Service Request
Gregory Doran
BSA/375
June 6th, 2016
Dr. Mason

Service Request Riordian Manufacturing is a growing and thriving company in a variety of product markets. It is important as a company looks for changing the software development for the company that analysis the current infrastructure of data must be gone over and options to change the current system. First there needs to be information gathering techniques and systems analysis tools that will assist in sorting out certain key documents. Working with cases, process models and data models the purpose of this phase of development is to create a system proposal outlining the requirements and a work plan. How to gather this information is going to be split up amongst system documentation, interviews, questionnaire’s, and work based observation. Making sure that these information gathering techniques are collecting the required information on the project is vital. Last going over project scope and why it is important that a common understanding of the project scope is important among stakeholders. Looking at all of these topics will educate on proper analysis of a project.

It is important to begin with information gathering techniques and the ways this will need to be gathered. An important part of the data that can be gathered is Data Flow Diagrams. “DFD is a technique that diagrams the business processes and the data that pass among them.” (Systems 153) It is important that this data reflect the processes or activities performed by the current system. For example, information on the current network diagram show how the different locations use the hardware and how the data is stored on a network. Collection of data will be important to look like this diagram as it will show how information is processed and what it currently looks like on a project. (Virtual Organizations) In the DFD there are processes that is an action preformed for a specific business reason. Connecting the inputs of data and the outputs of these actions create a better understand of how a project at Riordian Manufacturing is being handled. (Systems 156) Also key elements of a DFD are seeing how the data flows and what is being stored. In a large company like Riordian there different levels of operation on a project. Looking at the data is being processed and stored is going to be a key factor in determining requirements. Cases analysis going to be another way important information can be gathered with systems analysis tools. Use cases are diagrams showing “how a system interacts with its environment by illustrating the activities that are performed by the users of the system and the system’s response.” (Systems 120) Sometimes called business scenarios, this type of information should be gathered on the user side and the software side of systems. By comparing how people interact with the software and what is working behind the scenes, information can be gathered to go over extensive interactions. Most systems are “event triggered” that fire off a response to an action taken by a user. Going over the blueprint of this trigger system can lead to Use Case Format or a process list of for a specific action. Gathering more information to create a better Use case requires feedback.

When creating a requirements definition information is gathered thru Use cases and data flow charts to determine what the system is doing for the company now and how it is being used. In order to find a solution to meeting those requirements certain techniques can be used to gather more information about what to be done. The first of these techniques is interviewing. Interviewing the employees at Riordian Manufacturing constitutes a one-on-one interaction that pulls information. Making sure to select the right positions inside Riordian Manufacturing will make sure to not to gather unnecessary information. Questions should be open ended and probing. After conducting the interview sometimes, a post interview can be made to gather any information that is still needed. This type of information gathering is simple can be applied to different levels of Riordian Manufacturing meeting the system analysists needs. A more complex version of this is a group think tank or a Joint Application Development team. This type of information gathering puts a group together of individuals that work together to identify requirements for the system. (Systems 98) Using a system much like an interview, direct questions are answered by the group that is facilitated by a person called a facilitator. It is the purpose of this meeting to put together an agenda and guides the group process technique. This technique plays a big role in determining the what the system is like now, what needs to be improved and what the system will look like in the future. Questionnaires and web-based serves are important when gathering information on a larger scale. With questionnaires stakeholders can post answers to questions that can be gathered up easily and quantified. The last type of information gathering technique that would improve project improvement would be thru work place observation. Observation is “the act of watching processes being performed” and “enables the analyst to see the reality of a situation, rather than listening to others describe it in interviews or JAD sessions.” (Systems 105) Observing the business system as it functions provides information as he or she walks thru the organization and sees the day-to-day routines of employees. This type of information gathering technique can eliminate any form of bias from a user of the system because the information is not gathered thru the opinions of the employees but thru their actions. Each of these techniques has their pros and cons listed here:

For Riordian Manufacturing to strive for excellent project management it is important those all of these techniques are used to create a project’s scope.

A Project Scope Statement establishes a common understanding of the project among stakeholders. It defines the objectives using measureable success criteria, such as anticipated productivity improvements cost reduction, improvements in business processes, revenue enhancements, and technical efficiencies. (Project 4) This type of statement explains the boundaries of the project, establishes responsibilities for each team member and sets up procedures for how completed work will be verified and approved. (TechTarget) As a guideline in how decisions are made this document is vital to how projects in Riordian Manufacturing will be effected in the future. Avoiding a situation in which one or more parts of a project end up requiring more work, time or effort is important to having a successful project.

In conclusion, successful project management can be had with good information gathering techniques and systems analysis tools that will assist in sorting out certain key documents. Questionnaires, interviewing, and Joint Application Development teams are great ways to gather information to sure that information is gathered successfully. Determining the project scope is vital to the running of the project and helps avoid unnecessary actions taken by the stakeholders. Gathering these requirements from the data is the best way to analyst the current system to help produce a better functioning one.

References
Department of Inforamtion Technology. (2016). Project Scope Statement. Retrieved from http://doit.maryland.gov/SDLC/FormServerTemplates/Project%20Scope%20Statement.doc
TechTarget. (2016). Project Scope. Retrieved from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/project-scope
Satzinger, J. W., Jackson, R. B., & Burd, S. D. (2012). Systems analysis and design in a changing world. Boston, MA: Course Technology, Cengage Learning.