ICT Analysis Case Essay Example for Free

ICT Analysis Case Essay For my ICT Coursework I am doing a data handling project based on a newly opened restaurant. This restaurant is called Fusion and it was opened on July 7th 2007. Fusion is located in Dubai on the Sheikh Zayed Road. The Manager is Mr. Hashmi. He has asked me to help him out with the data they have collected over the past few months. The reason for doing this is that Fusion has fast become a very popular restaurant. I intend to help them handle their data in order to continue this success. Firstly I am going to help them input their customer details. I then intend to interview Mr Hashmi to establish what more information I can investigate. My reasons for doing this is that it will make their restaurant more efficient as they will now have user friendly data on the computer. The advantage of this is that they can edit the data anytime they want and it will never be lost by anyone unlike data which is written down on paper. They now have more then 300 customers and they thought it was time to get someone to help them with their customer details as there customer base is expanding everyday. They want a user friendly system so it will be easy for their staff to use. They previously had a staff of 20 (front and back of house which has now increased to 40. So with an increased customer and staff base it makes economical sense to implement this database to continue the efficient running of the school. Project Input Processing Output Restaurant Customer Details (name and address) Booking Details (date, time, number in party, table number) Table details (table number, maximum number of people) Look up customer details. Add, Edit and delete booking details. Look up booking details. Search for available tables on a particular time. Search for bookings on a particular date. Booking details on screen. Lists of daily bookings. Letters to customers advertising special promotions and events. Consulting the users of the current system Questionnaire 1. Have you ever been to the new restaurant Fusion? o Yes o No 2. Do you like the new restaurant Fusion? o Yes o No 3. Please give your age ____ 4. Would you like to make any improvements to Fusion o Yes o No 5. If yes, what would you like to improve? 6. What do you feel is the strong point of the restaurant? 7. What do you feel is a weakness of the restaurant? Thats the end of the questionnaire! Thank you for taking the time to complete it. Interview for Mr. Hashmi 1. What information do you store on your data handling system which is currently being used? We use our current data handling system to store the customer details, booking Details and table details. 2. How and where do you store your information? We just write down all these details onto a form. We then file all of this into a filing cabinet into different folders. 3. What happens when new customers come to eat at the restaurant? We right down the customer details onto a form and store it into a filing cabinet. 4. How many customers have you had till now? We have had more than 300 customers coming to the restaurant right now. 5. What problems does the current system cause? There are a lot of problems with the current systems. It is very difficult and time consuming to look up customer names. Even more so it is a very difficult when we have to edit or change data and the data can be damaged as its only being written down on a piece of paper. Also its a waste of paper. Wasting paper is also not very environmentally friendly which is something that as a business we take very seriously. 6. What experience of using a computer do you have? I personally have had a lot experience of using a computer as we have one in the restaurant. However its not used to store information. It is mostly used for sending emails. I think many of my staff would find using computers difficult so therefore by implementing an easy and efficient data handling program would be ideal I have high hopes that my staff would get used to the system quickly therefore making the running of the restaurant more efficient. 7. What kind of storing system would you and your staff prefer? I personally think the staff would prefer a data handling system on the computer as they will only have to learn it once and it would be really easy to use. 8. How much money are you willing to spend on developing a new system? We are willing to invest as much is needed to acquire the perfect data handling program as I am aware that it will ultimately benefit the running of my business. Thus improving profits in the long run. 9. What are some of the advantages of the current system you are using? Well I think the one advantage is that everyone can easily use the current system as there is no practice needed for it. 10. If there was one improvement you would make to the current system what would it be? I would like to change and make the current system easier to use for example I would like to be able to access a customers details quicker and more effectively. Describing the current system The current data handling system used in the Fusion restaurant is just a filing system and is not a digital application program on the computer. Unlike, the other restaurants where they all have a digital application program. The real end user of this system is the staff at the Fusion restaurant. They use a lot of their time organising, collecting, storing, entering, sorting and finding all the data and making sure its in order, neat and ready for the next day. They have to Look up customer details, add customer details, edit them and delete booking details from the data handling system currently being used. This information is presently being filed into filing cabinets. This information is used to keep up-to-date with all the bookings being made and to know if the restaurant is full at a time or empty. The current system has a few advantages. These are a few advantages for the current filing system. These are some of the advantages for using the current system: * The current filing system is very easy to use and everyone can use it no matter how experienced they are * The current filing system much is cheaper then having a computer application program made for the restaurant itself. * It is also very easy to produce the forms as it is just paper and questions that have been printed. This is very easy task for the restaurant but if the customer number increases higher it will be impossible for the system to work in order. * This filing system will never break down and have to go in for repairing unlike an application program, which might have to go in for repairing because of technical problems or damage. * The data wont get lost due to technical fault however through human error it can be misplaced but not every detail of the every customer will not be lost. But if the datas on the computer and it gets damaged all of Fusions information can be lost. To prevent this they will have to keep back up files. Problem Description This project will aim to solve the data-handling problems of the new restaurant called Fusion. This is a restaurant where a variety of foods are served. To do this work and provide these services customer details (name and address), booking Details and table details are collected and stored in filing cabinets. For the current system the data is collected by asking the customers their details over the phone or in person. This current system has a few disadvantages. These are some of the disadvantages for using the current system: * Its very time consuming to use. When the staff wants to find a particular file it takes them an unesccerray long time to go through all the folders and find the file they needed. This is also waste the customers time as they can become very impatient waiting for their file to be taken out. * The current system is also a waste of paper because when a new customer comes in they have to fill in a form or if a customers form is misplaced they will have to fill it in again which will cause inconvenience for the customers and the staff at the Fusion Restaurant. Making the restaurant look incompetent. * The current system also takes up a lot of storage space, which is eventually going to run out as they are going to get more and more new customers everyday. * If a customer wanted to edit their details the staff may find it really difficult to edit it and update information, as it is on paper and will have to be crossed out. This will also be very untidy and not very eye catching. * Also, if one member of staff fills up one form and another member of staff has to use it the next day it will be very hard to understand some peoples handwriting. This may cause inconvenience for the customer. * The system which is being used now can also be damaged as it is just ordinary paper and can be ruined easily by water, tea or coffee. * Another issue is if the original form which was filled previously is misplaced the customer will have to fill another form. This is very frustrating and annoying for the customers. Possible solutions There are a lot of possible solutions for all the problems. These are some of the most sensible and important solutions: * They could employ more staff as part of the staff can only organise all the files in the filing cabinet, but this has a disadvantage as it is very expensive to hire more staff and it might cause confusion among the other staff because of so many people working in one restaurant. * They can also have different filing cabinets for different customers in alphabetical order. This will make it easier for the staff to find the files as they can just go to the filing cabinet for the people whose name began with an A for example. * They can also have a different filing cabinet for bookings and reservations for the day. As this will help the staff, because they can go and check the reservations as they will know which filing cabinet the information is in. * They could also have a data handling system made as this will save their time, will be user-friendly, it will also make files a lot easier to locate and there will be no misspellings in this system. This is also saves on the storage space that would have been used previously for storing all the files. Chosen Solutions I have chosen the best chosen solution for solving the problem that Fusion is currently facing. I think the best solution for this problem is to use an application program which might not be specifically made for storing data from restaurants but can be customised to what the restaurant needs in its data handling system. Some of the advantages of this solution are: * This application program will be able to save all the data from fusion restaurant, with no misspellings and it will also save a lot of storage space. * Also the data cannot be misplaced to anywhere as it is on the computer and as long as the staff press the save button none of the data can be lost. * The data saved on the application program can be edited easily and will still be neat unlike the current system that is being used at Fusion. * The application program wont be time consuming as data can be found within approximately 45 seconds rather then the current system which might take more then 15 minutes. * The application program will also save a lot of paper and ink as the system will be fully digital and wont need to be printed onto paper. * The handwriting in the current system is very hard to read as different people fill out different forms, but with an application program everything will be typed in so this will make the writing very easy to read and understandable for all members of staff. * This might take some training for people who arent familiar with computers but in the long run it is better for the restaurant itself as it is a very modern restaurant and so should have a modern data handling system like the bigger and more established restaurants. System objectives There are a few system objectives for this application program as these will help improve the service provided by the application program. The system objectives for this application program are: * It should allow the staff at the Fusion restaurant to edit customer details as neatly as possible. * Allow me to find customer bookings quicker then the current filing system being used at Fusion. * Allow the staff at Fusion to find customers easily, so they can attend other customers. * The application program should be easy to use. * It also allows the staff to get in touch with the customers which is a positive thing for the restaurant. * The application program should be able to display information fast so it doesnt cause any inconvenience for the staff or the customer. * It should be able to quickly delete customers as when they had filing cabinets they had to find the folder which had to been thrown out. Performance criteria The performance criteria is linked to the system objective as it is just a more detailed explanation about the system objectives. The performance criteria for the application program are: * The system should allow the staff to easily change customer details without time constraints. * It should also allow me to find customer bookings without any problems in about 45 seconds. * The application program should also allow me to find customers easily without showing me other customers and customer details. * It should be easy to use so people without any ICT skills can use it easily too. * It should also allows the staff to get in touch with the customer as pictures can be added to the application program so this shows a clear picture of how the customer looks like. * It should also display information faster, in about 45 seconds for the maximum. * It should be able to quickly delete customers as when they had filing cabinets they had to find the folder which had to been thrown out. This is more efficient and environmentally friendly so therefore no paper is being wasted and also increases the speed of data being processed. Current resources Fusion has a PC even though not used for data handling it is used for emailing customers about current offers and information about Fusion. The current resources that are being used now at Fusion restaurant are: * A Flat screen which is 15 inches in size and has a Screen Resolution of 1280 x 800. * It runs on Windows XP and has the software Microsoft office 2000 right now which is quite old and doesnt have a lot features. * It is of the brand Samsung, which is quite popular for PCs. * The internet connection is DSL, which is faster than the normal internet connections available. Hardware The hardware in a computer is equipment involved in the function of a computer. Computer hardware consists of parts that can be physically handled. The functions of these components are usually divided into three main categories: input, output, and storage. Software Computer software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that perform tasks on a computer system. The term includes application software such as word processors which perform productive tasks for users, system software such as operating systems, which interface with hardware to provide the necessary services for application software, and middleware which controls and co-ordinates distributed systems.