Objectives
Petrie’s Electronics needs to improve its marketing and customer retention by increasing customer loyalty. The marketing department is in need of a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Upper management has selected No Customer Escapes as the top information technology project this year.
At the end of Chapters 2–10 of our textbook, there are case studies describing the activities and processes Petrie’s Electronics is taking to create the No Customer Escapes CRM system.
As systems analysts working for Petrie’s Electronics, we will work through the four phases of the traditional systems development life cycle (SDLC) to
- ensure we understand what the project scope is and processes we will use to initiate, plan, execute, and close out the project;
- understand the feasibility, costs, benefits, and risks of the new system;
- gather customer requirements;
- create and review design specifications for forms, reports, and web pages for the system; and
- select an implementation method and plan for operational support, maintenance, and change management.
You will be completing some of the work that a systems analyst might perform on a typical systems projects, such as
- Petrie’s Electronics Case questions (Chapters 2–10);
- cost benefit analysis;
- data flow diagram;
- close out report; and
- use case diagram.
You will work individuallyon your assigned documents and deliverables as described in the Course Project tabs in Weeks 1–7. At the end of each week, place your deliverables in the Dropbox as described in the Syllabus and Assignment pages.
Guidelines
- All Course Project deliverables are to be created using any Microsoft Office 2013 application. It is recommended to use Microsoft Visio for diagrams, but using Word or other Office applications is acceptable. Please see Course Resources for information about obtaining software and tutorials for Microsoft Visio.
- Each week, the Course Project area will provide additional guidance needed to complete each deliverable. The Course Project areas contain weekly instructions and additional project information, a list of project tasks, and a grading checklist explaining what is needed for each task and how many points they are worth.
- Appropriate citations are required.
- All DeVry University policies are in effect, including the plagiarism policy.
- Any questions about this project can be discussed in the weekly Q & A Discussion topic.
Course Project Deliverables
The following are the Course Project deliverables for each week.
| Week | Course Project Deliverables |
|---|---|
|
1 |
Company Overview Package
|
|
2 |
Planning and Selection SDLC Phase 1 Package
|
|
3 |
Systems Analysis SDLC Phase 2 Package–Part 1
|
|
4 |
Systems Analysis SDLC Phase 2 Package–Part 2
|
|
5 |
Systems Design SDLC Phase 3 Package
|
|
6 |
System Implementation and Operation SDLC Phase 4 Package–Part 1
|
|
7 |
System Implementation and Operation SDLC Phase 4 Package–Part 2
|
Instructions
Write a reflective essay
regarding the systems development environment and the sources of software. This
assignment covers Terminal Course Objectives1 and 3.
This essay should
cover the following topical areas.
1.
Systems Development Environment
o
You
are at a company picnic and you met someone from another department besides
information systems, and they asked you what you did for the company. Your
answer is “I am a systems analyst.”They
follow up with the question, “What
is a systems analyst, and why would anyone want to be one?”After
thinking about this, what would you say? Explain the skills required to be an
effective systems analyst. Try to support your answer with evidence from your
reading for this week.
2. Sources
of Software
o The
textbook proposes eight criteria in the evaluation of alternative off-the-shelf
software packages. However, your boss has asked you to propose evaluation
criteria for choices between alternative custom software developers rather than
prewritten packages. Describe how the criteria you have chosen is appropriate
to select and compare among competing bidders for custom development of an
application. Ensure that you have adequately defined each of these criteria.
o How might a systems
analyst justify a recommendation of an ERP strategy as compared with other
types of design strategies? Consider at least three justification points.
Use APA format.
•
You
are expected to cite at least two academic references.
•
The
essay should be about two pages in length, double spaced, with standard
margins.
Make sure your essay
contains your name, the week, and the topic on the cover page.
Dropbox
Instructions
Refer
to the Dropbox instructions on the weekly Assignments page.
Instructions
Write a reflective essay regarding the
systems development environment and the sources of software. This assignment
covers Course Objective 2.
This essay should cover the following topical
area.
1.
Information
Systems Project Management
o Why
is the process of identifying and selecting projects so crucial to an
organization’s success? Discuss the reasons why organizations undertake
information system projects.
o As
we understand why organizations undertake information system projects, also
consider the skills needed to lead the change effort; those of a project
manager (PM). What exactly is a project manager? What skills are needed to be a
successful project manager?
o What
are some sources of risk in a systems analysis and design project, and how does
a project manager cope with risk during the stages of project management?
Use APA format
• You
are expected to cite two to three academic references.
• The
essay should be two to three pages in length, double spaced, with standard
margins.
Make sure your essay contains your name, the
week, and the topic on the cover page.
Refer
to the Dropbox instructions on the weekly Assignments page.
Write a reflective essay regarding the systems development environment and the sources of software. This assignment covers Course Objective 3.
This essay should cover the following topical area.
Process Modeling
o Data flow diagrams can be hard to develop and understand. What do you think about not using data flow diagrams in some cases? Provide support for your answer.
o What are the common techniques for diagramming DFDs? How do decomposition, completeness, consistency, and balancing affect DFDs?
o What is gap analysis as it relates to DFDs? Why is gap analysis useful?
Use APA format.
• You are expected to cite two to three academic references.
• The essay should be two to three pages in length, double spaced, with standard margins.
Make sure your essay contains your name, the week, and the topic on the cover page.
Refer to the Dropbox instructions on the weekly Assignments page.
Instructions
Write a reflective essay regarding the systems development environment and the sources of software. This assignment covers Course Objective5.
This essay should cover the following topical area.
Conceptual Data Modeling
o Conceptual modeling looks at how the data is structured and what the characteristics of the data are. What characteristics of data are represented in an E-R diagram?
o Characteristics for attributes are also called properties. So every entity must have attributes to help make it unique. Behavior is important because the entity responds to other entities. For example, a person entity inserts a credit card into an ATM entity; the ATM entity responds with an action. The person will react differently depending on what the ATM does (reject or accept the credit card). What are at least three other examples of behaviors for other entities? (Please create your own examples,and do not copy from the Internet.)
o Cardinality describes the actual number of entities of the same type involved in a process. So in our class we have 30 students of the student entity type. The cardinality would then be described as 30 students. We can describe the number as 0, 1, many (and then can display the actual minimum and maximum allowed). We can also say whether the number is optional or mandatory. For instance, it is mandatory we have one instructor for our class. It is not optional. What are at least three other examples of cardinality?
Use APA format.
• You are expected to cite at least two academic references.
• The essay should be about two pages in length, double spaced, with standard margins.
Make sure your essay contains your name, the week, and the topic on the cover page.
Refer to the Dropbox instructions on the weekly Assignments page.
Instructions
Write a reflective essay regarding the systems development environment and the sources of software. This assignment covers Course Objectives 5 and7.
This essay should cover the following topical area.
Database Design
o In logical design, there is a process called normalization. Please describe what this is in your own words.Please explain first normal form, second normal form, and third normal form. Show an example via table entities of each normal form. (Hint: Review the video of normalization within the lesson for this week).
o What is a well-structured relation in database design? What are the five properties of a relation?
Use APA format.
• You are expected to cite at least two academic references.
• The essay should be about two pages in length, double spaced, with standard margins.
Make sure your essay contains your name, the week, and the topic on the cover page.
Refer to the Dropbox instructions on the weekly Assignments page.
Instructions
Write a reflective essay regarding the systems development environment and the sources of software. This assignment covers Terminal Course Objective9.
This essay should cover the following topical areas.
1.Implementation
o Consider the reasons implementations fail. For at least three of these reasons, explain why this happens and how to mitigate the risk. How can an implementation plan also help in ensuring a smooth implementation process? What are some key components of an application implementation plan?
2.Training and Documentation
o Select one method of training as explained in our book that you prefer the best and explain why you like the method based upon its advantages. What are some disadvantages? How would you use this method if you were leading the charge of a new application development project?
o Contrast and describe the various types of system and user documentation available for a systems development project. What is the difference between external and internal system documentation?
Use APA format.
• You are expected to cite at least two academic references.
• The essay should be about two pages in length, double spaced, with standard margins.
Make sure your essay contains your name, the week, and the topic on the cover page.
Refer to the Dropbox instructions on the weekly Assignments page.
Instructions
Write a reflective essay regarding the systems development environment and the sources of software. This assignment covers Terminal Course Objective8.
This essay should cover the following topical area.
1.Object-Orientated Analysis and Design:
o How do object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) methodologies compare to the traditional structured analysis and design methodologies covered earlier in the book?
o Define UML and describe how it fits in the OOAD methodology. Explain how a Use Case is developed and when it is utilized while explaining all components of a Use Case Diagram.
Use APA format.
• You are expected to cite at least two academic references.
• The essay should be about two pages in length, double spaced, with standard margins.
Make sure your essay contains your name, the week, and the topic on the cover page.
Refer to the Dropbox instructions on the weekly Assignments page.
