Abstract
The report below examines data gathering and analysis for network design and implementation. It presents the two major reasons for data gathering and analysis, which are descriptive and predictive. It also discusses the data gathering process involved for the networking project. In this case, the selected data gathering and collecting tools selected are questionnaires and interviews. These are two highly inexpensive and effective data collection tools that find use in the gathering of large amounts of data. The report also discusses the different stakeholders the data will be gathered from. These will include employees, system users, top-level management, and other companies with similar systems. The different stakeholders are a critical source of information that will dictate the networking needs of the organization. Once the collected data is analyzed, sufficient information can be drawn from it. This information will help in the implementation of a network that meets all stakeholder needs.
Data gathering and analysis is imperative for one of two major reasons. These are descriptive or predictive (Creswell, 2014). In the case of the network project, we will be interested in collecting data for the two reasons. However, most of the data collected is descriptive in nature since it will guide the developers on the present needs of the business. Predictive data is also important as it allows the project to be designed with the future in mind. For instance, the first year of the network might result in only a few people using the network. However, as the company grows, the network will need to support more people. Predictive data and analysis enables the designers of the network to accommodate future expansion plans and future increased traffic on the design from an early stage. This makes it easier to scale up the network in future as growth had been accommodated for in the design. Data gathering processes involved in this project will involve questionnaires and interviews with users of the system, interviews with the management of the company and collection of information about industry best practices (Davino & Fabbris, 2012).
The users of the network are the most important group of stakeholders. They interact with the system frequently and the success of the project will largely depend on the level of uptake of the system by everyday users. As such, their input is going to be important in the data-gathering phase of the project. The management of the organization also has very important input in the design process. The network is developed in order to support business needs. The management will therefore have certain business needs that they need the network to meet. This is very important in the design phase of any project. Finally, industry best practices provide important information for the design phase. Typically, a business will usually not be the first to develop a particular type of system. Other businesses have developed similar systems. Some of the systems developed were successful while others failed. Information from industry best practices will ensure that the design of the new network will consist of the best practices that increase the chances of the project being successful.
The results of requirement gathering will give the business needs of the project. These are the business requirements that the project must fulfill. These are usually going to be the specifications for the project (Davino & Fabbris, 2012).For example, the management might need users to be able to access the network remotely to ensure workers in the field have access to all the information they need. This type of information will be a result of requirements gathering. User input is also very important especially in the development of the system interface. The users who interact with the system will give insight on how they perceive their interaction with the system and what would be the best way to interact.
Finally, the analysis of requirements gives the specifications of the project. When the requirements are analyzed, the developers will come up with minimum specifications that the project must address. Usually, this involves compromising on a number of factors. For instance, the management may decide on having a remote access network. There are many ways of doing this, for example by setting up a virtual private network or by using cloud resources. The choice made will depend on a number of factors such as the budget of the project, timeline and security needs.
References
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
Davino, C., & Fabbris, L. (2012). Survey Data Collection and Integration. Berlin: Springer Berlin.
