300585 - Systems Analysis & Design Workshop 9 Workshops will run to cover the practical aspects of the topic each week with two workshop case studies that runs across the whole semester and some other examples time to time. The workshop runs in two parts Workshop Quiz Students to visit app.gosoapbox.com, click Join and use access code ‘wsquiz’ to attempt the workshop quiz. Pls note this quiz is not assessable. Students must attempt this quiz in the time allocated by the workshop facilitator/tutor, followed by discussions on the student attempt and the topics Workshop questions This document contains 2 parts Part A contains Classwork case study and questions that are done in workshop with the tutor in Groups of 2 students. Task 1 would always refer to Workshop Case study and some additional case studies in rest of the task. Part B contains questions and tasks related to case studies that individual students need to answer in their own time and submit as Portfolio exercises as per the Portfolio due dates given in the Learning guide. Part A: Workshop work to be done during the workshop Task 1 Willow brook School is a small private school that has retained your services as a systems analyst to assist in the development of a new information system for the school’s administrative needs. Background The Willow brook School staff accepted your interface, output, input, and data designs. Now you will determine the system architecture, which translates the logical design of an information system into a physical blueprint. The following are the System Requirements from an architectural perspective. 1. Availability: The school IS would offer different services to store data related to enrolment requests, admissions and various students and staff activities once students are enrolled in programs at school. The schools number one Priority is the availability of the data. Consider that the school stores huge amount of student information and information pertaining to staff and school accounts, it is of huge importance that data is accessible via the database even if application interface of IS is down so that school activities can be performed as normal. 2. Data Integrity: Data integrity requirement varies within the system. The most important data is student information followed by data related to school such as staff details and school data entries such as attendance details, student activities and library activities. It is essential that this data is never lost and the system must guarantee that each data is stored correctly and accurately. In contrast, data lost from the accounting system is easily recovered by information from the bank where there is a record of the transactions made by the school. 3. Performance: The information system is expected to be capable of coping with the increase in numbers as the school grows. The school though does not expect very high levels of performance in comparison to large organizations such as banks. 4. Security: The school IS contains personal and financial information about students and staff and hence should be kept secure. This should be done by preventing any unauthorized access to the information system, ensuring secure data transfer between various parts of the system and also by keeping safe administrative policies. 5. Growth: The school expects to grow in student numbers on an exponential basis and will be doing timely upgrades to its existing infrastructure and database to cater to future growth. 6. Backup and Recovery: The school IS will contain various types of information about students and staff and the school also understands that the system will encounter problems from time to time. Hence they need mechanisms for recovery from such problems and issues. A key factor in determining the system's success is how quickly the system can recover from failure. Backup and recovery must be smooth and non-disruptive. One way to ensure that the system can easily recover from a system crash is to make sure the data is duplicated elsewhere on the system. Q1. Design system architecture for Willow brook School based on file server or client/server architecture? Discuss advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when making this decision within the context of Willow brook School. Q2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of client-server networking? Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of Server-Client computing Task 2: Sandia Medical Devices (SMD) – Running Case study Based on the discussion of hardware, Internet, and software technology trends in lecture 10, it should be clear to you that the Real-Time Glucose Monitoring (RTGM) system is an interesting combination of older and newer technology. Except for the interface to software and data on mobile phones, the server-side portions of the system are a relatively traditional business-oriented application that can be implemented by using old-fashioned technology. What makes the RTGM system “new” are its client-side functions, including the automated collection of glucose levels, the regular transmission of that data to servers, the integration of communication between patients and health-care providers, and the integration of those functions within software installed on a portable device that can be carried in a user’s pocket. With that in mind, answer the following questions. You may need to do some additional research to fully address them. Q1. Should the client-side software be deployed as a browser-based application or as an installable app? Be sure to consider such issues as client/server communication requirements and frequency, user-interface quality, and portability across devices and operation systems. Q2. When recorded glucose levels generate high priority alerts, physicians or other health-care providers initiate direct contact with the patient. An ordinary phone call over the cellular phone network is one way to support direct contact. Because any client-side device used with the RTGM system must be fully Internet-capable, an Internet telephony application, such as Skype, is another possible way of supporting synchronous voice or video communication with the patient. Should Skype or a similar Internet telephony application be used with the RTGM system? Why or why not? If such an application is used, should it support video? Why or why not? Part B: Portfolio exercises to be included in Portfolio submissions Task 1 Capstone Case: New Century Wellness group New Century Wellness Group offers a holistic approach to healthcare with an emphasis on preventive medicine as well as traditional medical care. In your role as an IT consultant, you will help New Century develop a new information system. Background The New Century partners accepted your interface, output, input, and data designs and your recommendation to install a server and desktop computer clients on a local area network. At this point, you review your notes and plan the architecture for the New Century system. New Century Wellness Group has four primary care physicians, one nurse practitioner (NP), four physical therapists, one registered nutritionist, eight nurses, and eight support staff. Each of the physicians, NP, therapists, nutritionist and support staff has their own workstations. The nurses work from one of three nurse stations that should have at least three computers at each station. Each nurse station will have a high-volume network laser printer and a scanner attached to one workstation. The checkin/checkout area will have an impact printer for multipart forms and a network laser printer. The network will include an online backup service, Internet access via a cable connection with a local cable company. The partners want you to ensure the physical network is scalable, and able to handle the electronic medical record phase after the business support system is implemented. The electronic medical record phase will require a computer or thin client to be installed in each exam room and procedure room. They will also use portable computers and tablets to access patient information as the providers move from room to room around the clinic. The hardware requirements are only part of the final installation plan which you must develop. You should start by reviewing the diagrams that you prepared in the systems analysis phase, and the ERDs and table designs that you created in the systems design phase. Then, review the system architecture checklist at the beginning of this lecture 10. With this information, you should be able to prepare a system design specification. Q. What would be the benefits of using a wireless network? Are there any drawbacks? Task 2 Passing Lane Passing Lane is a small trucking company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Passing Lane’s information system consists of a file server and three workstations where freight clerks enter data, track shipments, and prepare freight bills. To perform their work, the clerks obtain data from the server and use database and spreadsheet programs stored on stand-alone PCs to process the data. At your meeting yesterday, Passing Lane’s president approved your recommendation to create a relational database to handle operations and provide links for the company’s shippers and customers. What would be the advantages of selecting a Web-based architecture for Passing Lane’s system?