Systems analysis and redesign project phase 1 instructions

The System Analysis and Redesign Project focuses on an original private cloud-based solution for a company you understand well. The purpose of this project is to ensure that you know how to analyze an organization and its’ associated systems. Therefore, the student is the architect. Successful projects will have a brand-new design of a missing feature that is not seen in existing information systems. The project should highlight your advanced skills in information systems, displaying your knowledge of all domains of our field.

A key objective of the project is to analyze and design a new system that can function in a cloud-based and/or a distributed computing architectural environment. This system should replace an existing system at a company or a Church or another organization that you understand well.

The re-designed system will be based upon at least one strong and well-respected information systems and/or informatics framework and several associated standards. The framework and associated standards (e.g. COBIT, NIST) will be used to benchmark the existing system to the new system and determine if improvements were made. A summary spreadsheet should be included in your final project phase that shows how the new system meets improved framework guidelines and sub-standards. Sub-standards that specifically identify how an information system needs to be implemented are mandatory in contrast to subjective designs.

All projects must use an original and new application/software design diagrams and concepts. You must identify a new need that has yet to be programmed/coded. Use of traditional classes/databases/sequence diagrams such as what you see in existing ERPs, CRMs, web forms, etc. will not be given credit. For example, tables or classes like accounts, persons, customers, employees, sales, orders, logins, movies/videos, inventory, hotel reservations, restaurant orders, store fronts, shopping carts, and many more will not count toward points in this class. It is your responsibility to check to make sure what you design is new and original. We want to see what you can design; not what others have already designed. Thus, please do not submit designs of existing information systems.

As you will find, the design must also result in a working system that can be implemented. Designs that do not show proficiency in parallel programming code (e.g. a working object-oriented class implemented in Java, C++, Python, and/or C#) are not very valuable at the more granular stage of design and thus this requirement. Software engineers and/or developers should be able to interpret your diagrams and accurately create the designed system with the level of detail provided.

All phases require screenshots for credit that have details in the screenshot showing your personal computer was used and include an operating system date/time. You must use optimized jpegs. All jpegs should be 50KB or less and/or the total Word document file size should be less than 1MB. Word documents that are too large cannot be checked by our plagiarism detection tool and thus we cannot grade your work without this validation.

Your project will be separated into 3 phases:

Phase 1: Introduction, problem statement, feasibility study, project plan, and the conclusion

Phase 2: Methodology to compare the old and new systems and the systems analysis

Phase 3: Benchmark results of the old and new systems and the systems design

Phase 1 Report Requirements

This report must contain the following elements:

1. Please see the grading rubric for all minimums.
2. Cover page
3. Table of Contents (TOC) that uses proper headings for automatic updating.
4. Every section must be well supported with scholarly information systems journal articles.
5. Introduction and conclusion sections
   1. You will write an introduction and conclusion to the project that is at least 500 words and well supported by scholarly journal articles. Each phase requires these.
   2. The conclusion should be the last heading and conclude the current phase and state the upcoming objectives and deliverables in the next phase.
   3. This should include a description of the client organization (including the organizational unit or functions served by the system), motivation for the system (that is, why the client organization wants the system, what problems it is encountering, what opportunities would such a system provide), the users of the potential system, and the general functionality the client wants in the system (the users and general functionality form a statement of scope for the project and system).
6. Problem statement
   1. You must select either a business you work with or an organization you know well and have expertise on that allows you to re-design a new information system feature using your knowledge.
   2. At least 500 words should exist that supports an original new software feature to be designed and the associated information system problem(s) that will be addressed.
   3. Note the problem must meet later project specifications. Please assure it operates within an information system environment that allows all diagram requirements to be met.
      1. It must be able to be designed into an innovative, highly available, secure, and scalable private cloud-based information system.
      2. It must have key information system components due to design requirements such as an associated storage area network, database, local area network, wide area network.
      3. Use of any existing third-party cloud solutions like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, RedHat and many others will not be accepted. The student is the cloud architect and should therefore design an original on-premise private cloud for the company identified in the project problem that operates in their datacenter.
   4. Although phase 3 of the project stops at the design stage of the SDLC, assure the feasibility study and project plan covers the planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance aspects of the SDLC.
   5. The plan should focus on updating the old information system to the new private on-premise cloud-based information system.
   6. Successful project plans will exceed the textbook examples for each component.
      1. Comprehensive project charter and plan documents.
      2. Project scope, alternatives, and feasibility documents.
      3. Project schedule, tasks, resource estimations, labor, time, owners, and comprehensive work break down structure (WBS).
         1. Use of Microsoft Project or alternative open source tools is necessary for professional level documents.
      4. Financial budget, cost, and benefit analysis documents and spreadsheets including line item pricing estimations.
      5. The final outcomes should address these from a managerial and strategic business perspective.