Headspace Report on Healthcare System Challenges

Running head: SYSTEM ASSESSMENT 1
CLOUD BASED SOLUTIONS FOR HEADSPACE PROJECT
BY

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Executive Summary
Technology has transformed organizations all over the globe by enhancing operations.
Technologies such as cloud services have made it possible for business to access services via
the Internet. The following report introduces Headspace a health service provider by
expounding on the challenges of its existing system. The paper then discusses cloud services
by outlining their benefits and advantages. System requirements have been discussed using
the FURPS model that explains functional and nonfunctional requirements. A system
development methodology discussion follows by contrasting between predictive and adaptive
SDLC. A recommendation on which methodology to follow has been outlined. Finally, a
report conclusion on the importance of adopting technology for business efficiency.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Project background.......................................................................................................4
1.1 Objective.....................................................................................................................4
1.2 Scope...........................................................................................................................4
1.3 Significance................................................................................................................5
2.0 Cloud based solutions...................................................................................................5
2.1 Strengths of cloud solutions......................................................................................5
2.2 Weaknesses of cloud solutions..................................................................................6
4.0 System requirements.....................................................................................................8
4.1 FURPS Requirements Model........................................................................................8
5.0 System methodology......................................................................................................8
5.1 SDLC approach.........................................................................................................9
5.1.1 Predictive SDLC.................................................................................................9
5.1.2 Adaptive SDLC.................................................................................................10
5.2 Adaptive versus Predictive SDLC..........................................................................11
6.0 Conclusion....................................................................................................................11
7.0 References....................................................................................................................11

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1.0 Project background
Mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and more are on the rise in the
contemporary world. As a result, a lot of suicide deaths related to mental disorders have been
reported. Headspace Inc works with young people between the age of 12 and 25 who have
mental health challenges. There have been a lot of suicide deaths reported for youth between
ages 16 and 24.
Some challenges that have been experienced by Headspace in trying to help young people
with mental issues include the fact that a person sees more than one professional in the
organization. The problem with this process is that patients find themselves narrating their
circumstance over and over to every professional they meet. As a result, they end up
clamming up and professional have only little to do to help them.
On admission, patients may see a case worker, a medical staff, a psychiatrist or a general
practitioner. Mental health issues are very sensitive and the existing system is very limited in
terms of providing help to the youth. It is therefore important to install a cloud based system
‘my health record system’ in order to help the youth who visit Headspace tell their story.
Professionals will then be able to access the right information for specific patients and help
them accordingly without having them retelling the story more than once.
1.1 Objective
The objective of the study is to create a cloud based system for Headspace to allow patients
tell their story in order to access necessary help from professional.
1.2 Scope

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This research will focus on developing a cloud based ‘my health record system’ that will help
patients tell their case stories in a better way that will promote the right professional help.
1.3 Significance
The proposed system will enable patients at Headspace;
i. To better tell their case stories and get the right help and support
ii. To minimize the number of times they have to narrate their cases to professionals
The proposed system will enable Headspace administration;
i. To understand patient background problems
ii. To effectively and efficiently handle mental health youth cases
iii. To quickly access patient information
2.0 Cloud based solutions
A cloud-based application refers to software applications, resources and services available for
users by providers over the Internet (DeputyGlossary, 2017). Businesses usually utilize
cloud-based computing in order to intensify capacity, improve functionality and get access to
other on-demand services without the need to acquire expensive IT infrastructure costs.
2.1 Strengths of cloud solutions
Cloud-based applications and services provide many benefits for businesses and end users
including increased efficiency, functionality, scalability, and cheap maintenance and less cost
for computer infrastructure and in-house IT maintenance expertise (Salesforce, 2015). In
addition, cloud-based applications enable businesses to focus on their core business
operations while IT operations are handled by external providers. With regard to Headspace,
the organization will be able to access cloud services from external providers and concentrate

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on their core operation which is providing health care to the surrounding community.
According to (IBM, 2017) include the following:
 Reliability - cloud solution provides business reliability by provides services and
applications for end users
 Cost saving - cloud solutions help the business reduce on cost because there is no
need to buy a lot of hardware infrastructure
 Streamlined work – cloud solutions providers allow the business to focus on its core
functions as they manage and maintain their IT functions
 Consistent updates- allows quick systems updates over the air and provides latest
technologies
 Collaboration- by hosting business processes on the Internet, it allows workforce
collaboration with similar organizations
 Competitive edge- enables businesses to achieve a competitive over its competitors
2.2 Weaknesses of cloud solutions
There a lot of disadvantages associated with cloud based solutions. Some notable ones
include the following (LevelCloud, 2017)
 Downtime – IT services are often faced by the risk of downtime which make system
unavailable for users as a result of hardware failure, software failure or natural
disasters. Therefore in the event of failure on the providers side, the client will
experience downtime
 Insecurity – data insecurity is the main challenge of cloud based solutions. Since data
is hosted on the Internet, it is prone to attacks from hacker sand other intruders
(Lynch, 2016)

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 Limited control – since the provider is providing the services, they have greater
control and access to an organization data and information
 Vendor lock in – cloud based solutions are limited to the providers. For instance, IBM
cloud services are incompatible with SAGE cloud solutions. An organization is
usually forced to start over in case they need to change a vendor which is costly and
time consuming
3.0 Data security
The greatest challenge with cloud solutions as mentioned earlier is data security.
Implementing cloud computing means that you are giving control of your company
information to external parties (Wall, 2016). Depending on the kind of deployment chosen
for deployment, data security may have differing levels. Private clouds are more secure than
public clouds (Aldossary & Allen, 2016). The Internet growth and technology advances have
increased data vulnerabilities for cloud based systems. It is therefore important to ensure the
right mechanisms for securing data for Headspace Company. The company deals with very
sensitive user data and thus needs to ensure data confidentiality and integrity is maintained
for its clients (Aldossary & Allen, 2016). The following measures ensure data security for
cloud systems;
 Creating strong access passwords
 Strong APIs for access control
 Enforce strong encryption mechanisms
 Analyzing data protection policies
 Make use of strong key generations, storage management practices
 Ensure cloud service provider can secure your data
 Implement data recovery procedures

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4.0 System requirements
System requirements refer to necessary features that a system requires in order to function
properly. For cloud based solution, the system needs to achieve both functional and non-
functional requirements (Eeles, 2017).
4.1 FURPS Requirements Model
FURPS is a mnemonic that specifies software system requirements. It comprises of
functional and non-functional system requirements. Functional requirements primary reflect
on the primary functions of the system (Eriksson, 2015). As such, they specify what the
system does. Non-functional requirements specify the behavior of the systems in terms of
how it achieves its functionalities (Eriksson, 2015). Both non-functional and functional
requirements will need to be carefully selected to ensure that the system achieves its
objectives
 Functional requirements will specify what the system should do in terms of
capabilities
 Usability requirements will specify how usable the system will be
 Reliability requirements will specify how the system will handle failure an recovery
 Performance requirements will specify system response times, accuracy and
throughput
 Supportability requirements will define system maintainability and adaptability
5.0 System methodology

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System development methodology refers to all the activities that are followed in order to
develop a system (CMS, 2008). System development will follow a software development life
cycle approach.
5.1 SDLC approach
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a set of activities that are followed one after
another to develop software systems including system analysis, system design, system
development, system implementation and system maintenance (Alwan, 2015).
5.1.1 Predictive SDLC
Predictive SDLC is an approach that allows the capability of a project to be able to predict all
the stages it will do through. Predictive SDLC has all its phases laid out. For system
development with SDLC, all the phases to be followed are known ahead of time (Alwan,
2015). Figure 1 below shows the depiction of a predictive SDLC approach for system
development.
Figure 1: SDLC Predictive Approach. Source (Alwan, 2015)
Pros
 Has well laid out phases and procedures

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 End product can be determined easily
 Simple to understand and manage
Cons
 If phases are not done correctly, it can result to poor quality systems
 Can result in delays
 Inflexibility
 Consumes a lot of time
5.1.2 Adaptive SDLC
Adaptive SDLC approach accepts the fact and likelihood that a systems development project
can change as a result of some factors including change in requirements, management or
business priorities (CMS, 2008). In order to factor these changes, the methodology is divided
into several iterative phases (Alwan, 2015). Figure 2 below shows an illustration of adaptive
SDLC approach methodology.
Figure 2: Adaptive SDLC. Source (Alwan, 2015)
Pros
 It is easy to factor in any changes that may crop up within the development process \
 Produces quality software systems because it employs an iterative process
 Promotes system development team work and collaboration

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 Process adaptability
 Immediate user feedback
Cons
 Can consume a lot of time because of many iterative sessions
 Promotes team work
 Can be costly
 Neglects process documentation
5.2 Adaptive versus Predictive SDLC
Many factors can affect the kind of SDLC an organization uses to develop a new system. If
all the system requirements are laid out, an organization should select predictive SDLC
approach. On the other hand, if requirements are not fully known, go for adaptive SDLC
approach in order to accommodate any upcoming changes in the process of development
(Upwork, 2017). In the case of Headspace, the best approach to go for is predictive SDLC
approach. This is because all the systems requirements can easily be predicted from the
existing system requirements.
6.0 Conclusion
Technology has brought a lot of development in today’s modern world. Business have
adopted and continues to embrace technological developments to enhance business processes.
Businesses that have embraced technology to perform business functions have reported a lot
of benefits and productivity. With this in mind, it will be beneficial for Headspace to adopt a
cloud based solution to improve business functions. Therefore, the system analyst
recommends that Headspace create and develop a cloud based solutions to enhance
businesses operations.

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7.0 References
Aldossary, S., & Allen, W. (2016). Data Security, Privacy, Availability and Integrity in
Cloud Computing: Issues and Current Solutions. (IJACSA) International Journal of
Advanced Computer Science and Applications, , 485-486.
Alwan, M. (2015, January 3). What is systems development lifecyle. Retrieved from
www.airbrake.io: https://airbrake.io/blog/sdlc/what-is-system-development-life-cycle
CMS. (2008, March 27). SELECTING A DEVELOPMENT APPROACH. Retrieved from
www.cms.gov: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/CMS-
Information-Technology/XLC/Downloads/SelectingDevelopmentApproach.pdf
DeputyGlossary. (2017, October 2). What is a cloud based solution. Retrieved from
www.deputy.com: https://www.deputy.com/glossary/what-is-a-cloud-based-solution
Eeles, P. (2017, October 3). Non-functional Requirements. Retrieved from IBM:
http://www.architecting.co.uk/presentations/NFRs.pdf
Eriksson, U. (2015, April 3). THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL AND NON-
FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS. Retrieved from ReQtest :
http://reqtest.com/requirements-blog/understanding-the-difference-between-
functional-and-non-functional-requirements/
IBM. (2017, October 3). Benefits of cloud computing . Retrieved from www.ibm.com:
https://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/learn-more/benefits-of-cloud-computing/
LevelCloud. (2017, October 3). Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing.
Retrieved from http://www.levelcloud.net: http://www.levelcloud.net/why-
levelcloud/cloud-education-center/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloud-
computing/

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Lynch, J. (2016, June 17). What Are the Benefits and Drawbacks of Cloud Computing?
Retrieved from www.techsoup.com: http://www.techsoup.org/support/articles-and-
how-tos/what-are-the-benefits-and-drawbacks-of-cloud-computing
Salesforce. (2015, November 17). Why Move To The Cloud? 10 Benefits Of Cloud
Computing. Retrieved from https://www.salesforce.com:
https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2015/11/why-move-to-the-cloud-10-benefits-of-
cloud-computing.html
Upwork. (2017, October 3). Agile vs. Waterfall: A Side-by-Side Comparison. Retrieved from
www.upwork.com: https://www.upwork.com/hiring/development/agile-vs-waterfall/
Wall, M. (2016, April 29). Can we trust cloud providers to keep our data safe? Retrieved
from BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36151754

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