 5 major risks that affect every organization. These are growth risk, technology risk, marketing risk, financial risk and team management risk.
Indiana 1st Partner Inc will begin by developing an internal control and corporate governance system. This process includes defining and implementing compliance steps and processes. Next, the company will recommend a preventative solution that incorporates risk mitigation. This part of the process includes utilizing systems and organizations for compliance techniques. Finally, the company will utilize a problem solving approach to determine which solutions to implement into the compliance effort. The company will begin to implement its enterprise risk management system by developing an appropriate internal control and corporate governance system.
Finally, Indiana 1st Partner Inc must take some basic steps to minimize online risks. The first step is to provide training to its staff members to exercise common sense. Phishing scams use e-mail messages or Websites that appear to come from legitimate sources, but are actually attempts to steal the identity of unsuspecting users. The most common scams are requests for company’s information, and offers that seem too good to be true. The use of firewalls and updated antivirus software are also essential. In addition, Indiana 1st Partner Inc must set its own security policy to govern and control who has access to what regions internally and what they can do externally. The company also can protect its website and its customer’s transactions using digital certificates.
Project Costs
Indiana 1st Partner Inc will be funded by its shareholders. The company will have a great start in the United States, and it has a bright future of potential to grow internationally with the help of web-based sales. The following is the estimated total cost for the execution of the online business.
Net Present Value
The first consideration is a net present value (NPV) evaluation for the project. This calculation evaluates a future stream of benefits and expenses by converting them to present values. A discount rate is used to discount future benefits and the total sum of discounted costs is subtracted from the benefits. The relevant formula for NPV considers: the time of the cash flow (t), the total time of the project (n), the discount rate (r), the net cash flow (the amount of cash) at that point in time, the capital outlay at the beginning of the investment time (Wikipedia, 2007).
To analyze Indiana 1st Partner Inc at a discount rate of 10 percent, for a project life span of 10 years, with the current estimated budget of $18,500 for this project. The net present value will be -$4,290.71. If Indiana 1st Partner Inc accepts this project with a negative NPV of -$4,290.71, this is financially equivalent to investment today and receiving nothing in return. Therefore, the total value of the company would decrease by -$4,290.71.
The sensitivity analysis shows that changes in the discount rate of 5 percent have a larger impact on the value of the net present value which is increased to -$643.48. As the Indiana 1st Partner Inc. puts more money, for example $700.00 every 3 years, the net present value will be positive. Indiana 1st Partner Inc will be able to create a very reliable and valuable technology if the technology advancement is available in the market.
Based on the above assumptions, it will be 10 to 13 years before it Indiana 1st Partner Inc will make any profit on its investment. However, the actual sales of its products will be the main drivers in the total profitability of the organization. Indiana 1st Partner Inc will mainly depend on its newly developed web site to take off its business and to create image and an efficient customer service tool.
Performance Metrics
Establishing metrics is crucial to any organization, especially in technology related company projects. Metrics permit organizations to measure its performance against industry sectors to determine how well the company is doing. Furthermore, metrics allow organizations to evaluate and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its processes.
According to Gold, K. (2004), all websites present choices to their visitors. Whenever a choice is made by a visitor a “conversion point” exists that generates two metrics: (1) cost of conversion and (2) rate of conversion. The key is to identify the organization’s significant conversion points, which if chosen most often by visitors, will lead to the achievement of the business goals.
Based on Gold, K. (2004) there are 5 metrics related to online business which operate with the use of the internet. These metrics includes conversion rate, cost per visitor, cost per customer, value per visitor and cost per prospect, lead, or referral. Conversion rate relates to the number of visitors. According to the dictionary defines a conversion rate as “the number of visitors who took a desired action divided by the total number of visitors in a given time period (typically, per month).” Desired action includes a visitor signing up for buying a used auto or used spare parts. The most crucial conversion rates are those directly associated with the achievement of Indiana 1st Partner Inc business’ goals.
Cost per Visitor relates to how much money Indiana 1st Partner would spend to drive one visitor to the website. For example, if the company spent $100 to drive 1,000 unique visitors to the website, then the cost per visitor is $0.10. Cost per Prospect, Lead, or Referral : The cost per prospect, lead or referral is the “cost per visitor” times the number of unique visitors needed to produce one prospect, lead or referral.
Cost per customer is related to cost per visitor and demonstrates how many unique visitors are required to produce a sale. Finally, value per visitor is a metric that uses several metrics to provide the overall value of each unique visitor the web site.
These metrics together will give important information to determine how effective the website is in attracting customers, and how effective its products are. It is the tangible numbers that will help Indiana 1st Partner Inc plan for the future.
Finally, using metrics for monitoring performance is fundamental for all organizations. Metrics help organizations focus on what is important for the company to survive and compete well in the market. In addition, metrics are used to determine how well the company’s processes are really and what it can do to maintain high quality. By implementing metrics, companies are able to evaluate how to execute better quality performance activities.
Conclusion
In general, management of Indiana 1st Partner Inc. understands that technology project planning is not easy. It is clear that of the high costs associated with building a web-based business and the possibility that the system they’ve designed may not yield the results they may have hoped for due to mistakes during development. It is very important that Indiana 1st Partner Inc managers need to t remember that the problems will come into being with all new projects and it doesn’t matter how much time they spend in planning this project. It is highly recommended that Indiana 1st Partner Inc will need to have plan B for any eventualities.
References
Fosdicki, H. (2005). Managing Database Services. Retrieved from University of Phoenix website on September 20, 2007
Graham, P. (2003). Hackers & Painted. Retrieved from website on September 21, 2007
Haag, S Baltzaman, P & Phillips. (2006). Business Driven Technology. McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston
Knuth, D. (2007). The Art of Computer Programming. Retrieved from web site on September 20, 2007
Malacinki, A., Dominick, S. & Harrick, T. (2001). Measuring Web Traffic. Retrieved from web site at on September 20, 2007
O’Brien, JA & Marakas,. (2006). Management Information Systems. 7th ed. McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston
Tanebaum, A. (2006). Computer Networks. 4th edition. Retrieved from website on September 19, 2007