Situation: The JAD project team wants you to draw up a checklist of requirements
ID: 672039 • Letter: S
Question
Situation: The JAD project team wants you to draw up a checklist of requirements for the new system.
1. List the five main categories of system requirements.
2. Use your imagination and provide at least one example per category of a system requirement that might be appropriate for an inventory system.
3. The project leader wants you to explain the concept of scalibility to the team. How will you do that?
4. Several managers on the team have heard pf TCO but are not quite sure what it is. How will you explain it to them?
Explanation / Answer
1. The five main system requirement categories are Outputs, Inputs, Processes, Performance, and Controls.
2. Examples:
Outputs: The inventory system must show the number of items in inventory with 1 hour accuracy.
Inputs: The system must be compatible with standard data entry hardware such as POS systems and bar code scanners.
Processes: The inventory system must calculate the number of items currently on hand in all locations including warehouses.
Performance: The system must display 99.9% uptime during business hours.
Control: The system must operate with existing employee ID's and apply the principle of least privilege security.
3. Scalability is the ability of a system to handle increasing amounts of data and the ability to grow with the business without a fundamental redesign. In other words the system will continue to handle increasing business requirements such as more items, locations, users, etc. Scalability requirements should be clearly defined if increased scalability is necessary.
4. TCO refers to Total Cost of Ownership. TCO takes into account not just the cost of a system but the associated costs of running it over a period of time. Such costs include utility (power), property (data center), staffing, backup, data management, and other costs needed to keep a system operational. When TCO is not taken into account it is hard to calculate if a system displays good value or return on investment. Oftentimes a new system may cost more than an old one but have lower TCO making the new system a better value despite initially higher cost thus representing a cost savings.