Systems Alternatives /System Analyst Recommendation

The company that our group has chosen to evaluate is a small business located in Historic Ellicott City on Main Street, known as Johnny’s Bistro. The business has successfully been in operation for ten years; however, there are many areas of performance that could be improved. One problem that Johnny’s faces is a lack of organizational structure in that there is no system for tracking inventory. It is not uncommon for items listed on the menu to be unavailable to customers because the chefs do not have all the necessary ingredients. This issue can stem other problems within the business such as loss of customer satisfaction and therefore loss of profit. Our group plans to address the organizational issues after further investigating the business, its daily operation, staff and overall procedures. I. Systems Alternatives – describe the best 3 alternatives (all alternatives must incorporate technology) – pros and cons of each alternative. (Approx. 2 pages) II. System Analyst’s Recommendation – describe the optimal solution – how is it better than the other two alternatives? (Approx. 2 pages) Systems Alternatives If the solution for [THE COMPANY] is to find a new program to use for its Test and Measurement system, then the group was going to need to research different programs for data analyses. The group researched three different programs for this project – [option 1], [option 2], and [option 3] – and used the research to determine which one would be the best fit for [THE COMPANY]. [option 1] is a program that, according to its website, “unifies data from many sources into a single place.” It is also advertised as a program that will deliver its analytics immediately, and has its data stored “in memory,” meaning that it doesn’t require the data to be stored offsite. It touts itself as “easy-to-read” with updates coming continuously as the user adds new data. There are two versions of the program, one with administrator and teacher access, and one with only administrator access. The program says that the user does not need training to use it, but this could be a problem if the user cannot figure out how to work with the program. [option 1]’s program seems to use a different program, [X], to conduct its analytics, which may cause problems if the program stops working correctly and the IT department needs to figure out whom to call for technical support. This other program gives more flexibility to the [option 1] program, however. The second program the group looked at was [option 2]. [option 2] seems to sell a lot of hardware for measurement of different things, some of which include oscilloscopes and meters. However, it does sell testing analysis and measurement software. It actually has three different types, including MATLAB, which is a program that has been widely used in other schools. Only MATLAB is offered specifically through [option 2] – it seems that these other two programs are separate ones that [option 2] can function with. Only MATLAB seems to have the capabilities that [THE COMPANY] would be using, since the other programs look like they are to be used with the hardware that [option 2] makes. This narrows the usefulness that [THE COMPANY] would have in [option 2] as a company, especially if it is primarily concerned with scientific hardware rather than test analyses for instructors. [option 3] is a program used for tests and analyses. It specifically has a section on its website that details its use for government agencies, which would be good for [THE COMPANY] as it is involved with the US military. [option 3] also says the instructor can use it to deliver exams, with “[option 3] Secure” that inhibits the test taker’s ability to do certain functions like screen capture or printing on a computer. [option 3] also makes a software program that connects to Blackboard, so both programs can be used at the same time by both students and instructors. This could be used for a parallel conversion should [THE COMPANY] decide to switch entirely to [option 3], and also provides some help for the instructors who had gotten used to using Blackboard. This program and its various sub-programs are specifically designed for teaching and “creating effective assessments”, which is what [THE COMPANY] instructors do. System Analyst’s Recommendation After researching on three different programs, the group decided that the one program [THE COMPANY] would benefit most from using was [option 3]. [option 3] has all of the things that an institution of learning like [THE COMPANY] needs. It also works with the Blackboard software that [THE COMPANY] uses now, but does more than Blackboard can by itself. Using [option 3] would eliminate the need for using Excel and Blackboard together. Although it would mean that [option 3] and Blackboard would have to be run together, which basically means that Excel would be switched out for [option 3], using [option 3] would give the instructor the reports and analytics automatically. Using Excel would mean hand calculations and there wouldn’t be the type of analyses that the instructors would need for their classes. The other two software alternatives, as well as the alternative of keeping the system the way it is, would not work for [THE COMPANY]. Staying with the same combination of Blackboard and Excel would keep the status quo, but still give the instructors a hard time when having to analyze their tests. It would mean a lot of work having to be done by hand and piecemeal reports using different technologies that don’t quite give the correct information. This way of performing analyses is not good enough. Using [option 1] would be more on-track for the institution, but the group thought that it wasn’t quite as good as [option 3] seemed. This is simply because [option 1] didn’t seem as prolific in its abilities. The group also thought that [option 1] wouldn’t provide enough training to the user, as it made sure to say that the user wouldn’t need training. The group thought that claim didn’t sound very helpful. [option 1] also had only two versions of the program, and there was only one difference between them. The group decided that if [THE COMPANY] wants its teachers to use this program along with administrators, they only had one choice, and that wasn’t enough for the group to recommend going with [option 1]. [option 2] sounded like it was the least useful program of all the ones the group researched. The company itself is more of a hardware manufacturer than a software developer. The software that [option 2] did create suggested that it was primarily to be used with the hardware the company sells. Finding any sort of information about the test analysis software was difficult, as the company doesn’t focus on it at all. The group didn’t feel very confident that this company would be able to solve [THE COMPANY]’s system problem. Therefore, the group ultimately chose [option 3] as the best solution for [THE COMPANY]. Unfortunately, specific budget information was not released to the group, but a general sense was that any program would be cheaper than the current system with Blackboard and Excel, specifically with Blackboard, according to. Therefore, the group mainly based their decision to use [option 3] on all the knowledge gleaned from interviewing, from the responses to the questionnaires, and based on what the website said about how [option 3] is used.