Business requirement list
Key players: the key decision maker in Gate Widget Company LAN project is Mr. B. Gate and the son. The information detailed information concerning the LAN project is the operation manager.
Milestones: the project is supposed to start in mid-May and span to early June. The first task that the team handles are:
- Carrying survey on the premise and coming up on the list of materials needed and then purchase it.
- Laying down the network cables within the administration block, the manufacturing room and in daycare.
- Replacing all the old computers in the premise
- Configuring the network
- Testing the network
- Complete take over and training the employees on how to use the network to meet the company’s business mission.
Initial funding level: the amount that the company management has set aside for the project is $302,250.
Type of Business Activity
Widget Company is a manufacturing company located in plywood that makes widgets for a large range of vehicles. It was started as a mere garage but it has grown drastically. The company has two buildings. One is where the manufacturing process takes place while the other which is a three-storey building is where the administration of the company takes place.
Currently the total number of employees in the company is 60 but the company targets to have a total of 85 employees when the expansion process is complete. Out of the 80 employees, 50 are working in the factory, 30 in the administration and only five in the day care taking care of the children.
Estimated company growth: the company is growing at a very rate and the future plan is to ensure complete automation by both doing e-business and having a computer aided manufacturing process. This will enable the company to compete favorably
Security: the data that must be well secured in the company is company business operation policy, information about the employees, sales record and company financial information. To ensure this, enterprise information system architecture need to be put in place. The security needs to increase the security of the data by using Microsoft group policy in addition to password protection schemas. In addition the network operating system that should be used should be Linux because it ensures maximum security (Bey-Mille,2008).
Web Site and Internet Connectivity
The short term plans for the company are having a website where customers can view the product. This is facilitated by hosting their website such that changes can be made regularly. In long term, the company needs to connect to the internet using optic fiber as the backbone and having a secure wireless connection using Cisco components. Another long term plan is to have a very interactive website which can facilitate e-marketing.
Remote access
There will be a client/server architecture which will facilitate remote access to the system and the data in the server room. The person who will be going to be in charge of the data is the database administrator who will also overlook on the security of the system.
Tactical versus Strategic Information
The main factors that the company needs to work on ensure high turnover is establishing a computer aided manufacturing plan. The administrative activities can be improved by establishing an enterprise resource planning system that will ensure complete and fast circulation of information in the company. Another strategy of cutting down the operation cost is e-marketing such that the brick-to-mortar business operation becomes click-to-mortar (Abrams, 2004).
Reference
Abrams, M. D. (2004). Computer networks: a tutorial. University of Michigan: IEEE Computer Society Press.
Bey-Mille, B. (2008). FCS Data Communication and Networking L4. Pearson South Africa.
