Handout: Unit 10 – Project Final Report AND Stakeholder Letter

[Cynthia Perry]

Unit 10

[Development and Implementation of a Network for the Second Look Consignment Shop Clothing Chain ]

My IAL Project has been to My IAL Project is The Second Look is a group of three consignment stores located in KY. These three separate locations are Elizabethtown, Cave City, and Leitchfield. The stores sell clothing on consignment. They sell new (1-2 seasons old) clothing, which can be higher end or designer label. The stores sell clothing (men’s and women’s), shoes, belts and purses. There is however, the problem of no computer systems whatsoever. This at times has led to problems with knowing the available inventory. Also, there have been times when clothing coming into the store has been lost or misplaced. The stores have a total of twelve employees, 4 per store, and are open Monday through Saturday. The hours for the stores are nine a.m. to five p.m. each day. There is one manager at each location, with the owner working primarily out of the Elizabethtown store. She is also the acting manager in that location. She wants more flexibility and capabilities to be more connected to the other locations when the need arises. The scope of this project is two fold. The stores need a network installed in all three of them. They also want to have a database of customers and available product in each store. The scope of the project is that all three stores will be interconnected and able to share information on available stock in the stores. The stores will benefit in their ability to share information on available stock. If a customer is coming to look for a particular product or even a particular clothing designer, they can now find it in their store. Whichever store that may be. My IAL project would be to install a network and database for these three stores.

The project objectives in producing my IAL Project have been to:

1. Improve the inventory capabilities of each store.

2. Develop a computer network for those stores.

3. Provide an inventory tracking system for the company.
4. Develop worker abilities to utilize this system.
5. Develop a database on customers and their purchasing tendencies.

I was able to meet these objectives by developing the database for the stores. This database enable the owner to track available inventory in all the stores, install a computer network in the stores, and train the workers in each store how to use the new system.

The learning objectives in producing my IAL Project have been to:

1. Enhance my knowledge of a retail environment.

2. Improve my working knowledge of a Windows 2003 networking environment.

3. Apply any knowledge from my pursuit of a bachelor’s degree from Capella University.

4. Improve my interpersonal skills with the public.

I was able to meet these objectives. I learned a lot about the retail environment, especially how people in the local area buy. What they prefer and do not prefer and what their budgets are for clothes. Also, I gained a better knowledge of the Windows 2003 network environment. Finally, and most importantly, I think was a improvement in my interpersonal skills with others. Night and day discussions about how things worked and what the owner wanted helped me in talking to others.

The following timeline represents the schedule of events accomplished in producing my IAL Project:

I did not follow this schedule in one respect. An extra week was added to monitor the network for possible problems and to add any extra training/answering of questions about the network itself. The project was still finished in five weeks.

Several risks were identified in performing a risk assessment of my IAL Project. They were .

In producing my project I performed the following risk assessment:

I did not need to resort to my contingency plan to (a. Stick to the alloted time set or cut time from other areas in the schedule., b) Thoroughly testing each piece of the equipment before installation and have ready access to backups if the equipment just totally fails., c) Thoroughly train each employee and retrain anyone in any area necessary.) because everything went relatively smoothly and all phases were completed on time.

The research materials I used in producing my IAL Project and what purpose they served follows. Included is a brief discussion of what I learned from each of the resources.

1. Introduction to Information Systems, Tenth Edition, James A. O’Brien, copyright 2001, McGraw-Hill publishers.

This book is a beginner’s edition about computers and networks. It discusses in depth computers and how information is important in a business environment. Also, how important networking is in terms of sharing that information across any business.

2. Management Information Systems, Fifth Edition, Jane P. and Kenneth C. Laudon, copyright 1998, Prentice Hall publishers.

A book about how computers are interconnected in the work and how information helps in the current business environment. The book also discusses in great length, information about computer modeling and the basics about computer databases and what they are.

3. Database Management Systems, Second Edition, Gerald V. Post, copyright 2002, McGraw-Hill publishers.

This book discusses what are computer databases. It details what a database is, how it works, and the benefits that using computer databases can provide a business in terms of the importance of the information it can provide.

4. The Network Troubleshooting Handbook, Third Edition, Ed Taylor, copyright 2002, McGraw Hill publishers.

This book goes into detail about what computer networks are and how to fix the possible problems that occur with computer networks. It also goes into a discussion about how information flows through a computer network and how.

1. http://doit.ort.org/course/networks/55b.htm

This website gives bullets on the advantages of why one should network their business.

2. http://dragon.ep.usm.edu/~it365/module/Networking/advantages.htm

The biggest thing learned in this research was the importance of networks in the business world. How important a network is and what it can do for your business. The books were guide for questions that I had and hopefully answers the books could give.

The major lessons learned in producing my IAL Project include :

a. My first learning objective was to learn more of the inner workings of actual network installation. Going from point a to point b in a hands on environment has shown me many more nuances when installing a network. Reading about it in a book was much different than actually doing it.

b. My second learning objective was to finish my program and obtain my degree.

c. My third objective was a more personal one. Having worked on this, I think I greatly improved my communications skills. My communications skills in both verbal and written form were in need of improvement and this project helped to greatly improve that.

The kinds of feedback I received were mostly questions back and forth about what the business did, how things worked and how the owner wanted things to work. She had lots of questions and there was lots of back and forth about what was going on, how things were going to work and what the final outcome was supposed to be. The feedback helped me to learn a lot about how the business worked. How also to talk to people and work out things to their satisfaction.

The following appendixes evidence project completion and provide a sample of my work:

Appendix A: [The link to this appendix is titled "My Network" and is available on the website.]

Appendix B: Letter of Project Completion from Stakeholder, [Name]

Appendix A: See the website for the link ‘My network."

See this copy of sent email to stakeholder:

10 June 006

To: mrogers@secondlook.com

To: Mildred Rogers

From: Cindy Perry

Subject: Satisfactory Project Completion

Ms. Rogers, I need that letter we discussed before about how the project (the network installation and completion) went.The letter just needs to say how the project went, do you feel we stayed on the established schedule, budget, etc. Also, if you were happy with the work. Thanks so much for the letter. I need it at soon as you can. Thanks again.

Cindy Perry