Unit 4: Database Design & Development – China Telecom Limited Helpdesk Systems-ISMT

UNIT TITLE

Unit 4: Database Design & Development

UNIT CODE

A/618/7400

LEVEL

4 (Core)

STUDENT NAME

CREDIT VALUE

15

ASSESSMENT TITLE

China Telecom Limited Helpdesk Systems

WORD COUNT

ASSESSOR

Bikul Raj Koirala

I.V.

ASSIGNMENT ISSUE DATE

9/02/2024

ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION DATE

9/04/2024

ORIGINAL SUBMISSION

ASSIGNMENT NO.

1/1

Assignment Criteria

P1

P2

P3

P4

P5

Achieved

Merit Criteria

Distinction Criteria

Assignment Criteria

M1

M2

M3

M3

M4

M5

D1

D2

D3

Achieved

Assignment submission format

Each student has to submit their assignment as guided in the assignment brief. The students are guided on what sort of information is to produce to meet the criteria targeted. You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs, and subsections as appropriate, and all work must be supported with research and referenced using the Harvard referencing system.

Learning outcomes covered

• LO1 Use an appropriate design tool to design a relational database system for a substantial problem
• LO2 Develop a fully-functional relational database system, based on an existing system design
• LO3 Test the system against user and system requirements
• LO4 Produce technical and user documentation.

Scenario

China Telecom Limited is an ISP company that specializes in Internet and TV service including data storage. China is planning to expand its services introducing Fiber Optics Internet or commonly known as FTTH internet service. Owing to further expansion, China fears that there could be disruption in their services leading to customer dissatisfaction if issues are not answered quickly. The company believes it is essential to build a future-proof infrastructure to ensure that they are able to provide the best-in-class quality of service to their customers. With an aim to increase the customers and also to boost the customer service quality it is setting up an IT Helpdesk to handle customer queries smoothly committed to win customers for life by serving them effectively.

As a Database Developer, you have been tasked with designing and building the new system. Your role includes designing, developing and implementing database systems based on customer requirements. You are also responsible for optimizing the database system for performance efficiency, as well as testing and troubleshooting and performing bug fixes.

System Required

When someone in the company has a problem, they can contact the helpdesk. One of the helpdesk operators will attempt to deal with the enquiry, but if an immediate answer cannot be given the problem is passed to one of several specialists.

An Information System is needed to log and track the helpdesk queries. This will enable analysts to see how the equipment is performing overall, whether the helpdesk specialists are sufficiently resourced to solve problems in an acceptable time and whether there are subject areas where employee training is needed.

Proposed System Operation

• When a new call comes into the helpdesk, the names of the caller and helpdesk operator are logged, along with the time of the call, the serial number of the computer and, if relevant, the operating system and software being used
• The caller’s name will be checked against a register of all personnel to retrieve the caller’s ID number, job title and department
• Their equipment will also be checked against a register of equipment to find the equipment type and make. Their software will be checked to see if it is under a valid license
• Every call is logged and each problem is given a problem number, which is supplied to the caller so it can be quoted on any subsequent calls about the same problem
• The helpdesk operator will also record notes and descriptions of the problem. A reason for each call is always recorded even if it is just a note to say how desperate the caller is getting (e.g. in the case of a follow-up call)
• When a problem is first reported, the helpdesk operator will also allocate a problem type, selecting it from a list of problem types. It is the skill of the operator to know what problem type is most relevant and how specific the problem is
• Some problem types are refinements of more general problem types and so it is possible that the problem type allocation may be altered later if more information becomes available
• When the problem area is identified the helpdesk operator can look up previous problems of the same type to see if the problem has occurred before and, if so, how it was resolved
• It is also possible to look up previous problems with the same equipment or from the same caller to see if there were other related problems
• If the problem can’t be solved immediately, the helpdesk operator will use the system to look up which specialist to refer the problem to
• Each specialist will be an expert in one or more problem types
• If there is no specialist listed for a more specific problem type, then a specialist from the more general problem type will be used
• The system will also list how many problems the specialist is currently working on so that if there is more than one specialist for a problem type, the specialist who is currently the least loaded can be allocated
• When a problem is eventually resolved, the helpdesk operator or the specialist will log the date and time it is resolved and record some indication of how the problem was resolved and the time taken to resolve the problem.

Task

Activity 1: Designing the Database as per the scenario

Before you start the development process, you need to prepare a proposal document to be submitted to your manager. The document should contain:

1. The design of the relational database system using appropriate design tools and techniques. It should contain at least four interrelated tables.

2. Clear statements of user and system requirements.

You would prefer to produce a more detailed document, so you will produce a comprehensive design for a fully functional system which will include interface and output designs, data validations and cover data normalization.

Your manager would like a separate report on your assessment of the effectiveness of the design in relation to user and system requirements.

Activity 2: Development and testing of the database system

Create and fully implement the database system showing evidence of user interface, output and data validations and querying across multiple tables using a query language. The system must also be fully secure and maintainable.

Include code snippets and screenshots of the system functionalities as evidence wherever required.

For a higher grade:

You would want to include more than just the basics so you will implement a fully functional database system which will include system security and database maintenance features.

Further provide a detailed assessment of whether meaningful data has been extracted through the use of query tools to produce appropriate management information. and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the database solution in relation to user and system requirements, and suggest improvements.

Further,

Develop and action a test plan with effective tests that includes effective data, and extreme and erroneous data in order to build an accurate picture of the viability of the database

Tests must assess the breadth and usability of the programme as well as the requirements in the brief

Tests must include meaningful data and elements that would demonstrate a successful implementation

Further Produce a written report:

To assess the effectiveness of testing, including an explanation of the choice of the test data used. and evaluate the effectiveness of the database against user requirements and suggest improvements.

5) Produce a series of user videos and a detailed technical and user documentation:

• Technical: showing the backend of the system and its associated setup, including data flow diagrams and flowcharts, describing how the system works
• User: showcasing the system from a user perspective.

For a higher grade, You would want to provide some graphical representations for ease of reference in the technical guide, so you need to produce technical and user documentation for a fully functional system, including diagrams showing movement of data through the system, and flowcharts describing how the system works.

Lastly, Evaluate the effectiveness of the database solution in relation to user and system requirements, and suggest improvements.

Pass

Merit

Distinction

LO1 Use an appropriate design tool to design a relational database system for a substantial problem

LO1

D1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the design in relation to user and system requirements.

P1 Design a relational database system using appropriate design tools and techniques, containing at least four interrelated tables, with clear statements of user and system requirements.

M1 Produce a comprehensive design for a fully-functional system, which includes interface and output designs, data validations and data normalisation

LO2 Develop a fully-functional relational database system, based on an existing system design

LO2 & LO3

D2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the database solution in relation to user and system requirements and suggest improvements.

P2 Develop the database system with evidence of user interface, output and data validations, and querying across multiple tables.

P3 Implement a query language into the relational database system.

M2 Implement a fully functional database system, which includes system security and database maintenance.

M3 Assess whether meaningful data has been extracted through the use of query tools to produce appropriate management information.

LO3 Test the system against user and system requirements

P4 Test the system against user and system requirements.

M4 Assess the effectiveness of the testing, including an explanation of the choice of test data used.

LO4 Produce technical and user documentation

LO4

D3 Evaluate the database in terms of improvements needed to ensure the continued effectiveness of the system

P5 Produce technical and user documentation.

M5 Produce technical and user documentation for a fully-functional system, including data flow diagrams and flowcharts, describing how the system works.

Assignment Prepared By

Signature

Date

3/10/2023

Brief Checked By

Signature

Date

3/10/2023