Unit 22 Office Development Assignment Copy

Program	Diploma in Computing System and Development
Unit Number and Title	Unit 22 Office Development
QFC Level	Level 4

Introduction

The strength of the business lays in the fact how it manages the data and how competitive its strategies are. Proper data management is necessary to sustain and grow in market. The office developmentwill present the usability of applications in business processing along with justification for the right choice of system for World Wide Publishing. The report will address the user requirements and business constraints to propose the solution and to implement the solution in workplace. Advance tools and techniques are discussed to implement the system. The report will also present the testing results of system with user expectation to demonstrate that the system is effective for organization practices. The office development will provide end user engagement methods and future requirements for system. World Wide Publishing is an organization provides road maps and atlases on orders and work with Oxford Warehouse.

Task 1

1.1 Use of applications in business processing

The performance and data accuracy in business operation management is required to make utilization of available resource in order to obtain market advantages. Applications in World Wide Publishing can be used to reduce the effort and time to process the certain data with high accuracy. Organization needs to store the information of multiple orders those may be directed from mails, phone calls or personal orders. Addition to it, organization needs to generate the invoice and picking list to share it with oxford Warehouse and other suppliers in industry.  Organization can use the following application to simplify the effort in business processing:

Spreadsheet: It helps to organize the data into tabular format in which columns are properly formatted to store the desired data (Anandarajan.et.al.2012). Spreadsheet application also provides the set of mathematical and financial functions along with facility to perform logical operations on data. World Wide Publishing can use spreadsheet application to store and access the information easily and effectively. Application offers the facility to perform large calculation and data operations easily. Spreadsheet is useful to make what-if analysis on monthly or weekly data. The application provides enough number of sheets and cells per workbook to store the information in categorized format. Proper cell data type, easy to use functions, data encryption and sharing to multiple formats make the application useful to accomplish the business activities. Example of spreadsheet applications are Microsoft Excel, spreadsheet etc.

Database: World Wide Publishing needs to store the information about sales and orders and the requirement is to find the record randomly from data storage with full customization. For instance, organization may need to search the specific customers and orders in which database may be effective choice (Quaglia.et.al.2012). Databases are also like to spreadsheets but uses the more advance features like queries, strong encryption, data consistency and integrity in multiple operations. Database can be used within number of users simultaneously. Organization may use database to store employee details, sales records and invoice details to retrieve them with full customization. Database provides security, faster performance and quality in workplace. Al though, database required IT knowledge to make proper use of features and benefits. Some of popular database applications are: My SQL, DB2, Oracle Express Edition etc (Elmasri and Navathe, 2011).

1.2 Justification for utilization of different application software

Organization needs to manage the daily data and operations with ease and security. For that, origination has two applications as recommendation but it is necessary to determine the workplace objectives and requirements to achieve in application. Organizational requirements and business operations must be covered in selected application so that information can be managed effectively to enhance the performance and quality.

Database: database is good choice for organization because database can store large amount of information with high security. Organization can use database for high data consistency and integrity in operations as operations can be rolled back to consisting state on failures. Queries can help to retrieve only the required information with fast access to database. Sorting to column, programming capabilities, customization, security, locking and encryption are top features to select the database as implementation platform for new system in World Wide Publishing. However, database needs technical knowledge to safeguard the system and to recover and maintain with time (Coronel and Morris, 2016). It has been analyzed that World Wide Publishing has small number of employees those lack the proficiency to operate and maintain the database services in workplace with changing business conditions. For graphical interface, organization may need project management system or custom application which is not required because of constraint on business for time and cost.

Spreadsheet: besides the database, spreadsheet application like Microsoft Excel is recommended to organization as it is capable to provide manageable data storage structure and set of functions to regulate the business. Addition to it, employees in workplace has enough knowledge to work on Excel application (Benninga, 2010). Excel is recommended as it provides graphical user interface in the form of graphs, bar charts, reports, sheets and forms. Forms will be helpful for organization as users are demanding the system with forms user interface so they can store and retrieve the information easily. Information of sales and orders can be stored wit forms and reports can be generated for monthly sales and revenue. Cells can be formatted properly to store certain type of data only. In this manner, organization can deal with data consistency and integrity. Al though the operation on data from multiple users is not yet possible and also not required in World Wide Publishing with the analysis of present working manner and business status. Therefore, Excel is recommended solution for organization to handle most of task effectively (Cummings and Worley, 2014).

1.3 Importance of addressing both users and business requirements

A successful system is which meets the developer goals as well as requirements of users effectively. In order to design the system for World Wide Publishing, it is necessary to recognise the business structure, goals and user prospective so that system can be designed with high acceptance and adaptability in business environment. Organization needs a system which can store the information in well manageable form so that it can be retrieved easily. Organization wants to reduce the effort and time on the calculations and creation of picking list as it involves the calculation of total dispatches and their customers, total amount and tax. It is also being difficult for organization manage the flow of capital in business process (Wiegers and Beatty, 2013). The demand of high accuracy and performance must be considered to make the system in favour of business advantages and market competition. Main requirements for business are to reduce the effort on invoice and picking list, manage the information in easy to access format and to provide some sort of security on data access.

The system must need to conquer the users to make the system acceptable. Users of World Wide Publishing are looking for graphical user interface to deal with data storage. They are assuming new system as a form based system where they will have direct options to insert new record, update existing ones and to identify the specific record with easy (Yeoh and Koronios, 2010). They are also expecting the customization to their system so that they can manage the data processing according to their requirements. User requirement for new system is to achieve a high performance and accuracy based system to generate the reports and files for organization. Users are also demanding the system with easy to use in built functions and macros to solve the calculations and other regulator time consuming business processing task. Graphical information generating capabilities are also expected in system. The requirements of organization and users are required to develop the system with full acceptances for its features. User requirements make a vision for development team to proceed to achieve business processing in applications (Robertson and Robertson, 2012). Requirements specification helps developers to determine the cost, time and risk in development to achieve the objectives of organization.

Task 2

2.1 Solution to address business or user needs

From the requirements of organization for its business and users, it is clear that Excel is an effective choice for organization. In present time, organization has limited number of users as well as customers because organization has 5 to 15 orders per day. With this data, excel is effective to store the information of business and customers. Also, the organization needs the functions and macros to automate the data processing and auto complete in sheets in which Excel is helpful. Excel can deliver the automation in work by formatting the cells for calculation and patterns. The requirements organization for the analytical information will be fulfilled in Excel because pivot tables and graphs can be used to present the summarised information which may be used later in decision making process (Teece, 2010). Sales summary reports and orders per month can be used to strategize business processing. Excel is chosen for its high customization with some sort of programming and graphical user interface. 

Form based user interface will help employees to insert the data easily with high accuracy as forms are well formatted for values. For instance, the date field only can contain dates with right format. In this manner, user can easily operate on data. Also the buttons and links in workbook will help employees of World Wide Publishing to navigate easily for one sheet to another. User will get large library of excel to perform business operation with less effort and faster performance (Shneiderman, 2010). Excel provides encryption to secure the data from reading and writing by unauthorised users. Advance tools are provided to export the data into multiple formats so that data can be used in business processing without much effort on transformation and sharing. Easy to use pivot tables, graphics and other tools help employees to store the information in convenient manner. Excel is capable to aid the functionality of native applications like buttons, labels and other widgets can be added to provide the native look and processing of work. From the analysis of business structure, conditions and constraints on time and cost, excel is effective choice for world Wide Publishing to regulate the business with high performance and accuracy (Gambardella and McGahan, 2010).  

2.2 Advance tool and techniques to implement solution

Excel application provides advance tools and techniques to support the business processing with high customization and power to deliver the accuracy as well as security with efficiency. For instance, visual basic programming language can be used in Excel to achieve the desired programming results. The job of data validation and verification can be done with the use of visual programming so that static and analytical data can be generated with high accuracy. Visual basic along can be used to format the cells, calculate the values automatically, verify and transform the data from one format to another and to automate the data insertion from the data of another sheet (Krajewski.et.al.2013). VB helps to aid programming capabilities in Excel to customize the operations on data. Addition to it, excel provides the capability not present the data in graphical and analytical form. For instance, graphs and charts can be used to demonstrate the business status for monthly sales and orders. Macro is useful to aid the facility in Excel to automate the operations and data formation. With the help of macros, printing button and menu sheet can be created easily. Macro helps to use the content from another sheet to insert in current sheet (Creek.et.al.2012). In this manner, it increases the reusability and enforces data integrity in sheets. Invoices and picking list are designed with macros so that date, tax and total like values can be placed automatically.

Excel provides all the tools to accomplish the requirements of World Wide Publishing. Macro is one of the most powerful options in Excel for organizational use. Also the visual forms and pivot table creations make the Excel as perfect tool to accept in workplace. All the cells in Excel can be formatted for desired data storage so that consistency and integrity can be enhanced. Sorting and searching are also useful techniques to identify the records in sheets. Addition to designed forms and reports, organization may use the custom application programs to interact with excel data. Custom application may be designed in visual basic or c language. Custom application may eliminate the erroneous data operations and insertion (Person, 2013). Restriction to certain information in excel can be offered with the use of application program on excel. Excel’s power to easily integrate with other tools offers the high productivity in workplace. Sales summery can be generated effectively with monthly data. Excel’s advance tools and techniques helps to achieve high accuracy in data which finally reflects in decisions for organization.

2.3 Solution against the expected results

The best way to determine the performance of designed system is to match its capabilities with existing system and requested features. The existing system of World Wide Publishing was capable to handle all the operations of organization except the creation of picking list and invoice. Organization needs to manage one invoice per order and to summarize the details accordingly. Existing system was failed to perform high calculations and to obtain the information from multiple sources in business processing application (Pohl, 2010). Also there was some limitation of application with performance and security along with integration to other applications. The below table highlights the major testing results for designed excel system.

Test/ result	Expected Results	Achieved Results	Remark
Information related	Consistency manageable well formatting security	Consistency Well organized Formatted and formulated secure	All Achieved
Automatic processing	Save data after invoice creation Generate picking list at the end of day with manual process.	System can save data of invoice along with print capability. Picking list can be generated easily and manually (Houhamdi, 2011).	All Achieved
Performance	Excellent performance	Good performance	Partial Achieved
Security	Good	Nice	Partial Achieved
Sharing	Sharing of data in multiple formats- xls, pdf, image, etc	Data can be shared and used with multiple applications	Fully Achieved
Accuracy	Highly accurate	Highly accurate	Fully Achieved

The testing results are remarked with three points – all achieved, partially achieved and full achieved. The all achieved section shows that objectives of the organization are covered in design and development of new system but still there are some possibilities of enhancements. All achieved section also describe that it is the best achievement in given business requirements and constraints. Full achieved remark indicates that organization has achieved outstanding results for data sharing and accuracy with Excel. Organization has met the requirements of sharing and accuracy with desired results. Al though, there are options of improvements in data security and performance. The Excel may stuck for the large number of records in a sheet and the security in only in application because data may be protected for read or write but cannot be prevented from accidental or intentional deletion (Engström, 2010). The designed system is successful for most of parameters of organization behaviour and effective to implement in workplace. World Wide Publishing has achieved high performance and robust system under the low investment of design and implementation.

Task 3

3.1 Ways in which end user engagement has taken place

Enrolment of end user is required in system design so that user requirements and expectations can be covered more effectively. Initially it may be difficult to enrol the user in system development and use but proper guidance and training may help them to generate interest in system. World Wide publishing needs a system which can fulfil the user requirements as well as business demands (Geelen.et.al.2013). Employees those are effective users of the system are consulted interviewed and listen to make the appropriate changes in system. User expectations and requirements are collected to make the system acceptable in workplace. The organization has requested to follow the tradition of work processing and to add only lacking features in system so that the cost and time on training of new features may be reduced. In order to enhance the productivity and performance, users are encouraged to participate in design and development. User activities are observed and recognised to make the system according to their routine practices in workplace. The analysis of practices helped development team to develop the system with minimum input errors, effective front end security and high accessibility to data set.

The system was made with the consideration of previous system in workplace but the addition of new features like pivot table, printing and picking list creation has put the requirement of user training and development programs (Attfield.et.al.2011). Users are directed within the application with help documents and error messages. Menu is used in Excel workbook to navigate the sheets effectively. Proper user manuals and training kits are developed to prepare the team within optimum time. Most of work of new system is prepared along with the interaction of users. Prototyping and flow charts helped non technical staff to put their requirements and suggestions in system. The system is tested and maintained according to requirements of users and then interviewed to users to achieve their satisfaction in features and functionality. Transparency is maintained for user interaction and engagement in new system. Employees are trained to work on system and recommendations are given to utilize the system effectively. World Wide Publishing helped a lot to encourage and motivate human resources towards their participation in system design and functionality (Lehmann.et.al.2012). Organization has provides enough sample data and user’s liability to guide the development team for accurate system design according to workplace conditions.

3.2 Evidence of business process improvement

The productivity and performance of employees has increased with new system because employees can operate on data more efficiently. The most of time consuming work on calculations and data formulation has been reduced with Excel application. Data accuracy is improved and user’s erroneous activities are controlled. For instance, fields marked as date will accept the specific format of date and number fields are designed to store the specific number formats. Quantity columns are marked as positive integer values where pricing is allowed up to two decimal points (Trkman, 2010). Textual information is not allowed in numeric cells. In this manner, data is prevented for consistency and integrity. Also a same number invoice is not possible in same table. Proper use of error messages and prompts are made to make the system robust.

With the system, organization can store the information easily and effectively. Also the effort and time is saved to obtain the information from other sheets and documents. Button based interfaces is prepared to facilitate the users to perform the business objectives quickly. With the use of new system, data is secure and centralised to make business decision quickly and accurate as information is accurate in database (Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015). 

World Wide Publishing has achieved the following improvements over the existing system and capable to simplify the business operations and to enhance the workplace productivity of employees:

• Accessibility increased with the use of Excel as information can be shared and use in multiple formats. The employees can retrieve the specific information with easy to use sorting and pivot function. Also the information of employees and other business processing are available every time.
• Erroneous user activities are observed and eliminated in system so that data consistency can be managed effectively. Forms and reports are designed are full proof against the errors and data formats to store the validated and verified data in cells (Hammer, 2010).

Now the organization has solved the issue of picking list and invoice creation. Excel is capable to store the large information easily and to perform the large calculations effectively within a fraction of second. Invoices and picking list can be managed and print from within the workbook.

3.3 Possible future improvement to enhance system

The user requirements and expectations are achieved in system along with functionality required to regulate the business operations. But there are some of things those must be considered as the point of future improvements in designed system. Most of things can be achieved as part of maintenance and upgrade but the factors like business size, working manner, workplace conditions and rules may lead the development of more robust system (Baskerville and Wood-Harper, 2016). Some of possible future improvements are identified in system:

• World Wide Publishing has relationship with other organization for packing and distribution of road maps and atlases. In future, organization may want to share the excel sheets with other users. In such cases it may be difficult to manage the activities of users on excel data.
• With the increasing business size, sharing of data and user activity control may be difficult. In such cases, the online excel systems may be helpful for organization to achieve the location free working with full control.  For instance, Excel workbook can be promoted to online office or Google docs for sharing purpose (Melville, 2010).
• Excel may not be capable to handle the large records over the time also the backup is not so effective to restore only the unique records in workbook. In such cases, organization may need to manage the same system in different branches with redundant copies.
• Changing user demands and business conditions may lead the requirement of improvements in system. Addition of new functionality and services along with specific third party add on, the system can be modified to meet the new requirements. Organization may use the custom application to manage the data access and permission to excel sheets which will also offer high verification and validation on data.

Al though, the Excel is perfect to meet the requirements of organization but the future demand of advance security and performance over the sharing transactions may reduce the need of system. In such case, organization may move to database system as they are specially designed to meet the requirements of enterprise systems (Stair and Reynolds, 2013). The data locking system, strong security on data, high data integrity guarantee and faster performance are some of the features those may attract the organization to move on in new management prospective.

Conclusion

The report has been concluded the usefulness of computer applications in business processing and indicated how they may be beneficial to aid productive tool on workplace. The report has also been justified the use of Excel as the effective solution for the data management in World Wide Publishing organization. The report has been addressed the importance of user requirements and business objectives in system design. Later report has proposed the system to meet the requirements of organization along with the discretion of advance tools and techniques to aid the functionalities for easy operations. The report has been tested the system with expectations of management. The report has been also demonstrated the effectiveness of new system in workplace to enhance the end user engagement and work process enhancement. Addition to it, all the possible solutions are identified with designed system to meet the future demands of organization.

References

Books and Journals

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Coronel, C. and Morris, S., 2016. Database design systems: design, implementation, & management. Cengage Learning.
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