Chapter 12

Willowbrook School is a small private school that has retained your services as a systems analyst to assist in the development of a new information system for the school's administrative needs.

Background

After implementation of a new system, it moves into the support phase of the SDLC. The system at Willowbrook has been up and running for five months now, and things are moving reasonably smoothly. Willowbrook is pleased with the system's ability to handle registration and some of the school's other administrative and financial tasks. You have been asked to contract for ongoing support services on an as needed basis. The school would like to arrange for support services in such a way that your time is used as efficiently as possible because their budget for support is small.

Tasks

1. You are willing to charge a lower rate for ongoing support services because you designed the system. You want Willowbrook to use a specific procedure for requesting assistance and changes so you can plan your activities efficiently. Prepare a complete, written procedure for Willowbrook School maintenance change requests. Include appropriate forms with your procedure.

2. Wriite a brief report explaining the different types of maintenance activities, how they affect the system, and what the cost patterns are for the different maintenance types. Given the anticipated five year useful life of the system, can you suggest any priorities for spending maintenance dollars in each of those five years?

3. What are your recommendations for backup and disaster recovery for the new system? Provide Willowbrook with at least two scenarios for backup and disaster recovery, and present the strengths and weaknesses of both. Which is your preferred scenario and why?

4. You decide to prepare a security checklist for Willowbrook. Prepare a list of security issues that the firm should evaluate and monitor. Be sure to organize the items into categories that match the six security levels. need all task