Diamond Glass Sdn. Bhd. is converting to a new information system (IS). To arrive at the best decision of having the system, a meeting is held with system developers. During the meeting, one of the members have proposed two different is design alternatives. During this conceptual design phase, a detailed evaluation of the alternatives is needed. Being one of the team members in the steering committee, you have been asked by the system developers to evaluate the alternatives. In the end, the evaluation results are documented in a report. Required: a) In your opinion, what are the TWO (2) different is design alternatives being proposed for the new IS? (4 marks) b) In the conceptual design phase, there are a few considerations and one of it is related to data storage. Identify FOUR (4) types of storage media for data storage. (4 marks) c) Discuss THREE (3) main steps in the conceptual system design phase which must be considered by the system developers. (12 marks) d) Explain THREE (3) purposes of a high-quality conceptual system design report. (6 marks)

ANSWER - :

(a) The Different IS Designs are :-

1. Decision Support System (DSS)

Decision support systems are used by senior management to make non-routine decisions. Decision support systems use input from internal systems (transaction processing systems and management information systems) and external systems.

The main objective of decision support systems is to provide solutions to problems that are unique and change frequently. Decision support systems answer questions such as; What would be the impact of employees' performance if we double the production lot at the factory? What would happen to our sales if a new competitor entered the market?

Decision support systems use sophisticated mathematical models, and statistical techniques (probability, predictive modeling, etc.) to provide solutions, and they are very interactive.

2. Management Information System (MIS)

Management Information Systems (MIS) are used by tactical managers to monitor the organization's current performance status. The output from a transaction processing system is used as input to a management information system.

The MIS system analyzes the input with routine algorithms i.e. aggregate, compare and summarizes the results to produced reports that tactical managers use to monitor, control and predict future performance.

For example, input from a point of sale system can be used to analyze trends of products that are performing well and those that are not performing well. This information can be used to make future inventory orders i.e. increasing orders for well-performing products and reduce the orders of products that are not performing well.

(b) TYPES OF STORAGE MEDIA for DATA STORAGE are :-

1. Random Access Memory (RAM)

Random Access Memory, or RAM, is the primary storage of a computer.

When we are working on a file on our computer, it will temporarily store data in RAM. RAM allows us to perform everyday tasks like opening applications, loading webpages, editing a document or playing games, and allows us to quickly jump from one task to another without losing our progress. As a result, the larger the RAM of our computer, the smoother and quicker it is for us to multitask.

RAM is a volatile memory, meaning it cannot hold onto information once the system is turned off. For example, if we copy a block of text, restart our computer, and then attempt to paste that block of text into a document, we will find that our computer has forgotten the copied text. This is because it was stored only temporarily in RAM.

RAM makes it possible for a computer to access data in a random order, and therefore reads and writes much faster than a computer’s secondary storage.

2. Hard Disk Drives (HDD)

The hard disk drive (HDD) is the original hard drive. These are magnetic storage devices that have been around since the 1950s, though they’ve evolved greatly over time.

A hard disk drive is comprised of a stack of spinning metal disks known as platters. Each spinning disk has trillions of tiny fragments that can be magnetized in order to represent bits (1s and 0s in binary code). An actuator arm with a read/write head scans the spinning platters and magnetizes fragments in order to write digital information onto the HDD, or detects magnetic charges to read information from it.

As well as laptop and PC storage, HDDs are used for TV and satellite recorders and servers.

3. Floppy Disks

Floppy disks were the first widely available portable, removable storage devices. They work in the same way as hard disk drives, although at a much smaller scale.

The storage capacity of floppy disks never exceeded 200 MB before CD-RW and flash drives became the favored storage media. The iMac was the first personal computer released without a floppy disk drive, in 1998, and from here the over 30-year reign of the floppy disk very quickly declined.

4. Cloud storage

Cloud storage is the newest and most versatile type of storage for computers. “The cloud” is not one place or object, but rather a huge collection of servers housed in data centers around the world. When you save a document to the cloud, you’re storing it on these servers.

Because everything is stored online, cloud storage doesn’t use any of your computer’s secondary storage, allowing you to save space.

(c) Steps in Conceptual Design Phase are as follows :-

1) Define problem: The first step in conceptual design is to clearly understand and define the problem to be solved. The Information needs of the organization are to be identified and understood in this step, which can be determined by understanding the mission, objectives and operating plans for the business.

2) Set system objectives: System objectives should be stated in quantitative terms. For example, ‘pay Wages to 100 percent employees by the last day of the month’.

3) Identify constraints: System constraints may be classified into two categories:

a) External constraints - These are external to the organization. For example constraints imposed by the customers, the government and the suppliers etc.

b) Internal constraints - These are imposed from within the organization. For example, non-cooperation and lack of support from top management, resource constraints like manpower, time and money etc.

4) Determine Information needs : For determination of information needs, users should specify:

a)   What they want out of an information system and
b)   Items of information that are needed to achieve the predetermined objectives.

5) Determine information sources: Sources of information may be classified as given below:

a) Internal and external records: The internal records may be in written form like files, inputs and outputs, correspondence, reports etc., whereas external records may include trade publications, government statistics, etc.

b) Managers and operating personnel: User-managers and operating staff may be an important source. However, gathering data from the source involves interviewing the managers and operating personnel, which requires proper planning and skill.

6) Develop various designs: More than one alternative conceptual designs are to be developed which are compared to select the optimum one, which:

a) Meets the requirements of the users/organizations and
b) Is cost effective

Various criteria can be adopted as a basis for evaluating the designs such as economic, performance, operational etc.

7) Documentation of the conceptual design:

The documentation involves:

a) Overall system flow
b) System inputs
c) System outputs, and
d) Other documentations like activity sheet and system description, etc.

8) Report preparation:

The report prepared should mention the problem, objectives and an overall view of the system. Justifications for selecting the alternatives and many more.

(d) Purposes of a High Quality Conceptual System Design Report are as follows :-

1. It is a Report that records the design concepts for major aspects of the projects that might be worth developing as detailed designs. The Report also identifies Instructions required from clients.
2. It contains Definition of key Construction Elements, Standardisation and Non Standardisation Elements.
3. It includes Potential requirement for major Specialist Design.