Proposal for Knowledge Management System for DPI Crownlands

This proposal outlines the development of a Knowledge Management System for DPI Crownlands to increase productivity and streamline operations. It includes system architecture, testing and implementation methods, and risk assessment.

Student Details
PROJECT PROPOSAL
ASSESSMENT 3

Contents
Cover Letter for Sponsor........................................................................................................................2
Executive Summary:..............................................................................................................................3
Introduction (Project Overview):.......................................................................................................4
Review of the Features and functionalities offered by the project:...................................................4
Development of the System (SDLC Phase 4)..........................................................................................5
Architecture:......................................................................................................................................5
Graphical Representation of the Communication flow within the system:...................................6
Integration and Testing (Phase 5 of SDLC).............................................................................................9
Testing Analogy to be followed for the project:..............................................................................10
Unit Testing.....................................................................................................................................10
Integration Testing..........................................................................................................................11
System Testing:................................................................................................................................12
User Acceptance Testing:................................................................................................................13
Implementation (SDLC Phase 6)..........................................................................................................13
Implementation method:................................................................................................................13
Risk Assessment and Mitigation:.........................................................................................................15
Installation of the project................................................................................................................15
Training Delivery:.............................................................................................................................15
User Documentation for the project:..............................................................................................16
Maintenance: (SDLC Phase 7)..............................................................................................................16
Application Support Desk................................................................................................................16
Periodic System Maintenance.........................................................................................................17
System backup and support Environment in case of transitions and changes................................17
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................17
References...........................................................................................................................................18
1

Cover Letter for Sponsor
[
Mr XYZ,
Designation
Organization
]
Subject: Detailed Proposal for Knowledge Management System for DPI Crownlands.
Dated: xx/xx/xxxx
Respected,
Following our conversation earlier today, the detailed proposal for the project follows this
letter which would help you learn further about our targets and the approach that we intend to
follow for making this project a great success.
As discussed with you previously, the KMS solution we intend to develop is focussed on
streamlining the operational approach and in turn enhancing the productivity of the business
operations at DPI Crownlands. With this project we intend to address the following set of objectives:
 Increased Organizational Productivity.
 Enables the organization to ensure governance, reporting and visibilities for the business
maps.
 A centralised location for all the knowledge relevant to the business operations or a
centralised repository to the knowledge.
 Automatic reference to the information and data.
In order to go ahead with the project I would like to request a financial (value-in kind) assistance
approval from the senior management of the organization (You). A detailed proposal for the system
architecture and other operational specifications is attached for further reference.
Please feel free to contact me in case of any further explanation.
Sincerely,
[
Closure
]
2

Executive Summary:
The organization DPI Crownlands faces certain difficulties following the changing legislation.
The report intends to discuss about the development of a Knowledge Management System
or KMS as a business mapping software in order to increase the productivity of the
organization and the key operations performed by it.
The report or the proposal is structured consistent with the flow of SDLC cycle (following
step 4, System Development). The report has initially described the system architecture of
the purposed software and how the steps like black box testing, unit testing, user
acceptance testing will play a crucial role in determining that the developed project is free
from every logical as well as technical bug.
The report has also highlighted the crucial elements that will be part of the training program
which will help the client side to learn the operational as well as the administrative end of
the KMS. Towards the end, the proposal describe the change and risk management activities
that will be followed during the management of this project.
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Introduction (Project Overview):
In order to bring a high degree of transparency in the business and the process as well as
crucial data available to all the stakeholders such as business partners, customers, staff etc.
the Department of Primary industry or DPI Crownlands, intends to use a Knowledge
management System. The KMS or the Knowledge management System will allow these
stakeholders to learn about how the processes ae being performed within the industry and
how more efficiency ca be brought into the same.
With the same aim, Assessment 2 purposed the idea of a KMS or Business mapping
Software that will provide:
Targeted benefits:
 Improved standards of Knowledge management by describing the business process and other
standards so as the same can be sued to create corporate knowledge, which will be further shared to
carry out different tasks and activities. (Dowling, 2013)
 Enhanced Strategic Visibility: Additionally, the KMS will help the organization in identifying
business risks and requirements in order to optimise the efforts. (Al-Ahmad, 2012)
Review of the Features and functionalities offered by the project:
Features:
 Documenting and Standardizing Business process
 Creating a repository for business knowledge
 Integration of Process Maps to ensure that risks, requirements and inconsistencies
can be identified.
 Resource and effort optimisation
 Improved customer satisfaction (Karim et al., 2016)
Functional and Non-functional Specifications:
 Information Storage:
o Must be able to keep records of the information about customers and other
stakeholders.
o Must be able to keep track of the business processes and activities that the
organization intends to perform.
 Retrieval of information:
o The System must be capable of retrieving the information on the basis of
different filters, queries, guidelines and other specific requirements of the
operator.
 Collaboration and Mining of knowledge:
o The system must be capable of collaborating with the information collected
from different sources, keep track of the information sources, and then
effectively mine the required knowledge from the system.
 The Processes and the activities should be controlled and guided by the defined set
of policies and laws as defined by the organization or the government
administration.
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 The Developed system should be able to automate the storage, management, and
analysis of the key information elements stored within the system.
 The GUI of the developed application should be easy to use an interactive.
 The Developed system must provide a support section to help the new users learn
about the basic operating approach of the system.
(Design of Patient Monitoring System(PMS) Application using Security Design Patterns in
Architecture Phase of Secure SDLC, 2016)
Development of the System (SDLC Phase 4)
As highlighted in Assessment 2, the project will be developed on the basis of the Agile
Development methodology to ensure continuous improvement for the project on the basis
of the inputs and feedbacks received.
Architecture:
The following Architecture for the System was highlighted in the previous Assessment.
Representation of the different modules:
Inputs Resources
In order to develop this Architecture the project team will need inputs from different
stakeholders associated with the project.
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As highlighted in the above figure the inputs for stakeholders, pre-existing data records,
evaluation techniques, operating environment of the organization and the knowledge forms
(policies and regulations) will be the key contributors required to develop the architecture
of the Knowledge management system.
Graphical Representation of the Communication flow within the system:
User Control Flow:
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The given figure defines how the control will flow throughout the application and the way
through which the admin and the regular users can interact with the application or the
system. Each user will be assigned a different permission set on the basis of their roles
within the application. (Karim et al., 2016)
The following figure defines different layers of the application or the system:
(Bansal & Kumar, 2014)
For example, as in case of the admin, the person will have the permissions to control, the
cache, configure data base and filters, configure database properties, etc. Similarly, a regular
user can only interact with the system with help of messages with the Theme or UI of the
System acting as the sole intermediate. (Rozenes, 2011)
Graphical Representation for some of the Use Cases for the Purposed System:
Following are some of the example Use cases and the Control flow for the system:
1. Top layer use case
Top layer use case defining the permissions every actor or user will have corresponding to
their roles in the system.
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(Bansal & Kumar, 2014)
2. User Authentication use case:
(Bansal & Kumar, 2014)
3. Knowledge Access Use case
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(Bansal & Kumar, 2014)
Programming languages and technologies used:
In order to develop the Web based Knowledge Management System, following programming
languages will be used:
Front end:
HTML, CSS, XML. (User Interface layer)
Backend:
PHP, Java Script
Database Management
SQL
Integration and Testing (Phase 5 of SDLC)
The integration and testing phase of Software or System Development lifecycle deals with two key
processes or operations that include:
 Testing of the developed modules
 Integration of the Developed Unit Modules
The Development Phase of the System Development Life cycle delivers working modules for each
specific requirement of the project. Once the modules are developed, they are then tested for
functionalities and technical reliability (Jindal, 2016). Further on, once the developed modules are
deemed free of any possible logical as well as technical error they are then integrated into a single
consolidated module or the complete solution, or System. After, integration, the system is then
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again tested for inter-modular and intra modular communication and compatibilities to ensure that
the developed system or software is reliable to address the key requirements of the user group.
(K.Pandey & Batra, 2013)
Testing Analogy to be followed for the project:
Unit Testing
Cycle for the Modules:
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Unit Testing Integration
Testing
System
Testing
Acceptance
Testing

As evident in the above cycle the focus of the unit testing approach is to fix the functionalities of
each of the module. The Unit tests are executed on each modules in order to identify the bugs and
errors that are present in the module. Further on the basis of the reviews received from the testing
approach, the codes are then reviewed and the necessary changes are being made. (K.Pandey & Batra,
2013)
Selected Unit Testing Approach for the project:
For this particular project the Unit Testing will be done on the basis of the following mentioned
techniques:
 Functional Testing:
Under this black box testing technique the functionality of the developed module will be tested. For
example
o Boundary value analysis or testing will be conducted to obtain the point of failure for
the project.
o Input domain testing can be used to obtain the constraints related to the inputs
given to the KMS where the system might exhibit n unusual behaviour. (Pradhan,
2014)
Following the functional testing, the second phase of unit testing will include a rigorous structural
testing approach to be used for:
 Statement testing to ensure that each code instruction of the project or system is tested
at least once for syntax as well as its functionality.
 Path Testing where each possible conditional path of the project source will be tested
for integrity.
In order to perform any type of testing the foremost requirement is to develop the test cases that
will be used to test the behaviour and the functionalities of the code written for each module.
Some of the Test Cases for the Unit testing will include:
 User Authentication
o Correct password and user name
o Empty User Name and password
o Empty user name but correct password
o Incorrect password.
Etc.
 Knowledge discover query:
o Adding a new user group
o Adding a new information element
o Updating the information elements
o Modifying the information
o Deleting the information etc.
Similarly other modules of the System will be tested against different condition set and
circumstances.
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Integration Testing
Following the Successful implementation of the unit testing the next step in this phase will be to
undergo Integration testing:
The key purpose of the Integration testing is to ensure that there are no defects or problems in the
interfaces of the different modules, i.e. all the distinct modules of the application are effectively
integrated with each other and have a reliable inter module communication. (Sharma and Singh, 2015)
For example: One module is able to send data packets to another modules.
Selected Approach for Integration Testing
Top Down incremental testing:
Under this approach the logically related modules are integrated and then tested for continuity and
communication using the top down approach, I.e. the module with high priority or level is tested
along the flow of the system or the software. (Wang et al., n.d.)
Testing Flow
Sample Test cases for Integration Testing:
 Checking the link between the Login module and the user profile module
o Checking the link between the user profile module and the update profile
information module
 Checking the link between the login module and the user permission module
o Checking whether the user can navigate to knowledge query module
o Whether the user can input a query for knowledge retrieval. (Laskowski, 2011)
After Integration testing is completed and the required anomalies are being addressed the next step
in the Testing phase will be to implement System Testing and User Acceptance testing.
System Testing:
The purpose of System testing is to ensure that the whole system is working fine as a collective unit.
The System testing is carried out by the in-house development team and the testing team. For this
project the testing team will use different black box testing approaches such as boundary value
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analysis and input domain testing to ensure that the collective system is able to address the key
requirements of the project. (K.Pandey and Batra, 2013)
For example: Under this approach, the testing team will create a user account, update the profile
information and then carry out all the permitted tasks to see whether there exist any bug or
functional. Loop-hole in the developed system.
User Acceptance Testing:
For the purpose the purposed approach include:
 Launching Beta version of the application or the system in client side i.e. Within the DPI
Crownlands organization. (K.Pandey and Batra, 2013)
The target for this approach will be:
 The users will be able to use the application or the system in the real time and will be
able to give input relevant to:
o The Graphical User interface of the application.
o The Functionalities that are already present in the application or the system.
o The required set of functionalities within the System.
o The reliability of the application in the real world use.
The beta version will be given to the client side for a period of 45 days. Following the completion of
the Beta testing period the identified bugs, loopholes or glitches can be fixed in order to deliver a
fully dedicated system.
During the User Acceptance testing process the key addressable objectives will include:
 The Developed system should address all the required functionalities of the user.
 The developed system should be highly user friendly.
 The developed system is free from any logical or technical loophole.
 All the business requirements of the client side are met.
 The developed system is reliable and has the strength to ensure increased productivity
for the organizer. (Holtsnider, 2010)
Implementation (SDLC Phase 6)
The core focus of the implementation phase is to implement the purposed system at the client side
or in other words, in this stage the finalized software system is then installed at the client site. The
key addressable areas for this phase include:
 Finalization of the Implementation method
 Delivering training and assistance to the intended user set.
 Provide user documentation for the project.
Implementation method:
As detailed previously the whole project will follow the Agile project management methodology
where continuous feedbacks and inputs from the user groups will be used to improve the
functionality of the system being developed. (Beyer, 2010) Further the Timeline and the Milestones
provided in the Assessment 2 will also be used to control the implementation process of the whole
project at the client site. The timeline of the project needs to be consistent.
Agile Model of project development:
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Consistent with Assessment 2
Change Management Flow:
Changes are an evident part of any project. The following flow describes the process how the
changes will be addressed and acknowledged throughout the scope of this project.
(Faisal, 2013)
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Risk Assessment and Mitigation:
Identified Risk Potential cause Possible
Result
Mitigation
Approach
Concerned
Professionals
Inappropriate
project scope
Lack of effective
requirement
Analysis and
Elicitation
Development
of an
incomplete
solution
The Iterative
approach of Agile
development
practice will allow
the project team
to revisit the
requirements
periodically and
evaluated
whether all the
requirements
have be
effectively
identified and
addressed.
Business Analyst
Project Clients
Potential failure to
address the
timeline
Lack of effective
schedule planning
and requirement
identification
Inability to
complete the
project on
time
Regular review
meetings and
sessions to check
whether the
project is being
executed as per
the desired
timeline.
Project leader
Over Cost Ineffective cost
and budget
analysis
Inflation
Financial lose Regular review
meetings and
sessions
Project Leader
Business Analyst
(G. Kamau, 2015.)
Installation of the project
As the target project follows a web-based nature i.e. the whole system will be controlled and
operated with the help of an online portal system whose access will be handed over to the client
side. (Eliot, 2016)
Training Delivery:
After successful installation of the project at the client site the next important step will be to provide
training assistance to the workforce of the client side. In other words, the development team will
required to train the CPI Crownlands employees, executives and managers in accordance with their
roles for the system or the project. (Faisal, 2013)
The training program will be divided into 2 major parts:
 Admin Training
 Executive Training
Admin Training Program:
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Under this program the senior management or the concerned person of the organization will be
trained to operate as the admin for the whole system. (Pandit, and Dr. S. M. Yadav, 2012)
The admin will be able to conduct the following set of operations:
 Manage, update or modify the backend of the application system.
 Modify or control the user permission set.
 Increase or decrease the permission set for the concerned user groups.
 Manage, update or modify the knowledge database.
 Take database backups.
 Delete entries from the database.
During the training program the System administrator will be trained to handle the technical flows
and control structure of the system. (Pulina, & Santoni, 2018)
Similarly in the Executive training Program, the concerned individuals will be trained for the
following set of operation:
 Passing Messages in the Software system.
 Input Knowledge related query.
 Get results relevant to their roles and authorities.
The training provided to both the groups will be based upon their respective roles within the system.
Key elements of the training will include:
 Clearly defined training goals and objectives.
o The training goals and objectives will be constructed as per the individual needs of
the different user groups.
 Structured Training delivery methods
o Classroom style Hands-on instructor-led training
o Group Demonstration in seminar formats
o Individual trainings with the instructors
o Computer Based Training (CBT) (Pulina, & Santoni, 2018)
o User guides and documentation based training.
User Documentation for the project:
The user documentation will focus on delivery a step by step guide with graphical and video-graphic
assistance to ensure that the users are able to effectively understand the control structure of the
system and can then learn to use the system with ease.
Maintenance: (SDLC Phase 7)
The core focus of this SDLC phase is to provide after delivery assistance for the project. During this
phase of the SDLC the project team will focus on delivering the following mentioned services to the
client side:
Application Support Desk
The purpose of the Application support desk will be to ensure that the user get a 24*7 support from
the development team regarding the usability and the functionality of the system being developed.
The application will be provided with a chat box where the user can directly reach out to the support
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team in case of any malfunction or anomaly that is faced during any process or activity that the user
conducted on the system or the application.
Periodic System Maintenance
Under this service the development team will provide a periodic assistance to the DPI Crownland
organization. The purpose of this assistance will be to ensure that the application is working
appropriately and can be relied upon. Under this service, the development team will conduct a
quarterly check for the application backend and User Interface to test its functioning.
System backup and support Environment in case of transitions and changes.
The System backup service will ensure that the database of the application or the system is backed
up periodically (every midnight on a backup server) to ensure that in case of a failure the system can
be restored with minimal damage or issues.
This service will be paid following the first year of the application. The service cost will include an
annual charge of $5000 from the DPI crownlands organization. For the first year, the service the
development team will offer the same service for zero cost.
Conclusion
Following a detailed analysis of the project proposal, the potential benefits the project intends to
provide and the SDLC process it is clear the proposed project is indeed crucial to improve the
performance and productivity of the organization and its operation. Further it is also important for
the organization as well as the development team to practically implement the objectives and the
goals structured in the theoretical proposal in order to yield maximum benefits.
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