Aims
“Data Science School” is one of the well-known Registered Training organizations of Australia. The owners of this organization have expressed their interests in developing information system for keeping the records of the students enrolled with them. The aims and objectives of the project are being provided in the section below:
The primary aim of the project is to develop a student information management system that would allow both students and their agents to utilize the services of DSS.
- To develop an automated information management system for the students
- To put an end to the manual record maintenance system prevalent at Data Science School
- To ensure a secured and error –free system of record maintenance
The term ‘System development methodology’ is used to refer to the particular framework according to which the entire process of designing and implementing an information system is structured, planned, conducted and monitored. Some of the most widely utilized system development methodologies include the waterfall model, the agile development methodology, and the spiral model and so on and so forth. Among the said models, the waterfall model would be utilized in this project.
The waterfall model, also known as the linear-sequential life cycle model, is considered as one of the most traditional methods of software or information system development. The model divides all the project activities into the following phases:
- System requirements identification phase: Identification of the specific requirements of the system being implemented
- System Analysis: Development of the schemas, models and business rules to be implemented in the project
- Design phase: Designing the architecture of the system to be implemented
- Coding phase: The practical implementation of the system
- Testing phase: Testing the functional operations of the system
- Operations phase: Installing the system at the client side and providing the post implementation services
The waterfall model would be utilized for the following reasons:
- Allows the identification of specific requirements
- Identification of resources (human resources, time, and schedule) required for project is possible in the initial phases
- No ambiguity in project scope or requirement
The functional and non-functional requirements of the project have been highlighted in the section below:
The student information system being developed through the project should support the undermentioned functionalities:
- The system being developed should allow the students interested in enrolling themselves to “Data Science School” to create their own accounts on the online portal and update their names, addresses, emails and other details in the same. The students would also be able to upload the details of the VISA and other official documents they possess on the very same account.
- The system being designed should allow the employees of “Data Science School” to maintain all the records of the school using automated methods.
- The system being designed should allow the students and their agents to view the details of the courses conducted by the school and apply to the same.
- The system should also provide the students with the detail of the progress they made on the courses they undertake.
- The system must allow the students to pay their course fees through online payment gateways.
- The system should include reporting facilities: however, this particular functionality would be available only to the employees of DSS.
The non-functional requirements of the project are:
- The system should be accessible through all well-known web browsers
- The system should have very low response time
- The system should include secured mechanisms for accessing the student details
- The system should be reliable and easy to maintain
Data Science School Information Management System |
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Cost Benefit Analysis |
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Year of Project |
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Year 0 |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Year 5 |
Total |
||
Net economic benefit of the project |
$0.00 |
$78,000.00 |
$78,000.00 |
$78,000.00 |
$78,000.00 |
$78,000.00 |
||
Discount rate @ 5% |
1 |
0.95 |
0.9 |
0.85 |
0.8 |
0.75 |
||
PV of benefits |
0 |
$74,100.00 |
$70,200.00 |
$66,300.00 |
$62,400.00 |
$58,500.00 |
||
NPV of All Benefits |
$0.00 |
$74,100.00 |
$144,300.00 |
$210,600.00 |
$273,000.00 |
$331,500.00 |
$331,500.00 |
|
One Time Cost of the project |
$150,000.00 |
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Recurring Costs of the project |
$0.00 |
$6,000.00 |
$6,000.00 |
$6,000.00 |
$6,000.00 |
$6,000.00 |
||
Discount rate @ 5% |
1 |
0.95 |
0.9 |
0.85 |
0.8 |
0.75 |
||
PV of Recurring Costs of the project |
$0.00 |
$5,700.00 |
$5,400.00 |
$5,100.00 |
$4,800.00 |
$4,500.00 |
||
NPV of all Benefits |
$150,000.00 |
$155,700.00 |
$161,100.00 |
$166,200.00 |
$171,000.00 |
$175,500.00 |
$175,500.00 |
|
Overall NPV |
$156,000.00 |
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Overall ROI |
0.89 |
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Break Even Analysis |
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Yearly NPV cash flow |
$150,000.00 |
$68,400.00 |
$64,800.00 |
$61,200.00 |
$57,600.00 |
$54,000.00 |
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Overall NPV cash flow |
$150,000.00 |
$81,600.00 |
$16,800.00 |
-$44,400.00 |
-$102,000.00 |
-$156,000.00 |
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Project Break Even: Between year 2 and 3 |
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Break even fraction |
0.74 |
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Therefore, break occurs at 2.74 years |
Table 1: Cost Benefit Analysis
The calculations provided in the table above indicate that the total development cost of the project is $150,000, while the discount rate is 5 percent. Therefore, the net present value of the project after 5 years is the Net present value after 5 years is $175,500.00.
The calculations also indicate that the break-even period of the project is 2.74 years.
The following tasks are associated with the project under consideration:
WBS |
Task Name |
0 |
Data Science School Information Management System |
1 |
Project starts |
2 |
Project Initiation phase |
2.1 |
Defining specific requirements of the system |
2.2 |
developing project scope |
2.3 |
Developing project budget and schedule |
2.4 |
Developing project charter |
3 |
Project planning phase |
3.1 |
Developing the project plan |
3.2 |
Procuring the hardware and software resources |
3.3 |
Developing the prototype system |
3.4 |
prototype reviewed and accepted by client |
4 |
Project Execution phase |
4.1 |
Developing the information system |
4.2 |
system testing |
4.3 |
Implementing the system at client site |
5 |
Project closure |
5.1 |
Project documentation |
5.2 |
Releasing resources |
6 |
Project completed |
Table 2: Work Breakdown structure of the project
Figure 1: Gantt chart of the project
It is evident from the WBS dictionary and Gantt chart of the project that WBS of the project is essentially utilized in developing the project schedule. In fact, associating an estimated time period to each of the project activities leads to the development of project schedule.
The schedule estimation of the project has been based on the previous experiences of the project manager, as gained from working on similar projects Thus, the schedule is reasonable.
The stakeholders associated with the project are:
- John Smith and his family members, as they are the owners of Data Science School
- The Project Manager
- All the resources working on the project
- The students enrolled to Data Science School
- The agents having business relationships with Data Science School
The following techniques would be utilized in the project:
- Interviewing: The owners of DSS would be interviewed in order to gain information regarding the functionalities that they want to be included the newly developed system. Interviewing the owners would help allow the project team to collect detailed knowledge regarding the specific requirements of the project.
- Observation: The project team members would observe the day to day activities of the organization, so as to collect information regarding the manner in which the organization operates.
- Survey: The employees of DSS would be requested to participate in survey aimed at identifying the issue that they experience on a daily basis while managing the records of DSS.
Reflections and Conclusions
I was able to gain in-depth knowledge regarding project management systems through the research work that I conducted for documenting this assignment. I studied the various system development methodologies in details, besides gaining idea about the functional and non-functional requirements of any information system.
I also learnt the techniques of conducting the Cost Benefit Analysis of the project, along with the development of project schedules. Thus, it can be said that I gained a hands-on experience of project management while working on this assignment.
References
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