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Team Skill 3 IOSS Vision Document
Updated Oct 17, 2010 by scottle...@gmail.com


IOSS Vision Document

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose of Vision Document

This document collects, analyzes, sets-out, defines high-level user needs and product features for IOSS (IT Optimized Support System). This document focuses on capabilities needed by the target users and why these capabilities need to exist. IOSS proposes to better track IT requests, log results, and improve response time over existing IT systems.

1.2 Product Overview

IOSS will provide an online system for requesting software within a company. IOSS will provide a user-friendly way to submit a software request, display up-to-date online tracking information for the software requests, reduce IT personnel involvement with the request process, record results of each request, and improve response time over the existing IT systems.

IOSS will be an online system that stores information electronically. It will no longer require paper work as in the existing systems. With IOSS, the software requester can easily submit a software request form online at his own convenience. The IT personnel will experience a faster way of handling software requests with IOSS’s new automated features. IOSS will reduce the amount of human interaction, maintain a history of the configurations used for each software request and installation, simplify workflow for everyone involved, and reduce number of hand-offs required to complete the software installation process.

2. User Description

2.1 User/Market Demographics

Market research has established that companies of all sizes and technological levels are struggling to keep their employees’ computers up to date with new software releases. Although many companies employ their own IT departments, they still utilize manual software installation process, which requires an employee to contact IT personnel directly to try to initiate a software request. This current practice provides the personal contact between the software requesters and the IT personnel, but it fails to deliver a speedy software installation process. Each process can take between days to weeks to complete, causing frustration on the requester’s side and reducing productivity of all employees in the company.

Whether a company already has established its own IT department or is looking to set one up, it can greatly benefit from adopting an online automated software installation system that will provide user-friendly, fast-paced process guiding the users from start to finish without utilizing too much IT personnel’s time and expertise.

2.2 User Profile

Users of the IOSS can be a common computer user or an expert user. The system is straightforward and intuitive that any users somewhat familiar with common computer applications and online browsers can learn to use it quickly.

2.3 User Environment

The system is intended for following environments:

  • Schools
  • Government facilities
  • Corporations
  • Companies

IOSS requires between 2 to 4 people to complete the software installation process. Depending on the structure of a company, IOSS can only require the software requester and the IT personnel handling the software requests. If a company requires special software licenses to be purchased by its own sourcing personnel, then the sourcing personnel will get involved with the IOSS system. In some companies, each software request needs approval from the requester’s direct manager. In this case, the manager will be involved with the system, though his involvement will be brief and limited.

IOSS will be used with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari browsers. It will also be compatible with Windows and Macintosh. In addition, it will be compatible with most database applications such as MS Excel and Access. IOSS can pull/feed data back and forth from a specific database such as requester’s credential authentication system and purchasing system.

2.4 Key User Needs

Following users’ needs were gathered by the marketing department in a series of interviews conducted with prospective customers.

2.4.1 From Common perspectives for all customers:

  • Quick completion of software installation process
  • Ease of use at all incremental process steps
  • Easy/quick training process
  • Provide a list of responsible people for each step if additional contact is necessary
  • Provide instructions and training material to show the process flow and responsibilities of each involved party
  • Automated process steps
  • Online web based system

2.4.2 From Software Requesters Perspective:

  • Faster response from IT and Buyers
  • Ability to check on request status without having to manually track down other people
  • Provide a list of ready to install applications
  • Provide list of alternative software if a specific request is rejected
  • New system training < 1 Day, online interface preferred
  • Faster cycle time

2.4.3 From IT Personnel Perspective:

  • Facilitate faster responses from the buyer
  • Enable automatic status updates
  • Automatically link the request progress to the time to handle the request, document process flow trail
  • Automatically record the process flow into a database
  • Allow requester access to the progress timeline
  • Check for duplicate requests that may not need additional approval to process the request
  • Automatically filter request for keywords that indicate there may be an important or specially licensed software that requires manual handling
  • All standard or non-restricted requests should be handled by a fully automated process
  • IT personnel training shall be < 1 week
  • Training documentation to provide details on each possible workflow process
  • Expected 50% time/effort reduction for IT personnel

2.4.4 From Sourcing Personnel (Buyers) Perspective:

  • Require minimal sourcing/buyer involvement
  • Automatically provide purchase updates to requester
  • Manage requests for ease of handling and look up
  • Standardize format of requests so that only a PO needs to be cut
  • Automatically request approval from management when required
  • Training < 1 week

2.5 Alternatives and Competition

  • Presently, there is no similar product to IOSS on the market that competes directly with our product.
  • Some company might have a similar system, but there is no commercially available system for general use.

3. Product Overview

3.1 Product Perspective

  • Presently, there is no similar product to IOSS on the market that competes directly with our product.
  • The system consists of a web-based program that may interact with two main legacy systems: (1) authentication system, and (2) purchasing system. Depending on each company’s needs, these two legacy systems might not exist, and the IOSS will not be required to interface with these two systems..

3.2 Product Position Statement

3.4 Summary of Capabilities

3.5 Assumptions and Dependencies

  • Must be installed in Windows or Macintosh
  • Must have Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari
  • Must have email application such as MS outlook

3.6 Cost and Pricing

  • Starts at $10,000 depending on the features
  • Services and Maintenance contract optional
  • Annual licensing fee dependent on company’s size

4. Feature Attributes

Status: Incor – Incorporated, Appr – Approved, Prop – Proposed. Priority: Cri - Critical, Imp – Important, Use – Useful. Effort, Risk, Stability: L – Low, M – Medium, H – High. N/A – Not Available

5. Product Features

5.1 Critical Features for v 1.0

  • Quick completion of software installation process: time for software install shall be expedient with the proper installation link being provided immediately
  • Ease of use at all incremental process steps: all steps performed by peoples need to be straight forward to use without the need of any supplemental help material
  • Automation of steps in the process: when possible process steps should self-execute except when an input is required to continue
  • Easy/quick training process: Any and all required training shall be straight forward and expedient for the trainee
  • Online web based system: the IOSS shall be a web based application
  • Faster cycle time: time from initial request to final install or resolution needs to be expedited without delays or wait periods
  • Expected 50% time/effort reduction for IT personnel: system implementation shall reduce the amount of time the IT personnel devote to each case
  • Faster response from IT and Buyers: system will provide clear and straight forward request that requires the desired party to respond promptly
  • All standard and or non-restricted requests should be handled by a fully automated process: for any off the shelf request the system shall deliver the proper software without any other input
  • Notify IT Personnel of errors to trouble shoot: upon any error the system shall notify the IT department and request error resolution

5.2 Important Features for v 1.0

  • Provide a list of responsible people for each step if additional contact is necessary: A list of contacts shall be available if requested for the owners of each step
  • Provide instructions and training material to show the process flow and responsibilities of each involved party: Training material shall be available for each step that requires human interaction
  • Check for duplicate requests that may not need additional approval to process the request: the system shall query the database to determine if the request is a duplicate that can be automated
  • Require minimal sourcing/buyer involvement: the system shall provide as many automated features as possible to ensure that the interaction or involvement of the IT personnel, software requester, software requester’s manager, and sourcing personnel are minimal
  • Facilitate faster responses from the buyer: Buyer will be notified immediately when a software license purchase request has been submitted by the IT personnel. If the buyer does not handle the request immediately, IOSS will send periodic (to be set by the customer company when the reminder should be set to) reminder to the buyer until the request has been handled and sent to the next workflow.
  • New system training < 1 day, online interface preferred: The training for this new software should take only 1 day for normal users such as the software requester and software requester’s managers.
  • IT personnel training shall be < 1 week: Training for the IT personnel for this new system should take no more than 1 week.
  • Buyer Training < 1 week: Training for the buyers will take less than 1 week to complete.
  • Automatically filter request for keywords that indicate important or specially licensed software that requires manual handling: IOSS should filter each request to determine which request requires manual handling/processing by the IT personnel. If requests have been made before either by the same requester or not, and the software does not require special licensing, IOSS should be able to automatically handle the request on its own unless software installation errors occur.
  • Training documentation to provide details on each possible workflow process: IOSS package will come with a detailed training documentation that walks through the process of the system to ensure full understanding of how the system works.
  • Standardize format of requests so that only a PO needs to be cut: IOSS provides a standard online form for the software requester to fill out a request, a form to request a license to be purchased by the IT personnel with most information prefilled from the requester’s request form, and a form for the buyer to send to the requester’s manager for final approval prior to releasing this purchase order (PO) be sent to the supplier.
  • Automatically request approval from management when required: When the buyer deems that the software requester’s manager’s approval is needed, she/he will have the option to select to let IOSS automatically send out the next workflow to the manager to obtain his approval prior to releasing the PO to the supplier.

5.3 Future Features

No future features have been planned

6. Use Cases

Exemplary Use cases:

Submit a Software Request Form Online

Brief Description:
This feature allows a person to submit an online software request form.
System or Subsystems:
Software Requester, Personal Company Computer, Online Software Request Form

Flow of Events:

  • Software requester goes to IOSS website
  • IOSS website presents several options to the software requester, and one amongst them is to initiate a new software request form
  • Requester chooses the option to open a new software request form
  • IOSS Online Software request form provides an instruction to the user on how to submit a request
  • Requester fills out information in the online request form
  • Requester clicks submit button at the end of the form
  • IOSS Online Software Request Form asks the requester if the requester is sure to submit the request
  • Requester clicks “YES”
  • IOSS Online Software Request Form presents a preview of the request and asks “Is the information correct?”
  • Requester clicks “YES”
  • IOSS Online Software Request Form displays “Your software request has been submitted”
  • IOSS Online Software Request Form sends out a confirmation email to the requester

Pre Condition:

The software request form has to be filled completely and correctly the requester before the IOSS submits the form for next workflow.

Post Conditions: IOSS Online Software Request Form sends out a confirmation message that the software request form has been submitted and asks the requester if he/she wants to make another software request.

Install Software

Brief Description: This feature allows a software requester to install software himself on his own computer.

System or Subsystems:

Software Requester, Personnel Computer, Email Application (i.e. MS Outlook), IOSS

Flow of Events:

  • IOSS sends an email with software installation link to the software requester
  • Software Requester clicks on link in the email IOSS sent
  • Software Requester enters his/her credential information (company employee ID and password)
  • Software Requester submits his/her credential information
  • IOSS connects to the company’s authentication system to verify requester’s information
  • IOSS displays requested software installation button/link
  • Software Requester downloads the software package by clicking on the software installation button/link
  • Software Requester installs the software following instruction given with the software package
  • IOSS tracks software requester’s installation progress

Basic Flow

  • IOSS displays a message to the requester that installation was complete and successful

Alternative Flow

  • IOSS reports software installation errors/failures if there are any to the IT personnel department
  • IOSS displays a message to the requester that installation was incomplete and IT personnel has been contacted to failure

Pre Condition:

  • The software installation package should be uploaded to IOSS website

Post Conditions:

  • IOSS displays confirmation of successful software installation
  • IOSS sends out an email to the requester of the completion and closure of the request

Purchase a New Software License

Brief Description:

This feature provides a systematic process to purchase a new software license.

System or Subsystems:

IT Personnel, Sourcing Personnel, Software Requester, Software Requester’s Manager, Software Purchasing System, Email application (i.e. MS Outlook)

Flow of Events:

  • IOSS notifies IT Personnel via an email of a new software license required to complete a software request
  • IT Personnel logs on to IOSS website
  • IOSS provides multiple selections, one of which is to create a new software license purchase request
  • IT Personnel clicks on the option to create a new software license purchase request
  • IT Personnel enters software information and other relevant information
  • IT Personnel clicks submit
  • IOSS displays a message to the IT personnel to verify information entered and provides two options: EDIT or SUBMIT
  • IT Personnel clicks “SUBMIT”
  • IOSS displays a message to the IT personnel that a new software license purchase request has been submitted to the next workflow.
  • IOSS sends an email confirmation of the license purchase request to the IT personnel and the original software requester.
  • IOSS sends an email to the sourcing personnel, notifying him/her of the request in the QUEUE
  • Sourcing Personnel logs on the IOSS website
  • IOSS provides multiple selections, one of which is to view and create a purchase order (sourcing personnel only)
  • Sourcing Personnel chooses to create a purchase order
  • Sourcing Personnel reviews the information entered by the IT personnel and inputs financial information such as pay account
  • Sourcing Personnel clicks “SUBMIT”
  • IOSS displays a message to the Sourcing personnel to verify information entered and provides two options: EDIT or SUBMIT
  • Sourcing Personnel clicks “SUBMIT”
  • IOSS displays a message to the IT personnel that a purchase order has been submitted to the next workflow.
  • IOSS sends an email confirmation of the license purchase order to the Sourcing personnel, IT personnel, and the original software requester.
  • IOSS sends an email to the original software requester’s manager to notify him/her of a pending approval from him/her to complete the software purchase order.
  • Software requester’s manager logs into IOSS
  • IOSS provides multiple selections, one of which is to Approve/Reject a Purchase Order
  • Software requester’s manager clicks Approve/Reject a Purchase Order
  • IOSS displays the software license purchase order including name of the original software requester.
  • Software requester’s manager clicks Approve
  • IOSS displays a message to the software requester’s manager asking “You choose to approve the purchase order. Please click SUBMIT to approve or “EDIT” to go back and change your selection”.
  • Software requester’s manager clicks “SUBMIT”
  • IOSS submits the purchase order to the supplier by connecting to the company’s sourcing system.
  • IOSS sends an email confirmation of the final approval and submission of the license purchase order to the software requester’s manager, the sourcing personnel, the IT personnel, and the original software requester.

Alternative Flow: For alternative flow, whenever IOSS asks the user to verify information (SUBMIT or EDIT), when the user selects EDIT, IOSS takes the user back to the previous page.

If the software requester’s manager rejects the request, IOSS will close the case and notify the software requester, IT personnel, and Sourcing personnel that the request to have a new software license purchased has been rejected.

Pre Condition: IOSS should be tested for compatibility with the company’s sourcing system

Post Conditions: IOSS submits the purchase order to the software’s supplier.

7. Other Product Requirements

7.1 Applicable Standards

  • Windows for platform compliance standards
  • Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari for browsing platform
  • MS Office or similar application for communication such as email confirmation
  • Windows and Macintosh computer compatible

7.2 System Requirements

  • Must be installed in Windows or Macintosh computers

7.3 Licensing and Installation

  • There are terms and conditions set forth the rights being licensed to the customer for use of this IOSS application. These rights are the only rights the customer has to the software. If in any event the customer does not agree to the terms and conditions or violate the rights, they cannot use the software.
  • There is 1 year of limited warranty given under this terms and conditions.
  • By clicking “I Agree”, or by opening the file package containing in the Software, the customer agrees that this terms and conditions is a legally binding and valid contract, agrees to abide by all of the terms and conditions, and further agrees to take all necessary steps to ensure that the terms and conditions are not violated by any person or entity under customer’s employment..
  • Licensor grants this license software to solely use by the customer’s company.

7.4 Performance Requirements

8. Documentation Requirements

8.1 User Manual

This User Manual provides guidelines on how to submit a software request and process the request with the IOSS application. The user manual will provide all the necessary information about how use this IOSS, describing step by step instruction and every part of the system. It also describes the basic requirement of the system (browsers, etc) the user will need to use the IOSS.

8.2 Online Help

IOSS will provide online help on its website where a user can log questions, read answers to previously asked questions, obtain troubleshooting tips, etc.

8.3 Installation Guides, Configuration, Read Me File

A file is provided to show step by step setup for the IOSS application.

8.4 Labeling and Packaging

  • The system will be delivered by our representatives that will also train users to operate the system
  • All terms and licenses have to be signed before the system is in use

9. Glossary

9.1 IOSS (IT Optimized Support System):

It is an online application to optimize a company’s software installation request.

9.2 IT Personnel:

This person is employed or contracted by the customer to support its IT development within the company.

9.3 Software Requester:

This person needs to have a software installed on his/her computer. He/she initiates the software request that starts the process.

9.4 Sourcing Personnel:

This person is employed or contracted by the customer to support its sourcing system by handling any purchase order for the company.

9.5 Manager:

This person the manager of the software requester, who has to approve the request prior to a license be purchased.

Comment by gcis...@gmail.com, Nov 28, 2010

“Software requesters” have never been defined or identified in Team Skill 1. “Managers” refers to which kind of managers in Team Skill 1? You should keep consistent with other documents you have finished. If revision is needed, please highlight them. If I count right, you have 31 features here, but in Team Skill 2, you have 30. Also, keep consistent.

9/10

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