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Abstract
Information system analysis is necessary for recognising an organisation’s productivity status and profitability. New technologies are necessary for assisting an organisation’s information system in achieving a competitive advantage over its rivals. These new technologies may speed up the time it takes to access information; the level of information security in an organisation, the level of collaboration among employees and the level of data storage. Improvement of an organisation’s information system creates a competitive advantage over its rivals, thus increasing its influence on its relevant market. The information system of Ark Royal College requires a system analysis in order to determine its level of efficiency. This report includes an analysis of the current information system of Ark Royal College that is documented in the findings section. It also includes the system requirements of a proposed information system that will replace the existing inefficient system that is documented in the recommendations section. The report also contains various methods in which raw data was obtained. The report outlines, in detail, how to improve the current system through the integration of a proposed information system that will incorporate modern technology in order to assist Ark Royal College in achieving a competitive edge and surpassing its rivals.
Introduction
Ark Royal College is a tertiary education college having its headquarters and main campus located on the outskirts of Portsmouth. The college has three others branches in Havant, Gosport and Fareham. The college was founded in 1990 with 300 enrolled students. Since, its establishment the annual enrollment of new students has increased to 2500. About a half of these students are based in the main campus while the rest are distributed in the smaller sites. The main objective of the college is to offer quality education to its students. At least 10% of the students come from the international market. The courses that are offered in this college are GCSE, English Language, Accounting and Finance, Business Studies, and General Engineering. Since its establishment, the college has enjoyed the positive reputation for the quality of education due to the dedication of its administration and the teaching staff. The institution’s competitive strategy is to ensure that all the students excel in their fields of study. Like any other learning institution, Ark Royal College has been facing challenges making the running of the institution inefficient.
In order for an organisation to enjoy a high level of efficiency and reliability, its information system has to be effective. The current information system of Ark Royal College has been experiencing various technological hobbles that prevent it from attaining the necessary competitive advantage to beat its rivals. A high level of competitive advantage would also increase its level of profitability and improve its productivity. The proposed I.S. will incorporate advanced technology that will allow it to accommodate the new requirements that Ark Royal College have targeted.
Background
This report was written to reveal the inefficiencies of the current I.S. of Ark Royal College. The college has been using an inefficient system that has resulted in low quality of teaching standards and administration service. It also highlights the recommendations that are required to create a proposed information system that will accommodate the new requirements of the college. The recommendations would be the solution to the challenges that the college has been facing.
Objectives
The objectives of this report are to demonstrate the inefficiencies of the current information system of Ark Royal College and highlight the recommendations that are required to create a new information system that will accommodate the new requirements of the college. The college has been using an outdated system for long time thus making teaching and administration a difficult task for both the employees and the students. The recommendations that are explained will help the college improve its services and become more competitive in the local and international markets.
Scope
The report examines the inefficiencies of the current information system of Ark Royal College, a system analysis of the current system, requirements of the proposed system and other necessary recommendations. The report also highlights the technological modifications that are required in order to provide Ark Royal College with the competitive edge that it requires to keep ahead of the competition.
Literature Review
According to (Bentley et al., 2007) and (Dong et al., 2009) organisations must embrace technological integration into their information systems in order to achieve better efficiency and productivity. Their view is that information systems require a constant review in order to cope with emerging changes. Additionally, they suggest that having an updated information system analysis provides an accurate account of the requirements needed to transform the state of the information system.
Furthermore, (Chiang et al., 2009) suggest that having a clear method of analysis directly produces a clear understanding of a system, enabling a system analyst to accurately detect any hidden flaws within the information system.
Moreover, (Mustonen-Ollila & Lyytinen) emphasise that automating the system analysis process increases the rate at which results are produced, therefore, speeding up the decision-making process. They further suggest that automation of the system analysis process decreases human errors thus providing accurate results that will be used to determine the system’s new requirements.
Methodology
The findings of this report were obtained from a thorough analysis of the current information system of Ark Royal College. Through an observation of how information was shared, stored, transferred and accessed, various inefficiencies were discovered. The analysis prompted various recommendations that were to be incorporated into the proposed system. Employees were also interviewed; they provided detailed information about the current information system.
Findings
From the analysis that I conducted, there are several finding that I got about the system and the college. The findings of the research include:
Having analysed the current information system of the college, it is clear the college is using an outdated advertising technology i.e. it uses open days, local newspapers, magazine advertising and the word of mouth. These types of advertising methods are considered outdated because they cannot reach the wide market. The methods are also not cost effective compared to modern methods of advertisement such as media and the internet. Hence, they may have a negative effect on the performance of the organisation (Lejk & Deeks, 2012).
The college is using old computers that are too slow. The computers are slow and outdated; they are at least five years old. The computers also have outdated operating systems i.e. Windows XP. The main disadvantages of using outdated systems are: slow work and absence of the proper mechanism (Carpenter, 2012). In addition, old computers cannot understand analytical language, and do not show properties.
The Internet connection college is too slow meaning that it uses a broadband line of limited bandwidth, i.e. standard British Telecom (BT) phone lines cannot meet the requirements of the college. Slow internet means that it is difficult for the tutors and the students to do research and other activities online. Therefore, this means that the running of college activities is slowed down.
The college has a limited number of technicians. One technician caters to all the technical difficulties of all the four branches. One technician cannot handle the work of the main college and the other four branches. In a case of a system breakdown in the college, it takes long time to repair it, thus, resulting to delays in other college activities.
The college is using an outdated information storage system i.e. a single storage drive (L-Drive) with multiple subfolders that are time-consuming to access. In addition, information that is stored is at risk of being accessed by unauthorized personnel who can get private and confidential information about the college. It is also difficult to retrieve information from an outdated storage system. Hence, a lot of time is wasted.
The college uses the L-Drive. The L-Drive has several inefficiencies as explained below:
? It has multiple copies of the same documents containing varying amounts of data
? Inconsistent information presentation
? Difficult information access for new employees
? Members are unaware of its existence or are disinterested in using the facility
? It does not support staff collaboration in group projects
? It does not support email integration in collaborative projects
? Some computers lack the relevant document interpreting software
? Lack of a search facility to locate documents from the server making it difficult to track documents
? Ineffective system utilisation
The college also has poor management. Poor collaborative resource management means that independent departments cause purchases of duplicate items of equipment, loss of campus resources and ineffective personnel deployment. Poor management leads to poor decision making, thus, leading to inappropriate use of resources. Therefore, the business can be at a risk of suffering from losses thus making it difficult to compete with other profitable businesses.
Insufficient number of computers is another great problem that the college is facing, leading to delays. Students cannot conduct adequate research on the internet which is important for improvement of their researching skills.
Another challenge is the use of manual filing system. The outdated manual filing system that has insecure paper-based files makes it hard for a person to retrieve a file when it is required. Employees end up wasting time when searching for files in the store.
Since its establishment, the college has only three campuses. Students’ enrollment rate is not high compared to other colleges established during the same period. The school is also said to have one technician who serves the four campuses.
Recommendations
Having analysed the challenges that the college is facing, there are several things that need to be done in order to improve the running of this institution. The recommendations include:
The college should use an updated advertising technology, i.e. a website that will integrate all advertising information about Ark Royal College. The information on this website could be accessed by everyone within or outside the college. This could give Ark Royal College the competitive edge that it requires. The college can also use the media as a mean of advertisement in order to reach many people.
The college should purchase new, fast and updated computers that can increase productivity and save time. Purchasing sufficient number of computers will reduce teaching delays.
The installation of operating systems that support current software and functionality such as Windows 7 or Windows 8 should be done immediately.
The management should buy networking equipment that supports high-speed internet access and subscribe to an Internet Service Provider that supports a high network bandwidth. A high bandwidth will support high-speed internet connection, allowing users to access data and communicate faster than before. The high-speed internet connection would also support faster information sharing among the users of the system.
The college should hire more technicians to deal with technical difficulties that may arise. An increased number of technicians would boost the stability and efficiency of the proposed system since any technical difficulties that may arise would be dealt with promptly.
The college should update information storage system that would incorporate drive partitions that correspond to the various branches/departments of the college, i.e. multiple storage partitions would increase efficiency and allow faster data access since information is organised within the storage location according to its relevance and function. The new storage system would:
? Consolidate copies of the same documents containing varying amounts of data
? Support consistent information presentation
? Support easier information access by new employees
? Increase awareness and interest in using the facility
? Support staff collaboration in group projects
? Support email integration in collaborative projects
? Support computers that have the relevant document interpreting software
? Incorporate a search facility to locate documents from the server making it easier to track documents
? Ensure effective system utilisation
Enhanced collaborative resource management is also recommended; independent departments cause purchasing of duplicate items of equipment, loss of campus resources and ineffective personnel deployment.
The college should update its filing system to electronic filing system that has secure electronic data files.
The college should also set aside enough money to implement this proposal. The money required should be disbursed as earliest as possible in order to improve the efficiency of the institution. The money will be also used to hire new employees, who will help in expanding the college in order to have higher enrollment rate.
Conclusions
It can be concluded that the current information system of Ark Royal College is outdated and inefficient causing unnecessary expenses to be incurred. In order to reduce these expenses and increase efficiency of the college, a new and efficient information system has to be installed. The proposed system would integrate new technology that will transform the ways in which data is shared and transmitted within the college, faster and secure access to electronic data files, enhance staff collaboration in the event of group projects through a website and improve the marketing strategies of the college.
References
Bentley, L. D., Whitten, J. L., & Randolph, G. (2007). Systems analysis and design for the global enterprise. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Dong, Z. Y., & Zhang, P. (2009). Emerging techniques in power system analysis. Berlin: Springer.
Chiang, R., Siau, K., & Hardgrave, B. C. (2009). Systems analysis and design: Techniques, methodologies, approaches, and architectures. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe
Lejk, M., & Deeks, D. (2012). An introduction to systems analysis techniques. Harlow: Addison-Wesley.
Mustonen-Ollila, E., & Lyytinen, K. (n.d.). How organizations adopt information system process innovations: A longitudinal analysis. European Journal of Information Systems, 35-51.
Carpenter, T. (2012). Microsoft Windows operating system essentials. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons.