Project Feasibility Assessment Report

BunCis
Bina Nusantara Computer Club
Information System

Sasmito Adibowo
Arcle Technologies
sas199@puspa.cs.ui.ac.id

March 5, 2002

In collaboration with:
Faran Gunawan
Rama Ambara
Felicia Lie
Bina Nusantara Computer Club
Table of Contents
Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Preliminary Findings and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Project Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Preliminary Solutions and Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Project Schedule Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Analyst History and Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Project Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Purpose
This Project Feasibility Assessment Report presents the preliminary findings of
our investigation into the feasibility of your project to analyze, specify, design,
and build a prototype for the upcoming Bina Nusantara Computer Club (BNCC)
Information System. This report also outlines our proposal of the procedures
and schedule to be followed during the project. If you find any discrepancies or
misconceptions, please bring them to our immediate attention.

Preliminary Findings and Analysis

After a brief, preliminary investigation of the system being studied, we offer the
following observations and initial analysis. These analyses are based on the
observations made by Sasmito Adibowo as a new member of Fave Club, a
subdivision of BNCC. It is in no way complete and will still require further
study and investigations. Note that the assumptions and statements in this
document have not been verified by a qualified representative of BNCC.

Project Description
This section of the report describes the history that led to this project and the
proposed project scope. It functions as a bird’s eye view to the project and
partially serves as a basis for further project specifications.
History Leading to this Project Proposal
BNCC is a Student Activity Unit which operates under the consent of Bina
Nusantara University. It is organized as a club that focuses on computer-
related interest groups. It accepts approximately 300 new members yearly,
most of which are first-year undergraduate students. Its activities include
tutoring, member meetings, annual publications, visitations, contests,
seminars, expositions, and research. Its major revenues come from the yearly
members’ fees and alumnus’ donations.
At the core of BNCC lies a committee which organizes all of its activities. The
committee is divided categorically into several major divisions, and each led by
a Division Chair. Each of the chairs is organized horizontally and answers
directly to the General Chair.
The need for an information system was communicated in a meeting conducted
by Faran Gunawan, the present coordinator of Fave Club. Fave Club recognizes
that the increasing number activities performed by BNCC and likewise the
number of members involved in it poses a growing load to its core committee.
In order to provide a better service for its members, BNCC requires a strong
information system to back its daily activities.
While Fave Club has the necessary programmer human resource to perform the
implementation of an information system, it lacks an analyst to complete the
system specification. That is why Sasmito Adibowo was invited by Faran
Gunawan to assist developing the system.
Scope of this Project

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In the coming weeks, we will be carefully analyzing the project's scope to define
a reasonable target and schedule. In the meantime, our preliminary definition
is as follows:
C The project will be focused on core member and activity management
functions. Specification and design should result in a system that can
be minimally implemented and run, and then incrementally expanded
as the need arises.
C Several complex functions such as financial and asset management that
typically present in most ERP systems will be deliberately omitted from
the project. The design and implementation of such systems will require
an additional problem domain expert and will demand a significant
increase of the expertise of the system analyst.
The project will address the following business functions:
1. Member Management
BNCC possesses a large pool of members. Additionally it receives new
members yearly, most of which are first-year Bina Nusantara undergradu-
ate students. Each of the activities of BNCC revolves around, and for, this
pool of members.
2. Event Organizer
What constitutes the lifeblood of BNCC are the events it organizes. Some
of these events are held annually and others sporadically. For every event
that requires an active participation of the members, he or she must
register for the event beforehand. For most events – especially for sporadic
events – an ad-hoc committee responsible for the event is formed from both
a subset of the members and a subset of the core committee.
3. Media Management
BNCC provides annual publications for its members in the form of
magazines and CD-ROMs. Since the member’s fees include the cost of such
subscriptions, it is essential that each member can obtain a copy upon
request. But overproduction and unclaimed copies are not desirable, as it
incurs a loss to the organization.
4. Library Management
BNCC operates a small library of reference materials provided for its
members. Occasionally, it also purchases additional books to extend its
collection. The library needs to keep track which books are lent to which
members, its return date, and also the books that are still available in the
collection.
5. Document Storage and Retrieval
Most of BNCC’s activities are documented in some way. The form of the
documentation varies and may range from inter-staff memos, proposals,
correspondence, announcements, and other free-form documents. A
method is required to provide a centralized repository for storage and
retrieval of these documents. The documents will need to be categorized,

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 and each document may belong to multiple categories. In the latter case,
redundancy should be avoided.

Project Environment
This section of the survey describes the project environment in terms of project
participants, problems and opportunities to be addressed, and project
constraints that will or may limit eventual solutions. Figure 2 represents a
context diagram of the current system.
From the diagram, it is noticeable that Member and Event play a significant role
in the system. This is due to the fact that those two are the most important
entities in all of BNCC’s activities.
The various Events held by BNCC are mostly intended for the Members.
Examples of such events include tutoring, member meetings, and visitations.
An event, such as expositions and seminars, may also be targeted at the outside
communities. In that case the member may choose to take an active part in it.
Events may be announced beforehand, or be reported after it happened in the
Media that BNCC publishes.
Each event may generate Documents such as proposals, invitations, correspon-
dence, etc. These Documents provide a written record about the Events. The
current practice for document storage is, after the event had finished, the
resulting documentations are recorded onto CD-ROMs and placed as archives.
After some experience and sufficient management skills, a Member may be
elected as a Core Committee. A Member may also choose to participate in an
Ad-Hoc Committee which organizes Sporadic Events. The Core Committee
runs the general daily operations of BNCC, among which organizes Annual
Events. The Core Committee also operates the BNCC Library which the
Member can borrow Books from. Annually the Core Committee publishes a
periodical Media, which may take the form of a Magazine or a CD-ROM. A
member may claim these Media at the BNCC secretariate.

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 Library
publ ishes
stores 1
Mag azi ne
0..*

0..*
subscribes to Media
0..1 0..* CD-ROM
Boo k

0..1 reported in 0..*

0..1 bo rrows

1..* 0..*
1..* takes part in 0..*
Member Event generates

0..* 1..* 0..* stores

pa rti ci pat es in Documen t

0..1
1
organizes Sporadic Event
1
1 Document Repository

Ad-Hoc commitee
1
organizes Annual Event
1 0..1
Core
Committee

Figure 2 Context Diagram concerning the BunCis system

Project Participants
To date, we have identified the following list of participants for this project.
Please inform us of any potential omissions.
1. Management – Managers of The System
1. Fransiska
General Chair
2. Faran Filbert Gunawan
Fave Club Coordinator
2. Non-Management – Direct Users of The System
1. Felicia Lie
Magazine Division
2. Frenki Yuliko
Publication
3. Jefri Hendrawan
Public Relations
3. Other People Affected by or Interested in The System
1. Rama Ambara
Fave Club
2. Rubi Sutanto
Fave Club
Problems and Opportunities
I have compiled the following list of problems and opportunities to be addressed
in the project. The list is not final. In the coming weeks, I will modify the list
and provide you with a detailed analysis of problems, opportunities, and
solutions. At any time during this project, you should feel free to add to,
subtract from, or expand upon this preliminary list.
C The newly enlisted member always drops to a mere quarter or one-eights
on the following year.
C Production of magazines and CD-ROMs were never on-time.
C Relation with seniors and alumni are often cut-off.
C There are no standard numbering scheme for correspondence docu-
ments.
C Each year the organization website is always re-developed because of the
change of webmaster.
C The committee spends too much time playing capsa instead of working.
C The air conditioner is not cool enough.
Project Constraints

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Project constraints are limitations, good or bad, that will or may constrain any
solutions that we might propose. Constraints can be technical, monetary, time,
or political. To date, we have identified the following preliminary list:
C The analysis, design, and prototype (when possible) must be completed
before mid-May 2002.
C The specification document of the system should be readable to facilitate
implementation by an average programmer.

Preliminary Solutions and Ideas

Our project approach will eventually examine numerous alternative system
solutions, and it would be premature to commit to any solution at this time.
However, it is never too early to begin brainstorming and cataloging ideas.
Client's perceptions of what they want or expect
It is my understanding that you envision a new or improved system that:
C Provides weekly reports to the chair on member statistics. These reports
are assessed primarily through a polling mechanism. The members are
facilitated to provide feedback through complaints and suggestions
concerning BNCC’s activities.
C Facilitates communications among members through the use of a forum-
like system provided by BNCC.
C Provide scheduling and time line functions for events and project manage-
ment.
C Provide attendance records for every activity of each member involved.
The above facilities should be easily accessible via the Internet.
The analyst's perceptions of possible solutions and ideas
It is realized that a solution of an information system often does not merely
consists of custom-built software. A thorough solution may comprise of a
synergy between manual processes, off-the shelf software, and custom-built
systems.
Project-management problems may be addressed by providing project-
management training for the related individuals. The training programme
should also include the use of project-management software such as Microsoft
Project.
Standard templates should be provided for common types of documents. A
standardized numbering scheme should also be a part of the template. The
resulting templates and documents are then to be placed in a central repository
for easy retrieval.
Provide a publicly accessible newsgroup server and a web-based news client to
facilitate communication among members.
Provide a web-based polling service where the members are also able to create
polls of their own. That way, members are more encouraged to visit the site.

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Provide a web-based event-management software which is integrated with the
members’ database. It is also possible to extend this system into a full-blown
event and project management software complete with resource allocation
functions.

Proposal
We propose to perform an analysis and design for an information system that
supports the daily activities of BNCC. Should the constraints allow, the project
will continue to build a prototype of the system. This section of the report
outlines our proposal.

Project Schedule Overview

The following overall project approach and schedule is proposed. The systems
development will adhere to the Framework for the Application of Systems
Techniques (FAST) methodology proposed by Jeffrey Whitten, et. al. The
methodology requires that the system development undergo several phases:
C Preliminary Investigation Phase
This phase determines whether it is feasible to start the project. The
goal of this phase is to catalog and categorize existing and potential
problems.
C Problem Analysis Phase
This phase enables the analyst to obtain a thorough understanding of
the problems that triggered the project. The primary deliverable of this
phase is system improvement objectives, which defines the business
criteria on which any new system will be evaluated.
C Requirements Analysis Phase
This phase defines and prioritizes business requirements. The
requirements are to be specified without prematurely expressing
computer alternatives and technology details.
C Decision Analysis Phase
The purpose of this phase is to identify candidate solutions, analyze
those candidate solutions for feasibility, and recommend a candidate
system as the target solution to be designed. The primary deliverable of
this phase is an approved system proposal.
C Design Phase
This phase transforms the business requirements statement from the
requirements analysis phase into design specification for construction.
The deliverable of this phase is a systems specification document which
will be used to construct the system.
C Construction Phase
This phase takes the system specification and translates it into a
working system. The deliverable of this phase is a working system
which fulfills business requirements and design specifications.
C Implementation Phase
The working system in isolation that was produced in the construction

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 phase is then implemented and deployed to support the business
activities it was originally developed for. Care must be taken so that a
smooth transition occurs from the old system to the new system. This
phase may also include user education and training.
C Operation and Support Phase
Once the system is operational and delivers the business solution, it will
require an ongoing support for the remainder of its life. The support
needed include fixing errors and omissions, and also implementing new
requirements that may arise.
Because of time and human resources constraints, the project will be consid-
ered complete at the design phase. When conditions allow, the construction,
implementation, and support will be passed on to BNCC members, primarily to
the Fave Club division that possesses the human resources needed in systems
construction, deployment and maintenance.
The project phases, including start and stop dates is given in Figure 3.
eb 17, '02 Mar 03, '02 Mar 17, '02 Mar 31, '02 Apr 14, '02 Apr 28, '02 May 12, '02
ID Task Name 19 23 27 03 07 11 15 19 23 27 31 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 02 06 10 14 18 22
1 Preliminary Investigation 02/27 03/06
2 Problem Analysis 03/07 03/21
3 Requirement Analysis 03/26 04/09
4 Decision Analysis 04/12 04/26
5 Design 05/01 05/15

Figure 3 Estimated project schedule

Analyst History and Qualifications

Sasmito Adibowo is a computer science student studying at the University of
Indonesia. His programming experiences spanned for about eight years,
ranging from simple command-line utilities to Windows-based GUI and web-
based systems. Preferring C++ and Java for most of his software development
projects, he emphasizes on the utilization of reusable components and
algorithms.
Known for his self-motivated and the ability to work with minimal supervision
qualities, he worked as several professions, including an Independent Software
Author and an Internet Engineer. He is currently working as a Software
Developer Intern for Code Jawa. Apart from jobs, he often takes freelance
projects, both commercial and noncommercial. He also authored several
programming articles for Mikrodata.

Project Budget
This section of the report covers the estimated costs for this project. It should
be emphasized that these figures represent mere estimates, which are based on
minimal background information. These estimates will continually be revised
as the project progresses.
Although this is essentially a charity project, budget calculations will be
included nonetheless. These calculations may be used to estimate the efforts
spent in the project, and also serve to assist the estimation of the system’s
worth as an asset to BNCC.

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Project Costs
Development Costs
Personnel

1 Systems Analysts (400 hours/ea $13.3/hr) $5,320.0

2 Programmer/Analyst (250 hours/ea $9.5/hr) $4,750.0

1 Web Designer (200 hours/ea $10.9/hr) $2,180.0

1 Database Specialist (15 hours/ea $12.2/hr) $183.0

Total Development Costs: $12,433.0

Projected Annual Operating Costs

Personnel

1 Programmer/Analyst (125 hours/ea $9.5/hr) $1,187.5

1 Webmaster/Systems Administrator (125 hours/ea $5/hr) $625.0

Expenses

1 Web space and database contract ($10/month) $120.0

1 Website host name contract ($15/year) $15.0

Total Projected Annual Costs: $1,947.5

Conclusion
The development of an information systems solution is not a trivial task. This
preliminary feasibility study only uncovers more terrains to explore. Nonethe-
less, it is expected that this document may serve as a valuable management
input in making strategic decisions and committing resources.
Should the project considered worthy, the next phase of development will be the
detailed study and analysis phase. Upon completion of that phase, a thorough
understanding to the task at hand should be obtained.

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