QUESTION
Introduction
The Age Care is a charity-based organization intended to help the old age people of South-East England. It helps the senior citizens in transportation and organizes several education-related projects which even help these people in enhancing their skills. The organization started from a modest beginning of a small countryside institution, where the volunteers dropped in to contribute to the social cause helping the old people. This has now spread to a many villages in the South-East England and has currently several branches in this area. The organization is run on the fund donated by the local governments and the private institutions. The Age care has been able to grow its reputation through its good and genuine work in this field. There are several projects running in its different branches of the organization which has large workforce of people on its payroll as well as through volunteers, who have a major role in the success of the organization.
Part-A
The picture below shows the functioning of Age Care and the basic problems are shown as bullet points adjacent to the employees name and their designation. I have included those branches and the staffs who were covered in the interview process by DSDM team.
Requirement Analysis
The diagram or the rich picture shows the whole organization of Age Care. The takes into consideration the Central Administrative Branch of Age Care, at Kent and the other three branches of the organization, the Baringstoke, the Aylesford and the Folkstone branches of Age Care. The administrative heads of the branches are listed corresponding to the branches.
The basic problem regarding the working of Age Care is that there is no Central Database existing at the head-office. This results in many problems which are faced day-to-day. Mr. K. Brooks, CEO of Age Care feels that the absence of such an infrastructure causes problems in driving the organization towards a common goal. The strategy for defining the future developments and the requirements meet a dead end because of the non-availability of data. Even the data which is supplied are most of the time not satisfactory. He wants a proper implementation of a Management in Information System (MIS) as early as possible. He even makes it clear that any impediment top the development of such a system would be dealt strictly. He feels the need of adaptability of the staffs to the solutions of information and technology.
The Director of administrative support at the Centre of Age Care, Mr. Syed Faisal, says that they have to work upon data and this takes a lot of overhead for his administrative staffs. They have to take supervisory control over the branches and the center as well, in such a situation collecting data from the various sources and then formatting them, along with their own job, is a very difficult task to do.
The most tedious job fells on the finance department. They have to handle the financial data from all the 15 branches of the organization. Each of the organization work in an autonomous way, they have their own projects running. So, all the branches send their financial balance sheets to the Finance department of the central Age Care. These data or balance sheets do not have a particular format. So, you can imagine the task which lies on the finance department, reading the data sheets corresponding to the various projects. This is not the end, some of the centers send their data in excel files, some as Access database, some in paper works, all these taken together makes the responsibilities if finance department an impossible task to perform. They want that there should a central database and there should be some financial tools for the whole organization to work with. The staffs of all the branches should be given a proper training in Information Technology, so that they become used to the finance system. There should a common platform and logic developed for the finance, which can handle all the different types of data in the organization.
The Age Care trustees define a Key performance Indexes for the work being done by the organization. The trustees want the donations should be used in a cost efficient and effective manner. Even the private players fund the projects of Age Care. They ask for a different kind of reward out of that. This can be understood from the demands of supermarkets funding the Green-Drive project. The supermarkets want that the elderly folks should be brought to their supermarkets regularly, so that their investment in the project should succeed. They also want a report to be sent to them, taking in view of their investments into the projects.
Then, we have the different Age Care regional centers with their own problems and working culture. This has been pointed out earlier also that the different branches of age care function as independent bodies. These centers have their own projects and functioning areas, like the Folkstone Center works for the educational programs only. They bring out programs as creative writing, reading together in groups, pursuing the skills which the elderly citizens were not able to do in their life time. This results in various practices followed by the branches, which are generally not similar to the other branches. Even the projects are different. At Age Care the projects are run only in a cycle of two years, that is only if they have the budgets and finances for running the project for a two year time length, the project would be started then.
At Basingstoke branch, with its manager Mr. Jose Rodriguez has his won innovative styles of working. He maintains an Excel Database for the storage of data. He is very enthusiastic about the use of information technology for the work of the charity based organization. Even sometimes, he rues that people working with him were not trained in the system with which he maintains the data at his branch. On one such occasion, he came to know that an employee had entered information of the today’s work into a different date data. Thus he had to work on it again and rectify it. However, his adaptability to the IT and computer knowledge makes him capable to do such changes in less amount of time. He is a great supporter of the development of the new system proposed, but has few apprehensions regarding them. He feels that the new system should be developed taking into consideration of the excel database and the working style he maintains. He is afraid that the system development with the project Green Drive in its purview might not be successful enough for the whole organization. Still he is supportive of the creation of such a system.
At Folkstone center, the education coordinator Mr. Patience Mbewe has different thoughts about the progresses taking place. He is actually a conservative person with little knowledge of the information technologies and feels sending reports and data to the central office a burdensome task. He is a good educationist who believes in imparting knowledge to the people, through the organization. He believes that the organization should provide resources and space, so that the elderly people could learn something. He does not believe in professionalism and the projects like Green Drive for getting media attention.
The main focus of the development of the new system takes the Green Drive project. The green drive project is being run at the Aylesford center of Age Care. This Center is run by Mr. Claire Graham who is very enthusiastic about the development of the new system. He is helped by Mrs. Doris Smith in his work. Doris is part time worker here, but is very important to the functioning of the center. She manages the time-table for the work. As in the green drive project, she maintains the timings of the busses, resolves the issues which may come-up while lifting the elderly folks and dropping them back to their homes, maintains a rota of drivers who will be available for the trips to the supermarkets.
Part-B
The use cases as primary situation and secondary situation to be worked out. The primary use case starts with following precondition.
Precondition: The staff on the regional office sends correct data.
Flow of events
1. The user collects some valid data about the system.
2. The user may have different designations which might be suitable for sending the data at level, he has been authorized to send.
3. The user would discuss the data to be sent to the central office with the colleagues and the superiors.
4. Then he might be able to update the data to be sent to be sent.
5. Then he might be able to re-authenticate the data to be sent with other people.
6. The user selects a format or form for packaging the data.
7. The user then selects correct fields and corresponding data to fill up the data.
8. The user verifies the data in the form.
9. The user then sends the data to the head office.
10. The user at the head-office may try to get which project the data belongs.
11. The user at the head-office would try to get a sense of the data.
12. The user at the head-office would try to bring the data to a common format.
13. The user at the head-office would prepare a balance sheet of the data received.
14. The user would then send the data to the trustees.
This was the primary use case for the primary scenario. There may be a secondary scenario in which the user is not able to define appropriate steps.
Use case: Secondary Scenario of the case
1. The user collects the data.
2. He is not able get all the relevant data corresponding to the project.
3. He would format the data in a particular form.
4. He sends whatever data he has available.
5. The user at the head office is not able to make a sense from the missing data that has been sent to him.
6. He would bring the data in a common format.
7. He would try to make up for the data which was not sent to him.
8. He sends a balance sheet which has the original data along with the make-up data.
The use cases above try to bring out a picture of the working scenario present at the Age Care central office and the regional offices in a different manner.
In this case we have chosen an anonymous staff at the regional office and the central office and tried to paint a picture of the working scenario there. The staff is called here by the name of user and the scene of working is defined in such a way.
A further detailed study of the use cases has been done as under:
Use cases Green Drive and Age Care
Claire Graham
Primary Use Case
1. He maintains that administration and the finances of the AGE care are running in proper way.
2. Plans for making the Green drive running smoothly
3. Arranges the funds as required.
Secondary Use case
1. He finds a problem in the administration or finances; he makes a proper note of the event and discusses them with the staffs.
2. He sends a note of the problem to central Administration.
Doris Smith
Primary use case
1. He maintains the timetable of the trips to supermarkets.
2. He looks after the upkeep of vehicles.
3. Arranges Rota for drivers
Secondary Use case
When he is has left the office early.
1. He checks the problems faced by the drivers during the trips next day.
2. He updates the timetables.
Elderly Citizens (Client)
Primary use case
1. He would take a ride over the bus.
2. He visits the hypermarket.
3. He returns home
Secondary Use case
He does not take ride to the trip
Driver
Primary use case
1. Takes the keys of the bus from the Age care and adds the record.
2. He goes to the houses of the elderly folks who are interested and takes them to the trip to the hypermarkets.
3. He fills the fuel in the vehicle.
Secondary Use case
1. The client is not interested, he makes a record.
2. There is some problem in the vehicle, he reports to Doris.
Administrative Staff
Primary Use case
1. Maintains the administration of age care center.
2. Checks whether the staffs are doing their work properly
Secondary Use case
1. He finds a problem to in the administration and makes a record of it.
2. He resolves the problem or takes it to the higher authorities.
Finance Staff
Primary Use case
1. He maintains record of the incoming funds and expenses.
2. He sends the financial records to the central financial body
Secondary Use case
1. He does not have a record of a particular event.
2. He makes up the record to fill the gap.
Local Social Services Agency Staff
Primary Use case
1. Checks the balance sheet of the financial records.
2. Makes arrangement of the funds to be sent to AGE care.
Secondary Use case
1. He does not find the record of age care satisfactory.
2. Sends the report to the higher authorities
Social Services Agency Staff
Primary Use case
1. Checks the balance sheet of the financial records.
2. Makes arrangement of the funds to be sent to AGE care.
Secondary Use case
1. He does not find the record of age care satisfactory.
2. Sends the report to the higher authorities
Supermarket Staff
Primary Use case
1. Checks the balance sheet of the financial records sent by Age care.
2. Checks if the trips made by the elderly folks to the supermarket are as expected.
Secondary Use case
1. He does not find the record of age care satisfactory.
2. He does not find the numbers of trips to the hypermarkets are not as promised. He complains to the Age care.
Syed Faisal (Administrator Central)
Primary Use case
1. He looks into the problems faced by staffs of the central Age care and the regional centers.
2. He makes it sure the functioning of Age care and its branches go smoothly.
3. Provides right support to the issues faced by the staffs.
Secondary Use Case
1. The Support delays due to lack of Information management system
2. He has to manage information along with his work.
Jayne Harrison (Director Finance)
Primary Use case
1. Maintains the finances of Age Care.
2. Takes records of the regional branches of Age Care.
3. Sends the reports back to the trustees.
Secondary Use case
1. He gets reports in different formats.
2. Arranges the reports into common platform.
Jose Rodriguez (Centre Manager-Baringstoke)
Primary Use case
1. Manages the administration of Baringstoke.
2. Efficient in the use of excel database.
Secondary Use case
1. He finds difficulty in working because the people are not IT oriented
2. Still finds his way of working more suitable for Age Care because of the diversity in the nature of work done by the organization.
Christos Papdimitriou (Information Quality officer)
Primary Use case
1. He maintains the IT related issues of Age care.
2. He maintains the data related to each project.
Secondary Use case
1. Finds difficulty in maintaining the information of all the branches when each sends data In adifferent format.
2. Tries to make sense from the data.
Patience Mbewe (Education-Coordinator)
Primary use case
1. He organizes the educational trips at Folkstone center.
2. Strongly believes in serving the elderly folks specially their educational requirements.
Secondary Use case
1. He does not believe in managing data.
2. His projects are not cost efficient.
Keith Brooks (Ceo)
Primary use case
1. He is responsible for developing strategy of future functioning of age care.
2. He collects the information of the project s working efficiently.
Secondary Use case
1. Finds the data of Age care unmanageable.
2. He wants to implement the MIS.
In such a scenario, the user can be anyone, the administrator of a regional office, the financial officer at either of the offices, or a staff who is at the lowest in the hierarchy of the organization. The user does the basic works performed in the organization. He would do his regular duty as well as collect data for the organization. The user would collect the data and discuss with his other counterparts, colleagues and superiors. He tries to understand weather the data he is sending is correct and useful for the organization. He would then update the data to the current scenario and bring the data into a format which his office is used to. The user would then send the data file to the head-office. The staff at the head office would try to make sense from the data received. He tries to fill the balance sheet in way common to all the projects. The balance sheet would be sent to the trustees in such a way that they have a feel of the good work being done by the organization.
Part-C
The work culture of AGE CARE
The Age care has worked a lot for the old people of the villages. It organizes shopping trips, outings to the places of the old folks, helping them reach out to the doctors and clinics for health check-ups. Even various education programs arte also arranged by them like creative writings, sharing of ideas through community get together. It uses its own centers which use the ground floor for these purposes and the upper floors for the administrative purposes and for the staffs to work. They even get to use the community centers to held these trips and get together.
It has taken shape of a big organization, with a hierarchy of people working in a professional manner. It has various branches which are more like an autonomous body with their own working styles and projects. They store their information in their own formats and send it to the central body for a review of their performances. The central body would send a complete balance sheet of all its funds, spending and expenditure to the charity-donors, the local government bodies and the private firms. The local government bodies and the private firms, decide the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the work being done by Age care. They take an active interest in weather the fund supported by them are being used for the right purposes and are being used in a cost effective way. The projects run by Age Care run in a cycle of two years programme. So, they make it sure that they have enough funds to continue a project for two years before starting any new project.
However, a concern has been raised by many of the staffs in the way the Age Care has been functioning. They feel that the whole organization is being run in an amateurish way, without proper working standards as other charity based organizations would do. Each of the branches (there are at present 15 branches in South England) works in their own autonomous way and has their own ways and formats of collecting data. There happens a lot of confusion and miss-interpretation of data. There is no secure storage and even the theft of data has been reported sometimes. There have been situations in which the malpractices of the employees being found due the lack of centralized database and monitoring. Still the employees find a lot of difficulties in the administration of data and information. There is many times make-up data sheets sent to the donors of the organization to make them feel that their money is being utilized in the best possible way to serve the old age citizens of the society. Even the work is very slow in the organizations, as most of the work done by the employees happens to be manual. There is no website or portal of the organization which can let the people know about the functioning and the progresses made by the organization.
With all these concerns raised by the employees of Age Care the DSDM team from TechnIX Plc. was called for the development of the centralized database and software for the project management on the basis of the requirements gathered from the employees of Age Care. There ware a lot of requirement gathering processes done by them. The senior employees were separately interviewed and asked for their expectation from such a system. Then there was group meeting of the senior employees and the concerned ones to get into the final requirements and consolidate them, so that there were no conflict in the ideas regarding the development and a uniform and productive system could be implemented. The project Green-Drive was chosen to develop the application suited to the needs of the organization.
The Critical Analysis
There has been a lot of discussion in this report regarding the working culture and the problems being faced by the organization with its growing size and the multitude of the work being done by it. With 15 branches at present in the organization, the system should be developed that could handle the wide range of activities being done by the organization. This is in itself a huge task to bring the whole organization onto a common platform of working. A common interface, a financial tool and a central database and training to the use of the IT tools for the project management would be all required to bring the whole organization to work efficiently.
We have presented two ways to overview the problems faced by the organization. The first one was through the rich picture analysis of the problem faced and the other one was through the use case analysis. Both the ways have their advantages of their own.
The Rich picture analysis involves the introduction of most of the processes done by the organization. The working ways can be made clear through the pictures. The best thing about this method is we do not have to take much time to read the diagram, if they illustrate the things clearly. They are easily readable and make the reader familiar to the system. The annotations used make it even clearer to read and understand the salient features, which would not be said through the pictures only. The pictorial systems have the advantage of getting down into the memory for long effortlessly. The pictures are understandable even to the less educated persons. These are some of the advantages which we have while dealing with a scenario like this where there is a lot of interaction among the units involved. As can be seen from the figure, done in the first part, that the regional centers have their own style of working. They have the way of working which are in general in-compatible with the other branches and the central office of the organization. There is an interaction between the central administrative, the financial teams and the teams from the regional offices. They need to send data to each other. Such a system with multiple interactions can be depicted in the pictures in a more comprehensible way.
The other tool available to us was the use-case method. The use case method takes into the advantage of the flow of events. This is a tool for those people who can understand the algorithms, flow-charts, step-by-step similar methodologies. These tools are basically for the people who understand working of the information and technology systems. This system makes the use of the minute facts available to the knowledge of the developer. Where a pictorial system would be understandable by those even who have little idea of the information technology, the use case methods are for the professionals only. The development for a new system would not be possible if the developer does not take into account the system as step by step analysis of the flow of data through the system. The use-cases have an impact on the accuracy of the system design. The use cases are helpful in making the systems flow through its various steps in a cohesive manner. Also, it’s helpful in checking out whether the requirements of the process have been completely fulfilled. The interdependence of the steps is also seen easily if the use case scenarios are drawn. We are able to fill the gaps between the knowledge of the system designer and the end user through this method or tool. The redundant steps are also, sorted out through such a system.
As we found above, the advantages and the disadvantages of the two tools or methods used in the report, it can be easily said that the pictorial method is easily understandable and can be used by anyone, while the use case method is for those who are experts in looking into the depths of the system. Thus, for an IT professional both the methods of presentation are useful. The clients who can be anyone, who are experts in IT and their fields and also those who have knowledge of their fields only. In such a situation, it becomes very necessary for an IT professional to learn both the ways of interpretation. Where the pictures make the client able to grasp the things easily, the use case help him in getting to know whether the developer is able to get the hold of the requirements as dictated by him.
Conclusion
Thus, in the above report we made an analysis of the work culture, the basic architecture and the flow of information in the system. The Age Care has evolved from a very small organization which was run by a group of volunteers, to an organization which has taken a size of a big charity based industry with 15 branches and more number of villages served through it. However, the growth in the size was not competed by the growth in the information technology infrastructure. This remained an old institution with few people who were fresh in the field bent to use the computers and softwares. It was these people who understood the current demand of growth in the infrastructure and the development of a system. There were many gaps in the services provided to the aged people and the knowledge provide to the trustees about the work done by the organization. There are also some people who are not competent with the use of information and technology. The developments have become a slow process there. There might few people who want to take advantage of the sorry state of the system.
The data organized by the different branches are in different formats. These data are collected through different means. Sometimes, the data are just arranged and sent to the central office. The administrative people have to go through the time-taking process of collection and the validation of data. This is has been complemented by the loss of data through theft and miscalculations. The major parts of the data are maintained in form of paper records. Even the working method of one employee may differ from the other one, each trying to work in a way comfortable to them. Some body may be found techno-savvy using the excel sheets ,access databases while others may be just doing paper work, even you may find a person who might not be interested in collection of the data.
In such a scenario we would need a system which provides the basic arrangement for bringing the whole organization on a single platform, integrated to use the data of various products and systems. We need to collect the whole lot of data in a central server. The system should be able to provide data and reports as and when requested by the user, which may be an internal staff, a client or the trustees. As there are 15 branches of the organization so there are, almost fifteen different or more projects running simultaneously, so the platform or the software should be able to fetch data from the different projects and model them in such a way that they are easily comprehensible to the administrative and the financial employees of the central body.
There is need to develop a financial system too, where a user sitting in the regional branches would update the financial data through a common interface. The employees of Age Care have requested for such a system to be devised over the internet, so that it is accessible from any where. The development of such a system is definitely going to take time and lots of efforts, but such a system is required to make the working practices competent to the best practices in the world. This would surely reduce the efforts of the staffs of Age Care and would result in making it more helpful to the needs of the elderly folks of the society.
KH73
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