Type: Individual ProjectUnit: System Integration SelectionDue Date: Tue, 9/11/18Grading Type: NumericPoints Possible: 125Points Earned: Deliverable Length: 7-10 pagesYou are now ready to start rep

System Architecture and Integration (ITCO425-1804A-01)

Systems Integration Design Plan 

Jacqueline Calloway

AIU

August 28, 2018

Table of Contents

Project Information .....................................................................................................................3-8

Project Plan ………...............................................................................................................................9

System Integration Best Practice.........................................................................................................10

Requirements Specifications.................................................................................................................11-17

Enterprise System Integration Analysis.................................................................................18-22

Systems Integration Approach Evaluation and Selection...........................................................23-24

Proposed System Integration Components Architecture............................................................TBD

Implementation Framework.................................................................................................................TBD

System Integration Implementation Plan......................................................................................TBD

Project Information (Week1)

The MaintMax Project will be implemented in Ace Corp.’s Maintenance Division to replace the existing maintenance tracking system which is inadequate for expanding operations. The implementation of this database is a deliberately planned and highly technical effort. This description of the implementation will provide all stakeholders with a detailed understanding of how the implementation will occur.

Upon completion of the design for the MaintMax Database, a beta version of the database will be loaded in Ace Corp.’s virtual testing server. Ace Corp.’s IT Group will capture all existing data from the existing database and load that data into the MaintMax database in order to test data integrity and compatibility between how maintenance data is captured and the new MaintMax database. Once testing is complete and functionality of the MaintMax database is verified, operator training will be conducted with maintenance staff on the new tool. Once training is complete, the MaintMax Database will be loaded onto Ace Corp.’s maintenance servers and partitioned off to prevent user access. Ace Corp.’s IT Group will then verify functionality of the database on the actual Ace Corp. maintenance servers.

Once functionality on maintenance server is confirmed, a notification will be disturbed to the entire organization communicating the transition from legacy maintenance database to the new MaintMax Database. At this point in time, the maintenance staff, in conjunction with the IT Group will conduct a final data capture of all maintenance data on the legacy system and the data will be imported by the IT Group to the MaintMax Database. Once the data import has been deemed successful by the IT Group, the legacy system will be turned off. At this point in time a manual contingency operation will be employed wherein maintenance technicians capture all maintenance actions manually for a period of two days while the MaintMax Database is prepared to go live. Upon approval from the IT Group, the MaintMax Database will go live and be used for a period of forty-eight hours by the maintenance technicians with IT Group support to ensure acceptance criteria are met. Once the team verifies that the acceptance criteria have been met, the manually captured maintenance data will then be entered into the MaintMax Database. Completion of entering the manual data and achievement of the acceptance criteria formally ends the implementation phase of this project.

The MaintMax Database Project spans several different Ace Corp. organizations and is an extremely fluid and technical project. As such, it is important to understand the points of contact for the various aspects of this project. The chart below provides all stakeholders with the points of contact should any urgent questions or concerns arise. All stakeholders should ensure their communications are complaint with the MaintMax Database Project Communications Plan.

Major Tasks

The MaintMax Database Project Team has developed a list of major tasks required to successfully implement and migrate this project. All of these tasks have been vetted by the project team to ensure they are within the scope of this project. Additionally, all major tasks have been assigned to the responsible individuals and/or groups and communicated to all stakeholders. The list of major tasks for the MaintMax Implementation and Migration Plan follows:

1. Complete MaintMax Design: IT

This task includes completion of all design work for the new MaintMax Database.

1. Complete Operator Training: IT Group and Maintenance Operations Group

This task is for the completion of operator training of the new MaintMax Database.

1. Verify Functionality on Maintenance Servers: IT Group

This task involves the IT Group loading the database onto the maintenance servers and testing functionality.

1. Complete Data Capture: IT Group

This task involves capturing all existing maintenance data from the legacy database to the MaintMax Database.

1. Go Live/Launch: IT Group and Maintenance Operations Group

This task represents the official operational launch of the MaintMax Database.

1. Operational Acceptance: Maintenance Operations Group

This task involves formal acceptance of the MaintMax Database by the Maintenance Operations Group.

Implementation Schedule

The implementation schedule for the MaintMax Database Project is provided below. For consistency, the major tasks/milestones described above are included in this schedule for awareness of the project team and stakeholders.

Security

Ace Corp’s information technology security measures are established and enforced through Ace Corp’s IT Group. The MaintMax Database will reside behind Ace Corp’s existing firewall and security measures administered by the IT Group’s Security Administrator. While no special or additional security measures will be implemented beyond what already exists for the legacy database, the Security Administrator will be involved in all phases of design, testing, implementation, and migration. Additionally, once the MaintMax Database migrates to operational use, it will be monitored by the Security Administrator, along with other IT Tools, to ensure continued compliance with Ace Corp. security policies.

Implementation Support

The MaintMax Database Project will require a moderate level of support from internal Ace Corp. groups. The groups directly involved in providing support for the project are the Program Management Office (PMO), the Maintenance Operational Group, and the IT Group. The Project Manager (PMO Group) will facilitate all meetings and discussions in completing the tasks for this project. The Project Manager will work directly with both the IT Group and the Maintenance Operations Group to complete these tasks. With feedback and requirements from the Operations Maintenance Group, the IT Group will design, test, and implement the MaintMax Database on both the virtual testing servers and the maintenance servers. The IT Group will also develop and provide training to maintenance operators on the MaintMax Database. These tasks will be done by the lead and the assistant IT engineers. If additional support is needed, it will be coordinated through the Project Manager and IT Group Lead. The Maintenance Operations Group will provide all operational requirements to the IT Group for inclusion in the design and implementation of the database. The Maintenance Operations Group will also be required to provide feedback on testing. Additionally, all maintenance operators will participate in MaintMax Database training. If additional support is needed, it will be coordinated with the Project Manager and the Maintenance Division Lead.

Listing of Hardware, Software, and Facilities

The MaintMax Database Project requires a database design on an upgrade Smarttech II platform as opposed to a Smarttech platform where the existing database resides. While this allows improved functionality and capability, it does not require any additional hardware or upgrades to existing hardware. Likewise, no additional facilities are required to complete the implementation and migration of this project. This project will be completed within the existing capabilities of the Ace Corp.’s hardware and current facility.

Performance Monitoring

The MaintMax Database will provide not only the same capabilities as the legacy database, but additional functionality as well. As such, these additional functions have been included by the design team in planning for ongoing performance monitoring of the MaintMax Database. To accomplish this, additional monitoring criteria have been added to the operational environment to collect real-time data once the database is migrated to its operational environment. The Maintenance Operations Lead is responsible for monitoring performance and producing weekly reports which will be provided not only to Ace Corp. senior management, but to the IT Group Lead as well. If MaintMax performance monitoring indicates any database performance outside of the acceptable levels, the issue will be escalated immediately to the Ace Corp. staff leads to determine and execute corrective measures and initiate a root cause analysis. This is the existing procedure Ace Corp. utilizes for all IT tools.

Project Plan (WEEK1)

This Implementation and Migration Plan has been developed to communicate how the MaintMax Maintenance Database Project will be implemented, installed, and migrated to its operational environment within Ace Corporation’s Maintenance Division. The purpose of this plan is to ensure all stakeholders are aware of the details, requirements, and responsibilities involved in successfully completing this project and migrating the product to the operational group. Any requested changes to this plan should be submitted through the project’s change control process for review and approval prior to implementation.

System Integration Best Practice (WEEK1)

The MaintMax Database Project requires a database design on an upgraded Smarttech II platform as opposed to a Smarttech platform where the existing database resides. While this allows improved functionality and capability, it does not require any additional hardware or upgrades to existing hardware. Likewise, no additional facilities are required to complete the implementation and migration of this project. This project will be completed within the existing capabilities of Ace Corp.’s hardware and current facility.

The MaintMax Database will provide not only the same capabilities as the legacy database, but additional functionality as well. As such, these additional functions have been included by the design team in planning for ongoing performance monitoring of the MaintMax Database. To accomplish this, additional monitoring criteria have been added to the operational environment to collect real-time data once the database is migrated to its operational environment. The Maintenance Operations Lead is responsible for monitoring performance and producing weekly reports which will be provided not only to Ace Corp. senior management, but to the IT Group Lead as well. If MaintMax performance monitoring indicates any database performance outside of the acceptable levels, the issue will be escalated immediately to the Ace Corp. staff leads to determine and execute corrective measures and initiate a root cause analysis. This is the existing procedure Ace Corp. utilizes for all IT tools.

Requirements Specifications (WEEK2)

What are Requirements?

There are different types of requirements to look at when implementing a business. Some of the types that I found was the business requirements, functional requirements and non-functional requirements. There also might be technical requirements that need to be defined as well depending on the kind of plan you are doing. According to an article I found on (Requirednetworks.com) which states “business requirements are related to a specific need that must be addressed in order to achieve an objective. It also states that, “business requirements relate to business’ objectives, vision and goals. They provide the scope of a business need or problem that need to be addressed through a specific activity or project. For example, a trade association has an objective to promote the services offered by its members, the business requirements for a project might include a member directory that increases awareness of members.” When I read further it also said that, “good business goals must be clear and are typically defined at a very high level.” Which means they must provide enough information and guidance to ensure that the project fulfils the identified needs. The understanding of the organization’s mandate, objective or goals, is not the only concern of the business when implementing a business plan, one must also make sure that a specific need or problem that is being tackled should be clearly defined and understood before developing business requirements can take place. Sparxsystems.com defines a requirement as a capability or condition that must be met to ensure the solution meets the needs of its stakeholders. It also states that, “there are often robust debate about exactly what constitutes a requirement and some proponents will include motions such as Business Drivers and Policies and Business Rules while others have a much more restrictive view of the requirements.

Why are Requirements necessary?

According to (Chris Doig) “a thorough requirement analysis takes time and money but helps an organization to truly understand what they need and want. That understanding is a critical part of the ultimate success of the new software.” He also states, “ at the start of a software selection process, most people only have a very high-level idea of their needs. It is the act of looking at potential products and seeing what they do that helps one to flesh out those needs in greater detail. Those requirements are the foundation upon which success is built. Just like a building, if the foundations are inadequate, anything constructed on top will ultimately suffer serious problems or an outright failure. Developing requirements in enough detail takes time, effort and a robust process. If an organization is unwilling to spend the time and money to do that upfront, the project is doomed from the start.” (Chris Doing, 2018) A business plan or project requires a variety of requirements to help define goals and establish a scope for the work that will be undertaken. Requirements also provide context and objective ways to measure progress and success. Once business requirements are established, functional requirements are defined and developed in order to move a project forward. Both sets of requirements contribute to a common goal, although functional requirements are much more specific and detailed. While business requirements deal with mainly business goals and stakeholder expectations, functional requirements outline exactually how a project will support business requirements. A business requirement tells what the future state of a project is and why the objective is worthwhile, while functional requirements outline specific steps and outline how we will get there. Functional requirements outline specific steps and outline how the project will be delivered. As a result, they help ensure a project is on track and are used for measuring performance. (RequiredNetwork.com,2014-2018)

Process used to elicit the requirements

Interviews

Interviews were used to gather requirements. The various stakeholders such as software reviewers to Database Administrators were interviewed on a one-on-one interview

Questionnaires

Since there are several end users of the database, having a one-on-one interview with them was impossible. I used questionnaires where end users answered questions on a questionnaire.

Facilitated workshops

Facilitated workshops were used where various stakeholders met with an aim of coming up with requirements

Documentation studies

Various documents such as manuals and policies such as data security policy were studied with an aim for coming up with requirements.

List of stakeholders and their roles

End users

These are the people who will use the MaintMax Database on a daily basis.

Database administrators

These are the people who will administer the MaintMax database while giving rights and privileges to users

Network administrators

These are the people who manage the network within the organization, Ace. Corporation so that the MaintMax database can be accessed with ease from any workstation.

Board of directors of Ace Corporation

These are the people who will approve the release of funds for the MaintMax database to be designed from conceptual to physical design

Financial officers

These are the people that will release the funds for the design and maintenance of MaintMax database

Software reviewers

These are the people that will review the database and analyze the errors produced when the database is being developed

Software developers

These are the people that will build the user interface that will help end users’ access, interact and manipulate data in the MaintMax database

Functional requirements

Data storage

Maint Max database should be able to facilitate storage of data, retrieval and other manipulation of data

Transaction handling

Transaction in databases can be seen as a logical unit that is executed independently for data retrieval or updates. Database transactions ensure that inconsistencies in a database do not occur. It is either the data is updated or if an error occurs, the data is rolled back but it cannot be updated partially. Maint Max database should support transaction. That is, a transaction should either complete successfully or it is aborted.

Authentication

Authentication in relation to database is the process of confirming that a user attempting to log in to the system is authorized to do so and is given the rights that he or she is authorized to do. For example, a user who has only the right to retrieve and read data should not be able to write and update the data. Maint Max database should be able to authenticate users and also offer rights and privileges.

Business rules

Business rules in relation to databases are statements that enforce certain constraints in a database. Business rules are also known as constraints. MaintMax should be able to enforce business rules.

Certification requirements

A database should be able to encrypt data such as passwords. MaintMax database should be able to perform encryption of data.

User interface

There should be a user interface that will be used by end users in order to access the database and manipulate the data

Non-functional requirements

Performance

Performance can be seen as how fast or slow data is retrieved or updated in a database. Maint Max database should have a high performance

Recoverability

Recoverability in relation to databases can be seen as restoration of lost data. Data can be lost by accidental deletion, corrupt data etc. MaintMax database should ensure restoration of data in case of any failure such as network failure etc.

Reliability and maintainability

MaintMax database should be able to be relied upon and it should produce data that is reliable to the users. It should also be able to be maintained by the necessary stakeholders such as database administrators.

Interoperability

MaintMax database should be able to be accessed from any workstation running on any platform. For example, a person working on a workstation running on Windows should be able to access the MaintMax and so should the person be working on a workstation running on Linux.

Capacity

MaintMax database should have a huge capacity and should be able to save a lot of data and also retrieve huge chunks of data without hindering its performance

Availability

The MaintMax database should be available at any time whenever it is needed

Assumptions

The following are the assumptions for the scope of the project

Availability of technical staff

Technical staff such as Software Developers, Software Reviewers, and Database Administrators etc. will be available as needed

Budget limitations

The entire budget of the project is dependent on the approval by the board of directors

Pros and cons of proceeding with the project

Pros

The project will ensure database performance compared to the one currently running

The project will ensure huge capacity of data storage where a lot of data can be saved without hindering the database performance compared to the one currently running

Cons

There will be time wastage during the data entry phase where data is migrated from the current database to the new MaintMax database.

Enterprise System Integration Analysis (WEEK3)

Quality assurance consideration for MaintMax database

ISO 8402 – 1986 standard defines quality as “the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs”.

According to Boyd L (2013) “quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that has the ability to satisfy required needs”.

Therefore, quality can be seen as the degree to which a certain product or service can meet the requirements of a customer.

According to Boyd L (2013) Quality assurance on the other hand, is “a planned and systematic approach to provide adequate confidence that the product conforms to established requirements”.

The following are the quality assurance considerations for the MaintMax database.

Usability

MaintMax database will be used by several people in various departments such as data entry clerks, software developers, database administrators, directors etc. therefore, the database needs to be user-friendly. A layman without the technical know-how of databases such as Structured Query Language (SQL) should be able to use the database with ease, therefore the database should be easy to navigate and also guide users on how to use it by providing tooltips etc.

Functionality

The MaintMax database should do what it was meant to do, that is, store, manipulate data, authenticate users, perform data backup, recover lost data etc. All units in the database ought to work together as one without the end-user noticing that they are different units. For example, the Data Definition Language (DDL) used for creating and deleting databases and tables, the Data Manipulation Language (DML) used for inserting and deleting data from tables, Data Control Language (DCL) used for controlling access to data stored in database etc. ought to work together.

Still on functionality, the MaintMax database ought to extract and filter data according to provided criteria, allow segmentation and also visual reporting of data among others.

Support and development

Will MaintMax database be able to grow with emerging technologies? Will it have a plan to cater for upgrades and also be able to be supported after it’s developed? These are the questions that we need to ask in this section.

Integration

Will the integration of MaintMax database with other systems such as Email Marketing, CRM system etc. cause the other systems to fail? The MaintMax database should work smoothly with other systems.

Scalability

Can the MaintMax database manage millions of rows of data? The MaintMax database should have the capacity to grow with the growth of data and business. We anticipate that the data will be input regularly, so the growth of the database is inevitable. The database should have a written plan that should facilitate scalability as need arises.

Cost and suitability

The decision on cost ought to be in relation to the database being fit for its purpose. It is a costly mistake to spend time and money in building a database then we realize that it is not suitable for our organizations’ needs. Also, there is no need to go for a costly database and our organization will never use all the functionality it offers.

Hosting

Where will the MaintMax database located? Will it be installed in-house, or will it be hosted by another company? We need to understand where the MaintMax database system will be hosted since hosting location will impact on various aspects such as support, cost, security and even speed. For example, if we allow our database to be hosted by another company, then we are allowing third party to have access to our data thus impacting on the security of our data.

Updates

In updates, we are looking at how our data ought to be updated. Should the data be in sync with other systems, or would daily and weekly updates work for us?

Visualization and reporting

We need to understand and analyze how the MaintMax database will show and report our data. Will the data be reported in a meaningful manner? Can we be able to use graphical components such as pie charts; graphs etc. to display and interpret our data? These are the questions that we need to ask ourselves when it comes to visualization and reporting.

Potential options

All quality considerations are important but there are some that are critical and ought to be incorporated in the MaintMax database. These include functionality, usability and scalability.

Functionality

The MaintMax database should work as intended. The database should have the following characteristics in order for it to function as intended.

Data model

The MaintMax database should have a structure in which the way data is stored, organized and manipulated.

Data consistency

The MaintMax database should have a consistency rule where the data can be kept in a consistent form. For example, a field that stored numbers only should not allow storage of a string or two users viewing the data should not view different data or a transaction should either commit or rollback the entire process when a failure occurs.

Data security

The MaintMax database should be able to facilitate data security through backing up of the data and also restoring the data when a failure occurs.

Data protection

The MaintMax database should be able to allow users to access the system according to their privileges and rights. For example, an auditor should only be able to read data but not update or delete the data. The database should also be able to have an algorithm that performs encryption of data such as passwords etc.

Multi access and integration

The MaintMax database should be able to work smoothly with other systems and it should also allow concurrent accesses by multiple users.

Efficiency

Efficiency here means response time. The MaintMax database should have the shortest response time possible. For example, when a user queries for data in the database, it should return the results quickly. It doesn’t make sense for a user to query for data and it takes 10 minutes to return the results.

Usability

As we have seen, the MaintMax database will be used by different user groups such as administrators, IT and database admins, application integrators, data consumers etc. all these users will need an easy and understandable User Interface in order to access and use the database.

Scalability

As we have seen before, scalability in relation to database is the capability of a database to handle a growing amount of work. A scalable system is said to increase its workload and throughput when additional resources are added. The MaintMax database ought to be scalable. There are two forms of database scalability, the vertical and horizontal scaling.

Vertical scaling

Vertical scaling is also called scaling up. This is the process of adding more resources such as memory or powerful CPUs to the server. Removing of memory or changing the CPU to a less powerful one is known as scaling down.

Horizontal scaling

Horizontal scaling is also known as scaling out. It is seen as the process of adding more hardware to the system. For example, adding more servers to a system. The opposite that is removing hardware is called scaling in.

Systems Integration Approach Evaluation and Selection (WEEK3)

Evaluation method

According to Webster’s Dictionary, to evaluate means “to examine and judge”; thus, evaluation can be thought of as analysis with a purpose.

The evaluation method that the MaintMax database will use is qualitative and quantitative approach.

Quantitative analysis

According to Babbie A (2011) quantitative analysis is “the numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations reflect”.

Qualitative analysis

According to Babbie A (2011) qualitative analysis is “the nonnumeric examination and interpretation of observations, for the purpose of discovering underlying meanings and patterns of relationships”.

Evaluation comparison table

The above table shows that all stakeholders agreed that training of the database functionality should be conducted. It also shows that there are enough workforces to design and develop the database functionality. It also shows that the database functionality will rely upon network in order for the database to work.

All stakeholders agreed that all people should be trained on the User Interface of the database. The table also shows that all stakeholders agreed that there are enough workforces to create a beautiful design for the database. All stakeholders agreed that the user interface should not rely on the network since it will render the user interface to load slowly. The user interface will be installed in all computers so that only the database can rely on the network and have an increased response time.

Stakeholders agreed that training on scalability is not necessary. They also agreed that the company should not put aside money for hiring people who will be concerned with scalability. Only a few people will handle scalability. Stakeholders agreed that scalability of the database relies on the network.

The best option will be to move forward with the functionality of the database.

Proposed System Integration Components Architecture (WEEK4)

TBD

Implementation Framework (WEEK4)

TBD

System Integration Implementation Plan(WEEK5)

TBD

References:

Rubin, A. &Babbie, E. (2011). Research Methods for Social Work.(7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage.

Doing, C. (2018). IDG Communications, Inc. retrieved from www.cio.com/article/3071333/software/why-software-requirements-developments-matter.html

Requirement Network. (2014-2018).Serving Your Business Requirements retrieved from www.reqiurementsnetwork.com/business-funtional.htm