Organization Device Tracker

Computer Science Capstone Proposal

By Sean Figel and Dennis Tang

CST 499
August 25th, 2019
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 1

Executive Summary

The objective of the application is to provide a solution to the client Signal Service Inc
issues with data management of the devices that are provided to the office staff and field
technicians of the organization. Data about these devices is not keep up to date and this has
caused a few issues for Signal Service Inc. These issues with data management has lead Signal
Service Inc to purchase addition devices that were not necessary during staff changes. There has
also been an issue with devices becoming outdated, damaged or slow which has caused
productivity decline from field and office staff.
The Organization Device Tracker aims to be the solution to this data management issues.
The goal of the project is to provide a web application that will allow Signal Service Inc a secure
and easy to use location to store data about their organizations devices. This application will
allow Signal Service Inc to keep data about their devices up to date to allow management to
easily view how many devices that the organization has during staff changes. By doing this
Signal Service Inc will see a decline in purchases of additional devices as well as keeping stock
of the status of the organizations devices.
There are three main features of the web application. The first feature will be to store the
data of the devices. This data will include the manufacture of the device, operating system and
hardware specifications along with any other data the Signal Service Inc requests to be stored
within the application. The second feature is to keep notes on the status of the devices. These
notes can include reported issues with devices or requests for repairs or replacement of devices
after they have been damaged. The last main feature of the application is to provide a secure
place for the data to be stored by requiring a login in order to view and edit data. Due to the
nature of this application Signal Service Inc may request additional features to the application. If
this occurs then the team will document the feature request and discuss extending the scope of
work with Signal Service Inc.
The scope of work for this application software project is to provide a completed
application with the three main features by October 8th, 2019. This scope may be extended by
the team during discussions with Signal Service Inc if Signal Service Inc requests additional
features. The application development will begin on August 28th, 2019 with biweekly meetings
with Signal Service Inc management to review the progress of the application and to provide
feedback for the development team on the application.
This application is a requested solution for Signal Service Inc. The application can be
adjusted to assist other organizations with similar issues however the Organization Device
Tracker is being developed as a specialized application for Signal Service Inc.
Our team expects this application project to provide us with experience in software
development and project management. Signal Service Inc expects the application to provide
them with a solution to their device data management issues to reduce excessive purchases of
devices and provide a location to keep track of device status and active issues with devices in the
field.

Table of Contents

● Part 1 Spec (Page 3)

 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 2

○ Introduction (Page 3)

○ Environmental Scan (Page 4)

○ Project Objectives (Page 5)

○ Stakeholders (Page 6)

○ Methodology (Page 7)

● Part 2 Spec (Page 9)

○ Ethical Considerations (Page 9)

○ Legal Considerations (Page 10)

● Part 3 Spec (Page 10)

○ Timeline (Page 10)

○ Resources Needed (Page 11)

○ Milestones (Page 11)

○ Risks and Dependencies (Page 12)

○ Final Deliverables (Page 13)

○ Usability Testing/Evaluation (Page 13)

○ Team Members (Page 15)

○ References (Page 17)

○ Appendix (Page 18)

Introduction

The use of computer hardware is increasing every year. Small businesses are finding

themselves with more computer hardware requirements to run their business. Computer
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 3

hardware ranging from cell phones to tablets, and laptops are used in everyday business. Often,

these companies find themselves with an extensive amount of computer hardware and become

lost in this sea of technology. Since these companies typically don't have their own IT

department to handle the manual cataloging of devices, our project aims to provide the business

with an easy way to catalog their work devices.

One of these companies is Signal Service Inc. The company does not have a dedicated IT

department in order to manage all of the devices that the organization provides for the staff. The

manager, Sarah Wilson, has been using a basic Excel worksheet in order to try to keep all of the

devices tracked and organized. However this document is out of date and stored somewhere

within the companies shared storage drive. Sarah has found locating the document difficult and

has requested a solution that will provide a simple to use interface that is easy to navigate and

access.

In order to assist Signal Service Inc, our project, Organization Device Tracker, aims to

create a web application to provide a simple inventory management solution to track the number

for the devices currently owned by the company. Further data on each device can be found

within the application, such as device system specification, and to whom the device was given.

The application will require an authorized user to login to view and manage the inventory data.

The inventory data is entered through an entry process that requests different information for

each device. Companies can manage their computer hardware rapidly and easily with our

project. By having easy access from anywhere to edit the device inventory, company managers

will be able to make informed decisions on device purchases during times when there are

changes to staff.
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 4

Environmental Scan

The task of inventory management is something that all corporations and businesses must

address. Keeping track of what you have in your inventory can be very important yet time

consuming. Software applications have been developed to improve the efficiency of managing

an inventory. Many of these software applications for inventory management exists today. Most

of them even exists in the Fortune 500 companies. For example, it can be useful to track internal

inventory movement. If Google gave each of their employee one laptop to use under the

company’s finances, then they would need to know the serial number for each of their laptops.

Without a management system to track this, they would not be able to predict how many laptops

they have assigned each year.

The lack of asset management could cause overspending and result in major financial

damage to the company. Besides the internal use of asset tracking, another of these software

solutions is the tracking of inventory space and stock levels. Brightpearl is a platform "designed

for retail/warehouses to manage their orders, inventory, real-time accounting, reporting, and

customer data." (REFERENCE 1) it’s main use is to assist with keeping track of warehouse

inventory and mainly used by retail warehouses. The platform itself currently has at least eighty-

four retail partners. "Before Brightpearl, we were using NetSuite (REFERENCE 2), which was

really difficult to configure and manage. Every change was a complex task and a project. Trying

to do anything took way too long. Not one for wasting time, I began my search for software

which would fit and suit my business better." (REFERENCE 3) According to reviews about the

platform, Brightpearl is a balanced management solution for inventory-based businesses. Our

project will not work as in a large scale as Brightpearl. However, it can provide a simple, secure
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 5

and innovative way to manage inventory systems. Our project can allow users to manage

information for each device with ease.

Project Objectives

We have a few goals for this project. The first goal is to create an application that can be

used by Signal Service Inc to easily and efficiently keep track of device inventory data. Our

second goal is to gather experience developing an application for a client and delivering the

application by a deadline. In order to achieve our first goal we will need to complete the

following objectives.

First we will need to analyze the hosting options for the application that we will be

developing. This will involve doing research on hosting options in order to find the best option

for our project and client. Next we will create a schedule with project milestones in order to keep

on task with completing the project. This schedule will include listing tasks that need to be

completed and who within the group will complete these tasks. A few of these tasks will be to

develop the GUI that will be used by the customer, develop the server environment, develop the

server software application that will run the application functions. The schedule will also list the

project features that we will make sure are included.

These features are a login screen with password verification, data included staff member

that the device is assigned to, tracking the data for each device and being able to attach notes to

each device for expanded details on the status of the device. If we are able to complete all of

these features before the deadline then we will continue development to include the following

features, providing device history to show what devices have been repaired, replaced or retired.

Support for multiple login users with different permissions within the application. Scanning
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 6

through the details within the systems and checking for any major security risks for the

organization due to the age of the Operating System.

Stakeholders

The main stakeholders are Signal Service Inc andany future staff tasked with managing

the inventory of the organizations provided devices.Signal Service Inc. aims to obtain an easy to

use and maintain web application to assist with the management of the device inventory. With

this application the information about how many devices that Signal Service Inc currently has

along with which staff member the devices have been provided to. This application will also

assist any new staff member who is placed in charge of managing the devices within the

organization.

Signal Service Inc stands to lose having an easy to access location for all of the data

about the companies’ devices. The company will also have to devote work time to have a staff

member take down all of the information for the devices and input them into the Excel

workbook. This will most likely become out of date due to the lack of a dedicated IT department

and the process of gathering all of the devices information and inputting them into an Excel

workbook will proceed again.

Our goal is to provide ODT as a solution to change the cycle of work by providing an

application that is easy to use and maintain. By providing something that is quick to update it

will be more likely that the data is maintained and updated regularly during device swaps and

repairs. In order to make sure that this application is easy to use we will request Signal Service

Inc to test the application during development to request feedback on application features.
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 7

Methodology

Through the use of the Agile methodology we will be able to complete this project by the

deadline. The Agile methodology is a type of project management technique that is used within

software development and allows teams to react to the unpredictable nature of developing

software. (Reference 4) The Agile methodology will allow us to work quickly while cooperating

with Signal Service Inc to insure that the project is progressing towards the way that the client

envisioned. I will plan on having a short weekly meeting with the client to provide an update on

how the project is progressing as well as gathering feedback from the client on the direction that

the project should progress. Using the Agile methodology will allow for us to quickly shift our

development focus based on the feedback that the client provides us.

We will need to research solutions on how we will host the web server for the

application, what software languages we will use to develop the server application and the web

client application and how we will divide the development tasks between us. These will need to

be decided before development on the application can begin. Once development has begun we

will implement Scrum in order to assist with keeping our project on task and our development

efficient. Scrum is the process of developing software in incremental iterations. The defined

process was developed by Ken Schwaber. (Reference 5)

Implementing Scrum into our methodology will entail daily meetings with the

development team to gather information on which tasks are currently being worked on, which

tasks have been completed and which tasks are held up because of dependencies. This will

continue for two weeks, which will be our sprint. At the end of each sprint, the product will be in
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 8

a demo-able state for the client to use and provide feedback. Once the client review has been

completed we will then have a meeting to evaluate the next sprint and begin working on tasks to

complete the next two week sprint. We will repeat this cycle until the project deadline.

By using the Agile methodology and Scrum together we hope to be able to complete our

project without encountering any large scale delays during development and deliver an

application that provides a service for our client that we can be proud of.

Ethical Consideration

For our project there are two main ethical concerns. The two main ethical concerns are

keeping the collected data secure and tracking which devices are assigned to each employee of

the company. Since our project is an inventory system which involves data collection, our first

ethical concern is to make sure that collected information will be kept secure and will only be

used for inner business use. As with any system that collects data there is an ethical

responsibility to keep the data from being stolen or viewed by individuals without the proper

authority. To mitigate future information breaches within our project, we will suggest hosting the

information locally on a server machine situated behind a controlled access door. We will also be

programming a login system for the inventory application that requires the use of a username and

a password in order to view and modify the data. By installing the server application on a

physically isolated server and requiring the use of a username and password in order to view the

data will be our best effort to keep the data secure.

Another ethical concern for our project is that the company is tracking which staff

members have which devices. This tracking could be seen as being invasive towards the staff
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 9

members. It could also be seen as discriminating against the field technicians as they are

provided with multiple devices and they take these devices home whereas the majority of office

employees do not take any company devices home. In order to mitigate this ethical concern we

will be gathering information for every device that the company provides for both the field

technicians and the office staff. As for the ethical concern about the company being viewed as

invasive towards the employees this concern is outside of our scope to be able to provide a

solution for. We can provide advice about how to describe our project to everyone within the

organization but we cannot guarantee the absence of this ethical concern.

Legal Consideration

Our legal concerns for the project are the software license for the software language that

we are using and the application we will develop. We have decided on using on Ruby on Rails

which is an open source programming language. We decided to use the MIT software copyright

license and have added the license to the GitHub repository that will be used during the project.

The MIT license will allow our project to be a free use software as long as the license file is

included with the software distribution. This MIT license has been modified to include our

names as the developers of this software.

Timeline

The timeline for the project is based around the class schedule of CST 499. The class

starts August 28th, 2019 and ends on October 18th, 2019. Within this timeframe we are going to

work to complete the project and deliver the software application to our clients. Our rough

timeline is to begin working on the project when class begins and discussing the application
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 10

features on August 28th with the client. From there development of the features for the

application will begin. Meeting with the client will be every other week in order to keep the

client updated on the progress of the application. Development of the application will continue

until the week of October 8th. This is when development will need to be completed and the

application will need to be provided to the client for testing and review. A table of the rough

timeline can be seen in Appendix A.

As for a budget for this project. We currently do not have a budget as we do not have any

costs to develop the application besides our man hours. The test server will be on Amazon Web

Services and will no longer be needed during production. Server costs are currently being

covered by Signal Service through their locally hosted server and the web server that they

currently have running with Google.

Resources Needed

The resources that we need to have are development systems. Amazon Web Services

account for development and testing. Github repository to manage the project and code for the

application. Server to host the application once completed for the client. This server will be

provided by the client. They have a local server and a server hosted with Google servers

available for us to work with. The client has stated that they would prefer to use the locally

hosted server if possible.

Milestones
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 11

The milestones for the project are outlined for us to keep track of the progress being

made on the project during development. These milestones will be broken into smaller tasks. Of

the larger milestones we have the mapping milestone. This will be where we discuss the project

scope with the client and provide details on the features that will be included with the final

deliverable for the project. The next milestone will be development off the application features.

During development the client will be kept up to date with the progress of the application during

a biweekly meeting. During the development the testing milestone will also be worked on. This

is due to the software will be developed using a Test Driven Development method.

The last two milestones are the client’s approval and then the launch of the application.

The client’s approval milestone will be completed with the client’s final approval that the

application provides the three main features without issues. The launch of the application will

not be considered completed until the client has answer all of the questions within the post

deployment questionnaire. The milestones for the project are defined in more detail in Appendix

B.

Risks and Dependencies

One major risk on this project will be based on how much data we will be able to enter

into our application. Our main concern is if there is too much data stored, the application would

crash or miscalculations would happen. Another risk is the client requesting more features that

we are unable to complete within the scope timeframe. If this happens then we will have to

discuss extending the timeframe for the project with the client. Our application has a security risk

involved with the data that is being collected could be accessed by an unauthorized user. In order
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 12

to mitigate this risk our team will be researching and developing a secure login feature that will

allow our client peace of mind that the data will be stored securely.

A dependency is the server located onsite at the main office of the client If the server is

not able to host the software application then we will need to research a backup hosting solution

for the application. The client does have a cloud based Google server that is currently being used

for another web application. This makes this cloud based server the second choice for

deployment of our application with the clients and IT administrator’s permission. Otherwise the

application will need to be hosted to a web server and the client will need to be provided a

weblink to the application.

Another dependency that the application has is that the development of the software goes

forward without delays. If the software development experiences extensive delays it could lead

to the application being delivered to the client in a late or incomplete state. This outcome is

something that our team will strive to prevent from happening, however if this outcome does

happen we will make arrangements to complete the application by another future deadline.

Final Deliverables

The final deliverables for this project are to provide the client, Signal Service Inc with a

functional web application that can be used to keep track of their device inventory. This

application should have all three of the following features fully implemented. The first feature is

to view, edit and remove data about the devices for the organization. The second feature is a

secure login system to access the devices. The last major feature is to provide an option to save

notes to describe issues about devices.

 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 13

The web application will be deployed on their local server with local access. If the client

would like to have offsite access then we will discuss this feature with the client’s IT department

before deployment. If the application needs to have off site access our team will work together

with Signal Service Inc to make sure that the application can be accessed in a secure way over

the web.

A document will be distributed to the client that describes how to use the software

application. This user guide document will detail all of the different features and provide

instructions on how to use each feature of the application.

Usability Testing/Evaluation

Our usability testing will be done during our biweekly meetings with the client using a

concurrent think aloud technique. This will allow us to take notes on what the client likes about

the application and what the client would like us to change during development. The topics of

the concurrent think aloud meetings will depend on what features have been added to the current

build of the application during the review meeting. The main focus of the topics will be the

layout of the UI as well as any graphical or functionality requests from the client. These changes

will then be discussed to see if they can be completed within the timeframe of our budgeted time.

If there are requests that cannot be completed within the development timeframe our team will

discuss making arrangements to develop the application further for the client after October 18th,

2019. By providing the client access to prototypes of the software application that they can

provide feedback on during development our team can actively make changes to the software to

align more with what our client would like from the application. This biweekly review meeting

schedule will continue until the main application features are completed and tested.
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 14

The application will then be provided to the client for a final review before the

application is deployed. This review will include one more concurrent think aloud meeting

followed by another meeting with a retrospective probe questionnaire. This questionnaire will

include questions about how the application functions and how the application meets the clients

expectations. See Appendix C for the topics of the concurrent think aloud meeting questions and

see Appendix D for the rough draft of the questions for the retrospective probe questionnaire that

will be asked of the client after they have used the application.

Another evaluation method we could use is a concurrent probing technique followed by a

retrospective think aloud technique during each biweekly meeting with the client. This would

allow for a more directed review of the application during the meeting as there could be more

direct questions during the review of the application. Following up with asking what the client

thought of the application after using the application will allow the client to provide feedback

with what they think works and does not work with the application. See Appendix E for more

details on usability testing techniques.

Another method we could use is providing a demonstration of the current application

during the biweekly meetings. This will allow our team to present the current features that are

available and show how each option is presented within the application while the client asks

questions and makes comments during the demonstration. This method would be inefficient

during with our development technique as it could cause feedback from the client to be lost. The

client could also approve of the design of the application and then later find it difficult to

navigate after using the software themselves.

Team Members
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 15

There are two team members working on this application project, Sean Figel and Dennis

Tang. Sean is the team leader and his responsibility is to conduct the biweekly meeting with the

client along with being the project manager. As the project manager it is Sean’s responsibility to

make sure that the project is progressing towards completion. In order to do this Sean will

manage the project milestones and tasks within GitHub. There will also be a weekly team update

to evaluate which tasks are being worked on and which tasks are next in line to be completed.

Sean is also responsible for the majority of the documentation for the project. This will include

any user guides for the application to provide to the client upon deployment. Sean will also work

to develop and test features for the application alongside Dennis.

Dennis is the lead developer for the software of the application. His main focus will be

completing tasks for development of the application. This will include tasks like UI

development, backend development, and feature testing. Dennis will be responsible in requesting

assistance from Sean if he is having difficulty completing a task. Tasks will be described within

GitHub and team members will mark that the task either completed or being worked on. This

will allow Sean and Dennis to work through each task towards a milestone without working on

the same task.

 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 16

References

REFERENCE 1: https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/brightpearl/

REFERENCE 2: http://www.netsuite.com/portal/home.shtml

REFERENCE 3: https://www.brightpearl.com/expertise/customer-stories/vesternet

REFERENCE 4: https://linchpinseo.com/the-agile-method/

REFERENCE 5: https://www.scrum.org/about
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 17

Appendex

Appendix A

8/26 Work Begins 9/18 Test User Database

8/28 Requirements Stage 9/22 Develop User Login Feature

8/30 Confirm that the local server at 9/25 Meet with Client to provide an

client’s site can host web server update on project

application

9/5 Learn Ruby and Rails 9/30 Develop feature to store notes

attached to each device entry

9/10 Develop UI 10/6 Final Testing and Bug correction

9/12 Develop Device Database Schema 10/7 Install server application at client

site

9/14 Test Device Database 10/8 Client Testing Begins

 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 18

9/16 Develop User Database Schema 10/11 Meet with client for project review

Appendix B

● Mapping

○ Define the features of the project and confirm features with the client that they

would like to have added to the project.

○ Confirm that the server located at the client’s site is capable of hosting the project

application.

● Developing

○ Device database

■ This milestone will be completed once the database for the devices has

been developed. This includes UI development.

■ Device note feature

■ This milestone will be completed once the database for the notes has been

developed. UI development is included within this milestone.

○ User login

■ The milestone will be complete once the database has been developed and

the UI has been developed for the login of the users.

○ Note feature

■ The development of the feature to add notes to the devices. There will

need to be a UI for where the user will enter these notes.

● Testing
 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 19

○ Test driven development during the development process followed by the client

using the software once a stable version is available.

● Client Approval

○ Confirm with the client that the project has been developed to their satisfaction.

● Launch

○ Deploy the application for the client to use.

○ Provide the client with post deployment questionnaire

○ Receive the completed post deployment questionnaire

Appendix C

The topics will be tasks that the client will be requested to perform using the application during

the review meeting of the application. Depending on the feature that is currently available the

tasks will be one or more of the following.

● Create a new device

● Edit an existing device

● Delete an existing device

● Create a note for a device

● Edit an existing note

● Remove a note from a device

● Login to the application

● Logout of the application

 Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 20

During the performance of these tasks the client will be asked to describe what they like about

the current iteration of the application and what they dislike about the application. During the

task if any difficulties to complete the task arise then these will be noted and corrected before the

next review meeting.

Appendix D

This is a list of questions that will be requested of the client to answer once the application has

been deployed to the client. These are the initial questions and more could be added in the future.

● How is the application working for your organization?

● Does the application meet your expectations? If no explain how the application can be

improved to meet expectations.

● Is there any difficulty with using the application? If yes, please describe the process that

is difficult to complete.

● Is there any additional features that you would like to have added to the application?

● Is there any graphical changes you would like to have done to the application?

● Are there any other additional comments about the application?

Appendix E

Website explaining different techniques for usability testing.

https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/running-usability-tests.html
Organization Device Tracker Capstone Proposal 21