The Principal Areas of Concern in the Brisbane City University - Case Study Example

Running Head: Systems Maintenance Report Name : University: Course: Tutor: Date of Submission Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Business Needs Report 3 Executive summary 3 Scope of maintenance summary 4 Included deliverables 4 Excluded deliverables 5 Important business functions of the Brisbane City University 6 Maintenance skill requirements 11 The network switch and hubs 11 Personal computers 11 Network servers 12 Printers 13 Critical hardware and software 13 Summary 14 Conclusion 14 Recommendations 14 MAINTENANCE STRATEGY REPORT AND PRESENTATION 15 Risk assessment 15 Preventive maintenance schedule 15 References 16 Business Needs Report Executive summary The current information system and the help desk at the Brisbane City University are below the present industry standards and do not match the required technology that is necessary for the help desk and the information Technology system to deliver appropriately. A number of system overhauls and maintenance are required in order to get the IT system and the help desk at the university to function properly and effectively(Avison & Guy,2003,pp.56-60). The help desk operations at the Brisbane City University need to be changed and some elements to be improved. This business needs report will inform the management of the Brisbane City University of the systems requirements and the developments and in some cases a complete overhaul of the systems and the support staff of the university. The principal areas of concern in the Brisbane City University are: a) The various departments’ Information Technology structures and staff analysis accompanied by recommendations b) Staff and student system computer networks; analysis and recommendation c) IT department; analysis of hardware, software and the IT support staff and the recommendations d) Help desk operations; analysis and recommendations e) Development of the industry standards for the IT department. Scope of maintenance summary Included deliverables The aim of this maintenance project will be to analyze the Brisbane city university Information system and help desk. A detailed report and recommendations will also be presented at the end of the system analysis process. The included deliverables will include the following: a) Analysis of the computer hardware and software that the Brisbane City University IT department uses. Recommendations will be drawn regarding on whether to upgrade or overhaul the current information system of the university. b) Analysis of the help desk operations. The present help desk operations at the university will be analyzed, the constraints that are associated with the help desk will be determined and the recommended solution will be proposed to ensure that the help desk operations at the university run smoothly and are up to standard. c) The current IT support staff will also be analyzed in terms of their proficiency in their related fields. Recommendations will be postulated on whether retain some of the support staff or whether there will be a complete overhaul of the IT support staff basing on their viability. d) The IT systems infrastructure will be crosschecked to evaluate if they match the present industry standards. Necessary recommendations and steps will be implemented towards the matching of the IT system with the current industry standards. e) Thorough risk assessment and preventive schedule will also be performed. Preventive schedule will be proposed in the business needs report. f) Service level agreement will be developed in the course of the system analysis and recommendations process. Excluded deliverables Some deliverables will be excluded during the system analysis process. The excluded deliverables include: a) In situations whereby there will be complete overhaul of the support staff, the report will not recommend the individuals that will be replaced; neither shall it be involved in the process of reappointing the supporting staff. b) The report shall not recommend the vendors of hardware in cases whereby new hardware acquisition will be required. The process of hardware acquisition will be excluded from analysis and maintenance report. c) The report shall exclude the recommendations in terms of management structure of the various departments at the Brisbane City University. Management issues will be strictly excluded from the report. d) The business needs report will not put into considerations the budgetary constraints that will be associated with the system maintenance and upgrading. It will be of the assumption that the Brisbane City University, irrespective of the costs of the systems implementation and maintenance, is ready to incur whatever costs that will be as a result of the analysis and recommendations report. e) The business needs report will also not put into consideration the time it will take for the Brisbane City university to implement the recommended solutions that are in the business needs report. It will be exclusively left as a role of the university to ensure that the recommended solutions are implemented. Important business functions of the Brisbane City University There are various significant elements in the Brisbane city university that are of ultimate importance to ensure that the management and the daily operations of the university run efficiently and effectively as required(McConnell,1996,pp.67-80). A brief outline of the important components in the university system includes: a) The Brisbane City university computer networks The BCU computer network is primarily divided into two segments; the student’s computer network and the staff computer network. The staff network is vital to the university in that it facilitates the management processes that are associated with the university; it facilitates the issuance of services to the students, record keeping, offers access to the university resources through the local intranet and the various employee portals that the university has(Andrew & Jennifer, 2005,pp.3-7). The student’s network on the other hand is vital for daily student’s activities such as research work, access to the university’s student management system and the facilitates the social life that is always associated with the campus life(Walter,2008,pp.10-19). The two network segments are essential components in the Brisbane City university daily operations and long term managerial issues. The institutions network also hosts the university main server which is basically the central university’s database. b) The IT department. The information technology department is solely responsible for providing ISP (internet service provider) services to the university’s computer network. The IT department also provides an internet portal to the staff of the Brisbane City University, and a firewall to the various departmental servers which is aimed at ensuring that the computer network is secure and devoid of malicious network applications that would significantly impair the functionality of the university’s computer network(Robert & Doro, 2003,pp.10-18). The IT department is also solely responsible for ensuring that the various departments information systems are completely functional and are both efficient and function effectively; it also ensures that there is network synchronization among the departments in the BCU. The IT department therefore is a core element in ensuring that the business activities at the institution run smoothly. c) The marketing department The core function of marketing department is to popularize and image the Brisbane City University to the Public. With the current increased competition from other private institutions, the decreased government funding and increased number of students who are enrolling, the brand name of the university is essential in ensuring that the Brisbane City University stays ahead of its potential competitors. The marketing department has a key role in ensuring that the university has competitive advantage over other private institutions. The marketing department therefore is a key element in the university’s business functions. d) Help desk operations The BCU help desk is principal task is to offer assistance to both the staff and the students, and on some occasions outsiders who may wish to inquire about the university. The help desk primarily serves as a communication bridge between the various departments in the university and some external entities. It is also vital for keeping the student and staff community informed about the proceeding activities and future events that the university may undertake(Brian, Daneil, Juergen & Arnold, 2008,pp.12-17). It is therefore a significant element in the ensuring that business activities run smoothly and effectively; it is therefore a key business function that should be maintained and made sure that it is always operating optimally and efficiently. e) Human resources department The HR department at BCU is solely responsible in ensuring that the business activities within the university are carried in as expected of the relevant parties. It is a vital in ensuring that the university’s business functions are carried on efficiently through the outsourcing of required human labor and ensuring that the present human labor performs optimally as they are required under their obligations (Michael, 1996, pp.24-30). It is primarily aimed at ensuring staff productivity. It is therefore a key business function in the BCU’s daily operations and long term managerial solutions. f) Finance department The BCU finance department is the most vital in ensuring that activities involving the collection and disbursement of finances are well accounted for. The finance department serves both the students and the staffs at the university. Some of the services that the finance offers to students include fees transactions, record keeping and verification of students’ financial records. The finance department services to the staff of the BCU include payroll processing, assessment of health insurance schemes and many more. The finance department is therefore an essential business function of the Brisbane City University. Current computer hardware and software at the BCU Business functions The current hardware and software that are being used in the BCU business functions are outlined below. a) The Brisbane City university computer networks The staff network has a total number of personal computers amounting to 300. The hardware description of each machine is described by: a processor speed of 300 MHz, RAM of 128 MB and a hard disk of 10 GB. The operating system in the computers is Windows 98, the word processing application installed on the computers is Microsoft Office 98. The staff network poses management problems due to the unstructured architecture of the network; it consists of a number of several network hubs and switches from different vendors which are connected by a twisted pair copper Ethernet cables (Richard & Rudy, 1987, pp.34-45). The staff network uses a legacy architecture that is prone to frequent failures; evidenced by a recent server hard disk crash that jeopardized the network operations for a whole working day. The file server uses an oracle 7 platform which has never been updated. The student’s network consists of a combination of Desktops and laptops that run on Windows NT. The main computer brands on the students network Pentium based personal computers from Apple Macs and Sparc Computers (Marite & Janis, 2002,pp.34-56). The operating system on the computers on the student network consists of a mix Windows NT and some running LINUX. The majority of application softwares are coded in Java and C++ that integrates well with open source software modules. Mac PC’s are used by the graphic department and they are equipped with Optical character recognition (OCR) hardware and software. Presently there is no servicing strategies deployed in the staff and students computer networks because the equipment are relatively old and are not covered by guarantee or after sales service. The servicing is also hard due to the mixed up hardware and a mismatch of system software and the application software. b) The IT department The IT department is primarily responsible for ISP services, maintaining of an internet portal and a firewall product in the respective networks servers. The finance department, enrollment department, human resources department, marketing department and library all uses unit boxes to run applications on student services. The main data base management system software is the ORACLE 8, which is used for every to run almost every network application in the BCU. All the software that are used at the BCU were bought off-the –shelf expect from outside software developers who are bound on contractual basis to maintain and update the software module on a regular basis(Frank & Dieter,2000,pp78). The only software that was not bought from outside vendors includes the student management system software, the enrollment and business intelligence software. In terms of user training, the IT department is principally responsible. c) The help desk The hardware equipment found at the help desk is a telephone and a number of personal computers to keep track of the help desk jobs. The help desk has no maintenance or servicing philosophy. Maintenance skill requirements There are various maintenance skills that are required for the various hardware equipments that are used in the BCU information technology system. The maintenance skills requirements of the various hardware components are outlined below. The network switch and hubs The skill required towards the maintenance of a network hub and switch include labeling the end terminals of the Ethernet cables so as facilitate troubleshooting of a single network cable, ensuring that the switch indicators for receiving and sending data for the corresponding ports are functional, having a knowledge of network and switch configuration, having a knowledge on the color codes of the Ethernet twisted cables and ensuring that labeled Ethernet cable corresponds to the recommended port on the switch(Wita, 1999,pp.45-67). Personal computers The skills required towards the maintenance of personal computers vary depending on the hardware configuration and the level of technical expertise. However universal skill requirements include: a) Performing basic diagnostics and troubleshooting procedures in case of minor application and hardware problems. b) Loading an operating system into the personal computer. c) Connecting the various peripheral components of the PC in a correct manner. d) Installation, uninstallation and updating of the various software applications. e) Upgrading of hardware components such as RAM modules and printer drivers. f) Being able to disintegrate and integrate the hardware components of the PC g) Having a knowledge of the viruses, worms and Trojans; and means of combating them through the use of antivirus and anti-spyware. Network servers Network servers are most essential in ensuring network stability and reliability; therefore server failure should be avoided at all costs. Some of the skills that are required in the maintenance of network servers include: a) Having knowledge on the current operating systems that are optimized to run network servers such as Windows server 2008. b) Having knowledge on server configuration such as proxy and firewall configuration techniques. c) Running network tests to examine the efficiency of the network. d) Implementation of security measures such as router configuration and firewall setup to eliminate external threats such as hacking. Printers Printers too come in handy with maintenance skills. Some of the skills requirements that are associated with printers include: a) Loading a printer cartridge into the printer b) Refilling the ink cartridge in case the ink is out c) Clearing out of paper jams in the printer d) Installation of the printer drivers on the PC. Critical hardware and software The most critical hardware elements in the BCU information system include: a) The network servers: any server failure jeopardizes the whole network operations, and since the BCU completely depends on the network, it will jeopardize all the university’s operations. b) The network hubs and switches: they serve to link the various network segments so that they can facilitate the running of network applications such as student management systems and the database management systems. The most critical software components in the BCU include: a) The Student management System: this is principally responsible for the rendering of the student’s services within the campus, and it is therefore important in the daily operations of the BCU. Summary The various hardware and software modules that are used at the Brisbane City University are out dated and therefore require a complete overhaul or upgrading. The operating systems and the application software do not match the present technologies in the market. The hardware that the BCU uses is too slow to meet the current client requirements; that is responsible for the hardware maintenance issues and the piling of help desk jobs at the BCU. Conclusion The analysis depicts the situation at the BCU as below present technological standards. A complete overhaul or upgrade of the hardware and software modules are required in order to match up with the current technological standards and ease the maintenance of hardware components. Recommendations In accordance with the analysis of the information system and support staff at the BCU, the following recommendations are made: a) An overhaul of the current computer hardware and software modules; since the current hardware and software systems can not match the BCU client requirements. b) A new approach to networking architecture is recommended, probably segmentation of the different departments’ network and the use of up to date data base management software and networking operating system such as Windows server 2008. c) A restructuring of the IT department staff, suggested replacements are the network administrator and the IT manager; since they can not establish new IT trends in the institution. d) Increase in the number of help desk attendants so as to reduce the work accumulation that is presently being experienced. MAINTENANCE STRATEGY REPORT AND PRESENTATION Risk assessment The situation of the Information technology system at the BCU is in the verge of causing problems at the institution. Presently, the institution completely depends on the information system to carry out its daily operations and the long term management solutions. If these are not addressed soon, the daily operations at the institution will be jeopardized. Some of the risks associated with the information system failure include: a) Financial crisis at the institution b) Management failure and related issues c) Closure of the institution Preventive maintenance schedule The maintenance approach that the company should approach includes the use of equipments user manuals, sufficient user training and maintaining contact with the outside vendors on contractual basis to ensure that they maintain and upgrade the necessary hardware and software module. References Marite, K. Janis, G., 2002, Information systems development: advances in methodologies, components, and management. Moscow: Springer,pp.34-56 Wita, W., 1999, Systems development methods for databases, enterprise modeling, and workflow management. Moscow: Springer,pp.45-67 Frank, L. Dieter, R., 2000, Production workflow: concepts and techniques. New York: Prentice Hall,pp.78 Avison, D. E. Guy F., 2003, Information systems development: methodologies, techniques, and tools. New York: Blackwell Scientific Publications,pp.56-60 Richard, B. Rudy A. H., 1987, Critical issues in information systems research. New York: Wiley,pp.34-45 Michael J. Oxford Institute of Information Management, PA Consulting Group, 1996, Information management: the organizational dimension. London: Oxford University Press,pp.24-30 Brian, B., Daniel, P., Juergen, K., Arnold, 2009 ,Software & Systems Requirements Engineering: In Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional,pp.12-17 Robert, G., Doro, E. L., 2003, Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. New York:Butterworth-Heinemann,pp.16-18 Walter, S., 2008, Sustainable Development Possible with Creative System Engineering. New Jersey: CassBeth,pp.10-19 Andrew ,S.,and Jennifer G.,2005. Applied Software Project Management.Cambridge, MA: O'Reilly Media,pp.3-7 McConnell, S., 1996. Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, pp.67-80 Read More