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1. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENT oi ee Deae ABSTRACT TUER DU Mae i m oq QU IV PREFACE A T DS V TABLE OF CONEEN JTSA a eben patito tea Ree Ue Due Ee VI LIST OF TABLES icedi iei ti tome ot een X LIST OESEIGUREBS eir puoi pe ipid pi qi pe p ta e a qa quite ae Pus XI CHAPTERI INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM CHAPTERII LITURATURE STUDY 2 1 Brief description of SDLC ua cee aa aaa eas 3 2121 PlanMming ECCE EUER 3 2 1 1 1 Project identification and selection 3 2 1 1 2 Project initiation and 3 2 1 2 TCI CD s cS 4 2 1 2 1 Requirement gathering ssssssss 4 2 1 2 2 Requirement Structuring 4 PPP 4 2 1 3 1 Logical design Ret 4 2 1 3 2 Physical design 4 2 1 4 Implementation 5 vii 2 1 4 1 Construction 5 5 2 1 4 3 Conversion 5 2 1 25 PR DS 5 2 1 5 Maintenance A a aa aa aaa ada aaia 6 2 2 Software Failure Definition and Reasons For Failure 6 2 2 1
2. 60 APPENDICES hiuc BPO cee eI 62 92 ixzuBpCcp m 100 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2 1 Project Success Factors and of Responses 12 4 1 Current status of these 15 4 2 Name of the Project Accounts Management System 24 4 3 Name of the Project Inventory Management System 25 7 1 53 Techniques of requirement collection 53 Table 2 1 SDLC Hierarchy xi LIST OF FIGURE 2 1 Example of a real life situation 100 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM Development of computer based information systems began in the 1950s Since then development environment and process has radically changed mainly because of changing organizational needs and technological development In the 1950s focus of development was on the process the software performed and the goal was to increase efficiency of processing Since processing power of computer was a critical resource emphasis was given on the automation of the existing process But now the scenario has changed The concepts of business process improvement and reengineering have come into being with increase in processing power and other technological improvements Organizations
3. Env amp Social Forestry O Functional Education Housing Infrastructure Dev Legal Aid LegalEdn O MCH amp FP O Networking Prevention of Drug Add O Rural Enterprise Dev Social Mobilisation 0 Training O Water amp Sanitation Others C 2 REPORTS OF PATRON MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 107 108 The Federations of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB House 64 A Road 15 A Dhanmondi R A Dhaka 1209 Tel 815 1920 1 Fax 815 1920 1 Website www fnb web org Fund Information BRAC Soiree EE ree IE a Private Company 109 The Federations of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB House 64 A Road 15 A Dhanmondi R A Dhaka 1209 Tel 815 1920 1 Fax 815 1920 1 Website www fnb web org Program Information BRAC Programs Supported Arsenic Child Education Democracy Disabled Health and Nutrition Livestock Micro Finance Networking Poultry Sanitation Street Child Trining Water Spy a i 4 11 1 Districts Covered Chittagong Dhaka Faridpur Narayanganj Rajshahi Sylhet 110 The Federations of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB a eee SS House 64 A Road 15 A Member Membership Type Street Post Area Upazila District Phone Mobile Fax WebAddress Email Head Office Street Head Office Post Head Office Area Head Office Upazila Head Office District Year of Establishment Organization Belongs to Type of Organization Working Days Working Hours Total
4. To edit or delete an information click on button beside Organization ID text box and select the organization Click on Edit make changes and click on save To select the organization and click on Delete 140 Program Information Program ID Program Name Remarks if any T Add Row X Del Row ae Figure 4 2 d Program Information Screen To add a new Program Information click on Add and input information in the corresponding text boxes and Click on Add Row To edit a program information click on Edit and double click on the program information you want to edit The selected program information will appear in the corresponding text boxes Make required changes and click on Add Row Note that change in the Program ID will be considered as a new record 141 To delete a program information click on Edit and double click on the information The information will be shown in the corresponding text boxes Click on Del Row and Save This will delete the program from the list and the new list will be saved 4 3 Renew Membership Screen This form helps to select the NGOs who has renewed their membership Click Data Entry from the menu and then click Renew Membership Membership Renewal Information List of Members Organization Nan Figure 4 3 Membership Renewal Screen 142 To view the members of the previous years click on and the NGO
5. If the NGO is a member organization then click on Member and select the type of membership This will enable Legal Program Information and Network Supported Expenses tab Click on the required tab and input all the information A member Organization will have NGO Contact Information fig 4 3 a Legal Program Information Network Supported Expenses and NGO Directory information The Legal Program Network Supported Expenses and NGO Directory are as follows NGO Information NGO Coniact Information Network Supported Expenses Registration Information Name of the Registration Authority Number Date of 1 8 72004 Date of 1178 2004 Remakel Registration Renewal T Add Row A Del Row Information Name of the Organization s Main Programmes r Districts Covered Program Add Program Del Row he T Add Row Districts Upazilas Unions Covered in Total Number of Figure 4 2 b Legal Program Information 137 NGO Information District Metropolitan Associate Select supported iter the Coalition Network oor Network Supported 4 Add Program Del How Add Row Del Row Figure 4 2 c Network Supported Expenses NGO Information Year of Working Days Establishment Office Time Branch Information Serial Numbe
6. 4 7 i 2 a 7 4 8 20 i 21 4 24 2 All 3 g 1 3 5 7 8 d Figure B 8 Programs Supported by the NGO Implementing Agency Organazation x 4 D Name of the Coalition Network 1 4405 NGO s Consortium Lalmonirhat 2 NGO Forum for DWSS 3 BMSP PHM Bangladesh ALRD NGO Forum for drinking water supply amp Sanitation Forum for regenerity Agri Movement 4 Bangladesh National Youth Council EANA IDE SUPRO Anti Tobacco amp Drug Network 5 Not available Figure B 9 Implementing Agency 97 Sector Network Programs Supported by the Number of Organization Partners Organization ID Figure B 10 Sector Network 1 Membership Information 2 Year Organization Name E 3 2001 IRDF _4 2001 ADAF Bangladesh Probaha Mohila Unnayan 5 2001 Sangstha 2002 IRDF 21 ADAF Bangladesh Probaha Mohila Unnayan _8 Sangstha CORO E UDD OG Figure B 11 Membership Information 98 2 0 Updates Major updates were made in the Program Supported sheet because the organizations who obtained FNB s membership did not reflect which programs are being carried out in which districts area and the status of the programs explicitly The information NGOs provided were the programs they support districts and areas where they are currently working So the sheet was broken down into two sheets as follows A B Programme Supported 1 Coverage Area of the
7. Introduction bP r Contact Information Name Designation Address Phone Email r Organization Information Figure 7 1 a NGO Contact Information Page 72 NGO Information Pa Yr Ey EM F vae 4 Ey ada Program Figure 7 1 b Legal Program Information Sheet 73 NGO Information Where the Organization Intends to Belong to District Metropolitan Associate ype Ma zi Select Program Supported Enter the Coalition Network Sectoor Network Supported T Add Program XA Del Row Program Total Partners Expenses Year Ss Expenditure Remarks pru 38 Se ees r Others Organization Information Total Number of Total Number of Permanent Staff Benificiaries Figure 7 1 c Network Supported Expenses Page NGO Information Year of Working Days Establishment r Branch Information Serial Number Name Post Area District Phone Fax Email 33 A veion So im eder ac S S r Financial Information FmdSouwe Remark DESEE Add Row Del Row Figure 7 1 d NGO Directory Page 74 75 Membership Renewal Information This form is used to store information of the member NGOs for a particular year Membership Renewal Information Year ps 14 List of NGOs List of Members Organization Nan
8. am very much thankful to Mr Knandakar Azad for letting me doing my internship at ConnectBD Ltd and Mr Wasim Hayder Chowdhury for his constant supervision and guidance during the internship period Thanks are also due to Mr Maruf Ahmed and Mr Biswajeet for their time and trouble for taking me to the very important and respected customers of ConnectBD Ltd My appreciation also goes to all the members of ConnectBD Ltd who gave their valuable comments and opinions on the subject of study and also provided necessary support would also like to thank all the customers and the users of the software of ConnectBD Ltd who have given their valuable time and most valuable and vital comments also appreciate the time and effort given by Mr Taposh Kumar Ghosh from Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh for providing the requirements to develop the software and the feedback after using the prototype and the actual system am thankful to Ms Farzana Choudhury for arranging my internship at ConnectBD Ltd and taking initiative wnenever faced problems regarding my study during my internship period Last but not the least would like to express my deepest appreciation to my department Department of Computer Science and Engineering BRAC University ABSTRACT Business organizations are now a days eager to automate their systems so that they can do their tasks quickly and easily The demand for software has increased compared to the past years To meet th
9. usually a combination of questions is used during an interview 2 6 1 1 3 Preparing for the interview It is important to take a prior preparation for the interview session An interviewer should have a general interview plan The plan includes the questions that will be asked the order of the questions how the follow up will be and how the topics will be related to each other 2 The interviewer should confirm the areas in which the interviewee has knowledge so that the interviewer does not ask questions that s he cannot answer 2 The interviewer should review the topic areas the questions and the interview plan and clearly decide which has the greatest priority in case the interviewer runs out of time 2 37 6 1 1 4 Conducting the interview When the interviewer starts the interview the first goal is to build rapport with the interviewee so that s he trusts the interviewer and is willing to tell the whole truth not just give the answers that s he thinks has been asked The appearance of an interviewer should be professional and unbiased independent seeker of information The interview should start with an explanation of why an interview with that person is going to be held and after satisfied responses the interviewer can move to the planned questions 2 6 1 1 5 Follow up After the interview is over the interviewer needs to prepare an interview report that describes the information from the interview The repo
10. 3 2 The default directory is C Program Files PMS You can click Change Directory and select the path if you want to change this path Click Setup Icon to continue 2 PMS Setup Begin the installation by clicking the button below Figure 2 3 2 Change Directory Window 123 Step 3 Select Program Group Window will appear as figure 2 3 3 You can Choose Program group where PMS will be found in Start gt Programs on your computer Press Continue to continue installation PMS Setup 41 PMS Choose Program Group F3 Setup will add items to the group shown in the Program Group box You can enter a new group name or select one from the Existing Groups list Program Group Existing Groups Accessories Administrative Tools Adobe Lavasoft Ad aware 6 Microsoft Web Publishin SmartDraw Startup Figure 2 3 3 Select Program Group Window 124 Step 4 Progress Window will appear as figure 2 3 d After completing installation this window will be closed automatically and show the message of successful installation PMS Setup Figure 2 3 4 Progress Window CHAPTER III BASIC SETTINGS 125 126 3 1 Database Connection Form At the first time when you run the software you will see the following form on the screen Connect Database Host Name User ID Password Database Figure 3 1 a Database Connection Form This is the form by which you can connect your da
11. 5 1 Data Flow Diagram of the to be system 70 6 0 ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM 22 Tear Membership ay ci Newer ana TINTE T C na of uppazila Urganization Information AN BUE 7 ECS Fegistration _Inbrmmation Cm Qs Expenditure hfarmation oe Fund Information fund Lo waren br nm Branch Inonmation gt br errail z Program Area Program Supported Sedor Metuaork Program h formation prog nm Figure 6 1 Entity Relationship Diagram 71 7 0 MODULES 7 1 Forms NGO Information This form tracks NGO s general contact legal program network supported by the NGO expenses and directory information If the NGO is a member of Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB then all these information should be input recommended but not required If the NGO is not a member of FNB then only NGO Contact and NGO Directory information needs to be input NGO Information Legal Program Information Network Supported Expenses Member Non Member Contact Address Which Type of membership the organization is applying for Honorary Member Regular Member C Associate Member Street Village Post Upazila e Mobile 1 11 Headoffice Address Click here if the Contact Address and Head Office address are same Streetile Upazila
12. and areas where programmes are implemented Please write in separate sheets iu TAG Se fags 525 Total number of districts covered x 48508 Seren Bia aes 0 eB Total number of upazilas covered ART 2805 54 ASAT ST X Present Status of ongoing projects programmes 104 AIA HAT MISS BS Dm THT _ _ Where the organization intends to belong District Metropolitan aoa maa coeur ams Type of the organization Implementing NGO _ Sector Network C _ International Nco ALATA AGATA ALA A if itis an implementing Agency 5 Taree a beards AAA 41553555 za peu deus a 089 887264 m 2 Whether it belongs to any Coalition Network or Sector Network t pA 3i 4 52515519 css CSAS A If the organization is a Sector Network tere cera 2845 5 ARTS 8 049616 BSH e Which kind of programmes or NGOs being supported by this Network 4 0 48480888085488980939848894843 444844844588844545658881 4484486888884 94 855866686 4 TABS CD 851046 PATO TISSU Luise Total number of members or partners of the Sector Network en NS for CHS reme IAA ATA Total expe
13. for the membership information Membership information will contain information about the NGOs which are working for the development of Bangladesh The web page will have a search page which will help the users to view any information regarding the NGOs using some search criteria A software is required to track member nonmember NGO information to support this search This part of the thesis contains the specifications of the software which was built for Foundation of NGOs to track member non member NGO and their membership information using a prototyping methodology The software is named as Patron Management Software for Foundation of NGOs and this is the first version of the software 65 3 0 SCOPE OF THE SOFTWARE This software is a part of the system described in Scope of the Total System which will help FNB to track member non member information This software will run in a standalone computer or computers in a Local Area Network All member and non member information will be input and the database will be periodically transferred to the web server using any File Transfer Protocol software Any Internet browser can browse NGO information along with information about FNB its history bulletins photo gallery annual reports membership information etc Note that information about FNB its history etc are all static information on the web and only NGO information will be displayed according to some search criteria from the database tran
14. important features As a result the programmers had to start the project all over again or threw away parts of the program or refined it This approach also made teamwork difficult because the team members had little idea about what to produce and how it was to be integrated to get the final product So need for a structured procedure evolved in their minds and thus many new methodologies were developed over time Now there are different system development methodologies and each one is unique based on the order and focus placed on each phase of System Development Life Cycle SDLC System Development Life Cycle SDLC is the process of understanding how an information system can support business needs designing the system building it and delivering it to the user 1 System Development Life Cycle SDLC has a set of 5 core phases the break down of the phases may differ according to different methodologies 2 1 Brief description of SDLC spi c Planning Analysis zem Implementation Maintenance Project Project Initiation Logical Phvsical Identification amp and Planning Selection Requirement Requirement Gathering Structuring Construction Testing Conversion Training Figure 2 1 SDLC Hierarchy 2 1 4 Planning This is the fundamental process of understanding why an information system should be built and determining how the project team will go about building it The two sub phases of the planning phase are 1 2 2 1 1 1 Proj
15. major changes such as adding new items or features after or in the coding phase wastes time money effort and disrupt the work This expensive rework may force abandoning the entire project Sometimes system development process takes so long that the requirement of the users change drastically with changes in business policies As a result requirement collected and organized become redundant and back dated Thus the system developed becomes useless to the user or requires a lot of study changes work and time to get the system updated Some of the other reasons to why software projects fail are Same people design and code Same people code and test Poor team management Lack of a test plan Coding too quickly A report by the Standish Group shows the following statistics representing the factors which contribute to the success of software projects 10 Table 2 1 Project Success Factors and of Responses 12 1 User Involvement 15 9 2 Executive Management Support 13 9 3 Clear Statement of Requirements 13 0 4 Proper Planning 9 6 5 Realistic Expectations 8 2 6 Smaller Project Milestones 0 7 7 7 Competent Staff 7 2 8 Ownership 5 3 9 Clear Vision amp Objectives 2 9 10 Hardworking Focused Staff 2 4 11 Other 13 9 CHAPTER PROJECT PLAN At the preliminary stage it was decided to study software projects in Bangladesh to find out the reasons for
16. the reports i e 23 see the report on the screen zoom the preview navigate through the pages print etc 4 2 3 Overview of the software study In the survey five Accounts Management 3 and Inventory Management 2 out of six of the business people users who purchased and used Accounts and Inventory Management System were interviewed 50 of the users of Accounts and Inventory Management System are currently using the software The survey included both those who are currently using the software and those who are not All the users except two said that the software worked pretty well but the software had some extra features which created problems for them and some of the important features were missing which caused them troubles in supporting the related tasks so they could not totally depend on the system at first Lots of changes were made as they continued using the software and it took a lot of time to get the complete system according to their needs One of the users among those who were not satisfied with the software said that there were lots of bugs in the software and the reports provided did not fulfill their requirements The other user was totally disappointed with the system since the system did not serve their purpose and the users were not trained properly and no user manual was provided Since no system documentation was provided he could not ask any other developer to modify the system so that they can use the system A summ
17. their fear and provide correct and unbiased information Since all participants write the answers when a question is hung and read out the communication process allows several participants to contribute information simultaneously Thus all the participants contribute through out the session rather then sitting idle and listening Each idea is given equal importance by posting on the board the participants therefore feel important as their idea are represented Such participation promotes ownership This method also helps to keep documents since the cards are sorted and bundled with the question for further study 7 1 2 Prototyping Prototype is a quick and dirty program that provides minimal amount of features It provides the user a system very quickly so that they can interact with the system and thus understand whether the analyst understood what they want and also helps the analyst to refine real requirements quickly This process continues throughout the life cycle The project team performs analysis design and update of the prototype concurrently until the analysts users and the project team agree that the system provides all the functionalities and according to user s requirements 49 There are two types of prototyping methodologies The methodologies are 7 1 2 1 Prototyping based methodology Under this methodology the prototype is re analyzed redesigned and re implemented until and unless the use
18. to the developers but also create a resistance among the employees to use new technology Poor teamwork Most of the time the concept of division of labor or teamwork is missing It was found from observation that for most of the system development project there is no team work and the same person does the analysis design coding testing provide training and support This factor not only lacks the advantages that can be derived from team work but also lacks the advantage of division of labor 34 CHAPTER VI METHODS OF REQUIREMENT COLLECTION 6 1 Traditional Methods Of Requirement Collection Analysis is the first SDLC phase where the Analyst begins to understand the needs of the system in details System analysis involves a substantial amount of effort and cost and is therefore undertaken only after management has decided that the software project under consideration has merit and should be pursued through this phase Most observers would agree that most of the errors in developed software are directly involved with system requirement collection and inadequate efforts in analyzing and designing them However for many reasons it is always difficult to obtain a correct and complete set of requirements Requirements determination is the beginning of the analysis phase and also plays a vital role in developing a strong foundation for the system There are some traditional methods to help collect system requirements such as interv
19. to know only about the overall system that is to be automated Unless the project is approved by the committee the project team cannot go for detail study or analysis of the project but that is the time when the project team comes to know the actual volume of work but the cost is already decided at initiation so it is obvious that some project may fail at a stage if it is not funded well leaving the software undone 2 2 2 2 Inappropriate staffing All kinds of projects require adequate number of people to complete the project effectively When managers fail to provide adequate and properly trained resources it is more likely that the project will not be delivered on time and the project will fail Again from the other side additional manpower is not always effective The law of diminishing returns goes for extra manpower too so too many people working on the same project may lead to the failure of the project Even if efficient and experienced workforce is added to the project in the middle it slows down the project since people involved from the beginning of the project need to demonstrate guide and help the new people to make them understand and contribute in the project 2 2 2 3 Preparing documentation Some programmers think that writing specifications written before the coding starts are just a waste of time In reality documenting a project makes the ideas of the current system and to be system more vivid and provides struct
20. 54 minutes This will make the session boring and the participants may loose their interest to participate in the session 7 1 1 6 JAD session using QBPRG method QBPRG Question Based Participation for Requirement Gathering is a technique adapted by Dr Yousuf M Islam of BRAC University from a technique used by Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee BRAC for the purpose of information collection This technique can be used in the JAD session to overcome the problems of JAD This technique uses cards to gather information A question is hung on a clipboard and read out and each participant is provided with a number of cards usually 3 and asked to write one opinion answer per card in response to the question If someone has more opinions then s he can ask for extra card s The cards are then collected from the participants and clipped under the question They are then sorted or clustered under common headings with user participation and if any of the answers require discussion the participants discuss about it and the facilitator maintains the time and discussion 48 QBPRG method helps to overcome the problems of JAD by the following ways Since all the participants have to write on the card so everybody has to brainstorm and participate Since all the participants write the answers on the cards and the cards does not contain the writers name there is no way to determine who is writing what and thus the subordinates can overcome
21. D session and using prototypes the users are always connected to the software development work and can also ensure changes at the primary stage of the development 7 4 Overview Of the techniques of requirement collection The following table shows a comparison of the different techniques of Requirements Collection Table 7 1 Techniques of requirement collection 53 Although all these methods of requirement collection have some Characteris Interview Questionnai Observati Document JAD Prototyping tic s res on analysis Information High Medium to low High Low High Medium to Richness passive High and old Time Can be Low to Can be Low to Dedicated period Moderate and Required extensive moderate extensive moderate of time of all kinds can be of involved people extensive Expense Can be Moderate Can be Low to High High high high moderate Chance for Good Limited Good Limited Good Good Follow up and probing Confidentialit Interviewe Respondent Person Depends All the people Usually know y eis can be observed is on nature know each other each other known to unknown known to of interviewe interviewer document r Involvement Interviewe Respondentis Interviewee None no All kinds of people Users are of Subject eis passive no 5 may or clear are involved and involved and involved clear may notbe commitmen committed committed and commitment involved t committed and committed depe
22. Figure 7 2 Membership Renewal Information 76 Program Information This form is used to input program information Program Information Program ID Program EEE Remarks if any 3 add Row 78 Figure 7 3 Program Information Form 7 2 Tables and Their Relationships 77 These tables are the actual outputs of the software which will be transferred to the web server to support searching in the web Fund_Information Contact_Information _ Column Name Condensed Type Nullable 2 id int NULL fund source nvarchar 50 NULL remark nvarchar 50 NULL Column Name Condensed Type Nullable Organization Information org id int nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 70 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 Branch Information org id int br nm nvarchar S0 br street nvarchar 50 br post nvarchar 50 br area nvarchar 50 br upazila nvarchar 50 br dist nvarchar 50 br ph nvarchar 50 br mob 50 br fax nvarchar S0 br email nvarchar 50 Expenditure Information NULL NULL NULL NULL Column Name Condensed Type Nullable NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL Column Name Condensed Type int nvarchar 12 money nvarchar 50 int nvarchar 50 nvarchar 30 nvarchar 12 nvarchar 10 nvarcha
23. IMPLEMENTATION OF SOFTWARE PROJECTS PROBLEMS IN THE CONTEXT OF BANGLADESH amp SOLUTIONS FOR REQUIREMENT COLLECTION Rizwana Choudhry Student ID 01101051 Department of Computer Science and Engineering BRAC University February 2005 IMPLEMENTATION OF SOFTWARE PROJECTS PROBLEMS IN THE CONTEXT OF BANGLADESH amp SOLUTIONS FOR REQUIREMENT COLLECTION An Internship Report Submitted to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of BRAC University by Rizwana Choudhry Student ID 01101051 In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science February 2005 DECLARATION hereby declare that this thesis is based on the results found by myself Materials of work found by other researcher are mentioned by reference This thesis neither in whole nor in part has been previously submitted for any degree Signature of Signature of Supervisor Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all would like to thank almighty Allah would like to express my cordial gratitude to Dr Yousuf Mahbubul Islam for offering me the subject of study and for his continuous guidance through out the research work am also grateful to him because of the valuable time he gave to review the paper and the important comments he made am thankful to the thesis committee consisting of Dr Sayeed Salam Dr Mumit Khan Dr Yousuf Islam and Mr Saad Abdullah for the approval of the project
24. NGOs Organization I Programme ID Name of the District m where the program is E 1 covered d 7 2 1 3 1 Dhaka ae 2 eo Sylhet V 5 2 Dhaka 18 Sylhet 20 7 Chittagong 21 8 d 24 EL RES 2 I Al E Figure B 13 Programs Supported 5 r 7 8 Figure B 12 Programs Supported 99 3 0 Sample Form Designed in Excel NGO Information Figure B 14 NGO Information Form The forms were designed in Excel and given to the users to use and determine the changes required The designs were updated according to the user s requirement and the final design was implemented in Visual Basic 6 0 when the users finally approved it APPENDIX C C 1 PAPER BASED INPUT FORM 101 102 4 4 APPLICATION FORM FOR FNB REGULA SSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP RA cera gata AAAI pr arcas SATE 0 Which type embership the efganization applying for Please tick v fane AAAI C ap ATA Regular Member Associate Member Hga Organization amp Name WO 9 rd ferm Address aan foerat af feq 99 888888408884864884884088609 898 60808488908990900080880400999999990084009 si TETA T 8 T with local code eee Mobile WTS Fax 3 34 E mail 5 gfse ex Year of Establishment 548468844388934436 484884449450923844409688908889 6889840 p psostossseovevy
25. Number of Partners 0 Programs Covered in Total Number of Districts 5 654 Brief Introduction of the Organization Dhanmondi R A Dhaka 1209 Tel 815 1920 1 Fax 815 1920 1 Website www fnb web org RAC Member Regular Member 66 Mohakhali 1212 Mohakhali Dhaka Dhaka 897877 01718768768 87789889 www brac com brac yahoo com 66 Mohakhali 1212 Mohakhali Dhaka Dhaka 1 990 Metropolitan Sector Network Saturday Sunday 9am to 5 pm Total Number of Employees 123 123 123 Total Number of Upazilas 435 345 Total Number of Benificiaries 21 312 323 Toatl Number of Unions 353 454 a 111 5 The Federations of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB House 64 A Road 15 A Dhanmondi R A Dhaka 1209 v Tel 815 1920 1 Fax 815 1920 1 68 2 Dhanmond 88 02 4 85464556 matin yahoo com d Dhaka 1205 m 1414 FEEDBACK FROM USERS ON THE USE OF PROTOTYPE 112 113 Se 6 8 5 26 seam IFAR 7 The Federation of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB Central Office cra aries House 64 A Road 15 A ais 8 ATs 0 4 Dhanmondi R A Dhaka 1209 af 5 06 January 2005 To Whom It May Concern A Microsoft Excel sheet was provided to FNB by the ConnectBD Limited after some participatory interview session Since we have knowledge in Excel it was easier for us to insert required information in the sheet It also gave us a clear ide
26. Source Bangladesh Bank Janata Bank Remark 1 93 add Row 78 93 add Row 78 XA Row Figure 8 4 Test Data User Name admi Password FNB x Invalid User Logon Denied Figure 8 5 Test Data 86 Membership Renewal Information List of Members ee ee Figure 8 6 Test Data 87 88 9 0 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE SYSTEM The strength of the system is that the forms have been designed such that the user can input information in the sequence given in the manual form The weakness of the system is the security system is not that strong and the access control of the user levels Admin Supervisor and Entry shown in figure 7 11 have not been assigned Another weakness of the system is that the serial number in Branch Information has to be input manually and if the user input an existing number then the existing number will be over written by the new information with the same serial number This problem also exists in Program Information Form In Program Information while adding a new program a new ID is generated but if a batch of program is added the first ID is assigned by the system when Add is clicked but the ID of the next programs has to be assigned by the user and if the user inputs an existing ID the existing information will be over written by the new information 10 0 EXTENSION OF THE SYSTEM Patron Management System for Foundation of NGOs in B
27. a about the information required to develop the Patron Management software for FNB and we could easily provide our feedback on the sheet concerning the other information required to be included and or removed On the basis of our feedback on Excel sheet ConnectBD Limited developed a Demo version of software that helped us to understand the way the system and the data flows will work the types and designs of the forms and reports It also helped us to explore and enhance our ideas and overall understanding on the whole process We found it to be a good method of communication and understanding between the software developers and the people who will be using the system Taposh Kumar Ghosh Accounts Manager APPENDIX D USER MANUAL CHAPTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 115 116 PREPARING YOURSELF Before installing Patron Management System PMS for Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB you need the following hardware and Operating System 1 1 Hardware and Software Requirements a To use System you need the following hardware software configuration a Pentium Il or higher or any other equivalent processor with a minimum of 64 MB megabytes of RAM a Minimum 2 GB free spaces in Hard Disk are recommended a CD ROM drive a VGA monitor SVGA monitor or better Monitor display of 1024 x 768 is recommended a Either Windows 98 or higher or Windows NT 8 0 or higher with service pack 3 or higher a Printer
28. al Office House 64 A Road 15 A Dhanmondi R A Dhaka 1209 Name of the organization Address Information sheet for the Directory of NGOs in Bangladesh Phone o E mail Web site Name of the Chief Executive Designation Regional Project Branch office Auach extra sheet with detail address Working Day Office Time Name of the Programmes put tick marks in the box of programmes which you are implemented or involved Z Adivasis Etnic Minority 7 Advocacy amp Lobbying Apiculture J Child education C Credit Dev Com amp Pub Election Monitoring J Fisheries 2 Gender amp Development Zi Human Resources Dev J Institution Building Library 2 Media Linkage Campaign C Non formal Primary Education 2 Reproductive Health Scholarship Programme 2 Street Children Village Volunteer Programme Women s Development Signature Chief Executive Date O Adolescent Children Aids Prevention O Arsenic O Child Survival Day care centre U Disabled O Entrepreneurship Development Food Processing Health amp Nutrition O Human Rights O Land Reform amp Dev Livestock O Micro Enter Dev O Poultry D Research Sectoral Forum O Sustainable Agriculture Voter Education Working with the Old AdultEducation Mass Lit DAlternative Tech Dev amp Trg O Capacity Building O Coordination O Democracy O Disaster Pre amp Management
29. ally use only a part of the functions of a system so they are always just familiar with a part of the system functions or processes So in most situations one copy of the questionnaire obviously cannot fit to all the users To conduct an effective survey the analyst should group the users properly and design different questionnaires for different groups When designing questionnaires the analyst should concentrate on the following issues The questions are not ambiguous The questions are set in such a way that the answers are consistent chronological kind of question to be applied open ended or close ended The proper length of the questionnaires The major problem of requirement collection through questionnaire is lack of discussion which helps to decide on contradictory points bring out related problems and agreed solutions to the problems and bringing out new ideas 39 6 1 3 Directly observing the users People are not always very reliable informants even when they try to be reliable and tell what they think is the truth People often do not have a completely accurate appreciation of what they do or how they do it Since people can not always be trusted to reliably interpret and report their own actions analyst can supplement and corroborate what people say by watching what they do or by obtaining relatively objective measures of how people behave in work situation 2 However the problem of observation is t
30. angladesh has been developed to support search member information in the web But after using the system they have decided to extend the software for their official use too Foundation of NGOs is now willing to add a searching mechanism which will help them to search any NGO Information using any search criteria 89 11 0 HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS a Pentium 11 or higher or any other equivalent processor with a minimum of 64 MB megabytes of RAM a Minimum 2 GB free space in Hard Disk is recommended a CD ROM drive a VGA monitor SVGA monitor or better Monitor display of 1024 x 768 is recommended a Either Windows 98 or higher or Windows NT 8 0 or higher with service pack 3 or higher a Printer supported by your operating system if you plan to print reports a Foundation of NGOs may use any of the File Transfer Protocol software such as WS FTP Pro a Norton Anti virus or any other anti virus to keep the system and the machine safe from virus attack This is important since the database will be frequently transferred and downloaded to and from the web 90 12 0 NETWORK REQUIREMENTS To use Patron Management System in LAN environment the following network configuration is required for both sharing a data base file and or printing to a network printer Network using either Windows 95 or higher or Windows NT 8 0 or higher with Service Pack 3 Server Database Serv
31. are now changing their business processes to avail and use better technology to derive higher efficiency Business organizations are now keen to automate their systems so that they can do their tasks quickly and easily But even after such radical changes in business processes needs technological development and aggressiveness of the business environment lots of information system projects fail or are in a dilemma From a study it was found that the rate of software project failure is between 5096 to 8096 This rate includes both small and large software projects In a review of 13 522 projects done by the Standish Group in the year 2003 it was found that about 1 66 of all software projects fail 2 8296 of the projects experience time overruns and 3 4896 of the projects do not have the required features on product release 10 CHAPTER LITERATURE STUDY Information System development is a complex challenging and time consuming process and thus requires a planned and structured development procedure But in the early days of computing the need for formal and well planned life cycle for Information System Development was not well understood Programmers used to move directly into the construction of the implementation phase after a very simple planning phase It was found that the approach worked well for some small programs that require only one programmer but if the requirements were complex and unclear the programmers missed
32. arlier that the problems of requirement collection are Communication gap between the users management and the software development team Lack of user involvement in the development process of user s knowledge in IT and developer s idea of how the users carry out the task 52 Users uncertainty of the information s he should provide top management s reluctance to involve actual users etc The time gap of involving the user with the development process As JAD session involves users from different departments and levels user involvement is ensured So the first two problems can be solved using JAD session The management users and software development team can get together and reduce the communication gap and confusion through discussion It also encourages user participation since the users feel that their decision or participation is appreciated Since the decision making authority is also present in the discussion prompt decisions can also be taken The second two problems can be over come by using prototypes which will help the developers understand the process of work and the flow of data more clearly The users can also work with the system and get a clear idea of how the system will work what new information needs to be added and what information should be discarded for efficient processing of data this reduces scope creep and major changes users ask for after installation Since users are involved in both JA
33. ary of the problems users faced is given in the next page Table 4 2 24 Name of the Project Accounts Management System Particulars Name of the company pseudonym ABC Ltd DEF Ltd GHI Ltd Why the software was built customized for the Company 1 The company was always eager to use modern technology 2 To reduce the time required to managing accounting information and prepare Accounting ledgers 1 To reduce the time required to managing accounting information and prepare accounting ledgers 2 Quick amp error free reporting 1 To get reports whenever required 2 To prevent data loss and to keep data together 3 To get summary information Does the customer depend on the system Yes No They are currently using TALLY a well known off shelf accounting software Partially dependent Usefulness 1 It provides Balance Sheet Income Statement Asset Schedule Cash flow statement and all other ledgers required to maintain accounting information system 2 Decision making and understanding the financial status of the company 3 Requires less employee 1 Provided periodic Trial Balance Income Statement B S and all other ledgers required 2 Helped in decision making understanding company profitability and financial position Provides all the financial statements required Project failed succeeded Succeeded Failed because manageme
34. build a system which would provide information on reorder level current stock position etc Does the customer Yes No depend on the system Usefulness 1 It stores and provides information No use on monthly consumptions and issues 2 Reports on stock position reorder level etc Project failed succeeded Succeeded Failed Reason for success failure 1 It has satisfied the reasons for the development of the software i e less time and manpower is required to do carry out the operation 2 It provides almost all the features The system does not reflect what the company required Problems with the software if any 1 There are problems in the printed reports 2 Require some changes 1 The person who was trained left and no user manual was provided for new users 2 Previous data were not input during conversion 3 Problems errors to input data 4 Since there were problems in data entry the users do not know whether the system has met all the requirements 26 The main problems that can be sorted out from the above table are Missing features due to a Lack of user involvement during the SDLC b Lackof Management interest to involve actual users c Software clients hiding information d Analyst s unable to understand the actual requirement Weak security systems System Crash Inadequate training Poor conversion Method Data migration Lack of proper
35. databases and the specific programs required are determined in this phase 2 2 1 3 1 Logical design In this phase all the functional features forms reports database etc are described independently of any computer platform 1 2 1 3 2 Physical design In this phase the logical specifications of the system are transformed into technology specific details from which all programming and system construction can be accomplished 1 2 1 4 Implementation This is the phase when the system is actually built The sub phases of this phase are 2 1 4 1 Construction It is the phase when all the parts of the system are developed Programming or coding is often seen as the focal point in this phase 2 2 1 4 2 Testing Testing is basically done along with the coding and the codes are edited as the programs are written and tested Tests are done in different stages such as unit testing is done when each module is completed and they are tested independent of each other When it succeeds unit testing the modules are integrated and an integration test is done to examine if the modules as a whole works fine After successful integration testing system test is carried out to examine whether the system the hardware the software and the network infrastructure as a whole performs well 1 2 1 4 3 Conversion This is the conversion process by which the new system replaces the old There are different types of conversion methodologies e g dir
36. deliver the final software developed using prototypes a new prototyping methodology was proposed The new method is similar to throw away prototyping but reduces the problem of taking longer time This method of prototyping can be called live prototyping Live prototyping involves designing a Spreadsheet similar to the ledgers registers in which users keep their records The user will input information into the Spreadsheet and the developer will follow how the user input information The developer will make changes to the sheets as and when the user is facing problem while entering information into the Spreadsheets Since Spreadsheets are very easy to use and designed as information are kept in a register the user can easily understand what fields to add and which ones to remove The user can also understand the changes that need to be made Once the Spread Sheets are ready and approved by the user forms are designed Designing and connecting forms and reports in Spreadsheet is very easy and less time consuming because it supports Macros Macros are coded in Visual Basic and allow required reports to be generated The user easily understands what is going on and is able to give appropriate feedback The process of changing requirements continues until the user is fully satisfied and implementation of the actual system starts once the user approves it This system of prototyping was used to finalize the requirements for a new project the d
37. ds and publishes the proceedings of the meeting and does not contribute information to the meeting Observers are generally members of the application development team assigned to the project They sit behind the participants and silently observe the proceedings 7 1 1 3 Project Characteristics All the projects however are not good candidates for JAD sessions An appropriate project for JAD session should exhibit at least some of the following characteristics 45 e Involves many groups of users whose responsibilities cross traditional department or division boundaries e ls considered critical to the future success of the organization e Involves willing users e sa first time project for the organization e Has a troubled project history or relationship between the systems and user organizations Although the characteristics above describe a good JAD candidate project all the characteristics do not need to be present in the project But the project must have a good number of users i e at least 8 7 1 1 4 Advantages Provided by JAD Furthermore according to website articles one by Alan Cline and one by Bill Jennerich several articles and case studies have concluded that the JAD process can yield tremendous benefits Below is a list that combines the highlights of the findings Reduced system development time JAD information can be obtained and validated in a shorter time frame by involving all participan
38. duction Management System Payroll and Human Resource Management System VOIP Billing ISP Billing Prepaid Card Management System ISP Dialer Table 4 1 Current status of these software Name of the Software No of Clients No of current users Accounts Management System 4 2 Inventory Management System 2 1 LC Management System 1 1 Production Management System Not implemented None Payroll amp HR Management System Not implemented None VOIP Billing Not implemented None ISP Billing 1 1 Prepaid Card Management System 1 1 ISP Dialer Not implemented None ConnectBD Ltd primarily developed VOIP Billing ISP Dialer ISP Billing and Prepaid Card Management System for managing its own ISP and Prepaid cards respectively with a further view to sell the software in the market if any other company had a demand ISP Billing and Prepaid Card Management System are currently being used by ConnectBD Ltd itself and the other two software were not implemented due to technical reasons Accounts Inventory LC Production and Payroll and HR Management were developed since these are very commonly used and necessary 16 modules for used by almost all the companies All these modules can be integrated or used separately by customizing them according to the user s needs Accounts Inventory and LC Management are the most popular products of ConnectBd Ltd but Production Payroll and HR Mana
39. e As Is System Receipt 68 5 0 DESCRIPTION OF THE TO BE SYSTEM 1 The NGOs enter into the web site and download forms from the web 2 The NGOs fill up the form and submit it to the coordinator and pay the registration fee in the Accounts department 3 The Coordinator inputs NGO and membership information in the database and transfers it to the web server 4 The NGOs or any web browser can enter into the web site and can search and print information of all any NGO information 5 When any NGO donates fund to FNB the accounts information is updated 6 The NGOs renew their membership every year by paying renewal fee and also provide information if there is any change in the NGO information 7 All the new NGO information or updated information and the member information are input into the software and the database is transferred to the web server Data Flow Diagram of the To Be System is given in the next page Description of the sheets and forms designed in Microsoft Excel prototype are given in Appendix B 69 Transfer Database to the server Information Submit Form Download Form View Web Pages Search Information Search Field 6 0 Collect Download NGO Information Registration Fee Report According To Search Criteria Fund Received Update Account Donate Fund Receipt Account Information Figure
40. e Ee Dad dna 40 Yi JADSSGSSIDG a A OUO auo dit aS o OS LAM de 40 Pole le S BUSIOEV eon ten incon 41 7 1 1 2 Basic components of a JAD session 41 7 1 1 3 Project Characteristics ess 44 7 1 1 4 Advantages Provided by 45 7 1 1 5 Problems with 47 7 1 1 6 JAD session using QBPRG method 47 TE SCAN 24524 5284522 526852262 545226 DEED 48 7 1 2 1 Prototyping based methodology 49 7 1 2 2 Throw Away Prototyping 49 7 1 2 3 Proposed method of prototyping Live prototyping 50 7 2 Expected Outcomes From The Proposed Methodologies 51 7 2 1 Advantages of proposed techniques over traditional requirement collection methods 51 7 2 2 How JAD session and prototyping can overcome the problems prevailing in 51 7 4 Overview Of the techniques of requirement collection 52 7 5 Actual Outcomes from the Proposed Methodologies 54 CHAPTER VIII LIMITATIONS OF THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGIES CHAPTER IX CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH WORK EIST ORE REEEIREN GES eate eite bee
41. e been already discussed and QBPRG method has been suggested as a solution to the limitations of JAD session But there are some other limitations of using this method The limitations are Successful requirement collection through JAD session may require few days or weeks and the session needs to be held in a place distant from the work place The business people may not agree to stop their work for so long and burden themselves with work after they finish the session and come back to the work place Holding JAD sessions require expenses the expenses involves availing facilitator a suitable place for JAD session and the equipments required The limitations of using prototypes are The software has to be developed twice the prototype and the actual system thus it increases the cost and time required to deliver the system However a lot of time is saved in finalizing or freezing requirements since the user can start using the prototype very quickly and can give feedback on what is required and what is not Thus it saves time in collecting requirements Time can also be saved by designing the prototype using macros in Excel It has been found that some users are always changing their requirements and design So updating the prototype never seems to end as a result it becomes very difficult to keep someone 57 involved in updating the prototype rather then involving him her with other projects And the development of the ac
42. ect conversion the new system immediately replaces the old system parallel conversion both the old and new systems are operated for a month or two until it is clear that there are no bugs in the system phased conversion the system or a part of the system is installed in one part of the organization as an initial trial and then gradually installed in others etc 2 2 1 4 4 Training Since the old system is replaced or radically changed by the new system the users need to be trained In this phase the development team along with the committee decides whom to train what to train and how to train and train the users so that they can perform their tasks efficiently using the system 1 2 1 5 Maintenance This is the final phase of SDLC in which an information system is systematically repaired and upgraded according to user s need 1 2 2 Software Failure Definition and Reasons For Failure 2 2 1 Definition In a report on ASC Professional Development it was stated that Mangione 2003 defined a software to be failure on non completion of the project The author of the report described software project failure as if the main sponsor is dissatisfied leading to a loss of future projects with that sponsor then the software project can be said to be a failure 4 According to different writers of the Internet a project has failed if it never gained any benefit to any users or a useable version of the project has never been re
43. ect identification and selection In this phase the organization s total information system needs are identified analyzed prioritized and arranged 2 2 1 1 2 Project initiation and planning This is the second sub phase of planning phase and the potential information system is explained in front of the approval committee along with arguments for continuing or not continuing with the project this also involves technical economic and organizational feasibility study for the system development The cost of developing the project is also decided at this stage If the committee approves the project a work plan is created and staff are assigned with different tasks that they need to accomplish 2 2 1 2 Analysis In this phase the project team studies who will use the system what the system will do and when and where the system will be used The sub phases of this phase are 1 2 1 2 1 Requirement gathering During this sub phase the project team studies the current system s identifies improvement opportunities and develops concept for the new system 2 2 1 2 2 Requirement structuring All the analysis system concept and models are structured using Data Flow Diagrams Context Diagrams or Use Case Modeling Structural Modeling Behavioral Modeling 2 2 1 3 Design In the design phase the Analyst decides how the system will operate in terms of hardware software and network infrastructure The user interface forms reports
44. ectly into users computer when writing and testing of the software is complete rather then having any conversion plan Another major problem is providing instant support Since there is no other department or people to provide support after installation of the software someone from the development team has to take the responsibility and s he cannot provide instant support to the users since they are always burdened with other software development work 5 2 4 Missing Feature The most important reason stated by the software users and the software development team of ConnectBD Ltd to make a software project successful is fulfillment of user requirements Both satisfied and unsatisfied users said that the software they used or using had some features missing and also has some extra features which created problems in their natural flow of work The reasons identified behind these missing features and or not fulfilling user requirements are The first time the development team involves software users is during planning and requirement collection The second time they involve clients is at the end of the project when the system is delivered to the customer This is the time the team gets real client feedback but it s too late the time and money for the project are all used up and changing the software based on user feedback also becomes very difficult Since the top management do not like to involve the actual users employees who will
45. ecyclestep com 15 http www profc udec cl gabriel tutoriales 16 http www umsl edu 17 http www tech purdue edu APPENDICES APPENDIX A 63 1 0 INTRODUCTION Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB is a non government organization registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 The NGOs working for the development of Bangladesh register their name with FNB to strengthen themselves and to avail the facilities provided by FNB FNB was set up with the mission to carry out the following duties To take steps for resolving various problems of the NGOs through contacts and consultations with the Government To mobilize resources for solving the financial crisis of local and small NGOs for building their capacities and also for strengthening mutual cooperation and coordination To strengthen NGO and NGO cooperation The NGOs get their names registered with FNB by paying a registration fee every year and they also donate funds to this organization so that it can run its operation smoothly serve the purpose for which it was set up and can also help the small and or new NGOs during their financial crisis 64 2 0 SCOPE OF THE TOTAL SYSTEM The scope of this project is to develop a web site which will have information about Foundation of NGOs its history bulletins photo gallery annual reports membership information etc All the information is static except
46. eople have a long way to go to provide successful software projects and to satisfy users even in the home market In the study it was found that Bangladeshi software development teams and software users face a lot of problems during development which cause software failure Even if the software does not fail due to these factors but these factors are barriers to user satisfaction The problems include both the problems described in the Literature Review in section 2 2 and the problems described by the developers and users as given below 5 2 1 Lack of data migration facility An important factor that is mostly overlooked in Bangladesh is data migration For a working system all data has to be migrated to the new system before the user can start working with the system But in Bangladesh software is developed and installed at the user end leaving data migration as a part of the users responsibility As a result users cannot start using the system instantly from the time when the system is installed The users need to enter 29 previous data first and then use the system So the user s task is doubled since s he has to do the same tasks twice and has to input previous data in parallel to his present tasks Thus it puts extra pressure on the user and they loose their interest to use the system 5 2 2 Lack of Feasibility Study When a software project is initiated no technical economic or organizational feasibility study is carried out S
47. er Local ISP Web Server Local ISP Browsers FNB Figure 12 0 Network Diagram 91 13 0 DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION CONSTRAINTS The design constraint of Patron Management System for Foundation of NGOs is that all the information related to an NGO needs to be fitted into one form All the fields have been managed into one form using Microsoft Tabbed Control 6 0 but the general information are scattered so that the user can follow the same sequence of the paper based form 14 0 USER DOCUMENTATION A user manual is provided with the system to guide users during installation and to help them learn the system him herself User Manual is given in Appendix D APPENDIX B 93 1 0 Sample Excel Sheet The following Excel sheets were designed after some interviews and document study The users were given these sheets to input information and changes were made when they faced problem to enter information They used the sheets and gave their feedback on what new information to add and which information should be discarded Microsoft Excel foundation of ngos 38 File Edit Insert Format Tools Data Window Help Da Hd SS GRY i BB Hl Zl 4108 0 Haettenschweiler B11 v f Organization Information Type of Organization see sheet where the Organization OrganizationName if implementingagency amp organizationintends member non
48. ert eterne 29 5 2 3 Inadequate training poor conversion method and lack of SUD POM PUPA 29 5 2 4 Missing Feature 242 242 4505242 254 244 55442454244 430 480348 30 5 2 5 Lack of proper planning and study before deciding to get an IT SOUN S eese tiu ida trenton terre rer Iu RS E e ieu e HI ETT MEE 32 5 2 6 Some of the Other Problems 32 CHAPTER VI METHODS OF REQUIREMENT COLLECTION 6 1 Traditional Methods Of Requirement Collection 34 Belek oat ou CON NOR US CUIR GI S QUINAIRE I S ARR ER 34 6 1 1 1 Selecting interviewees ces 35 6 1 1 2 Designing questions ccce 35 6 1 1 3 Preparing for the interview esse 36 6 1 1 4 Conducting the 37 Steven ide iden 37 6 1 1 6 Potential interviewing 37 0 1 2 38 6 1 3 Directly observing the 39 6 1 4 Analyzing procedures and document study 39 CHAPTER VII LATEST TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE USED TO OVERCOME THE PROBLEMS 7 1 Modern Techniques auod rate o n el e RIP n A
49. escription of which is given in Appendix A and the Spreadsheets and forms designed in Excel to gather user requirements are given in Appendix B The advantages that were found by using this prototype are the prototype provides actual data to the developer user can clearly understand how the actual system will look like 51 the prototype represents the finalized design of the system that includes the user interface buttons forms reports and of course the business logic that is used to create the macros before it is too late for making changes 7 2 Expected Outcomes From The Proposed Methodologies 7 2 4 Advantages of proposed techniques over traditional requirement collection methods JAD technique helps to overcome some of the problems of traditional methods of requirement collection as described below Since JAD session involves the actual user the actual users overcome the fear of loosing their job The problem of creating bad feelings between people may be overcome by using QBPRG method since no body can understand who has written what and the risk of creating bad feelings is reduced Since all the people join together it reduces the time and hassle of taking interviews separately As all the information is collected through discussion the possibility of biased information is abandoned 7 2 2 How JAD session and prototyping can overcome the problems prevailing in Bangladesh As discussed e
50. gement were not implemented in any company So total of 44 4 i e 4 of the software project developed were never implemented due to technical reasons and due to lack of proper market surveys or promotion of the software For rest of the five software ConnectBd Ltd itself uses Prepaid Card Management System and ISP Billing For the rest of three software Accounts Management System was purchased by 4 companies nventory Management System by two companies and LC Management System by one company out of which Accounts Management is currently used in two companies Inventory Management by two companies and LC by one company Among these three software Accounts Management System and Inventory Management System have the highest number of users So the study was carried out on these two software Both these software provide almost all the features required to manage accounts and inventory of any organization but they are customized according to the user s requirements before they are installed at the user s end 4 2 Features Provided By Accounts And Inventory Management System 4 2 1 Features provided by Inventory Management System are Inventory Management System provides the following features Entry Forms a Initial Information Tracking These are the general information tracking forms such as a unit spe a 17 Department or Section Information stores information of the departments or sections of the organization w
51. hat it can cause people to change their normal operational behavior This makes gathered information biased 2 6 1 4 Analyzing procedures and document study By examining existing system and organizational documentation Analyst can find out details about the current system In documents analysts can find information such as problem with the existing system opportunities to meet new needs the actual flow and process of work and the reasons why current systems are designed as they are etc However when analyzing the official documentation analysts should pay attention to the difference between the systems described on the official documentation and the practical systems in real world because the difference between formal and informal system of work inadequacies of formal procedures individual work habits and preferences and other factors that universally exist 40 CHAPTER VII LATEST TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE USED TO OVERCOME THE PROBLEMS 7 1 Modern Techniques Some modern techniques have been developed to overcome the problems of requirement collection described in the previous section These methods do not only overcome the problems of the methods of requirement collection but also overcome the reasons stated in section 5 2 d The modern techniques are Joint Application Design JAD amp Prototyping 7 1 1 JAD Session JAD is a structured process in which at least 10 to 20 users meet together under the directio
52. ho are using the software Related Employee Information stores employee information such as their name address phone etc This information also helps to support user log in n Vendor amp Client Information tracks information of the vendors of the organization such as name address phone number etc a Country Information Item Information entry This form is used to store item information such as item code s of measure and item rate collection The item code will have a cial code format consisting of three meaningful parts group identity subgroup identity and identity a Store Requisition a Store Purchase Requisitions Raw materials availability checking The other features provides by the system are a a Reminder for crisis items Approval analyzing on standard rate collected from different supplier Purchase Issue Order 18 a Information on Stock In or Out such as Materials received Materials Consumption Wastage materials analysis Costing Mode FIFO LIFO W A Costing in several steps of Work in Progress a Finished goods valuation a Sales Order a Multi stock management Reports Generated by Inventory Management System a Daily transaction report a Periodic transaction statement a Current stock status a Incoming transaction Outgoing transaction a Listof items out of stock a Raw materials requisition a Issue slip print a Invoice
53. hops for analysis and design JAD represents Joint Application Design since it joins together people from different areas to work together 7 1 1 2 Basic components of a JAD session JAD session is normally carried out in a meeting conference room arranged in U shape so that all the participants can see each other At the front of the room there is a white board flip chart and an overhead projector for use by the facilitator or other participants The participants of JAD session are 42 Executive sponsor is the person from the customer s organization who has the ultimate authority to make decisions about the project The sponsor may be the customer s project leader the CIO or in some cases the CEO The facilitator works with the sponsor to get the project started it is essential however that the sponsor makes key decisions not the facilitator The executive sponsor has the following responsibilities Accept ultimate authority and responsibility for the functional areas to be addressed by the system Resolve business policy conflicts by being the ultimate decision maker Set the vision for the project Ensure the project team has access to and commitment from the right business user experts Facilitator session leader is the person who is an expert in JAD techniques The success or failure of the JAD process is closely tied to how well the facilitator handles the session S he is responsible for identifying th
54. iewing carrying out surveys directly observing users etc 6 1 1 Interview This is one of the primary ways to gather information about an information system In general interviews are conducted one on one one interviewer and one interviewee basis but sometimes owing to time constraints several people are interviewed at the same time There are five basic steps to the interview process selecting interviewees designing interview questions preparing for the interview conducting interview and follow up 2 35 A good system analyst must be good at interviewing and no project can be conducted without interviews There are many ways to arrange an effective interview and none of the ways is superior to the others However experienced analysts commonly accept some of the following best practices for an effective interview Prepare the interview carefully including appointment priming questions preparing checklist agenda and questions Listen carefully and take notes during the interview tape record if possible Review notes within 48 hours after interview Be neutral Seek diverse views Separate facts from opinion 6 1 1 1 Selecting interviewees The first step in interviewing is to create an interview schedule that lists all the people who will be interviewed when and for what purpose 2 6 1 1 2 Designing questions There are three types of interview questions closed ended questions open ended ques
55. ion This research work can be used by ConnectBd Ltd to reduce the problems faced by the developers during requirement collection and to satisfy software users by providing software which fulfills their requirements better This will provide ConnectBd Ltd software clients higher satisfaction rate reduce maintenance cost time and work and will also increase the rate of success of software projects This research has been carried out based on only one company so a wider research can be carried out involving all or the major software developing companies to get a wider view of the current status of software development problems faced by both users and developers and to determine the future scope of software development in Bangladesh LIST OF REFERENCES 60 List of References Books 1 Alan Dennis Barbara Haley Wixom and Devid Tegarden Systems Analysis and Design An Object Oriented Approach with UML India John Wiley and Sons Inc 2002 2 Craig Larman Applying UML and Patterns 2 edition Prentice Hall PTR Website Links 3 http blogs cocoondev org 4 http www acs org au 5 http www uwstout edu 6 http www advogato orgstylusinc com 7 http www silent penguin com 8 http www standishgroup com 9 http www sum it nl 10 http www soft outsourcing com 11 http www webreference com 12 http www cse buffalo edu 13 http www samspublishing com 14 http www lif
56. is demand and to support the business organizations software development firms have grown up But both the users and developers of software face problems during the software development process These problems are responsible for software failure and if not failure it causes big problems when the users start using the system and the developers face intensive maintenance work This scenario is no different in Bangladesh This research includes a study of the reasons why software projects may fail and the problems in the context of Bangladesh how the latest techniques such as Joint Application Design and Prototyping can be used to reduce the problems of requirement collection This paper also includes a description of a software project developed using these methodologies PREFACE This paper consists of a study of the reasons due to which software projects fail in Bangladesh and the latest techniques that can be used to reduce failure by overcoming the problems involved in the requirement collection These techniques cover the concept of prototyping methodology and JAD sessions It also contains the system documentation and user manual of the project that was developed using the techniques that were proposed and were found feasible to use The target audiences of this paper are people who have in depth knowledge of System Analysis and Design techniques vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page jii c Pe DEGLARARION
57. l sadar 18 2000 2 7 00 Joint Stock Company Raj 8 45 2 4 00 2 Iss Lal Kali 97 88 28 02 1998 NGOAB Not available Not available 8 NGOAB 1456 8 12 99 4 WAB MBA Pab 278 2000 5 12 00 5 085 688 98 216 99 Figure B 3 Registration Information Fund Information organization id Funding source remarkstif any 1 Islamic Relief Bangladesh Centre for Women amp Children Studies DAE Samaj Kallyan Parishad Own Fund 1506 Ngo Foum BTS Plan BRAG ATSEG SUPRO IAYE SDC IC Bern BRAG World Fish Centre ADD Bangladesh Own Fund amp Govt Fund IDE ITDG SDC UNICEF IOCH BADG MSS SRG FEMA SAMATA HABITET Council Youth Dev p co n5 Figure B 4 Fund Information Expenditure Information organizationid wear expense amount remarkstif any 1 2000 834 341 00 2001 921 315 00 2002 1 216 190 00 2 440 600 00 650 600 00 870 690 00 3 1999 2000 938 205 00 2000 2001 2 472 298 00 2001 2002 1 82 560 00 4 2000 2001 317 595 00 2001 2002 625 700 00 2002 2003 650 275 00 5 2000 798 950 00 2001 998 688 00 2002 1 248 360 00 Figure B 5 Expenditure Information 95 G organization id branch name street Village post upazila _ district phone 1 Khedabagh Lalmonirhat Lalmoninhat Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available Not availab
58. le Not available Not available Not available Not available available Lalmonirhat Rajarhat Rajarhat Lalmonirhat Kurigram Kurigram Sadat Lalmonirhat Daikhawa Hatibandha Daikhawa Lalmonirhat Kalir Thann Kalir Thann Kumrirhat Aditmari Lalmonirhat Kollkonda Beside Tista River Kollkonda Kollkonda Gangchara Lalmonirhat Banagram Beside Banagram Primary School Banagram Kawni Kawni Rangpur Uddyog Bogra Road Palashbari Gaibandha Pabna Sadar Pabna Sadar Pabna Atghoria Atghoria Pabna Chadmohor Chadmohor Pabna Dogachy Pabna adar Pabna Solimpur Pabna Sadar Pabna Sahapur Pabna Sadar Pabna Nazirgong Pabna Tantibandha Pabna Tatibond Pabna Sujanagar Sadar Pabna Figure B 6 Branch Information remarks if Programme ID Programme Name any Adivasis Etnic Minority Apiculture Adolescent Children Adult Education Mass Lit Advocacy amp Lobbying Alternative Tech Dev amp Trg Arsenic Child Education Child Survival Coordination Credit Capacity Building Day Care Centre Dev Gom amp Pub Democracy Disabled Disaster Pre amp management Election Monitoring Entrpreneurship Development Env amp social Forestry 4 C Cn fon Figure B 7 Programs Available 96 E a _ ae ee E F 1 Programme Supported Name of the ii Organization D Programme ID District where the j Area pes program is covered pazila e program 1 4 4
59. leased 2 2 2 Reasons for software failure 2 2 2 1 Poor cost and unrealistic schedules It is unfair to call a project failure if it fails to meet budget and schedule goals that were inherently unattainable because the schedule and cost are determined based on hypothesis at the preliminary stage But some business people consider it as failure Like all engineering endeavors every software project has a minimum achievable schedule and cost but it is very difficult to determine how much time and money is required to complete a software project therefore an approximate time and money is allotted for every project Sometimes the allotted time is too short and the schedules are so tight that the schedules seem to be an unrealistic one in the middle of the project and the result is time over run Project schedules prepared by the team leader or time allowed by the business people are sometimes made compact intentionally to keep project team under pressure It is true that pressure can increase the quantity of results one receives but beyond a certain limit dramatically reduces the quality of those results In fact pressure sometimes produces the opposite of intended effects Cost is another important factor which may cause a software project failure in the middle of its development stage It is very difficult to determine the cost of developing a software project at the beginning when a project is proposed because the project team comes
60. m of the software UserLogRpt Column Name Condensed Type Nullable 2 50 UserID int char 200 nvarchar 10 nvarchar 10 char 100 nvarchar 10 i smalldatetime char 100 int i smalldatetime NULL char 100 LoginDate datetime char 20 char 40 char 30 Fullname2 40 Figure 7 5 Supporting Tables Sign in Form is used to secure the software from unauthorized user access The user needs a valid user name and password to enter and work with the software User Name admin Password p Figure 7 6 Sign in Form Change Password If the user wants to change his her password s he can enter into this form and confirm his her new password 79 Change Password User Name Old Password 7 New Password Eonfva Hon Passend SS Figure 7 7 Change Password Form Create Delete User This form is used to create a new user and or to delete an existing user Create Delete User m amp Admin Supervisor Entry Password Confirm Password Figure 7 8 Create Delete User Form 80 Connect Database This form is used to locate server and to connect the database with the server when the software is first installed Connect Database Figure 7 9 Connect Database Form 81 Company Information This is a supporting form used to enter information of the company who is using the software Company Information Na
61. me of Company Address Phone Figure 7 10 Company Information Form 7 4 Reports A copy of the reports are given in Appendix C 2 Tabular format of test result 8 0 TESTING Table 8 1 82 SI Test Description Result Fig Fields N 1 Is Organization ID unique for all Organization ID is unique 8 1 Organization ID NGOs and is generated by the system Nobody can change the ID 2 Do the text fields take all types Yes they take alphabets 8 1 Organization name of character numbers and other contact address head characters office address phone fax web email 3 Do the numeric fields take Yes they take numbers 8 2 Districts Upazilas numbers Unions 4 Do the numeric fields take No the numeric fields do 8 3 Total Number of Staffs alphabets and other special not take any alphabet or Total Number of characters special character Benificiaries 5 Do the numeric fields change to Yes the numeric fields 8 2 Districts Upazilas the required format change into the required 8 3 Unions Expenditure format 6 Does Contact Information Yes they take multiple 8 1 8 Contact Information Registration Information Branch information 2 8 8 Registration Information Expenditure 8 4 Information Branch Information take multiple Information information Expenditure Information 7 Can the user select Program Yes 8 3 Enter the Information when the Coalition Network Secto organiza
62. member member type Village street area Sheet 5 if sector network o belong to 1 Implementing NGO istrict Member Regular Airport Road Hariabhanga 2 ADAF Bangladesh Implementing NGO District Member Regular Chaparhat Kaligonj 3 UODYOG Implementing NGO District Member Regular Post office Road Sadullapur Probaha Mohila Unnayan Sangstha CORO Implementing NGO District Member Regular Pailanpur Pailanpur 4 Implementing NGO District Member Regular AttaikulaRoad Patchmatha 5 Figure B 1 Organization Information Contact Information Residential organization i Name of the contact poc Address Phone No of fax email person the Chief Executive Md Reazul Haque Patwari Executive Director Airport road Haribhanga Lalmonirhat 0591 61023 Not available Not available Jamini Kanta Roy Joy Executive Director Chaparhat Lalmonirhat 5520 Not available Not available i Not available Zillur Rahman Khandoker Executive Director Joyenpur Sadullapur Gaibandha Not available Not available Not available Md Lutfar Rahman Executive Director Nagdha School para Atghoria Pabna Not available Not available i Not available Hazi Md Abdullah Farug Executive Director Firoza House Pailanpur Pabna Mobile 0172 177138 Not available Not available Figure B 2 Contact Information 94 Organization iy 1816 of the Registration Registration Date of Date peparkstif Authority Number Registration renewal any 1 088 La
63. n Entry Screen Figure 3 2 is company information entry screen This Form will store the information about your organization In this screen you must enter the name of your organization in the Organization field and address of the organization in the Address field These two fields are mandatory i e you must have to supply values for these two fields Other fields are optional Only one company information should be stored in your system You can modify the information but not delete it This will be the title address of all reports generated from the inventory system After any new entry or modification click the Save button to make the changes permanently 129 Company Information Name of Company Address Phone Figure 3 2 Company Information Entry Screen 3 3 Create Delete User User name is the name of the users who use this software The maximum length of user name and password will be 10 character of any valid character Numeric or Alphabetic or any combination The administrator of the application can create users of three different levels User levels Levels of user is nothing but the privilege grants for a user Admin is the Top level user and has the authority to perform any kind of activities This user can create new user and can invoke every corners of the software 130 Supervisor is the Medium level user This user can perform any kind of activities but cannot create any new u
64. n of a facilitator skilled in JAD techniques 2 Reality says people who actually do a job have the best understanding of that job People who are trained in IT have the best understanding of the possibilities of that technology Information systems and business processes cannot exist in isolation So the philosophy of a JAD session is to design the best information system by bringing people from business and IT in one place and creating a common language The JAD group meets for several hours days or weeks 41 until all the issues have been discussed and the needed information are collected To have a successful JAD session the following factors should be considered Make sure the decision makers are all present The number of participants is not too many or not too few less then 8 The facilitator keeps the group focused on the goals Differing views are handled immediately Issues are resolved quickly Assumptions are documented and understood The JAD session takes place in a location away from the workplace so that there is no interruptions 2 7 1 1 1 History of JAD JAD was first introduced by Chuck Morris of IBM in 1977 as a technique for gathering requirements for geographically distributed systems In 1980 IBM Canada adopted and refined the approach In 1984 IBM formalized JAD by publishing the JAD Overview pamphlet By the late 1980s many companies were implementing facilitated JAD works
65. nd Working Hours required a bigger field size Where as the changes in some other software were as critical as adding new fields in the database adding new features in the forms removal of some extra features since these features caused problems in working with other features JAD session is also a very effective methodology in gathering requirements from the users But this methodology was not used since the project characteristics did not reflect the characteristics required to implement JAD session Although the users were very enthusiastic and always preferred their involvement but the project size was not big enough since the number of users of the software is only three and the features were not very critical Prototype was enough to understand their requirement and for design approval But a Joint Application Design JAD session can be made very effective by showing the prototype to the users and allowing the users to use it This will help the users understand the system well and they will be able to participate in the discussion and can ask for changes instantly since they will be able to visualize the system and will have the opportunity to discuss about it 56 CHAPTER VIII LIMITATIONS OF THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGIES The advantages and success criteria have been discussed earlier but none of the methods are perfect Both prototyping and JAD session has some limitations and disadvantages The limitations of using JAD hav
66. nding on whether they know if they are being observed Potential Limited Can be quite Limited Potentially Potentially biased Limited Audience numbers large but lack numbers biased by by the numbers it is but of response and limited which subordinator difficult to complete from some time of documents intentionally don t diffuse or responses can bias each were kept want to directly adapt to other from results or because point out his potential users those document superior s errors interviewe not created d for this purpose disadvantages and each of the methods overcome some of the problems of 54 the other but they all important in requirement gathering In practice information gathering and information analysis are done iteratively and combine a series of different techniques Information gathering may start with interviews followed by document study and or observation followed by JAD session some information gathering may involve questionnaires followed by further interviews JAD session and document study 7 5 Actual Outcomes from the Proposed Methodologies From the research it was found that requirement collection is a major problem in satisfying users so latest techniques have been proposed which can help to overcome the problems of requirement collection Both the proposed techniques were supposed to be implemented in the development of the Software Patron Management Software for Founda
67. nditure of the organization over the last three years FTA THIS AA Total Expenditure 3 S963 Year THD Total Expenditure 9 ORI aont THO AA Total Expenditure SRA RNS BIA Salta CMS Total number of permanent staff on the date of application aun 8054 50595 SAIN 41 wea ATTA OUO AA Total number of beneficiaries 105 icant waa 8 aS CN MA A Sociated in any way with any political party nor will be in future mes Signature of the Chief Executive ETE A csp b A ARE cares Bergin 8 ayes 351448 Date of submission and approval by NEB 7519054 AP 2 Signature of the NEB Chair secs sre um 44 Please use extra sheets if required RES Heer cree veces sreyf rs ay Tears SES facon anf erfscawtea face ZA 1 Please enclose attested copies of the Registration Certificate Copies of the Annual Activities Report and Audit Report of the Organization 3 AD seers of 8 Herne ALA ALAA FATS Cd Also enclose the full list and address of the Executive Committee Members of the Organization 106 The Federations of NGOs in Bangladesh FNB Centr
68. nne E e BED a elas 6 2 2 2 Reasons for software failure esee 6 2 2 2 1 Poor cost and unrealistic schedules 6 2 2 2 2 Inappropriate 7 2 2 2 3 Preparing 8 2 2 2 4 Inadequate 8 22 20 Integration soe ORs ORES UD EU 8 2 2 2 6 Failure to Meet User Requirements 9 CHAPTER PROJECT PLAN CHAPTER IV SOFTWARE PROJECT OVERVIEW 4 1 List of Software Projects Developed By ConnectBD Ltd 14 4 2 Features Provided By Accounts And Inventory Management System16 4 2 1 Features provided by Inventory Management System are 16 4 2 2 Features Provided by Accounts Management System are 19 4 2 3 Overview of the software 23 CHAPTERV SOFTWARE FAILURE IN THE CONTEXT OF BANGLADESH 5 1 How the Actual Users and System Developers Described and Visualized IT Project Failure 27 viii NN EE 27 5 1 2 Developers de CO RE cence XV RARE 27 5 2 Problems the Context of 28 5 2 1 Lack of data migration 28 5 2 2 Lack of Feasibility Study t
69. nt did not offer ConnectBd Ltd to develop the new system Not fully Successful Require intensive maintenance Reason for success failure 1 It has satisfied the reasons for the development of the software i e less time is required to do the tasks 2 It provides almost all the features 1 Reduced time and error 2 Met user requirements 1 Keeps data together 2 Generate some reports Problems with the software if any 1 Some features ware missing and there are some extra features that are not required So it sometimes becomes very difficult to manage the tasks 2 Week security system 3 System crash 4 Sensitive to error 1 The software cannot be used in all the branches 2 Security system was not strong enough 1 Reports provided are not according to the user requirements 2 Previous Data were not input by the software company before conversion 3 Training not provided 4 No system documentation amp Reports provided User manual has been provided Table 4 3 25 Name of the Project Inventory Management System Particulars Name of the Company pseudonym UVW Ltd XYZ Ltd Why the software was built customized for the Company 1 The company was always eager to use modern technology 2 To reduce the time error and manpower required 1 To reduce the time required managing inventory 2 Quick amp error free reporting 3 To
70. nt of the total group Provide business expertise Represent the strategic tactical or operational direction of the business Represent all major user groups or fractions affected by the project Represent multiple levels of the organization IT representatives lend technical advice when it is required help develop logical models and specifications and build the prototype To perform these tasks they must be knowledgeable about the JAD process and the tools and methods being used IT representatives are typically some of the key developers of the system They use the JAD opportunity to become experts in 44 the customer s business functions Whatever their level of expertise however they must not try to force the decision making process but rather assist in developing the user s view of the solution IT representatives have the following responsibilities in the JAD process Help customer turn ideas into models of business requirements Ensure all technological constraints are represented Develop an understanding of user business goals priorities and strategies Represent job functions such as data administration business analysis programming prototyping production operations management Ensure a solution that is realistic for the budget can be delivered when needed and takes advantage of available technology most effectively Scribe Modeler Recorder Documentation Expert recor
71. o after the development of the software it is often found that the software is not used because of lack of technical support or the organization cannot afford the cost of running the software or the users feel reluctant to use the software Sometimes all these three reasons combined decide the failure of the project 5 2 3 Inadequate training poor conversion method and lack of support Even a well written well documented and carefully designed system may fail due to inadequate training of users poor conversion method from old to new system and lack of user support Problem arises when the actual users who were trained after installation of the software leave the job and someone new is appointed The new user is not trained and the situation is worse when there is nobody else in the organization who can train the newly appointed executive Since the users are new to the system they require intensive training for smooth operation of the software The training session is normally carried out by showing the user how to use the system Although user manual is provided most of the users feel comfortable to use the system when s he is trained by someone who knows operating the system better rather then learning using the user manual and the manuals often do not relate to the business model As a result the system remains unused and the benefit that was supposed to be derived from it is lost 30 In Bangladesh the software is installed dir
72. ort early in the life cycle in order to improve the quality and increase productivity and to reduce cost Enhanced communication and relationship between business end users and IT personnel Cultivate ownership easier acceptance buy in and stronger commitment by users the involvement of business end users is no longer on advisory or consultation spectrum It is the participation and contribution in the project development life cycle The more users contribute to the system the easier for them to accept it and commit to it Reduce function creep It is one of the best ways to reduce function creep most of which results from poor initial requirements Enhanced education for participants and observers participating in JAD and being the medium between other users and IT the business end users will be kept fully informed about the progress of the system development 47 7 1 1 5 Problems with JAD Like all other methods of requirement gathering JAD also has some problems The problems of JAD are 1 There are some people who often dominate the discussion while others remain silent 2 The normal JAD sessions include mid level and senior level managers So subordinates may not want to speak out their problems in front of their seniors The information gathered from the discussion may be biased and incorrect 3 In a group of 15 people if everyone participates equally for only 4 minutes then each person will have to listen for
73. ortant features Few users said that the system should be delivered on time and software developed should be technically feasible 5 1 2 Developers According to the Software Developers a software project is successful when it fulfils user requirements which is possible through user involvement and cooperation through out the project They also stated that user s interest to use new technology learn new things and user training is also very important in this regard This is because there were situations when the development team or the business company could not even understand 28 whether the software fulfils the organization or user s requirement because the software was never used due to lack of organizational involvement and or training 5 2 Problems in the Context of Bangladesh Bangladesh is said to be a prospective country in the field of Information Technology Wide range of software development companies have grown up to support businesses entertainment and media sector using computerized systems Although few but software are sometimes exported to foreign countries too To promote Bangladesh in the world market and to survive in competition Bangladesh needs to ensure quality of software But Bangladeshi IT sector still lacks some of the important factors required to produce quality software Although there is no statistical data showing the rate of success of software projects but the above study already shows that the IT p
74. ose issues that can be solved as part of the meeting and those which need to be assigned at the end of the meeting for follow up investigation and resolution The facilitator serves the participants and does not contribute information to the meeting The facilitator must also be able to communicate effectively with different personality types present on a JAD session The responsibilities of JAD facilitators include the following Organize and schedule JAD activities Guide the JAD sessions Mediate dispute Encourage participation a Maintain focus 43 Enable the decision making process by summarizing the discussions It is important that the facilitator be impartial and has no vested interest in the outcome of the session There is a thought that trained facilitators can successfully facilitate meetings regardless of the subject matter or their familiarity with it This does not apply however to facilitating meetings to build information systems A successful Information System facilitator needs to know how and when to ask the right questions and be able to identify when something does not sound right Participants Users They are the source of input of the session This is the group of people in the business area directly or indirectly affected by the project and is experts in their field Users have the following responsibilities in the JAD process Serve as the main focus of JAD users make up 65 percent to 75 perce
75. planning and study before deciding to get an IT solution The chart below reflects percentage of the users facing problems the above stated problems Lack of Planning Data Migration Inadequate Training El 0 Users Facing the Poor Conversion Method Problem System Crash Weak Security System Missing Features 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Figure 4 1 Overview of the lacking of the software projects reviewed 27 CHAPTER V SOFTWARE FAILURE IN THE CONTEXT OF BANGLADESH 51 How the Actual Users and System Developers Described and Visualized IT Project Failure 5 1 1 Users Before moving on to the reasons why software fails let us first determine how the software developers and users described and visualized software failure Users were asked In your opinion what is a successful IT project the most popular answer was requirement fulfillment All the users said whatever features developers provide the project will not be successful if the users cannot depend on the system for the purpose it is built for They also stated that the system should provide accurate results should be user friendly and complete According to the users all software require changes and maintenance after installation because that is the time when they come to know what they require and what has been developed but the changes should not be so major that it effects the user s normal flow of work or the users cannot use the software due to missing of some imp
76. print a Purchase report a Wastage product report a WIP report in every step of production a Vendor wise billing report a Customer wise sales report a a a Sales report Periodic sales report Sales amp consumption graph 4 2 2 Features Provided by Accounts Management System are Entry forms a Transactions are posted using different screens Journal voucher Credit voucher Cash Receipt Voucher Bank Receipt Voucher Cash Payment Bank Payment and Debit voucher screen etc Bank Interest Forecasting Income amp Expense graphical comparison Net income graphical comparisons Control head or Sub ledger grouping or group report Multi Company Integrated Database Consulted statement for all company Management report in one page BS IS CF RA Transactions with cheque are held in a temporary holding area until they can be recognized Pre defined initial data such as Balance sheet or income statement account group or subgroup Account code will have special code format consisting of four parts 1 Accounting grand group 2 Subgroup 20 3 Control head and 4 Sub ledger identity Chart of accounts entry and update Accounts receivable and payable Party information Customer and Vendors with a specific head of accounts entry and update Expense alert according to predefined budget Bank account corresponding with a specific ledger account entry and update screen Showing account
77. r Post District Street Village Upazila Mobile 0 b Financial Information Fund Source Remark 0 osten lt Figure 4 2 d NGO Directory 138 A non member organization will have only NGO Contact and NGO Directory information To add Contact Information Registration Information Expenses Branch Information Financial Information type the information in the corresponding text boxes and click 3 Add Row button To Remove an information from a list double click on the information and click 7B To make changes to any of the information in the list double click on the information and the information will appear in the corresponding text boxes Make required changes and click on Add Note that changes made in the first field column of the list will be considered as a new record 139 To select a program from Program Information click beside the textbox Program and select the program gt If the Program is not in the list click the button Program and carry out the process described in 4 3 d and then click on double click on the program or select the program and click add When all the information of an organization is entered click on Save Note that Legal Program Information and Network Supported Expenses can be only entered if the organization is a member NGO
78. r 20 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 25 nvarchar 25 nvarchar 25 nvarchar 25 nvarchar 25 bigint bigint bigint bigint bigint bigint bigint nvarchar 50 nvarchar 50 nvarchar 500 NOT NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL prog dist Condensed Type int nvarchar 50 Nullable 4 NULL NULL Registration_Information nvarchar 50 nvarchar 25 dt reg smalldatetime NULL dt ren smalldatetime NULL nvarchar S0 NULL Year Membership org id int NULL Implementing Agency Column Condensed Type Nullable a Condensed Type Nulable 4 org id int NULL Sector Network Column Name Condensed Type Nullable a net supp nvarchar 70 NULL 4 Program_Covered Column Name Condensed Type Nullable Program_Information __ Column Name Condensed Type _Nulable 4 prog_id int NOT NULL prog_nm nvarchar 50 NULL remark nvarchar 50 NULL gt 4 Figure 7 4 Tables and Their Relationship 78 7 3 Supporting Tables and Forms The following tables and forms are used to support the security syste
79. rs are satisfied Each prototype after reengineering provides few more facilities then the previous one The process continues and when it supports enough functionality it is called the actual system and is installed at the user end The advantage of this methodology is that it provides a system for the user to interact with although it is not ready for widespread organizational use 7 1 2 2 Throw Away Prototyping Throw away prototyping methodology has a relatively thorough analysis phase that is used to gather information and to develop ideas for the new system concept Throw away prototypes are built for the concepts that are not well understood Each of the issues that are not well understood is examined by analyzing designing and building a prototype The prototype may not be a complete working system rather it is a part of the system and requires further refinement When the prototype is approved by the user the actual system is built and the prototype has no further use The main advantage of this process is that it helps the users understand how the actual system will look like Since the prototype is interactive rather then paper based the users can use the system and can come up with better ideas and improvements Both these methods have a disadvantage that it may take longer time to deliver the final system 50 7 1 2 3 Proposed method of prototyping Live prototyping To overcome the problem of taking longer time to
80. rt contains interview notes information that was collected over the course of the interview and is summarized in a useful format 2 The interview report is sent to the interviewee with a request to read it and inform the analyst of any clarifications or updates needed The interviewee needs to be convinced that the corrections to the report are genuinely required Usually there are few changes but the need for any significant changes suggests that a second interview will be required 2 6 1 1 6 Potential interviewing problems Interviews may create bad feelings between people Taking interviews of a number of people separately takes up a lot of time The interviewees may think that their jobs are at risk The interviewees may not like someone to change their traditional way of work They may think that the interviewee is wasting their time 38 Same question to different people may provide contradictory answers The interviewer may become biased 6 1 2 Questionnaires It overcomes some of the problems of interviewing by gathering information from many people in a relatively short time and of being less biased in the interpretation of their results It also reduces the problem of creating bad feelings among people since no body knows who has written what Choosing right questionnaires respondents and designing effective questionnaires are the critical issues in this information collection method 2 People usu
81. s balance details when its transaction is being progressed Budgeting facility for every head of accounts Budget for every individual month for a specific project Ease of entry using different tree structure Different User has different access priority Various API programming facility included Automatic fixed asset scheduling Project wise accounting statement Reports of Accounting System The software generates the following reports a a Chart of accounts with summary name Category wise chart of accounts Fixed Asset Scheduling Budget report Income statement with percentage P L 21 Individual vouchers Journal Credit and Debit voucher separately List of all vouchers or specific category Bank book report Individual bank book report Cash book Cash receipt amp payment Bank receipt amp payment Individual client information Accounts payable for the total business Accounts payable for the individual vendor Accounts receivable for the individual customer Customer classification by accounts receivable Found requisition statement Fixed asset scheduling statement Journal ledger Head wise journal ledger Comparative income statement Trial balance Ratio analysis Cash flow Balance sheet Notes break down of balance sheet Comparative balance sheet User Log report 22 Both the software provide the following security and user friendly interfaces a Data Security Data sec
82. s who were members during that particular year will appear on the list under the title List of Members The names of the NGOs which will appear under the title List of NGOs are the NGOs who were not the members for that particular year E add members into a year click Add select the year by clicking on select the ID or name of the NGO and click when all the member NGOs have been added click Save To remove a NGO from the list To edit an information click on Edit select the year add or remove information from the list and click on Save To delete an information select the year and click Delete
83. ser Entry is the Low level user This user can perform searching adding or modifying records but does not have the right to delete records Create Delete User User Name 1 User Level C Admin Supervisor Enty Password Confirm Password Figure 3 3 New User Entry Screen To create a new user follow the steps given below e Click on the Settings menu click Admin and click Add New Delete User e Setuser name and press Tab 131 e Click the User Level according to the authority you want to grant for the user amp Press Tab e Enter password amp press Tab e Enter the same password in the Confirm Password field to confirm that the password has been typed correctly Press Tab and click Save A new user has been created and the user can log in using the new User Name and Password You can delete an existing user if you are an admin level user To delete a user follow the steps given below e Enter the User Name the User Name must be an existing user name and press Tab e Enter password e Click Delete to delete the User Note If the Delete button is not enabled then the user name entered in the User field is not an existing user 132 3 4 Change User Password Screen Any user can change his her password To do this the user must enter his her User name old password to confirm that he she has the right to change the password and
84. ser of Windows Onscreen Tutorial comes with Windows will help you to learn about basic Windows techniques e To install the system shut down all running programs including virus protection programs because some virus protection programs interfere with installation e Before using PMS install it fom CD Make sure that you have enough space in your hard disk The process of installing the software is described below 2 2 Browse from Installation CD Insert PMS Installation CD into the CD ROM Drive of your computer Open the CD from My Computer or Explorer and Figure 2 2 will be displayed on the screen 120 Fie Edit View Favorites Tools j Qsearch Cyrolders Bristory 2 02 X i Ed Address C F Shared Folder softwarelPMSlver3 Support setup SETUP LST Select an item to view its description See also My Documents My Network Places My Computer Figure 2 2 Contents of the Installation CD 121 2 3 Start Installation Click setup exe icon and it will start the installation wizard Step 1 Click OK to install PMS or click Exit Set up to exit PMS Setup 2 PMS Setup Welcome to the PMS installation program 27 Setup cannot install system files or update shared files if they are use Before proceeding we recommend that you close any applications running Figure 2 3 1 Welcome Window 122 Step 2 The Change directory window will appear as figure 2
85. sesscosseovveveso490940000000009090000000000000009 99999990 6000000 0000000002000 00006 nega FSD aaa 8 Sern fs acs Name of the Chief Executive with Address and Residential Telephone No if any a 8 6 2899 os B R aaraa wma 304619 8 4 Name and Designation of the Authorized Person in absence of the Chief Executive PPPPTTTTTTTTIT TTT v ssssabetaoeagsetaas eseeev stiasee cesst quEtos0s0600069900099 00099 000909000908 103 28 IRANS SIFA ATAA Legal Status Registration SGT 30 cama AN ufa antes Frans Weary ASA gers afer ara 6 SRA Brae sare A SECs frega eft Name of Registration Authority Registration No Date 20 ase feats we orem 315725 ferqe serat fepe ae eue Brief Introduction of the Organization Please attach separate sheet for detail information or enclose printed copy if available Aeron fe fe warts 5 5128 MEA CRIAR 93 WD Cum DATA wa 8 448 v3 ANS 8 Haga Sra Name of the Organization s main Programmes completed and on going 1 2 4 5 corn Soca 8 CATERER SMM MTS ACTS TA Name of districts upazilas
86. sferred to the web server The benefit of this system is the coordinator person at FNB involved with patron management can add delete and update information whenever there is new information or there is any change in the information The goal of this system is to provide the most updated information to its browsers and to promote NGOs working in Bangladesh in front of the government business organizations public and world 6 66 4 0 DESCRIPTION OF THE AS IS SYSTEM NGOs collect registration forms from the Coordinator at FNB NGOs fill up all the required information and submit it to the Coordinator and pay the registration fee to the Accounts department The Accountant provides a receipt and records the financial information in a register book The NGOs also donate funds to FNB and a record is maintained in the accounts ledger The NGOs pay a membership renewal fee every year to renew their membership and the ledger is updated The forms filled up by the NGOs are filed and put into a cabinet The Data Flow Diagram of the As Is System is given in the next page Paper Based Input Forms Used by Foundation of NGOs that were collected for study are given in Appendix C 1 NGO Collect forms NGO Information Pay for the Submit ee form Form NGO Information Registration Fee Accountant Amount of money L 1 Update Account Account Information Figure 4 1 Data Flow Diagram of th
87. software project failure For this purpose a company that does software project work was selected The main ideas were to identify whether the software developed by the company has succeeded or failed to determine the reasons for their success and failure and to propose some modern techniques that can help the company in this case ConnectBd Ltd reduce the problems they face in implementing a successful software project From the above study and after reviewing the software it was found that user involvement executive management support and clear statement of requirements are the major factors that lead to success and failure of software projects So the scope of this project has been revised to Study various software projects of ConnectBD Ltd Determine if the software project has succeeded or failed Determine the reasons for success and failure Suggest how failure of software can be overcome using live prototyping and Joint Application Design JAD using a participatory approach Choosing of a new project Help and direct the software development team in requirement collection using prototyping and Joint Application Design JAD session Comment on success achieved CHAPTER IV SOFTWARE PROJECT OVERVIEW 4 1 List of Software Projects Developed By ConnectBD Ltd Software developed by ConnectBD Ltd are 1 2 3 Accounts Management System Inventory Management System LC Management System Pro
88. supported by your operating system if you plan to print reports 117 1 2 Network Requirements If you want to use PMS in LAN environment you will need the following network requirement PMS network requirements are the same whether you are sharing a data base file or printing to a network printer e Network using either Windows 95 or higher or Windows NT 8 0 or higher with Service Pack 3 or Novell Server as file server version 8 0 or higher You should choose one location as data site for your company s data base file The location you choose should be accessible from all the computers that need to use PMS You may also put the data base file on the computer of the person who uses the system most This allows that person to have the fastest access to the data base file 1 3 Safety Requirements To ensure safety of the system Norton or any other anti virus software should be used To protect loss of data back up should be taken at the end of every week Anti virus is recommended to be updated within every 15 days 1 4 Security Requirements To ensure security every user should be given a user name and password by the administrator The user can change his her password if s he wishes but the password must not be disclosed to anybody else CHAPTER II INSTALLING PATRON MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PMS 118 119 2 4 Installing Patron Management System PMS This section will instruct you how to install PMS e f you are a new u
89. tabase from your server machine Write your Server name in the Host Name text box Enter ID in the User ID text box If you have Password then enters the password in the Password text box Write your database name in the Database text box Now click on the OK button and the Sign in form will be displayed on the screen as bellow 127 User Figure 3 1 b Sign in Form Each user name must be different and have a password to sign in to that user s session When you install this software a user named admin and password admin is automatically created You must login with this default User Name and Password when you login for the first time after installation and then you can create new user if necessary the steps to create new user is described in section 3 3 Write User Name as admin and Password as admin in the corresponding text boxes Click on OK button and you will get the permission to use this software When Sign in the menu is displayed on the screen Click on settings and this menu serves 3 purposes The user can enter company information from the Company Information submenu The user can enter user related information from the Admin submenu The user exit from the system from Exit submenu 128 Settings Data Entry Reports Company Information Admin Exit Figure 3 1 c Setting Menu 3 2 Company Informatio
90. their own field it is not possible for an IT specialist to become expert in all fields Even if the IT specialist or team gain s knowledge on the subject matter on which the software will be developed but the business people or the people who will use the software may have their own procedure of doing the job rather then following the standard procedure so it is not possible for the developers or the team to understand the requirements as good that they can provide a complete software that fulfils user requirement completely and does not have any missing features One major problem faced by the development team after installation or when the users first get to see the actual software is constant changes in the design of the forms and reports of the software These changes not only occur because the users do not like the design or color of the 32 forms and reports but also because the concept of user friendliness depends on the user s understanding and ease of use of the system 5 2 5 Lack of proper planning and study before deciding to get an IT solution When the management takes decision of adopting an IT solution they do not have concrete ideas on the IT solutions available in the market or how customized software can help them to overcome their problems The IT Company they get involved with for the IT solution also do not provide much information in this regard and as a result it is sometimes found that a customized software is b
91. then enter the new password in the New Password and Confirm Password fields Change Password User Name Old Password New Password Confirm New Password RCM Ria Figure 3 4 Change Password Screen 133 CHAPTER IV PATRON MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PMS 134 This section will instruct you how to use Patron Management System section of the software Patron Management System Operating Manual is very easy and user friendly which is described bellow The Basic Settings for User and Company has been described in Chapter 3 The software has three menus from where the user can easily navigate between various options and functionality of the software 4 1 Data Entry Menu This menu provides two functionalities to the user The user can add edit delete and view NGO Information user can add edit delete and view member information Settings Data Entry Reports NGO Information Renew Membership Figure 4 1 Data Entry Menu 135 4 2 NGO Information Screen To view NGO Information screen click Data Entry option in the menu and then click on NGO Information NGO Information Figure 4 2 a NGO Information Screen You can also view information of the existing NGOs by clicking on the icon beside Organization Id To ADD any new NGO Click on the Add Button Enter all the required information in the corresponding text boxes 136
92. tion is a Sector Network r Network Supported and input Network Supported Select Program when the organization is an Supported Implementing Agency 8 Does the system save Null Yes 8 1 Introduction values 9 Does the system check user Yes 8 5 Log in form name and password correctly during user log in 10 Can the user type in new name No the user can only 8 6 Membership in the Membership Information select from the existing Information Form organization names 11 Does the Date Time Picker take Yes 8 2 Registration amp Renewal the correct Date Date NGO Information Ge Moha __ Gos Figure 8 1 Test Data 83 NGO Information 8 11 2004 Network 117 8 2004 Figure 8 2 Test Data 84 85 NGO Information Implementing Agency Select Program Supported 3 Figure 8 3 Test Data NGO Information NGO Contact Information Year of 990 Establishment Working Days S aturday Sunday Ufce Tine 5 00000 Branch Information Serial Number Post i 7 District Fax Name Street Village Area Upazila Phone Email 0 8 Branch Name Street Post Area Upazila District TARC Savar 2768 Savar Dhaka Dhaka TARC Faridpur 2433 Faridpur Dhaka Dhaka 4 Information Fund Source Fund
93. tion of NGOs in Bangladesh but only prototyping methodology was used The prototype was built after some interviews and document study to get a more vivid view of the system to make the user understand what information is required and to approve the design The prototype using Spreadsheets was very effective because The prototype helped the development team to understand the user s process clearly and to reduce scope creep It helped the users understand how the actual system would look like and what information should be included and what information should be discarded from the software User feedback on the prototyping methodology used for the software developed for Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh is given in Appendix C 3 55 The system has been installed at the user end and is currently in use by Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh From observation interviews and experience it was found that the number and types of changes asked by the users of Foundation of NGOs is comparatively less then the changes asked by the users of other software developed by ConnectBd Ltd The changes asked by Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh were Some formats in the numeric fields such as Total Number of Districts Unions Employees and Partners should automatically turn into 123 456 789 formats rather then 123456789 The expenditure field should automatically change to 123 456 00 formats if the input given is 123456 Expenditure a
94. tions and probes 2 e Closed ended questions are those that require a specific answer Closed ended questions are used when the analyst is looking for specific precise information 2 e Open ended questions are those that leave room for elaboration on the part of the interviewee They are similar in many ways to essay questions Open ended questions are designed to gather rich information and give the interviewee more control over the information that is revealed during the interview Sometimes the information that 36 the interviewee chooses to discuss uncovers information that is just as important as the answer 2 e The third type of question is the probing question Probing questions follow up on what just been discussed in order to learn more and they are often used when the interviewer is unclear about the interviewee s answer They encouraged the interviewee to expand on or to confirm information from the previous response and they are a signal that the interviewer is listening and interested in the topic under discussion Many beginning analysts are reluctant to use probing questions because they are afraid that the interviewee might be offended at being challenged or because they believe it shows that they do not understand what the interviewee has said When asked politely probing questions can be a powerful tool in information gathering 2 None of these types of questions is any better than another and
95. tions of the requirements become apparent 2 2 2 6 Failure to meet user requirements An important reason for software project failure is because of providing inadequate and or redundant features in the system and providing the user a system that is far different from what s he actually wanted This dilemma often occurs due to unclear inadequate or inconsistent communication between stakeholders development team or the software clients The reasons for unclear inadequate and inconsistent communication are described below 1 Poor communication Most of the time designers and developers of the system receive most or all of their requirements from higher level supervisors who are not directly involved or are not regularly using the existing system and the result is lack of essential features features that are required to support the actual process of work and user dissatisfaction 2 Requirement capturing Business people know their work well because they have worked with their systems for years but most of the time they do not understand what is actually required to transform their business ideas into logic Even if the analyst has an idea of the standard procedure of the work s he may not understand the way the client follows clearly In reality all business people customize the standard procedure of their work according to their viability and flexibility To satisfy a user it is very important to understand his her requirements
96. ts or at least a representative set of participants who have a stake in the outcome of the session JAD eliminates process delays and has been shown to reduce application development time between 20 to 50 Improved system quality and productivity much of the system s quality depends on the requirements gathered JAD involves users in the development life cycle lets users define their requirements and thus ensures that the system developed satisfies the actual activities of 46 the business JAD is quoted the best method for collecting requirements from the users clients or customer advocates Reduced system cost Reduced development time reduces the labor cost for developers as well as users Important process like requirement gathering requires involvement and commitment of business area experts The cost of taking them away from their daily operation is very high JAD can reduce the involvement time of these business experts and hence reduce the cost further Cost is also reduced by catching errors misunderstandings and mistakes early in the development phrase Studies have found that a majority of system errors result from early analysis errors and the earlier these errors are corrected the much less they will cost The JAD sessions let designers and users work together in the very early stage of the development cycle defining scope requirements of projects and resolving conflicts among different user groups It puts much eff
97. tual system is delayed But in practice it was found that the users go for changes when the actual system is developed if the actual system does not satisfy all his her requirements and it becomes difficult to make changes at that stage Since Spread sheets are very easy to connect and program using macros so the time and cost involved in making huge changes in a later stage is reduced by making changes in an earlier stage 58 CHAPTER IX CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH WORK Requirement collection is a major problem and an important issue for the development of successful software projects Partial and imperfect requirement leads to user dissatisfaction and involves huge cost and trouble at a later stage of the SDLC To satisfy users and to reduce cost money spent in making changes after installation of the project it is very important to gather complete and perfect information Prototyping and JAD are the most recent techniques of freezing user requirements Use of live prototyping in developing Patron Management System for Foundation of NGOs in Bangladesh provided a clear idea of the actual system to the user and helped the developers to get a clear view of the system to be developed Although JAD was not used since the project size was small and the number of future users of the software is very small but JAD session can be a very effective methodology if the project possesses the characteristics required to carry out a successful JAD sess
98. uilt and after using the system the users tend to have ideas on what they want and what similar off shelf software or vice versa are available in the market which will be more efficient for them to use As a result a software is developed spending huge amount of money time and other resources and then the management decides to get an off shelf software if they find an off shelf software can serve their purpose better or they decide to get a customized software if they have been using off shelf software and find a customized software can serve their purpose better 5 2 6 Some of the Other Problems Workload When a project is scheduled and the work is in progress a new project is assigned to the development team so the previous project has to be rescheduled or one or both the projects are delayed Delayed appointment Most of the time the users cannot maintain the scheduled appointment with the software development team and the schedule has to be changed and thus not only the delivery of the project is delayed but the other projects the team is working on has to be rescheduled or is delayed Lack of IT knowledge Most of the Corporate people in Bangladesh do not have much knowledge on IT and most of organization do not have 33 their own IT department so they do not understand the development process of software projects information they need to provide and how to change over to the new system These factors not only cause problems
99. ured and defined ideas for both analyst and the other members of the team If proper documentation is not prepared lots of features and ideas may be missing in the system 2 2 2 4 Inadequate testing Traditional development methods save testing to the final phase of a project This is very problematic because issues with core architecture may not be exposed until a project is almost complete At that time correcting fundamental problems can be very costly or may even require an almost total revamping of the code base Another factor that adds to traditional method of testing is testing is often constrained by time By the end of the project there is usually tremendous time pressure to deliver the system so the first rollout of the new software is often buggy 2 2 2 5 Integration Large projects using traditional development methodologies often fall apart during the integration process It is often the case that different teams of programmers remain geographically dispersed or work in relative isolation on individual parts of the project for long stretches of time As they finish their work they typically turn over the code to the project manager who then assigns it to a new team who attempts to integrate the disperse components and make them all work together Since there has been no consistent communication between the teams during the development process there are often significant problems at this stage as different interpreta
100. urity is a very important issue because the databases contain critical data of accounts and inventory Databases are designed in SQL Server to support issues related to security Graphical User Interface Both the software are Windows based so they provide interactive and user friendly interfaces They also support user friendly techniques like popup menu on right click of mouse drag amp drop etc Animations are also used wherever attention of the user is needed User Access Levels Both the software provide the privilege to define multiple users each having different access level to screens and reports as assigned by the supervisor The levels are e Admin is the Top level user This user can perform any kind of activities and can create new user and invoke every corners of the software e Supervisor is the Medium level user This user can perform any kinds of activities But cannot create new user or delete an existing user e Entry is the Lowest level user This user can search add modify records but does not have the right to delete records Data Entry Using Calendar Control A special feature of the system is the Calendar control On entering date in any column the user can click on the Calendar Control and can navigate through and select a date The date is automatically placed into the column Interactive Reporting The system provides a very easy to use and robust report generator The user can preview all
101. use the system and the future users of the system also do not understand what is going on and what will be the effect of using new technology in the organization they think that they will loose their job and so they create barriers in the process of requirement collection and implementation of the system 31 The top management of the company think that they know everything about the work process and don t like to involve the actual users employees who will actually work with the system and the result is a system with important features missing in it and ultimately huge changes are required to run the system costing huge amount of money which may be almost the cost of developing the software again Software clients sometimes tend to hide information knowingly or unknowingly Even though they require a complete solution they only develop a part of it and think that the rest can be developed and integrated later They do not understand that the analysis should be done together because the tasks are interrelated As a result it becomes difficult to develop another system and integrate it with the other since lots of database interdependencies and changes in designs are required One of the members of the development team of ConnectBD Ltd stated that the major reason for missing feature or not meeting user requirement is that the developers or the development team is specialized in technology and the business people are specialized in
102. very clearly but understanding the process and client s requirements are not as simple as asking the client to describe his needs and then labor on developing the necessary features because most of the time the users are not very clear about or unable to express or visualize what is required to transform their business ideas into reality or logic Moreover if the Analyst designs the software according to the standard procedure then the system may have scope for problems or the software may not be used if it is far different from the actual user requirements However Case tools and paper based diagrams help the analyst and programmers to document and develop a system but do not help the user visualize software system requirements The diagram below shows an example of this situation 3 How the project was What operations installed How the customer was billed How it was supported What the customer really documented needed Fig 2 1 Example of a real life situation 11 3 Changing requirements during development To start designing and building products engineers must know what product to build Unfortunately management marketing and even customers often don t know what they want The situation is worse when they think they know and then change their minds partway through the job when they are physically able to view or use parts of the software If the requirements change in the early phases of the analysis or design it can be handled but

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