Analysis

Part 1: Background, current system and issues: Outlining of sub-problems: Appropriate inputs and outputs for the system. Outlining links between sub-problems.

Background, current system and issues.

This is your opportunity to set the scene for your project.  This should cover about one side of A4 in size 12 font.

DON’T pretend that you are the person in charge of the organisation or business – you are the ICT expert who will produce a system to solve some of the issues/problems that currently exist.

DON’T at this stage talk about MS Access, databases or fields/tables etc.  Refer to what you will create as “the system” or a “computer based system”.  Later on you will discuss the best way of creating a system and solving the problems.

DO give details such as; number of employees; management structure (who’s in charge), number of customers / members, nature of the business / organisation.

DO explain in detail what happens currently.  Explain what happens when new details need to be added to the system, what happens when details need to be amended, what happens when details need to be deleted.  Explain what happens when data needs to be found or sorted for a particular reason.  Explain what happens when outputs from the system are required (reports, labels, membership cards, letters etc).

DO outline any issues that arise with the current system.  You can outline these issues as you explain how the current system works.

Outlining of sub-problems

After you have described the background, current system and issues relating to your project, you can refine the issues into specific sub-problems.  The problems and issues homework which you completed recently will help you to do this.  These sub-problems should be short, snappy bullet points which provide a summary of the issues which your system should address.

This section could begin with “From the description of the current system and the related issues above, Mr Smith would like a computer based system to do the following;

1. Provide a way of recording new customer details quickly and efficiently without making as many data entry errors.  It should be easy to find, amend and delete these details as necessary.

1. Provide a printout of all the appointments for the following day.

1. Produce professional looking delivery labels for the delivery boxes.

1. Produce personalised letters to all those customers who have purchased a specific type of product in the past…. “

Etc.

Consider appropriate inputs and outputs for the system.

This section is similar to your table designs but in a much simpler format.  You simply need to list and categorise the data that you would need to record to make your system work properly.  At this stage you do not need to ensure that you have primary keys or the correct amount of tables.  You could lay it out like this;

“The data that needs to be input into the system is as follows;

Customer Details: Title, First Name, Surname, Address, Telephone Number, Gender, DOB etc

Dentist Details: Title, First Name, Surname, Address, Telephone Number, Gender DOB

Appointment Details: Date, Time, Dentist, Treatment Details…”

Or like this

“The data that needs to be input into the system is as follows;

Customer Details	Dentist Details	Appointment Details
Title	Title	Date
First Name	First Name	Time
Surname	Surname	Dentist
Address	Address	Treatment Details
Telephone Number	Telephone Number
Gender	Gender
DOB	DOB

In a similar way you should outline some of the outputs that you might expect your system to produce;

“Output – personalised letter. A letter should be created which will be sent to all customers who have previously purchased a specific product genre. The letter requires the customers’ Title, Name and Address, details of the product genre they have previously purchased and details of similar products they might like to purchase.  The letter should also include the name and contact details of the business.

Output – membership cards. Membership cards should include the Membership Number, Title and Name of the member as well as their joining date.  The card should also include the logo, name and contact details of the centre.”

Links between sub-problems

This section is tough!  You need to consider how your system will work in practice and how new or amended inputs will affect your outputs.  For example;

“When a new member is added to the system, this will mean that a new membership card will need to be generated.  Also, a “welcome” letter will need to be sent to the new member.  At the end of a week a search will be done to find all the new members which have been added that week and the membership cards and letters will be printed.”

“When a new appointment is added to the system, this will be added to a list of all appointments.  Each evening, a search will be done for all the appointments for the following day and any new appointments made for that day should appear on the printed list.”

By explaining how your inputs influence your outputs you are describing the relationships and links between your sub-problems.