RALS Pass System Project: Group 12 - Automated Ticketing System

The RALS Pass System project, undertaken by Group 12, focuses on developing an automated electronic ticketing system for the Riviera Agriculture and Lifestyle Show (RALS). The project aims to address the inefficiencies of the existing manual ticketing system, particularly during peak attendance times. The proposed solution involves an online ticketing platform with barcode scanning for seamless entry, reducing overcrowding and enhancing the attendee experience. The project adopts the agile Scrum methodology, emphasizing iterative development, continuous feedback, and adaptability to client needs. The project includes detailed analysis of benefits and costs, including development, hardware, and operational expenses. The project also includes a comprehensive team charter that details skills, roles, and responsibilities of team members, along with a communication plan to ensure effective collaboration. The system's design considerations encompass user-friendliness, real-time updates, resilience, and compatibility across various platforms. The project's success hinges on reducing entry delays, increasing ticket sales, and providing accurate accounting and reporting for the event organizers. The project involves the use of cloud services, turnstiles, barcode scanners, and the development of various software components including a web interface, database, and payment processing system.

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Project Management
Project name: RALS Pass System
Team name: Group 12
Team Members:
Shaik Ahmed Bin Taher
Email: [e-mail]
Mobile: [phone]
Rafa Afr
Email: [e-mail]
Mobile: [phone]

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Project Overview
Globex formerly B & T Sons Farming Equipment established RALS (Riviera Agriculture
and Lifestyle Show) in 2000; a three day event held in November every year. The event requires
that attendees pay for tickets at the entrance which re checked and then allowed to proceed to attend
the event. The event relies heavily on trained volunteers. The main problem being faced is
managing ticketing at the entrance especially on opening days when there are many people
attending the event; what happens is that the ticketing system is manual and at peak human traffic,
some people are able to slip in because they cannot wait for too long. Further, the volunteers are
usually overwhelmed; this slows down the process of issuing tickets while making it almost
impossible for the staff to ascertain the number of tickets given out and he number of people that
attended. Furthermore, the volunteers needed for the exercise are also many.
What is required is a system in which people can purchase tickets earlier before attending
the event and have a system where they can have the number of tickets purchased and redeemed
automatically updated so they know the number of people attending through bar code scanning and
the computer system. It is assumed that the people know how to use the system (are computer
literate) and that the system will work at least 96% of the time in a given 365 day period. It is also
assumed that the system will be fully accurate and enabling infrastructure (Internet and networks)
will also work, along with the automatic bar code scanners. It is also assumed that the attendees will
have some access to a mobile device or computer to make the purchases on-line/through the web or
at least be able to access some of the ticketing outlets where they can buy printed tickets. Another
assumption is that for those buying the tickets online, they have a way to print them or at least have
an application that will enable digital bar code scanning of their e-tickets.
Description of the project
An automated electronic ticketing system for RALS
Business Purpose, Need and Significance
This project is needed to help the organizers of the RALS to make the process of accessing
the venue by customers easy and seamless; this will reduce over crowding at the gate/ entrance. The
system will also lead to increased sales as few people will manage to slip through without paying
for tickets, especially when there are crowds during opening days or at peak times. The system will

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enable potential attendees to purchase the tickets on-line and at their convenience and print them
out or use electronic means to sign out. This will also lower costs, including the need for fewer
volunteers and to help with administration and planning as the organizers will be able to ascertain
the number of tickets sold and redeemed and people that attended.
This will also ensure accurate accounting. The idea of the system is driven by the need for
greater accountability, the need to have accurate metrics on ticket sales and attendees, and to
improve the experience of attendees through easy and seamless entry, even during peak times and
on the opening day. The system should be easy to use by customers, quick transaction processing,
give real time updates and reports, and be able tp perform without lags even during high demand.
The system should also be compatible with different browsers and operating platforms, and have
the same functionality and appearance whether accessed using mobiles, tablets, or computers. The
system should have resilience so that even in the event of a disaster or during backups, business
processes will still continue and full operations can be restored within a short period of time. The
system should also be easy to maintain and allow people to be given specific access rights to
prevent abuse. If there is a wrong operation committed either by buyers or internal users, the system
must highlight this and enable the user to repeat the process again, with help options available.
These will be the guiding objectives for this project
Benefits and Costs
The system should reduce delays during entry, make the process of ticketing easy and
seamless, and enable accounting and report generation by authorized users. The system will
increase ticket sales and reduce operational costs while giving visitors a better experience and the
organizers an easy time in planning and managing the project. The system will have various costs,
including costs of making surveys and capturing user requirements, the purchase of hardware and
other software, development and labor costs, costs for hiring cloud backup services, and
maintenance and management costs. These costs are summarized in the table below;
Item Cost in $
Initial survey and logistics costs, including user
documentation
500
Cloud service provider costs 600 per month
Purchase of turnstiles (8) each at 600 6000
Development costs (labor) 45000
Barcode scanners 3000
Hardware (Computers and power backups) 9000

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Cables and networking 3000
Labor costs 2500
Maintenance costs 4000
Other incidentals and caution money 5000
Total 80000
Methodology
The system will be developed using the agile project management methodology known as
scrum; scrum. It is a lightweight method in which a project is undertaken and delivered
incrementally in sprints, with each sprint supposed to end with a minimum shippable product that
can perform the envisaged tasks as captured in the user requirements (Schwaber, 2015). Changes
can be made along the way, but the delivery deadline and budget does not change. This method
would be highly suitable for this project because it ensures the final product is table and works
according to client needs. Its an approach that also enables new user requirements to be identified as
the system is developed and testing and a system can be delivered in a far shorter period and with a
lower budget than other traditional software delivery methods (Mike, 2010), (Pham & Pham, 2016).
The figure below shows the agile scrum framework;

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Source- (‘Innolution 2017) Team Project Charter
Skills and Knowledge Inventory
Team member Skills
Shaik Ahmed Bin Taher Leadership and organizing skills
Knowledge of product and customer needs
Technical skills for testing
Rafa Afr Conflict resolution skills
Team management skills
Reporting skills
Testing skills (technical)
Communications skills
Programming skills in JAVA and C++
Programming skills in Python
Database development skills and Perl
Knowledge of All forms of SQL
Knowledge of No-Databse database system
Web development skills including HTML and HTML 5
skills
Training and support skills
Business process skills
Networking skills
Purchasing and negotiation skills
Cloud operations and backup skills
RAID skills
Networking skills
Software testing skills
Programming skills in Python, Perl, JAVA
Knowledge of Linux testing and penetration skills
Roles and Responsibilities
Team Member Roles and Responsibility
Shaik Ahmed Bin Taher Accurately capturing the needs of the client
Testing products to ensure the user needs are well captured
Communicating the user needs and any other needs effectively to the
team
Overall leadership for the project
Liaising with the client on behalf of the team and giving progress reports

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Developing the backlog and budget
Rafa Afr Will record all minutes of meetings and document them
Plan, organize, and chair regular team meetings
Ensure all team members are working seamlessly
Risk management for the entire project
Documentation
Communication with all team members
Developing Communication Plan
Team member
Developing the web interface scripts for performing various actions
including capturing user details
Developing the pay processing system and the cart system
Developing the help system (online)
Team member
Software application development to include reporting and user access
rights
Testing of the system
Developing interoperability with other systems and softwares
Team member
Development of the database and relationships between database items
Testing the database
Future updating of the database
Developing Queries
Developing web interface scripts using Perl for user querying
Team member
Will be responsible for developing the web interface and website for the
system
developing UX diagrams for the web interface and back end web access
Using of HCI rules in web development
Team member
Developing the business processes that will operationalize the system
Ensuring the developed system captures business processes effectively
Training the client and users on how to use the system
Developing help documentation for users
Team member
Purchasing and acquiring the necessary software and hardware
components
testing purchased equipment and ensuring they meet needs of the system
and the user needs
Team member
Installing the system instances on the cloud
Installation of system in private cloud
Setting up cloud and off site backup
Setting up redundancy using suitable RAID architecture
Setting up business process continuity
negotiating cloud service provider SLAs

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Team member
Developing the networks and networking
Ensuring system works seamlessly from any access point
Team member
Ensures the software performs as required (performance metrics)
Notifies other team members of any issues
Identifies bugs and fixes them in the software
Develops software patches and updates
Ensures the system is secure and any security loopholes are fixed
Performs penetration testing for the system
Based on scrum framework (Pham & Pham, 2016)
Team Communications
The team will meet at least three times before the commencement of the project; the fist two
meetings will happen at the client location when soliciting user needs and understanding the
requirements of the user. The third meeting will be at the project office where team oles will be
discussed and given; this meeting will also be used to ensure all team members understand the
project requirements clearly and what is required for the project. The fourth meeting will be plan
the course of action and what should be delivered at what time. After that, the team will meet daily
in the morning during stand up meetings that will take an hour or less at the project office and also
after every sprint is done to evaluate the work done and have a sprint retrospective. At the end of the
project, there will be two meetings, one with the client during handover and another for team
members during the scrum retrospective meting where documentation will be done. At the end of
every sprint, the team will meet with the client or the client representative and test the developed
system (so far) and capture any issues to be corrected along with with any other new user
requirements to be incorporated. The agile framework requires effective communications and
frequent meetings (Aguanno, 2005)The team will continue to communicate while developing the
system be e-mail and telephone, as well as through the project management system interface and the
digital scrum wall so everyone is up to date on the meeting. The meetings are summarized below;
Meeting Location Purpose Date and Time
Meeting 1 Client premises Familiarize with user
needs and know
requirements
Meeting 2 Client premises In depth capture of user
needs
Meeting 3 Project Office Sprint planning meeting

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Understanding and
sharing roles and
responsibilities
Meting 4 Project Office Knowing the work and
work schedule
Meeting five Project Office Daily scrum meeting 7.00 am to 8.00 am
Meeting Six Project Office Daily scrum meeting 7.00 am to 8.00 am
Meeting Seven Project Office Daily scrum meeting 7.00 am to 8.00 am
Meting Eight Project Office Daily scrum meeting 7.00 am to 8.00 am
Meeting Nine Project Office Daily scrum meeting 7.00 am to 8.00 am
-------
Meeting fifteen Client premises Testing at the end of first
sprint
Meeting sixteen Project Office Sprint Retrospective
Sprint meetings (daily start again until the next testing phase with client
Meeting x Client premises Testing at the end of
sprint
Meeting X Project Office Sprint Retrospective
Cycles continue until the software is ready and is being handed over to client
Scrum review meeting Project Office Evaluate entire project,
lessons learned,
documentation
During meetings, Rafa Afr will chair all the meetings and each member will be free to speak
or make comments; Rafa will do the documentation for the meeting and update these on the digital
scrum board as well as on the physical scrum board. Each member will be given time to present
what they did during the daily sprint meetings as well as any challenges they faced. Rafa will
document these and post them on the project management system board for all members to see and
make comments. Further communication will take place on-line through the project management
system software and through e-mail and group chat platforms. Members can also communicate
through mobile phones, although these are not recorded. The on-line project management system
will enable each member to access resources such as sprint backlogs and the digital scrum board as
well as minutes of past meetings. The physical scrum board will be located at the project office and
be accessible by anyone during meetings; Taher will update th scrum board so every member can
see the progress of the entire team.

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Team Rules and Expectations
The team rules have been developed due to a past experience where team members did not
attend enough meetings and there were arguments that slowed down progress
Team Rules and Expectations
The team members are encouraged to express their feelings
and opinions freely
Team members must contribute during meetings
No aggressive or abusive language during meetings
Disagreements are allowed, but an amicable solution must
be reached either through a vote or under the direction of
Rafa
All meeting minutes must be communicated to all team
members by Rafa
Communication will be official through e-mail, project
system, or verbally and recorded
All team members must attend 90% of the daily sprint
meetings in person
All team members must visit the physical/ or digital scrum
board at least one daily
Team values Commitment
Communication
Respect
Code of Ethics No arguments or fights
No abusive language
Being bound by team decisions even if in disagreement
Attending at least 90% of meetings on time (lateness will
not be tolerated)
Avoiding disruptions during meetings such as receiving and
making personal calls
Team Signatures

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Part Two
Learning cycle
Meetings All meetings must be attended in person
frequent meetings help the team bond and know progress (what
has been done and what needs to be done)
Client needs These must be captured and can be updated as testing is done
Delivery System will be developed and delivered incrementally
Roles Team roes are complementary (inter dependence)
Framework Effective project delivery must be structured and use a suitable
methodology and follow its rules and tasks (the team chose to use
the scrum agile method)
Communication An effective communication plan is essential in project success
Constraints Time and budgets ae constant constraints and this should be
managed based on the work breakdown structure and project
schedule
Planning Prior planning and updates to plan helps team keep focused
Communication Planning
This was developed during the fourth meeting at the project office where stakeholders were
identified and a plan on how to communicate with them developed. The communication plan is
based on the stakeholder role and influence in the project
Title Role Influence Communication
method/ channel
Interest in
project
Frequency
Globex CEO Executive
sponsor
Very High Face to face
E-mail
telephone
Reports and memos
Very high Fortnightly
Globex
Executive In
Charge of
LARS
Business
sponsor
Very High Face to face
E-mail
telephone
Reports and memos
Very high Weekly
Globex Team Advisory team High Face to face
E-mail
telephone
High Monthly
Globex Staff Users Low Face to face High Fortnightly

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Members of
public
People that
attend LARS
events and will
use system
Low Face to face
E-mil
Medium Fortnightly