Bryon Gaskin

MBA 621 Fall 2003

Dr. Kitchens

SYSTEM ANALYSIS and DESIGN PROPOSAL

I. PROJECT OVERVIEW:
i. The basis of this project is a web based collection tool for
technology needs in the IT industry. Much like anyone who works
in the IT industry sees on almost a daily basis. The project will
start with an email to you (Dr. Kitchens) with your user name and
password which will be used to access a website front end. This
front end will take you to a small survey. You will enter a
promotion code, which will be included in the email as a part of
the survey. The promotion code will be used to identify which
group of respondents you belong to. This information will be
stored in an excel spreadsheet that will be used to generate form
thank you letters at the end of the project.
II. BUSINESS NEED:
i. CURRENT PROBLEM: Information is a vital part of any business.
So much in fact that many businesses pay very handsomely for
certain types of information. That is were this project plan takes
place. This project will be used to collect data from IT
professionals in exchange for money from other businesses
needing the information to make informed forecasting decisions.
ii. COST SAVINGS: There is cost saving in this project. If not
web-based, then we are looking at direct mail surveys, which
have several drawbacks, or in-person surveys, which has its own
pros and cons. In some situations the cost in-person survey may
be justified if for instance we are looking at top CIOs of Fortune
500 companies. However, in this instance, what we are after is
an aggregate view of the past, current, and future buying habits
of mid- level IT and Finance managers.
iii. PROFITS: Income will be generated from this information via
other business paying for access to various levels of the
information.
iv. GOODWILL: No.
Bryon Gaskin
MBA 621 Fall 2003
Dr. Kitchens

III. INPUT:
i. DATA: Data will be entered into the system in the form of a
questionnaire or survey.
ii. WHEN: Data will be able to be entered on a 24/7 basis via
the web.
iii. WHERE: Data can be entered from any computer terminal
running Windows Internet Explorer 5.0 or above that has a
connection to the Internet.
iv. WHO: Data can only be entered by persons who have been
given a user name, password and promotion code.
v. HOW: Data will be entered in via a web front end using
active server pages manually by a survey participant.
vi. INTO: Data will be entered into a Microsoft IIS server front-
end web page.
IV. TRANSFORMATION:
i. WHAT: Data will be entered into web front-end and then
submitted.
ii. WHERE: Data will be stored in a text file inside the website.
iii. Transformed: Data in text file will be able to queried from the
web using a macro programmed with Excel’s “Get Data” feature.
V. OUTPUT:
i. Person: The output can be transmitted back to the customer
in the form thank you letter and or package, or can be used to
send information to business customers who need access to the
information that they are paying for.
ii. TIMELINESS: Data can be up to the minute. Since the data is
stored in a central location, all that need to be done is get a
refresh of the data using excel.
iii. Format: Format will be in the form of a mail merge
documents in word.
iv. Accuracy: Field validation on the web page will require field
validations such as at least 6 numerical values in the promotion
code, required data for fields, last names, first names, and
company.
Bryon Gaskin
MBA 621 Fall 2003
Dr. Kitchens

VI. INTERACTIVE FEATURES:

i. Security features: The portal for the website will be username
and password protected.
ii. Logical Conditions: Excel will have it is own logical conditions
built in. For instance part of the survey will have a an entry for
“Promotion Code” this will be used with Excel’s “If then”,
“AND” , or “OR” statements. Also looking to do some interactive
calculation on the data that is pulled into Excel. Such as keeping
tracking of the actual number of participants.
iii. Macros Will be use in excel to query data, sort data, and save
data.
iv. Visual basic button will be used to exit the program