Competency

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:

• Determine the impact of systems on an organization

Scenario

You are the assistant director of the IT department of Lost Pines Outfitters, a medium-sized online retailer. You have recently received data showing that customers are not satisfied with the current ordering system. They report that they keep selecting items that seem to be available and then receive conflicting information when they try to complete the purchase. This has resulted in wasting customer time and causing some customers to leave the site without making a purchase. The data also shows that it is taking employees too long to fulfill those orders. Your director is contemplating acquiring a new system that makes the process of buying merchandise easier for your customers and improves the employee experience as well. She has asked you to develop a presentation for your company stakeholders. The presentation will show how the existing ordering system is currently receiving, processing, and fulfilling orders.

Directions

Customers have stated that once they select an item they want to purchase on your company website, they are told only at checkout that the item is not currently in stock. When customers do successfully place an order, a warehouse employee begins processing the order. The employee refers to the inventory report to make sure that the item is in stock and to locate it in the warehouse. The inventory report is printed every three days. Once the item is located, the employee packages it for shipping and notifies the delivery company that an item is ready to ship. If they cannot locate the item in the warehouse, the employee must inform the customer that the item is out of stock. The current process is taking one to four hours.

The director of IT has asked you to create a presentation for stakeholders. Your presentation must include a data flow diagram (DFD) that models the primary business functions (product ordering, internal order processing, and logistics or shipping) and the flow of data between them. You should also be sure to include inputs to and outputs from the processes. Finally, you will need to provide suggestions concerning where the process could be changed to make it more efficient.

The presentation must contain 5 to 7 slides.

Within your presentation, you must:

• Create a Level 0 (context diagram) data flow diagram for the existing system. This data flow diagram will show how information flows into and out of the system. Recall that a context diagram includes only the system and inputs and outputs.
• Create a Level 1 data flow diagram for the existing system. This data flow diagram will show a breakdown of the system into business processes and the flow of information from one business process to another within the system, including:
  • Product ordering
  • Internal order processing
  • Logistics or shipping
• Identify data flows, processes, data stores, and inputs and outputs by clearly labeling them within the diagram.
• Identify user requirements and business functionality for each business process. Consider the end user (customer and employee) needs for ease of use, accessibility, and performance.
• In conclusion, provide suggestions for changes that should be made to the system and explain the advantages and disadvantages of implementing those changes. Consider the organization’s desire for:
  • Ease of use
  • Accessibility
  • Performance