Swinburne INF30003: Business Problem Analysis for Rent 2 U Car Rentals

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business problems faced by Rent 2 U Car Rentals. It identifies the primary issue as the lack of an updated computer system, classifying the problem as both hardware and software related. The report delves into the nature of these problems, examining the technological limitations of the outdated system and its inability to support the company's growth. Key stakeholders, including Jim, Bill, Ernie, the Federal Farmers Insurance Company, and the customers, are identified and their roles are explained. The report suggests the Systems Model, requirements lists, prototypes, and Object Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD) as suitable tools and techniques for analyzing the current system. The analysis aims to provide a clear understanding of the problems and propose potential solutions to improve Rent 2 U's operations.

BUSINESS PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 1
BUSINESS PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Institution
Course
Student’s ID
Date

BUSINESS PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 2
1. Analysis and identification of the problems in Rent 2 U
The major problem that Rent 2 U is facing is the lack of an updated computer system. The
company has grown to be an organization that possesses more vehicles, but it is still using a
home-built system that was developed by classmates back in TAFE. A home-built system is not
designed to deal with business-related issues, and this is associated with the capacity that a
business can handle (Pateli and Giaglis, 2004). The computer system that is currently in use
comes with the challenge of being able to store as much information as possible, and its
reliability levels are doubtful.
2. The nature of the problem; Software or hardware problem
The problem that has been identified in the case of Rent 2 U is both hardware and software
problems. To understand the nature of the problem, it is essential to understand the concepts of
both hardware and software problems. Software problems are associated with systems and
applications. The problem is associated with the intangibles in a system (Monk, 2016). In the
case of Rent 2 U, it is evident that the system that is in use has been in use for many years and at
the same time, it was not built for the purpose that it is currently performing. In this respect, two
critical issues associated with the software emerge.
The first issue is associated with the nature of technology. Technologically, the world has
moved forward, and this has seen many evolutions and innovations taking place in the
Information Technology sector (Monk, 2016). Upgrades in systems have been taking place, and
this has come along with a high level of efficiency in organizations and institutions. The
upgrades have been dictated by the capacity of institutions and the business functions that the
institutions engage in. However, when it comes to the case of Rent 2 U, the narrative changes

BUSINESS PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 3
and this is because the system in place has not gone through significant upgrades as it ought to.
The shocking part is that the system has not gone through an upgrade and that means it is not the
right system to be utilized by the company. Upgrading and updating systems are done for a
reason, and the primary reason is to boost the effectiveness of the system as well as its efficiency
(Hofmann et al. 2017). The problem for Rent 2 U is dire because the increasing business
activities need a system that can sustain them and not expose the company to the risk of loss of
crucial organizational data.
The second issue from the software perspective is associated with the purpose of the system.
The features of any system are dictated by the reason why it was created. When a system is
created to handle crucial operations, the designers make sure that its specifications have the
capacity to do so (Chakraborty, Künzli and Thiele, 2003). However, the case changes when the
purpose to create the system is different. The purpose as to why the system was created was to
take care of little issues, and that is why it was developed by the students (Rechtin, 2017). The
system was home-built and designed by people with a low level of experience and
professionalism. Therefore, it means that the system has no capacity to help Rent 2 U attain its
goals. The reason why this is a problem for Rent 2 U is that the system was not designed to
support the current growth and functions of the company.
The problem of the system also touches on the hardware aspect. A hardware problem is
associated with the tangible devices and tools that are used in a company to promote
communications and the storage of information (Jaradat, Keating, and Bradley, 2018). The case
study brings out the aspect of Rent 2 U trying to see how it can connect with the customers and
some of the devices that have been touched on are tablets, iPad, and mobile phones. In this
respect, it is therefore evident that hardware is also needed to make sure that the system

BUSINESS PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 4
functions in line with the needs in the modern information technology sector. From a perspective
of IT knowledge, it is also evident that upgrades of systems do not only touch on applications but
also on the devices that are used. The aspect of lacking the devices brings about the hardware
problem.
3. Key stakeholders and problem owners
The key stakeholders in this business are Jim, Bill, Ernie, Federal Farmers Insurance
Company, and the customers. Stakeholders are the persons who have an impact on the operations
of the company whether directly or indirectly (Sayles, 2017). Jim and Bill are the owners of the
company, and that means that they have a significant impact on the operations of the company.
When it comes to Ernie, she is the savior of both Jim and Bill, and this is because she brought an
alternative that made Jim and Bill's business revive. Ernie has a direct impact on the company,
and this is because if she terminates her agreement, Jim and Bill are likely to suffer. The Federal
Farmers Insurance Company is also a stakeholder, and this is because of its involvement in the
business of Jim and Bill. The company refers its clients to the company thus impacting the
operations of the company in one way or another. The customers are the essential stakeholders in
the company. It is essential to note that a business cannot survive in the absence of its customers.
The reasons why Jim and Bill established the business was for them to serve the customers and
see the company grow to higher levels of success.
The difference between stakeholders and problem owners is that the stakeholders are people
who have an impact in the business and the problem owners are the ones who have initiated the
problem or would be affected more by the problem (Agans, 2002). In the case of Rent 2 U, the
problem at hand is likely to affect Jim and Bill the most and this is because they solely rely on

BUSINESS PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 5
the business. In the case of other stakeholders, there are alternatives, but in the case of Jim and
Bill, for them to meet their needs, the company must succeed.
4. possible models, tools and techniques that can be used to analyze the current system
Systems model would be the most suitable models to analyze the system. The systems model
comprises different views that support requirements, verification, design, analysis, and planning.
In line with the case of Rent 2 U systems, it is evident that planning, requirements, design,
analysis, and verification come in handy to analyze the system and know its current state. The
tools that would be suitable for analyzing the current system are requirements list and prototypes
(Van Lamsweerde, 2009). Requirements list helps the designers or analyzers to look at the
requirements needed and to look at the current system. The gaps help to know the situation of the
system. A prototype is a tool that promotes the creation of a system that is similar and furnishing
it with all characteristics. The analyzer then uses the prototypes and compares it with the current
system, and that helps to notice the gaps and areas that are needy. Object Oriented Analysis and
Design would be the best technique to analyze the system (Scott, 2015). The technique takes the
approach of bottom-up view, and it makes sure that all basics are in order. The technique also
makes sure that the system is looked into its entity and every aspect of it is analyzed to see if the
system has the capacity to meet the needs it was created for.
5. A rich picture bringing 1-3 together

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Models, Tools, and
Techniques
Systems model, requirements list
and prototypes, and OOAD
Problem Analysis
Systems Problem
The nature of the problem
Hardware and Software

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References
Agans, D.J., 2002. Debugging: The 9 indispensable rules for finding even the most elusive
software and hardware problems. Amacom.
Chakraborty, S., Künzli, S. and Thiele, L., 2003, March. A General Framework for Analysing
System Properties in Platform-Based Embedded System Designs. In Date (Vol. 3, p. 10190).
Hofmann, T., Mataré, V., Neumann, T., Schönitz, S., Henke, C., Limpert, N., Niemueller, T.,
Ferrein, A., Jeschke, S. and Lakemeyer, G., 2017, July. Enhancing Software and Hardware
Reliability for a Successful Participation in the RoboCup Logistics League 2017. In Robot World
Cup (pp. 486-497). Springer, Cham.
Jaradat, R.M., Keating, C.B. and Bradley, J.M., 2018. Individual capacity and organizational
competency for systems thinking. IEEE Systems Journal, 12(2), pp.1203-1210.
Monk, S., 2016. Raspberry Pi cookbook: Software and hardware problems and solutions. "
O'Reilly Media, Inc.".
Pateli, A.G. and Giaglis, G.M., 2004. A research framework for analyzing eBusiness models.
European journal of information systems, 13(4), pp.302-314.
Sayles, L.R., 2017. Managing large systems: Organizations for the future. Routledge.
Rechtin, E., 2017. Systems architecting of organizations: Why eagles can't swim. Routledge.
Scott, W.R., 2015. Organizations and Organizing: Rational, natural and open systems
perspectives. Routledge.

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Van Lamsweerde, A., 2009. Requirements engineering: From system goals to UML models to
software (Vol. 10). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.