MIS 44048 Spring 2012 Steinberg

M&IS 44048 Software Integration Spring 2012

Dr. Geoffrey Steinberg

Objective

Work as part of a consulting team and learn to produce high quality professional results. Success will be largely determined by organization, engagement, determination, and perhaps most importantly, commitments to team work.

Requirement

1.    Obtain a client with an information related need. The client must be approved by the instructor.

2.    Work with the client to learn what their specific needs are and document what is learned in the form of a requirements specification.

3.    Once the client accepts the requirements specification, translate your team’s proposed solution into a technical design. The technical design will be like a blue print that specifically defines, in super detail, what the team is to build. The clarity of the technical design must be such that it could be given to a different team for implementation.

4.    After completion of the technical design the team will craft a system prototype. The specific technologies will likely include programming tools (PHP, VB, C, etc), web-site tools (HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc), and database tools (MySQL, Access, etc.). The selection and acquisition of the tools is the responsibility of the team. The team is also responsible for learning how to use the tools selected. Open source solutions are also acceptable as long as the client’s requirements are satisfied. It is quite likely that the selected solution will be an integration of open source and custom developed software.

5.    The final stage of the project is the production of technical and user documentation, user training, and system installation.

Course Grade

 The four phases of the project each contribute 25% to the course grade.

1.    Requirements Analysis

2.    Technical Design

3.    Prototype Creation

4.    Documentation , Installation, Training

You will be a member of a project team. All members receive the same grade for each phase and therefore each member receives the same course grade.

Equity

This is a team project. It is up to the team to figure out how to work together. This means each person must know what exactly is expected of him/her and must also know what is expected of the other team members. To make this work each person must be trust worthy and get done what is expected, online, and with quality results. It is not a good idea for one or two persons to “do all the work” even though “we feel that the others are not doing their part and we do not want our grade to suffer.” The point here is to learn to work effectively as a member of a team and not to take matters into your own hands.

Staff Meeting

Your team will meet with the instructor weekly. Students from other teams will not be present. At the meeting the following is expected:

·     All members present.

·     All participate.

·     Present formally what your team has accomplished since last meeting. Compare to established goals and explain divergences if any (none are expected).

·     Agree with instructor on goals for the next week.

If the instructor determines during the meeting that the team is not functioning properly (see above) the meeting may be terminated early at the instructor's discretion. Each meeting terminated early will result in each team member (persent or not) having points deducted from the final course grade for the entire team. 

Read This Important Note

Staff meeting attendance is mandatory. A casual attitude will result in points off (see above). If your team has one or more members not carrying their weight (including attendance AND/OR participation at staff meetings) your team should:

·     Address the issue with the team member

·     Address the issue with the instructor if it is not cleared up within the week

Until the issue is addressed your team will continue to lose points. If you attempt to address the issue and the team member does not change behavior you should discuss this with the instructor (during office hours). Until you clear up the problem points will continue to be deducted. If appropriate the instructor will "fire" the team member, however, if the instructor determines that the team is inappropriately ganging up on someone the team will suffer. It is best to clear team issues up without the instructor's intervention.

Agenda

Your team is expected to prepare an agenda for each meeting. Bring printed copies for all members and the instructor. The agenda will have these major parts with as much detail as needed for each part:

·     Discussion items for the current meeting

·     Accomplishments since last meeting

·     Goals for next meeting