Benefits of a New System

Question:

Case Study on Monash Video Library.
 

Monash Video Library purchases video cassettes and loans them to the customers with an aim to make profit out of the same. The library was started at one location and a old PC package is used till date to manage all of the information. The business has now expanded to three more locations and each of them uses a standalone copy of the software.

The primary goals of the system and the business are to have a developed and an updated information system in place which would allow the management of loans in a simpler manner and would also provide enhanced features to have better customer experience.

The primary business objectives are to have increased loans to have maximum profits along with the simultaneous management of the database and improved delivery experience.

The current system makes use of an old PC package and the other three business locations also use a standalone copy of the system.  

The current system is not proficient enough to manage, monitor and track all the information in an accurate manner. The database is also not centralized leading to increased probability of risks and attacks.

There are innovative, better and automated systems that are available which are far superior in function and operation as compared to the current system used in terms of speed, reliability and accessibility.

With a new and updated information system in place, it would be possible to showcase the product catalogue, reserve the choice made by the customer, and manage the suppliers in a better way, easy tracking and auditing. 

It is necessary to gather data from all the probable resources and also to analyze the same in an accurate manner.

• Breaks down and explores up-to-date data from different sources and in different arrangements. 

• Investigates information keeping in mind the end goal to reach determinations and distinguish circumstances and end results connections to bolster authority choices, suggest a game-plan, or fathom hierarchical issues. 

• Plainly records sources and approves the exactness of information/data to determine irregularities. 

• Leads impromptu and standard investigations because of client needs, consolidating learning of parallel, progressing ventures into examination for clients. 

• Assembles, aggregates, and translates applicable information utilizing different information gathering procedures. 

• Distinguishes issues, issues, or opportunities and figures out whether activity is required. 

• Distinguishes patterns in information. 

• Influences outer systems to guarantee all pertinent data is coordinated into investigation and understanding of information. 

• Addresses with clients to comprehend their issues or worries keeping in mind the end goal to guarantee information, investigation, and reporting are utilized suitably. 

• Composes and creates information to react to reviews and information calls. 

• Performs verifiable slanting and projection examinations as fitting for key needs. 

• Looks for extra assets when crevices and irregularities or differences in information are found. 

These techniques give a depiction of the sensible stream of information through a business procedure. They don’t as a matter of course give insights about how choices are made or how undertakings are picked amid the procedure execution.

Logical Process Model: Function Hierarchy Diagram

To plan an application to give ideal advantages, the draftsman, fashioner and software engineers should altogether comprehend the information and procedures required. An amazing approach to pick up this comprehension also, get ready to execute programming is to deliberately and totally demonstrate business forms and the applicable information. Business forms speak to the stream of information through a progression of undertakings that are intended to bring about particular business results. This article surveys the ideas of business procedures and consistent procedure displaying. It is a helpful spot to begin understanding the ideas of business procedures and the advantages of displaying procedures and also information. 

Data Modeling is a process which is used to represent the business and the insides of the same with the help of a framework or a model. It represents the various entities that are involved in the system.

The following Entity-Relationship (ER) diagram shows the several entities that would be involved in the new system to be designed for Monash Video Library. The five prime entities involved would be:

• Member
• Video
• Category
• Supplier
• Purchase

Challenges and Risks

E-R Diagram

It is the process to predict and judge the viability of the system. The opportunities that have been suggested for the Monash Video Library are analyzed on different parameters as discussed below:

• Technical Feasibility

The suggested system would have an integrated solution to the required specifications with a centralized database server. These would be implemented on the latest hardware options and would be technically feasible in nature.

• Economic Feasibility

The cost and budget associated with the new system would revolve around the cost of the machine, development and testing cost along with the cost of the database and the network. It would come under the specified budget.

• Legal Feasibility

Data protection and information security along with adherence to the legal policies are the basic requirements that are expected to be fulfilled by the new system. The same would be implemented with the help of risk mitigation systems in place.

• Operational Feasibility

The business needs and the objectives can be rightfully fulfilled with the proposed solution and would be successful in the design and development.

• Scheduling Feasibility

The timeline that has been designed for the project is under the defined schedule and all the activities would be fulfilled according to the same. 

Functional Requirements

• Catalog Information
• Ability to have the catalog information clearly displayed on the application
• Ability to have the videos assigned to specific categories such as action, comedy, drama, romance and likewise
• Ability to hold a video by the member to purchase it later on
• Membership System
• Ability to track the loans that have been put on the member
• Ability to store the borrowing history of the member
• Ability to predict the choice of the members based on the history of borrowing
• Ability to track the pending loans or the ones that have been completed
• Purchasing Information System
• Ability to view the purchase history of the member
• Ability to negotiate with the supplier on the prices
• Ability to do and carry out auditing

• A simple to use client interface for the framework to give the capacity of simple access to the clients.
• Use of appropriate text styles, pictures, style and subjects to draw in the clients towards the application. A right design and foundation shading would likewise be secured under it.
• The system is ought to be sufficiently dependable to perform with no issue and ought to give back an obliged reaction to the inquiry of the client.
• The system must have the extent of versatility and extension keeping in mind the end goal to be at standard with the mechanical changes.
• Response time and turnaround time ought to be snappy in nature so that the client does not have any issues regarding speed.
• Easy routes ought to be actualized to permit the clients to comprehend the structure of the system and the few alternatives present on it.
• Availability of the system at all times and the minimal downtime in occurrence of an event.

The solution that has been proposed comprises of three sub-systems as:

• Catalog Information
• Membership Systems
• Purchasing Information System

The three locations that the business is expanded in to can have the access to the database from a centralized file server. The centralized file server will allow the ease of managing the data from one single point and will also be easier in the management of the same. 

Data protection and information security are the prime issues that emerge.

The first and the foremost issue that comes up in the case of threat to the security to the information is data breach. It occurs when the data is maliciously monitored or captured and is then used to perform a unethical or misleading activity. Next in the list is the data loss. There will be a lot many instances when the data would be sent over from a source to destination over the network. The data may be lost in between by unauthorized means. It is also possible if the resource at the destination end loses the key to decrypt the data. Another serious concern in the list is that related to the hacked interfaces and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These interfaces open the path for an intruder to enter in the system and gain unauthorized access to the same. Sharing of resources is a common practice in case of such scenarios. The shared access allows the increased possibility of attacks and may also result in unwanted sharing of information. Some of the other issues that may come up during the implementation could be account hijacking, denial of service, distributed denial of service and inadequate due diligence. There are also a number of malicious programs that are present which may attack the system and perform malicious activities. Programs such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses and logic bombs can have devastating effect on the system as far as data protection and information security are concerned. 

References

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Differentiating between Functional and Nonfunctional Requirements. (2016). SearchSoftwareQuality. Retrieved 25 May 2016, 

Feasibility Study  An Important aspect of Project Management | Simplilearn. (2016). Simplilearn.com. Retrieved 25 May 2016,

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The Top 10 Information Security Risks for 2015 – BerryDunn. (2014). Berrydunn.com. Retrieved 25 May 2016.