An Information Technology System For a School Essay

ANALYSISTo master(prenominal)tenance in investigation of the problem, two interviews were carried kayoed. One was with the domesticate principal, and the otherwise with the school administrator.In preparation of the interviews a list of topics for discussion was drawn up, and include these checkpoints* What the unexampled form hopes to achieve, exactly.* The problems in the current placement.* The methods currently employed to commentary information into the ashes.* The culture that is requi tearing per file, i.e., for each(prenominal) student what surface argonas leave base have to be infix.* The format of the required output.* The volume of data requireed, e.g., how many students atomic number 18 expected to enroll, or how many new(a) teachers leave be required.* Any hardware or software constraints, much(prenominal) as the new dodge but beingness able to run with a particular(a) operating dodging.Interview 1This interview was with the schools principal, Mrs. Monica Stakich. It took plate in her office, on appointment, and was as followsQ Mrs. Stakich, your school has built up so hotshotr a reputation of excellence over the years as shown by its grades. How do you intend to maintain this?A Well, the school has always prided itself on its academic achievements, and this is due to our students being dedicated in their studies, which shows itself in the victor grades. We go forth be fine if we bear continue this trend.Q You are duty period to new custom-built premises and are as well expanding your range of activities offered. w herefore have you made this decision?A We are changing our spot to an authorized A level Center. As such, we will need the get hold of facilities to meet the requirements for this prototype. Also, the school expects a significant profit in enrolments at both O and A Levels, so the space is needed to win for these new students.Q How many students do you currently have in your world? And how many do you expect to enroll in the future?A The school currently caters to a population of approximately 2500 students, but we expect an influx of around 1000 students next year.Q How do you gate a file of a student or a teacher? Do you keep it yourself on your computer or does the secretary do it for you?A I can memory access files of both students and customers from my own PC, as lucky as any other file, such as stationery, electricity bills, etc. But I essential also concentrate to a greater extent on the task of running the school itself, so I usually permit my secretary handle all the files. She herself gets these files from the school administration of rules administrator. I completely check a file myself if we need to consider care uprighty the person, or file in question, for example a teacher for an of the essence(predicate) position.Q give thanks you very much for your time, Mrs. Stakich.A Youre welcome.Analysis of the InterviewThe interview, on analysis, showed the school to be result-driven, as indicated by the caputmistresss comments. But more importantly, it also showed that she did not focus on the file input and convalescence brass in particular herself, and on the schools information arranging in general. The actual file control and handling was carried out by the system administrator, who could provide us with insight of the current systems massageings.Interview 2An interview was arranged with Mr. Mark Glasse, the system administrator, in his office.It proceeded as followsQ How long have you been working here, Mr. Glasse?A Its been around four years since I started wok for the school.Q How many times has the system been updated since you started work?A Weve updated thrice so far.Q What diversitys had been made during these updates?A Well, once we had to increase our criminal record space to around 10 GB to cope with change magnitude student information on Health Cards, as was required by a new Government law. Another time we had to modify our input result, it being too manual, with almost unnecessary paperwork gnarly, so we had to purchase new input devices.And there was also the time when we had to call in a professional warranter company to install anti-hacking broadcasts when our database was actually hacked into.Q What input devices do you work with? How is output shown?A I use a keyboard, a mouse, a web-camera and a scanner as input devices. Output is displayed on a monitor, or on a plotter as is appropriate. And, of course, I often have to print out some files using a laser printer.Q And your system configuration?A I use a Pentium 2, 333 MHz Processor, with 32 MB RAM, 4 GB hard record book with Windows 98 as my operating system. I also have other software such as MS Visual Studio and MS property 2000 installed on my computer.Q Mr. Glasse, what is the general procedure that you follow if you were asked to, for example, update a file?A First of all, I would have to get an clear notice from so meone in an authoritative position, for example the Headmistress, or the Head Administrator. This note would be attached to a Modification Form wake details of the file that needs to be updated. The authorization slip has to be filed into a drawer in my desk, and I just have to access the file using the code given on the Form and change the required fields. I have the Menu on my Desktop, Mrs. Stakich and I are the only ones who k direct the Password so Ive never intellection about changing it, once in the records I go to the attend Command to call up the file in question, and make the changes required. On exiting the database, I go have to fill out another form, a Proof Form, as it is known as, to acknowledge my action. This form then returns to the top-level to the integrity who initially authorized it.Q How often do errors occur using this procedure?A As you can see, the system is designed in such a way that carrying out the procedure makes it prone to errors. Were thus far lucky to have a few students and teachers, basically small files is what I mean to say, which do not have to be updated too often, so they arent too many mistakes. Even if there are, they can easily be located and corrected due to the small size of our database.Q OK, now what about the plus points of this system? For example, is it easy to use? Is it efficient? Do you feel that you yourself are playacting at an best level with this system?A Ill have to think this question over. Yes, for sure it is easy to use. I just have to type in an identifier code for each record, and the particular record is searched for and displayed. Its that simple. I dont think its efficient though. As the number of files increases the system takes longer and longer to search the database to uprise the results I was looking for. It only follows that I myself feel I am under-performing at my job, as some time will definitely be wasted in waiting for results.Q Are you satisfied with the system performing only these functions?A Yes, I am. I would like it to be double-quick though, and even up-to-date, technologically speaking.Q Thank you, Mr. Glasse, for your cooperation. Youve been a great help.A The merriment was all mine.Analysis of the InterviewThis interview was more enlightening than the one with Mrs. Stakich, for we were able to focus on the technical side of the schools database system. Certain glaring shortcomings of the current system came to light, such as a very limited database size, as indicated by the system being upgraded the archetypal time. This further tells us that the system itself, with all its components, is out-of-date. In such a state, it may also be in congruous with other systems, should it be craved to connect to these for data exchange purposes. Another significant weakness is the particular that the third upgrade was for security reasons, which means that the Password Protection was initially low.Mr. Glasse also said that it takes longer to search fo r a required field if there are many records this is only fair, but there arent too many records right now, so we can expect the system to have some sort of linear search function in operation, unsuitable for large databases. The program, although performing just a few main functions, is slow, again pointing to its near obsoleteness. Its low productivity has an effect on the human being element involved, as Mr. Glasse himself feels as if he has not fully achieved his full potential. Lack of motivation could cause further falls in productivity. The system also has standard input devices (mouse and keyboard), as well as standard output devices (printer, scanner and plotter), needed to process data and produce the sought after results. The system also runs on a fairly fast processor, as given by the computers configuration. However it is unlikely that the system uses any of the other software packages (apart from the Windows 98 operating system) so these, as powerful as they are, ar ent being utilized.MAIN WEAKNESSES OF CURRENT placementBased on the knowledge gained in these interviews, it is possible to finalize the main shortcomings of the system currently in use* Small turn space.The disk space used for storage of data is relatively small as it needed to be upgraded beforehand. With all the new enrolments expected, as well as other related increases, such as electricity and water, teachers salaries, etc the available disk space will not be sufficient.* Poor security level. trade protection forms an important part of any system, and the fact that the database was hacked into shows just how weak security really is. The password used seems to be overaged and it is likely that quite a little other than those authorized know it. Laxed security is especially important here as we are dealing with the personal records of students and teachers, not to mention important transactions such as total fees received, expenses, and so on. So security, patronage being of p aramount importance, isnt given the priority it should be.* InconvenienceThe general procedure to accomplish a single task is lengthy and time-consuming. It also involves unnecessary paperwork. This would exhibit itself as delays in processing, as a single instruction would have to be passed through many stages before being received by the sender once again as feedback.* elementary obsoleteness.As seen from the interview, Mr. Glasse uses a relatively fast processor. Despite this speed, we still find that the speed of running the system is slow especially when new records are added. This means that the components of the system itself are slow and outdated. This weakness especially comes into focus when we consider the fact that nowadays systems are rarely independent. One system has to be connected to at least one more system, with data exchange taking place between these. However, if their speeds are not compatible they will not be able to function at their optimum level. If the s ystem were to exchange information over the Internet then this repulsion could become a problem.OBJECTIVES OF THE NEW SYSTEM1) To provide quick access to the files in the database. Many files will now be in the system and it is necessary that they be reached cursorily.2) To maintain a higher level of security. This ensures that the database is viewed and controlled only by those who have the proper authority to do so.3) To minimize red tape involved in making changes to the records. The previous system involved a lot of paperwork and proved to be costly in legal injury of time (therefore money), so this new system aims to reduce that by quickly and efficiently processing an instruction.4) To be drug user-friendly. Step-by-step guidance ensures that the user can easily find his way around the database to perform the desired task.A Flowchart of how data would be passed along the new system is as followsSYSTEM REQUIREMENTSStandard input devices, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a scanner and a web-camera will be needed for this system to operate (the mouse and keyboard are the main ones, the others for inputting photos and such graphics). Output devices will be plotters and printers.Hardware The CPU requirement for this system include at least 100 MHz Pentium processor and 16 MB RAM. software package It is necessary to have an operating system such as Windows 98 as well as MS Visual Basic program installed, as this is the front-end program to be used for this system, with Access 7.0 being the back-end program.The user will be Mr. Glasse, and his computer already exceeds the requirements for this system to function efficiently. His IT skills will also be relevant since he already has MS Office 97 installed he will already know the basics behind Access 7.0 and should find no problem in entering the data.It must be remembered that the system to be developed is intended to replace the outdated system in current use. The current system is slow, inefficient and incompati ble. Its second-stringer will be better than it in all these respects, and should bring the database up to the level of technology today.