implementation of an ITC system

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Identification

Problem

There is a company called BlackBurry's, who supply home insurance. They have thousands of costumers all over the UK. Every year they have to send out a renewal confirmation letter to all of their clients, stating that they need to renew their membership details. Each year they ask a different group of staff, to write the letter another group of staff to post then off and another group to file all of the reconfirmation mails which have been returned back to the company from their clients. After they have been received they all need to processed, according to the answer in the letter.

They have a team of 40 members of staff, who work on creating and building the databases. They have to meet every day to work on this together, and it is very inconvenient, as they all have to work on it at the same time. They have 14 sectaries, which have to sit by the phone all day. They take phone messages, and relay them to staff in the complex, arrange meetings between senior staff and potential clients and to relay messages from phone calls. The only way in which BlackBurry's Ltd are able to contact clients or visa versa is by phone fax and post. These are the only forms of communication, and they are extremely inefficient, especially for urgent problems and issues.

The End User is:

BlackBurry's Ltd.,

33, The Ridgeway,

Stanmore,

Middlesex,

H7 4BE,

England

They have asked me, and my team to implement an ITC and computer system for them so they will have a more efficient working environment. They also inquired about a new look for their business and want us to design and create a logo and business card for them.

I will solve this problem by creating a WAN (Wide Area Network) throughout the complex, and a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) in some of the other parts of the complex, so partners and senior staff will be able to take their laptop, anywhere in the building and they will be able to connect to servers, connect to printers, and share recourses, so they will be able to edit databases for all the clients in real time. They can use email as another source of communication. The email server will be located in the complex. I will also be implementing a new range of computers (desktops) and/Laptops.

They asked me if I can set up email accounts for each member of staff. The accounts will be based on a POP3/SMTP server. The connection will be encrypted with 256bit encryption. (Encryption is a way of coding the information in a file or e-mail message so that if it is intercepted by a third party as it travels over a network it cannot be read. Only the persons sending and receiving the information have the key and this makes it unreadable to anyone except the intended recipient.)

I have suggested a real time database development, in which they can all work on a database, and save it to the same location, or save a local copy and merge it at a later time. Also a mail merge feature would be extremely useful as they wont have to hand write all the letters them selves, and they can send the same letters to multiple clients.

There are many advantages of using ICT methods as appose to manual methods. These include; instant communication with clients, more forms of advertising, less manual work and labour, less time consuming, more work is achieved in less time due to the use of computers, and it is less money being spent in the long run. When using manual methods in a large business you have to have a huge filing system with all the clients and all their records. For example, when ICT is involved you can create manage and build a database of all the clients and all of their records can be stored on a single computer.

The quantitative objectives are:

* To build a WAN network through out the complex

* To send a letter to every member using the mail merge feature

* To create a database of all the members using real time data base development.

* To introduce a ICT network to solve all manual labour problems and create a higher working efficiency

* To Train staff to use the computers and network

* To introduce brand new desktops and laptops

* To establish two Acer Microsoft Windows NT Servers with Intel Xeon processor and a 300GB Hard drive, and a 2048 (2GB) Capacity of DDR RAM. (for networking storage of programs and documents)

* To install 3 Lexmark Z600 series Laser printers in the network

* To implement a Firewall in to the servers

* To install Anti-Virus protection throughout the network

* To setup a couple of network bridges and Ethernet switches

* To create a new business card

* To create a new logo for BlackBurry's Ltd.

Analysis

A suitable office package would be Microsoft Office Professional. This has a Word Processing Package, (for mail merging, and writing letters) a Email Client (schedule appointments and organize email from clients) A Spread Sheet package (for high mathematic calculations when calculating income outcome, and taxes) a Databases Package, (for all of their customers, addresses, phone numbers, and credentials) and a Presentation package (to create multimedia presentations and slide shows about companies improvement)

An exceptional database development program called Oracle 10g will be installed on to the network, as this is the worlds leading software in database development. It is not only offers the best database user interface, but it had effortless problem checking and data consolidation which is ideal for BlackBurry's Ltd. because of their large number of clients. It also specialises in real time data base development which is one of the key features needed by BlackBurry's Ltd.

Suitable specifications for a desktop for this business, taking in account that a large percentage of their systems will only be used for data and word processing:

For the desktops:

Genuine Windows XP Professional with SP2 (this supports domains and is especially efficient for networking, as domain controllers and networking administrators have a lot more control over all the network. All software is compatible with this operating system, such as an office package or networks administrate software; like Win VNC. Hardware, also offers a wide range of compatibility)

512MB of RAM (random access memory) this will be sufficient for a complete Office package. Including a email client, presentation software, word processing software, spreadsheet software, database software, a DTP (desktop publishing package/software).

(Random Access Memory or RAM is a type of computer storage whose contents can be accessed in any order. This is in contrast to sequential memory devices such as magnetic tapes, discs drives (CD-ROM, CD-/+RW, DVD, in which the mechanical movement of the storage medium forces the computer to access data in a fixed order. It is usually implied that RAM can be both written to and read from, in contrast to Read-Only Memory or ROM. RAM is usually used for primary storage in computers to hold actively-used code used in programmes.)

512 RAM will be sufficient, for medium demanding applications, such as an office package. This will be divided in to two 256 MB chips.

A 40-60 GB (Giga Byte) 7200RPM, (revolutions per minute) hard drive will be sufficient, on a SATA interface, (instead of the traditional IDE/ATA interface as most of the software will be stored on a local Network server. (Network: A computer system attached to a LAN that runs a Network Operating System, NOS, allowing a community of workstations connected to the LAN to access resources available on the file server such as disk storage and printers. Also known as a Client/Server relationship.)
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(Hard Drive: The hard drive is the main storage capacity of a computer. A set of circular, flat, platter-shaped pieces of metal, each with a special coating of magnetic particles that is capable of storing electronically created data. You can think of your hard drive as a filing cabinet within and for your computer.)

The graphics card will be an integrated on to the motherboard NVIDIA GeForce 5200 FX card, not on a PCI interface as this will cost more and this is more efficient to handle. The card will have 128 MB of ram, as they ...

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