Introduction
Today’s business environment needs fast and precise decision making. To achieve that, there must be up to date computing infrastructure and applications. Cloud systems have been a revolution in the last few years, the emergence and subsequent dominance of cloud computing has received massive support and adoption across a myriad of businesses. Additionally, a lot of research efforts and increased expertise in the information and communication sector has made technology a key driver of virtually all major businesses. It is in this light that a server-client solution has been explored for adaptation for a software solution that ought to be deployed for this firm. An analysis has been done on all the possible points of concern. The strengths and the drawbacks of different approaches have been deeply analyzed to determine the most appropriate system and computing model to adapt.
The key considerations of the solution to be eventually adopted for the client-server architecture are largely usability, adaptability, efficiency and ability to produce precise reports. The system will have two main parts. A server part, which will be cloud-based, will have technical and qualified users for aiding in the processing of the data that is being sent over to it. For other users on the ground, the main participation will be to enter data into the system remotely so that it will be easy to analyze and draw conclusions. The users of the client application will only be trained for a short while. This will make the process of entering data collected in the field into the system seamless and efficient. The net result will be that of improving the speed of decision making.
Conclusions and Recommendations
After doing an analysis of all the possible options available to the team, the best alternative to settling on would be a custom solution the server application for analyzing the collected data on the field for report generation. Also, the client application which will allow the data to be entered into the system should be custom made. Although other options that were considered such as open source software, especially for server application, are cost-efficient to acquire initially, they tend to have the drawback of having little technical support availability and also are difficult to use. This would greatly impact on the productivity of the users of the system and possibly that of the business as a whole.
It is recommended that both a custom server application is built as well as a specific application for sending data to the server for use by those on the ground for uploading the data needed as often as needed to the server. This will provide the users of each of the applications an easy and simple interface customized specifically to the preferences, tastes and needs of themselves and that of the business. Additionally, it will be easy to generate the needed reports and to obtain the needed help and assistance in good time as technical expertise will be available .
Besides all the considerations made, security of a custom application is better guaranteed. Custom software making and use can aid in protecting the business from hackers and other external threats. The most successes in malicious hacking attempts done on various businesses are resultant from hackers taking advantage and exploiting already known or little-known software vulnerabilities that are mostly found in commonly-used software. Having custom software automatically becomes a much less appealing target for different hackers as it usually requires a lot of energy and devotion to discover vulnerabilities and eventually to be able to exploit them. Therefore, it is recommended that the custom software option be adopted.
Summary and Discussion of Facts and Details
There are several upsides to adopting a custom system as the solution for this business process. One of the most imperative upsides is that there is the availability of ready technical workforce which can build the application and support it throughout its lifecycle. This option scored 100% on the cultural feasibility, and also on the legal feasibility. The other alternatives scored less for cultural feasibility because a lot of resistance would be experienced should the systems be adopted instead of a custom one.
A custom solution is also more difficult to develop and requires much more time compared to all other approaches. This option requires over 12 months to develop, test and install and to be fully functional. Additionally, custom solution has a far longer time to complete its payback period at 4 years. A partially custom solution that has a server running on over-the-counter software and a custom client application takes 3 years to complete the payback period. The exact time taken for the purely custom alternative is 4 months for implementation and under 2 years for it to complete its payback period.
Overall, the purely customized software alternative for both the server as well as the workstation software has a score of 83% based on rigorous feasibility analysis. On the contrary, the partially bespoke option or simply the hybrid alternative has a score of 68% based on the same metrics. Also, the completely off-the-shelf solutions that have been evaluated did score significantly higher than the hybrid one at 75%. This is primarily due to the strong scores for the purely general use software on scales such as the cost and schedule feasibility. Therefore, the custom alternative is the best suited one.
The projected costs of developing custom software are at around $125,900. This figure is justifiable from the analysis done on the cost/benefit of the same system. Therefore, the system will be thought of as being able to give a return on the money and effort invested on it. The time needed for building the system, which is obviously a weighty factor considered in determining the suitability of any alternative is also reasonable. This is because a period of just over 12 months is manageable as well as reasonable.
Final Conclusion
In conclusion, client/server architecture offers a myriad of advantages over the olden mechanism that the firm relied on heavily. These include distributed computing, cheaper hardware costs as well as software costs. Besides, client/server model allows employees to work from anywhere they are located and hence improves productivity and efficiency tremendously. It is these unparalleled upsides that make this model indispensable in business environments.
Use of custom software for the firm is advantageous for the firm. This is for reasons of availability of technical labor which can get into action within minimal time if need arises. Also, custom software is generally more secure as it is harder for people with malicious intent to discover holes in them. Also, form the analysis attached hereby, custom software for the server and client apps has many upsides and has an overall higher score. The custom alternative is therefore strongly recommended.
Appendices with facts and details
Development costs for the new proposed client-server system
Development Costs
Personnel
New Hardware and Software acquisition costs
Total Cost of developing the system: $125,900
Expected Annual Operating Costs Projections
Expenses
Total costs projected to be incurred on an annual basis: $15900
Candidate Systems Matrix for three different Candidate Solutions
Ranking the above Alternatives Using a Feasibility analysis matrix
References
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