Memo Monitoring System Essay Example

Memo Monitoring System Essay Information Technology (IT) has become the order of the day in this 21st century. IT has grown very fast in this past years that in virtually everything we do there is a little bit of IT. Areas that have had a fair share of this technological impact include Banking and Finance, Airline transportation, healthcare delivery services and education. Thanks to IT everything is now simple and easy. The Ghana Revenue Authority currently maintains all the employees’ records manually, which is very expensive, tedious and time-consuming. For example, the employees’ memo details are with the human resource department, financial records are with the accounts department and memo’s about staff welfare is with the welfare department. This paper-based system takes a lot of time of the employees. Occasionally, the employees in the accounts department were finding difficult to manage memo, in its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), the organization has decided to automate all types of record keeping, and provided easy to use programs for its employees. To overcome these problems faced by Ghana revenue authority, an electronic management system called â€Å"Memo Monitoring System (E MMSys)† is developed to automate all existing paper-based system of Ghana Revenue Authority as well as other back office activities. 1. 1 Aims and Objectives OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT The business goal for the development of the Memo Monitoring System (E-MMSys) application is to support and increase the productivity of the Authority. The application provides complete automation of all existing manual systems of Authority with the following objectives: ) Maintain an electronic record system of all current paper-based taxpayers and employee information; b) Enables easy access and fast retrieval of employee and administrative information. c) Provision of employee search facility. d) Generation of appropriate employee and administrative reports. e) The ability to send emails to employees. 1. 2 Project Category Application Software 1. 4 Scope of Projec t Project Scope and Features The Memo Monitoring System (MMsys) enables the processing of new memos, outgoing and incoming memos status, and its related information. We will write a custom essay sample on Memo Monitoring System specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Memo Monitoring System specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Memo Monitoring System specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The main users of the MMsys system are administrative staff and booking counter employees of the Ghana Revenue Authority From an end-user’s perspective, the system consists of two functional elements: Security Module and Query Module. Security Module The Security Module includes security features like user management and application level password management as well as the following: * Maintains a user master each user is identified by a user name and user type. It is only an admin user who can create and edit user information. Password must be 6 characters long. * Password must be alpha numeric. * While creating a user, the system assigns a default password for the user. The user must change the default password at first login. * All login time stamps are stored in the system for security audit. * Access level, roles and privileges are set for different type of users. Query Module The query module generates screen information for a particular PRN No given. It shows all detai ls about memo handling including current status. The functionality of the Query Module is described in more detail later in this document. All these arrears of functionality are delivered in the first version of the Memo Monitoring System (MMsys). Individual module functionality is described in more detail later in the document. 1. 5 Tools/Platform Type| Software| Hardware| Work Station/ Node| 1. Windows XP or Higher2. VB Run time| 1. P-4 2. RAM -1 GB | Database Server| 1. Win2003 Standard Server or Higher| 1. P-42. RAM- 2GB3. Hard Disk-160GB| Application Server| 1. Win 2003 Advance Server or above| 1. P-42. RAM- 1GB3. Hard Disk-80GB| 1. 6 Limitation Project Limitations The following features are considered out of scope in this version (version 1. 0) of the Memo Monitoring System. Version 2. 0 shall however address these features and other functions deemed not feasible in the version 1. 0. Function| Comment| Version| Linking and integration of any legacy system for handling of records. | Required by management to control and maintain memo record activity| 2| Integration with other public organisation and government machinery. Helps to update and share the data| 2| Connection to third-party Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) applications. | Helps in performance reporting and forecasting. | 2| Sophisticated system to enable hosting of mmsys on the internet and connecting to all departments. | Enable global accessibility of the system. | 2| Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system between different departments. | Aimed to reduce costs and time in the data sharing. | 2| 1. 7 Methodolo gy Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the research methodology used to btain information from a representative sample of employees from the Ghana Revenue Authority on the various issues identified under the Problem Definition in Chapter 1. Questionnaires and semi-structure interviews were used to obtain the primary data from respondents and the project utilized the data from this source to address the research problem. Organization Interviews Due to a general scarcity of literature specifically related to the application of information technology in the Revenue organization, a face-to-face industry interviews was chosen in conjunction with the literature review. This approach was chosen to gain a better understanding of the main issues that confronted the revenue organization as well as what could impact the successful implementation an e-business solution within the revenue organization. Requirements Summary The following preliminary lists are based on the initial interview that was conducted with some management officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority. Chapter Two Literature Review Little research has been conducted into how information technology has successfully been implemented and the associated benefits specifically in the revenue organisation. Based upon a series of interviews held with revenue officers, operation managers, and administrative staff from the Ghana Revenue Authority, this project work puts forward a solution to automate the existing manual and semi-automated activities of the Ghana Revenue Authority. In the late 1991’s and early 21st century many organizations found that their Information Technology budgets have been rising dramatically with little evidence of the promised financial returns. Many references have expounded on the numerous potential benefits to be gained by e-business and new technology implementation. However, much of this literature appears to emanate from those with direct commercial interests, and little offers empirical analysis of early theoretical claims and promises. Revenue workers are not newcomers to communication technology, with many organizations having implemented a memo management system for some time. The e-business environment tends to be a â€Å"collaborative† one moving towards an integrated supply chain. This indicates that the greater risk and inhibitor for the memos may be their reluctance to collaborate. Little has been documented on the potential barriers to adopting e-business and information technologies due to this cultural shift. Anecdotal evidence indicates that sophisticated technology projects in transfer of document and memos have been delayed or failed due to these traditional â€Å"cultural/mindset† factors, along with a general conservative fear of sharing tacit knowledge with both competitors and partners. Despite numerous scares associated with the technology crashes in the late nineties, the market for e-business services continues to grow. It is clear that the transportation industry will continue to operate in an increasingly e-enabled environment in the future. The anticipation is that emerging e-business technologies will be used to create a more effective and efficient transport service. This will be achieved through the use of technology, such as scanning, real-time data access, data warehousing and data mining techniques, sophisticated applications and intelligent management information systems. 2. 1 Problem definition The Ghana Revenue Authority currently maintains all the employees’ records manually, which is very expensive, tedious and time-consuming. For example, the employees’ memo details are with the human resource department, financial records are with the accounts department and memo’s about staff welfare is with the welfare department. This paper-based system takes a lot of time of the employees. Occasionally, the employees in the accounts department were finding difficult to manage memo, in its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), the organization has decided to automate all types of record keeping, and provided easy to use programs for its employees. 2. 2 Project planning 2. 3 Project Scheduling (Gantt chart/ PERT chart) GANTT CHART PERT CHART Chapter Three Design Methodology The purpose of this chapter is to provide the details of the solution concept that are associated with the Memo Monitoring System. The â€Å"MMSys† consists of: * Security Modules Security modules include security features like user management and application level password management. * Query Modules. A powerful query module give on screen information for particular PRN no, system user can view all information for particular memo in one screen by entering PRN no. System Architecture High Level Solution Architecture Data ACCESS Data Warehouse OLAP Access Data Access OLTP Access | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Search and Retrieval of Information Transactional Facade Retrieval Facade System Windows Application Microsoft VB Run Time Microsoft SQL ENGINE Database Engine Query 3. 1 Analysis (DFDs, ER diagrams/Class diagrams) Top Level DFD Received Memo Outgoing Memo - Train No Memo Monitoring System / Transit - Fare Rules - Stations PRN PRN Incoming Memo Sent Memo 1st Level DFD - Users Search PRN 1 - Memo in Transit Administration Returned Memo 3 - Employees Details 3. 2 A complete structure 3. 2. 1 Number of Modules 3. 2. 2 Data structures as per the project requirement for all modules AND Implementation Methodology Development Tools and Technologies Front End 1. Visual Basic 2008 Why Visual Basic 2008? Visual Basic is built on the Windows Server System to take major advantage of the Operating System which comes with a host of different servers. This allows for building, deploying, managing and maintaining Windows Based solutions. The Windows Server System is designed with performance as priority and it provides robustness, scalability and reliability. The advantage of VB. NET includes: * Powerful Windows-based Applications * Simplified Deployment * Powerful, Flexible, Simplified Data Access * Improved Coding * Direct Access to the OS Platform * Object-Oriented Constructs Back End 1. MS SQL Server 2008 Why MS SQL Server 2008? MS SQL Server 2008 is a desktop Relational Database Management System that supports small application development with features like relational query, different data types, joins, and query. It includes: * Easy to use and easy to deployment. * Integration with Windows OS * Scalability * Import and Export of data in all major database system. * Centralized Management * Reliability * Automating Tasks Development Environment 1. Visual Studio 2008 2. MS SQL Server Standard 2008 Design Goals and Constraints Performance No more than 10-percent degradation in average query response is allowed while all concurrent users are using the system. Processor utilization should not exceed 80 percent when all concurrent users are using the system. Availability Because the system is accessed by users at various offices and other administrative staff for customer query, there should not be any single point of failure. Reliability Because of the need for no single point of failure, automatic failover will be required. In addition, existing disaster recovery and backup plans as well as procedures must be revised to incorporate the memo monitoring system Scalability The memo monitoring System on an average will have a load of 35 concurrent users after the system is fully operational. This is expected to grow by 3 percent each year for the next five years. Security For sensitive member information, all users will need to log on to the system with their user username and password. Every resource in the system is defined by a role and a privilege. System administrator assigned user roles and privileges for access rights. Use Case Model: Manage Users Administrator Update Navigate Users User Modify Details Apply Validation Use Case Model: Manage outgoing and incoming memo User Administrator Transaction Incoming memo Outgoing Memo Validation Supervisor Memo in Transit 3. 2. 4 List of report Chapter Four System Implementation 4. 1 Implementation of security mechanisms at various levels. Chapter Five Future scope and further enhancement of the project This project was developed to fulfill user and business requirement; however there are lots of scopes to improve the performance of the Memo Monitoring System especially in the area of user interface, database performance, query processing time etc. In line with the above, there are many arrears of functionality for the future enhancement of this project. The future enhancements that are possible in the Version 1. 1. 0 of this project are: * Integration with other public organization through Web Services; * Connection to third-party OLAP applications; * Data and system security; * Online tips and help functionalities. * Query optimization. Appendix Terms Definition Source Codes Bibliography/References CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1. 3 BACKGROUND STUDY Information Technology (IT) has become the order of the day in this 21st century. IT has grown very fast in this past years that in virtually everything we do there is a little bit of IT. Areas that have had a fair share of this technological impact include Banking and Finance, Airline transportation, healthcare delivery services and education. Thanks to IT everything is now simple and easy. The Ghana Revenue Authority currently maintains all the employees’ records manually, which is very expensive, tedious and time-consuming. For example, the employees’ memo details are with the human resource department, financial records are with the accounts department and memo’s about staff welfare is with the welfare department. This paper-based system takes a lot of time of the employees. Occasionally, the employees in the accounts department were finding difficult to manage memo, in its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), the organization has decided to automate all types of record keeping, and provided easy to use programs for its employees. To overcome these problems faced by Ghana revenue authority, an electronic management system called â€Å"Memo Monitoring System (E MMSys)† is developed to automate all existing paper-based system of Ghana Revenue Authority as well as other back office activities. 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS 1. 5. 1 RECORD: An item or collection of data. 1. 5. 2 DATABASE: A database is an organized collection of data, today typically in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality (for example, the availability of offices in organization), in a way that supports processes requiring this information (for example, sending an information around about vacancies in the organization). 1. 3 PROBLEM DEFFINITION Ghana Revenue Authority maintains all the employees and accounting records manually, which is expensive, tedious and time-consuming. People need to look in different places to get different bits of information. For example, the employees personal details are with the human resource department, the financial records are with the accounts department and staffs welfare memo is with the welfare department. The paper-based systems take a lot of time of the employees. Occasionally, the employees in the accounts department were finding difficult to manage data, in its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), the organization has decided to automate all types of record keeping, and provided easy to use programs for its employees. . 4 REQUIEREMENT (SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE): 1. 4. 1 HARDWARE * RAM 3GB or Greater * PROCESSOR 2. 0GHz 1. 4. 2 SOFTWARE * ORACLE (Back End) * VISUAL BASICS (Front End) 1. 4. 3 OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows Vista Professional or Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate 1. 5 OBJECTIVES The business goal for the development of the Memo Monitoring System (E-MMSys) application is to support and increase the productivity of the Authority. The application provides complete automation of all existing manual systems of Authority with the following objectives: ) Maintain an electronic record system of all current paper-based taxpayers and employee information; g) Enables easy access and fast retrieval of employee and administrative information. h) Provision of employee search facility. i) Generation of appropriate employee and administrative reports. j) The ability to send emails to employees. 1. 6 LIMITATIONS The Memo Monitoring System (E MMSys) currently does not permit the simultaneous use of the application by more than 70 users. 1. 7 METHODOLOGY Microsoft Access was used as the platform to design Memo Monitoring System (E MMSys). The Database has the following components. * Fifteen(15) Tables * Twenty (20) Forms * Twenty Five (25) Queries * Fifteen(15) Reports * Nineteen (19) Micros CHAPTER TWO 2. 1LITERATURE REVIEW Information Technology (IT) has become the order of the day in this 21st century. IT has grown very fast the past years that everything we do is made possible and very efficient by IT. An example of this impact is seen in areas such as hospital patients records system, banking customers account information of which Ghana revenue authority is no exception. Little research has been conducted into how information technology has successfully been implemented and the associated benefits especially in staff record management system. Based upon a series of interviews held with management and staff of Ghana Revenue Authority, this project work puts forward a solution to automate the existing manual and semi-automated activities of Ghana Revenue Authority. In the late 1990’s and early 21st century many organizations found that the management of their institutions could achieve significant productivity if Information Technology was effectively utilized (Sethi et al. 993). Many references have expressed the significant impact and the numerous potential benefits to be gained by e-business and new technology implementation. (Barnes et al. 2002). Memo Monitoring System (E MMSys) is not new to communication technology, with many institutions having implemented an electronic record management system for a number of years. (Smith et al. 2003b) . 2. 2 BENEFITS TO THE MEMO MONITORING SYSTEM Memo Monitoring System (E MMSys) will help automate Ghana revenues’ records and free movement of memos. Firstly finding information of a particular job schedule of an employee, a group of managers or department’s information will be very easy since all of their information are in the database and can be fetched easily. * Secondly manipulations of records by outsiders or by employees will be minimized since the security of this database will be very effective. * Thirdly receipts can be generated by this same database. There wouldn’t be any error like writing of memos since it will be generated by the database. 2. 3 BENEFITS TO THE ORGANIZATION * The ability to send emails and memo to employees. Provision of employee and Human Resource search facility. * Locate the in and out flow of memos easily. * Reduce cost of sending Memo manually. Memo Monitoring System (E-MMSys) will help automate Ghana Revenue Authority memo r ecords. * Firstly finding information of a mail project a group of employees or an employee or a faculty member will be very easy since all of their information are in the database and can be fetched easily. * Secondly manipulations of records by outsiders or by officers will be minimized since the security of this database will be very effective. Employees will be able to know what they are supposed to send and receive every year without any delay or any form of file mismanagement and they can check out their job schedule even before work begins. 2. 4. CONSTRAINS * Other organizations can’t use this unless I redesign. Cost is effective. * Getting people to train for the usage of the database. * Paying some one personally to use till the workers get trained. CHAPTER THREE SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN 3. 1SYSTEM DESIGN MYSQL and Visual Basics were used as the platform to design MMSys. The Database has the following components. * Fifteen(13) Tables * Twenty (10) Forms * Sixteen(1 0) Queries * Fifteen(10) Reports * Nineteen (11) Micros * MMSys was developed to meet the demands of G. R. A. 3. 2 SYSTEM ANALYSIS * Collection of data: Before the database was created G. R. A was visited to collect data on both employees and day-to-day activities. Some records were check and studied and necessary data was collected. * Business system option: I decided to use mysql and visual basics for the database and the forms. Because it will be easier for the employees to use, too much time won’t be spent on training and cost will as well be cut down. * Requirement specifications: With mysql I started creating fields and columns, and the tables followed. I created tables for the employees as a whole. 3. 3 DATABASE DESIGN DATABASE TABLE RELATIONSHIP CHAPTER FOUR 4. 1. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION Here the system is installed in the live environment and it involves different steps which are; user’s acceptance and guidelines, user training, implementation and business review. The Implementation phase covers the cutover from the development environment to the operational environment. This includes training the users who have not been part of the project team. For this project, no user is trained. Iteration of the Implementation phase is applicable when the system is being delivered to a dispersed user population over a period of time. The products of this phase include the Delivered System that contains all the agreed documentation, including the User Documentation. The User Documentation is completed in this phase but must have been started earlier during the Design and Build Iteration.