The textbook introduces Ridgeline Mountain Outfitters (RMO), which will provide the basis for our final project. RMO's strategic information systems plan calls for building a new Consolidated Sales and Marketing System (CSMS) project. The objective of the project is to have you, the student, do some of the common analysis and design tasks and demonstrate some of the skills that a successful systems analyst would use to plan, develop, and implement the desired CSMS. Everything required for the project is demonstrated and explained in the textbook. Obviously, since this is an academic exercise, all tasks and skills covered in the course cannot be addressed.
The course project requires you to complete two reports that cover the eight steps indicated below. See the Course Calendar for the due dates for each report. Project Report 2 focuses on some of the tasks associated with developing and implementing the plan proposed in Project Report 1.
Each of the steps, as discussed in the textbook, includes the use of some tools and methodologies such as data flow diagrams (DFDs), entity-relationship diagrams (ERDs), work breakdown structures (WBS), and so forth. Be sure to include examples of the appropriate methods or tools when completing each section of the report.
In presenting the various sections of the final project reports, include discussions of alternatives to the final approaches chosen wherever appropriate.PROJECT REPORT 1 (STEPS 1-4)
Project Report 1 (steps 1?4) focuses on defining, justifying, and planning the project.
Step 1: Define the project
This step should clearly define the project including, at a minimum: a description of the business need to be addressed, a statement of the project's scope and general feasibility, a "ballpark" schedule, and a resource plan and budget.
Step 2: Identify system requirements
This step should discuss the analysis activities associated with understanding and documenting the business needs and processing requirements for the proposed system. What are the desired outputs of the system and what are the major data requirements? Also, the constraints that are expected should be discussed.
Step 3: Develop a feasibility study
This section of the report will use the items developed in steps 1 and 2 to specify the project's risks and probability of its success, and will confirm the project's feasibility in each of the dimensions mentioned in the textbook: economic, technological, organizational, etc.
Step 4: Schedule the project
This final section of Report 1 will develop a detailed project schedule and indicate specific resource needs.