TECHNOLOGY PROJECT PLAN

CIS 570 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS

INSTRUCTOR : NASSER HALWANI

KIMBERLY CANTY

FEBRUARY 14, 2007

The Public Lighting Department Business Development department business analysis has produced the following recommendations for the department:

 Database Requirements: A Relational Model Database will be developed to maintain/track/sort/analyze all data for each section in the Public Lighting facility to determine efficiency and patterns of failure of equipments and materials to initiate development of new designs to save money in long-term operations. This will allow the department to discontinue use of inferior materials.  This new technology will give instant live recordings and access to data  of exactly what is going on out in the field and the time that the accident occurred and who was involved. This new technology will be priceless to the department and stem the loss of millions of dollars in materials and man hours out in the field. This type of database will also maintain/track/sort/analyze the employee id and title that performed the maintenance functions in order to evaluate whether or not it may be a labor or training issue. Users (or programs) request data from a relational database by sending it a query that is written in a special language, usually a dialect of SQL. Although SQL was originally intended for end-users, it is much more common for SQL queries to be embedded into software that provides an easier user interface. This type of Database will allow a seamless transfer of data to the accounting and claims division database system which is also an  Oracle Database system that is used citywide for their financial processes. This database will record how much material that is used for a particular job which cost center it should be billed to using this new technology and all data will  be accessible to anyone in various departments who would need the information such as budget, police, prosecutors, City Council, Mayors Office etc… 

The City of Detroit currently uses the Oracle database system for all of it financial functions and most recently included it’s payroll function as well. Therefore the use of this type of database for the department will be a definite head start on bringing the department into the 21^st  century from a technological standpoint. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for the various system modules. The new system will also eliminate the need to have three systems running that do not talk to each other this new system will integrate all the needs of the department into one system. In addition to that this database system can be incorporated into the current database that the city currently has already a purchase agreement in place. This will reduce the implementation time tremendously. ERPs are cross-functional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are involved in operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and Information Technology, this would include accounting, human resources, marketing, and strategic management. The Oracle DBMS can store and execute stored procedures and functions within itself. PL/SQL Oracle Corporation's proprietary procedural extension to SQL), or the object-oriented language Java can invoke such code objects and/or provide the programming structures for writing them. The Oracle database system also offers a new system of grid computing. This system will be very valuable assets to our engineers. The will be able to interface with engineers all over the world. They do not have the ability to communicate with other engineers through their current computer system. 

 Software Programming requirements- The term Oracle Applications refers to the non-database (non-technology) parts of Oracle Corporation's software portfolio — mainly web-based accounting software. Oracle Corporation sells many applications built around the Oracle RDBMS system, notably the Oracle Financials applications. In view of the fact that this is a web based accounting software the process of enter information out in the field via the web should work perfectly for the department. The programmers should be able to incorporate that into the several modules available under Oracle Applications is a collection of business ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) applications developed by Oracle Corporation, which utilize their core RDBM database technology. Sometimes referred to as Oracles "E-Business Suite", Oracle Applications currently in the 11i series version, contains several product lines such as Oracle Financials, Oracle Logistics, Oracle HR, Oracle Sales, and others. Within each product, there are several modules, each to be separately licensed. The city of Detroit already holds a licensing agreement with Oracle for their  Oracle E- Business Suite Software. 
 
 The Oracle E-Business Suite Software Applications will cover almost every aspect that the department needs and it also has room for additional uses if the department needs to grow. This particular software will be able to interface with each use case scenario and in the system analysis. Given that, the City currently already has employees on staff to write the programs to fit the particular needs of the department the transformation should be quick and painless. The programmers should be able to work from the use case scenario’s to develop programs for each section to enter their information into the database. The programmers would only have to add the additional modules to cover the construction projects, claims, videos, legal information, engineering, and MISS DIGG information which is priceless in any city.
 Networks- Oracle developed the applications from a terminal based VT220 interface to a client server model in 10.7, only to drop this within the space of a year for the Network Computing Architecture (NCA). This was a revolutionary concept exploiting the internet/network and thin client computers. There are many advantages to this type of network Obviously, boot image control is much simpler when only thin clients are used - typically a single boot image can accommodate a very wide range of user needs, and be managed centrally, resulting in: Lower IT admin costs, Easier to secure, 
Lower hardware costs, Lower Energy Consumption, Worthless to most thieves,
Hostile Environments, Less network bandwidth, More efficient use of resources,
and Simple hardware upgrade path this is also and win win for the City of Detroit. 
 The use case scenarios can be used as a step by step demonstration of what goes on in the day to day operations of  the department and the duties and responsibilities of the employees. This information will be a valuable tool to the programmer when he began to write the program for the user, because he will know exactly what the users job is and what the users needs are as he sits down to write the program. He will be vividly aware of what is happening to the employee as he goes about his day on the job. The videos will be priceless and once he learns the jargon or lingo writing a good program will be a piece of cake. 
 The internal stakeholders (employees) will be greatly benefited by the new tools given to them to complete their assigned duties. It will be a great burden lifted off of their shoulders. Currently, their jobs are so stressful and they are under so much pressure the work  environment is like a powder keg ready to go off. With this new technology most of their task will only take minutes instead of hours or days to be done correctly. This will also free up staff to not depend on someone else to finish their assignments. The external stakeholders the taxpayers and other departments will get a very efficient department and proper lighting , properly working traffic signals, and a better safer city to live in or visit for their hard earned tax dollar. 
Business risk and security risk for my proposed solution are very slim because,  I proposed a solution that is already being used by the City of Detroit and the security safeguards are already in place and working properly. The City will only be expanding a system that they are already using currently. They already have the City Council approvals for  the use of the system and the licensing agreements in place.
 Financial Plan:

The City of Detroit has sold bonds to cover the upgrades for the Public Lighting Department for the next ten years. The Department will receive ten million dollars every for the next ten years to develop new infrastructure and new upgrades for the department. The costs of the new technological plan is more than covered and any new upgrades they may need in the future will be covered by the bond sale. 

The metrics that will be used to determine if the technological plan was a success would be the reduction of the use of materials meaning the materials would last their current cycle of use time. Additional  metrics would be the reduction of  accidents due to traffic signal outages, the reductions of claims in lawsuits due to traffic accidents, the reduction of MIOSHA violations, the reduction of call center complaints of street lights being out of service, The reduction of damage calls out due to damage cable due to construction accidents, The increase of revenue from the collection of damage claims, the increase of revenue from new customers from better service, the increase  of revenue due to correct financial reporting, increase in revenue due to increase in correct meter reading reporting and billing corrections, increase in moral, better work performance from employees, increase in attendance, decrease in work place accidents and injuries, a budget surplus do to the savings from the overall efficiency of the department. 

In conclusion, the department would run much more efficiently and the savings would began immediately if the technology plan were to be implemented, In view of the fact that the city is already using the database and the software currently the additional costs and time to implement would be minimal. This plan would be a excellent project for the City of Detroit. 

References
http://en.wikipedia.org
https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp