MGS351 Team Project
Teams will consist of at most 5 members who will work together to create a small, but fully functional information system using Microsoft Access and Salesforce. Each group will take on the role of a team of external consultants for this project. Your team needs to find a situation, problem or opportunity in a real world business or organization, to use as a basis for the project. At least one of your group members should have first hand experience with the business/organization. Being a current or former employee would qualify as "first hand experience". Being a customer of a company does NOT qualify as "first hand experience". The team member with the first hand experience should be a business expert and understand the business rules of the company. You are not allowed to base your project on a fictitious company or fictitious situation. In general, the project requires you to design and build objects, page layouts, views, reports, apps, and automation appropriate for users who are not familiar with Salesforce. The end result will be a well designed, user friendly information system that creates business value for the organization you selected. If you cannot identify the business value in your project, you will need to choose a different project idea.
Selecting a good project idea is critical to your success in this assignment. The best ideas come from places and things you're familiar with such as work, volunteering, hobbies, religious organizations, clubs and school. You should pick something you're familiar with because you're already a "business expert" in that area. If you're a "business expert", you will already have a good understanding of the business rules which will make the design a lot easier. Choosing something that you or a team member is familiar with will make all the difference when it comes to designing and building the system.
You are not permitted to build a Sales Order or Order Entry system. I would not recommend choosing an Inventory or Scheduling system since they tend to be quite complex. Please set up a meeting with me if you need some suggestions for your project.
Project Proposal & Preliminary Design (5 points)
Submit proposal to UBLearns prior to scheduled lab the week of 3/4
Deliverables - all of the following must be included or it will not be accepted for grading and you will be penalized for a late submission.
Your Project Proposal submission should contain these four parts, compiled together as single pdf file in the following order.
- Cover Page with team member names and email addresses. Name should be listed in alphabetical order.
- Members Report from the Team Information Database.
- 2-3 page narrative describing the information system your group proposes to design and implement.
- Entity Relationship Diagram of the proposed system.
Detailed Requirements
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At minimum, the writeup should be in paragraph format and include the following content:
- Overview of company/organization/person you are building the information system for and a general description of the proposed system.
- Identification of the business expert in your group and their current or past relationship with the organization you are building the system for.
- Proof of how this information system will create business value for the organization. Sharing examples or stories of the current shortcomings is a great way to illustrate this. If no business value is derived from your proposed system, then you need to consider another idea for your project.
- Description of any specific business problems you are trying to solve or opportunities you are trying to take advantage of.
- Purpose of the system you selected, the functions this system will be expected to perform and the users of this system. In other words, why are you building this system, what is it specifically going to do, and who is going to use it?
- Additionally, you must prepare an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) which reflects the design of your proposed system. All of the relationships on the diagram must be simplified to a 1:M relationship by applying the relational database design rules discussed in class. Refer to the Database Design notes for help on simplifying 1:1, 1:M and M:N relationships.
- Once the relationships are simplified, the ERD should have a minimum of 3 entities. This will result in a minimum of 3 tables in your final database system. You will need to expand the scope of your system if there are fewer than 3 entities.
- Each entity must be labeled with a descriptive name. You should clearly list the attributes and the key attribute(s) of the entity. The key attributes must be bolded or underlined and the foreign key attributes must be included with the proper entities.
- The writeup must be typed and the ERD must be computer generated using MS Word or another tool (hand drawn ERDs will not be accepted).
Microsoft Access Prototype (40 points)
Submit Access database and writeup to UBLearns prior to scheduled lab the week of 4/8
Deliverables
- User friendly Microsoft Access database system
- A brief writeup in paragraph format outlining future enhancements, implemented features above and beyond the base requirements and any parameters that should be used for running reports. You must also include a printout of each report from your database system. Along with each report, you need to include a paragraph or two that describes how each report will be used in the business and what business value is derived from the report. A printout of the Access database relationships must also be included in your writeup. A cover page with team member names (listed alphabetically) and email addresses should also be included.
- 6-8 minute group presentation and demonstration of your database in recitation
- Peer Evaluation submitted by each group member
Detailed Database Requirements
- Based on your approved ER diagram and design, develop the tables and necessary fields. You will also need to assign the appropriate primary keys, set the relationships between the tables in the Relationships window, select appropriate data types, lengths and other properties (i.e. Input masks, validation rules). Sample data must be entered into the tables. The main tables should have at least 10 records of sample data while other periphery tables may contain as few as 3 records. The important thing to keep in mind is to have enough data to make the reports realistic.
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Create user-friendly input forms that follow good user interface design and allow the end user to add, delete, update and search for records related to all of your tables. You may optionally include advanced controls such as radio buttons, option groups, and dropdown lists. You must use at least one subform or linked form in your entire system and Command Buttons are required to Add, Delete, Find, Print a record and Close the form where appropriate. I would also suggest using AutoLookup to enhance your forms where appropriate in your system. Many projects don't have a design conducive to using AutoLookup, so this is not a requirement for the project, just a suggestion.
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You are required to build at least 5 useful reports for your system. Two of the reports must be a grouped or summary report. Make sure that the report headings and labels are named appropriately. Also, the report columns must be sized appropriately so that all of the report data is visible.
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Create a Main menu (and submenus if needed) that will open up automatically when your database starts. The menus should contain buttons to open up each of your forms and reports. You will also need to include a Help button and Exit button on your Main Menu.
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Part of your grade will be based on how the entire system looks aesthetically. Remember to make the reports, forms and menus neat and professional. Your entire system should have a consistent look and feel. You will be penalized for controls that aren't lined up, labels on forms and reports that aren't well named, columns on reports that are too narrow, reports widths that are too wide, report titles that are poor, and use of multiple report or form styles and formats.
Prototype Writeup Requirements
- Your Prototype Writeup submission should contain these four parts, compiled together as single pdf file in the following order.
- Cover Page with team member names and email addresses. Name should be listed in alphabetical order.
- Prototype Writeup in paragraph format which includes a:
- List of future enhancement ideas for your database
- Summary of any features above and beyond the base project requirements
- List of any parameter values that should be used when running the reports
- Printout of each Report and a Corresponding Description
- Printout of Database Relationships from Access
Detailed Team Presentation Requirements
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Your group presentation and database demonstration will be done as a group in recitation. The presentation should be about 6-8 minutes in length and everyone in the group must participate.
- You should pretend your group has been hired as external consultants by the company you chose to create an information system for. Therefore, the presentation should be treated as a project update to your client. The audience you are presenting to (the class) are primarily non-technical managers that are interested in how your product will help their business. The demonstration should focus on examples of how the database will be used in the organization. Convince them why they should buy it.
- Additional Presentation Structure and Etiquette details should be reviewed and followed.
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Late projects will be penalized at a rate of 5 points per day late.
Salesforce Project Implementation, Presentation & Demonstration (30 points)
Submit writeup to UBLearns prior to scheduled lab the last week of classes
Deliverables
- User friendly Salesforce App
- A brief writeup in paragraph format outlining future enhancements, comparing the pros and cons of Access and Salesforce, and ultimately, recommending one of the platforms to the client based on your analysis. You must also include a printout of each report from your information system. Along with each report, you need to include a paragraph or two that describes how each report will be used in the business and what business value is derived from the report. A printout or screenshot of the Salesforce database relationships (Schema Builder) must also be included in your writeup. A cover page with team member names (listed alphabetically) and email addresses should also be included.
- Project website which includes a link to Salesforce login - login.salesforce.com
- 4-6 minute group presentation and demonstration of your Salesforce App in recitation
- Peer Evaluation submitted by each group member
Detailed Salesforce App Requirements
- Based on your Microsoft Access prototype and your approved ER diagram and design, develop the objects and necessary fields. You will also need to set the relationships between the objects, select appropriate data types, lengths and other properties (e.g. validation rules, description, help text). Sample data must be entered into the objects. The main objects should have at least 10 records of sample data while other periphery objects may contain as few as 3 records. The important thing to keep in mind is to have enough data to make the reports realistic.
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Create user-friendly page layouts that follow good user interface design and allow the end user to interact with records related to all of your objects. You are required to also include at least one related list.
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You are required to build at least 5 useful reports for your system. Two of the reports must be grouped and/or summarized. One of the reports should include a chart. Make sure that the report headings and labels are named appropriately. Also, the report columns must be sized appropriately so that all of the report data is visible.
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Create a Dashboard that highlights important information for the organization.
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Part of your grade will be based on how the entire system looks aesthetically. Remember to make the reports, page layouts and dashboards neat and professional. Your entire system should have a consistent look and feel. You will be penalized for controls that aren't lined up, labels that aren't well named, columns on reports that are too narrow, report titles that are poor, and use of multiple report or form styles and formats.
Final Writeup Requirements
- Your Project Writeup submission should contain these four parts, compiled together as single pdf file in the following order.
- Cover Page with team member names and email addresses. Name should be listed in alphabetical order.
- Final Project Writeup in paragraph format which includes a:
- List of future enhancement ideas for your Salesforce App
- Analysis and comparison of MS Access and Salesforce and a recommendation of one of the platforms based on your analysis.
- Printout of each Report and a Corresponding Description
- Printout of Database Relationships from Salesforce Schema Builder
Detailed Project Website Requirements
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You are required to build a project website for your consulting company which must contain the following elements in order to receive full credit for it.
- Each of your group members name in alphabetical order.
- When a member's name is clicked, it should open up an email message to that address.
- A link to the Salesforce login page - login.salesforce.com
- If you're using a PowerPoint presentation for your team project presentation, a link to the presentation must be included so it can be downloaded from the website.
- A paragraph or two about your project.
Detailed Team Presentation Requirements
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Your group presentation and demonstration of your recommended solution (Access or Salesforce) will be done as a group in recitation during the last week of classes. The presentation should be about 4-6 minutes in length and everyone in the group must participate.
- Your group has been hired as external consultants by the company you chose to create an information system for. Therefore, the presentation should be treated as a persuasive sales presentation where you are trying to sell your newly developed product to the company. The audience you are presenting to (the class) are primarily non-technical managers that are interested in how your product will help their business. The demonstration should focus on examples of how your proposed solution will be used in the organization. Convince them why they should buy it.
- Additional Presentation Structure and Etiquette details should be reviewed and followed.
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You will need to submit the project writeup to UBLearns prior to the start of your scheduled recitation during the last week of classes. Late projects will be penalized at a rate of 5 points per day late.