Over the years Alvarado Street Bakery have been relying on a manual system to manage its business operations. The main activities carried out by Alvarado include production of bagels and organic whole grain breads which are all certified. The manual system has brought about numerous challenges that has reduce the competitiveness of the business in the industry. Additionally, the company faces numerous internal challenges including data duplication, data entry errors and inconsistency, and increased operation cost. There is inconsistent flow of information within the business and as such the process of making critical decisions is delayed affecting the overall business productivity.
The customers are getting bored because of the long queues when they are being served and a lot of time spent by the employees while processing their orders. For Alvarado to effectively solve these problems, it is necessary to deploy an information system that will be able to automate the processes and manage all the operation in order to increase productivity and revenue. Also, the information system should provide the customers with a user-friendly interface to allow them to make orders online. This paper seeks to discuss the system architecture of the proposed system, deployment environment, user interface design concepts, security threats and their mitigation strategies, and approach of implementing, testing, and deploying the information system.
System Architecture
The proposed system will be a web application; thus, it will rely on a web architecture which facilitates communication between the various application components. The web application will have two major structural components server side and client side (Yaskevich, 2017). The client side is the platform that will allow the different users to interact with the system, that is, the user interface. It should be user-friendly and easy to use and represent the functionalities of the web application the that the users will associate with.
This component will be developed using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS3 which supports the different browsers independent of the operating system the user is using. The server side is where the data is store and processes user requests. The server side is sometimes referred to as the backend. The server side will be build using Ruby on Rails, PHP, Java, Node.js, Python, or .NET development environment (Williams, 2018). The figure below shows a high-level system architecture for the Alvarado Street Bakery:
Figure 1: High Level System Architecture
On the client side or presentation layer, which are basically the browser, allows the users to view the data and issue requests. Basically, the views are displayed in HTML format. The server side contains business/domain layer and data layer. The business layer contains the business workflow, business components, and business entities. The data layer contains data helpers and utilities, data access components, and service agents.
The domain layer is used as an interface to link the presentation layer and the data layer and allow the user to write to and retrieve from the data layer. This architecture best reresents the operations for the proposed Alvarado web application. At the persistence layer, their will be SQL 2012, AppFabric, cache, service layer, customer service which are connected to the service agents.
The system will be deployed in a cloud environment because it will increase efficiency, enhance cashflows, and revenue management. Additionally, the cloud environment is flexible enough to address the fluctuating and growing needs of the business, better backup and disaster recover strategies, automated software updates, increased collaborations, and work flexibility to allow the employees to work from anywhere. Furthermore, there is improved document control, better security, and bring competitive advantage to the business.
User Interface Design
Storyboards
Story boards gives a description of how the system works in form of a story. The proposed web application will allow customers to make orders online. The figures below give a flow of activities of how the customer makes an order:
User Interface Design Concepts
When designing a user interface, it is important to focus on what the users will be doing and making sure that the interface has user-friendly, simple and easy to use, and easy to understand features to enable them carry out their tasks. User interface design combines visual design, interaction design, and information architecture concepts (Morville, 2015). When designing the Alvarado Street Bakery web application, it is crucial to maintain consistent in all the designs. Some examples of interface elements include navigation components, container/accordion, input controls and informational components. Some of the best practices employed in designing the interface include:
Simplicity: users rarely see the best interfaces because they are kept simple. It is important to avoid adding unnecessary features to the interface and use simple language that can easily interpreted by the users (Wong, 2018). Adopt the use of in-messaging and labels.
Consistency: users find it easier and more comfortable when using a user interface that has common elements. In addition, there can do the tasks more quickly. To achieve this, it is crucial to develop patterns in design, layout, and language on the entire web application to enhance efficiency.
Color and texture: users’ attention can be directed to towards or away from the content depending on the choice of color, texture, contrast, and light (Shevchenko, 2017). As such, it is vital to use colors and texts elements strategically and put emphasize where necessary.
Notification: when building an application, it is important to ensure that users are notified of what is happening on the website (Showalter, 2018). The system should communicate the errors, location, changes in state, and actions of the processes they are carrying out. The user interface should be able to guide the user to achieving a goal.
Moreover, it is important to consider the defaults by anticipating and thinking about the objective users seek to achieve by interacting with the web application (Shim, 2013). This is particularly important to form properties where some fields can be filled out automatically or are pre-chosen.
Security Threats and Mitigation strategies
The increasing dependence on technology and especially the internet has led to the rise of cyber crimes that is increasing and evolving every day. Therefore, Alvarado Street Bakery should be aware of the different security threats that are likely to affect the system and devise mitigation strategies to ensure that they are prevented.
Security Concerns
Phishing attacks: since the web application will be accessible online, attackers will find to it easy to send phishing emails to the affected users tricking the to provide their sensitive information such as bank details, usernames, and password (Dascalescu,2018). Cyber criminals may use these details to conduct data breaches. Users may not suspect such mails because they appear trustworthy and tricks the user to click on a particular link then redirected to a malicious site.
Insider threat: this are threats that are within the business and are orchestrated by employees either intentionally or unintentionally through phishing attack. Many at times, insider threats are hard to detect.
Denial of Service attacks: sometimes cyber criminals may wat to cause service unavailability by redirecting heavy traffic to the website which may be more that it can actually handle. This results in service unavailability to legitimate users which causes system downtime and eventually loses in revenue (Judin, 2015).
Malware attacks: a malware is a malicious program that is harmful to the information system. It will collect sensitive information and send them to the hackers. Examples include Petya, WannaCry, trojans, viruses, and backdoors (Ramil, 2018).
Weak Credentials: hackers may use a fake website that appears to be legitimate to gather user credentials. As such, when login credentials fall into the wrong hands, sensitive data may be lost or compromised. Also, employees may use password combinations that are easy to guess such as names, date of birth, and other personal details which hackers find it easy to guess (Kurchina, 2018).
Mitigation Strategies
In order to address and mitigate the identified security issues, Alvarado can adopt the following strategies:
Create password policy: the policy should the minimum acceptable standards and password guidelines that requires the users use a combination of text, special characters, and numbers in their password to make it more difficult for hackers to guess (Hajela, 2016). This will reduce the possibilities of unauthorize access into the system.
Keep the system up to date and patched: patching and regularly updating the system enhances its security. Updates and fixes are performed to address the security loopholes that may cause the system to be vulnerable.
Install Anti-viruses and anti-malware programs: malware programs often lead to theft of identity, loss of data, fraud, and slow computer performance. It is crucial to equip the network with strong and reliable anti-malware and anti-virus applications to prevent any malware from infecting the network or the computers.
Firewall: implementing a commercial grade firewall controls the flow of traffic in and out of the network. The firewall will block all the malicious and unwanted traffic from getting into the network (Joshi, Shrivastava & Joshi, 2016). Firewalls enables setting up rules that dictates which type of applications are allowed to access the public network and notifies when unauthorized application tries to access the network.
Other strategies that can be implemented to mitigate the security threats include regular training the staff on emerging security threats and how to mitigate or avoid them and implementing monitoring and intrusion detection and prevention systems (Lebron, Shahriar & Lupu, 2015). Additionally, it is important to have an off-site backup to acts as recovery strategy incase of extreme disasters.
System Deployment
Planning for System Implementation
When planning for system implementations it is important to plan to ensure successful system implementation. This entails making prior decisions on what is to be done, who to do it, and how to be done (Guinn, 2017). The first step that should be taken involves hiring a project leader to oversee the implementation process. The project leader should have expertise in system development and implementation to ensure that all the proper requirements and the set objective have been met.
Secondly, the project leader will be responsible of identifying and selecting the steering committee to assist in ensuring the success of the implementation process (Putano, 2018). This group of individuals will help in determining the priorities of business operations and how the system should be implemented. Also, the project manager and the steering committee will together choose an implementation team which will include technical experts who will be responsible for the web application development and operations (Shahriar, 2016). It is also essential to have a clearly defined project scope and develop process mapping which is a very vital step in system implementation. Process mapping gives details on the processes and components needed in the implementation stage. Lastly, is the actual web application implementation where the application is made available to users.
System testing techniques
Before complete handing over of the system to the Alvarado Street Bakery, several tests have to be carried out to ensure that the system have met all the required goals and objectives. The following tests have to be performed on the website before:
User acceptance testing: this test is carried out to test if the website has met all the usability requirements and the set user requirements (Onur, 2017). It tests if the user can easily carry out the business operations and achieve the desired results.
Use case testing: this is conducted to ensure that all the different categories of users can accomplish their specific activities and operations, that is, the customer can successfully make order, the cashier can process invoices, the sales employees can be notified of new sale and prepare them for packaging and delivery among other operations (Hellen, 2017).
Checklist test: this test is the kind of test where the system is tested against a checklist of all the functionalities that the system should meet. Other tests include exploratory testing, experienced based testing, user journey testing, and risk-based testing.
System Deployment
According to Prachi (2014), in order to have a successful deployment process it is necessary to have the following:
Conclusion
A web application system architecture will have two major structural components server side and client side. The client side is the platform that will allow the different users to interact with the system, that is, the user interface. It should be user-friendly and easy to use and represent the functionalities of the web application the that the users will associate with. Additionally, it is important to focus on what the users will be doing and making sure that the interface has user-friendly, simple and easy to use, and easy to understand features to enable them carry out their tasks. User interface design combines visual design, interaction design, and information architecture concepts. Performing system test is very important to make sure that all the requirements have been met.
References
Dascalescu, A. (2018). 10+ Critical Corporate Cyber Security Risks – A Data Driven List [Update 2018]. Retrieved from https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/10-critical-corporate-cyber-security-risks-a-data-driven-list/
Guinn, J. (2017). 5 Critical Steps for Your Software Implementation Plan.
Hellen, Z. (2017). Software Testing Methods – Software Testing Fundamentals.
Joshi, B., Shrivastava, M., & Joshi, B. (2016). Security threats and their mitigation in infrastructure as a service. Perspectives In Science, 8, 462-464. doi: 10.1016/j.pisc.2016.05.001
Judin, A. (2015). Types of Computer Security Threats and.
Kurchina, P. (2018). The Five Most Common Cybersecurity Risks – And How To Fight Back.
Lebron, D., Shahriar, H., & Lupu, R. (2015). Security concerns and mitigation approaches for MOOC-based applications. 2015 10Th International Conference For Internet Technology And Secured Transactions (ICITST). doi: 10.1109/icitst.2015.7412075
Morville, P. (2015). User Interface Design Basics |
Onur, T. (2017). 8 Important Software Testing Techniques.
Prachi, J. (2014). Planning for System Implementation.
Putano, B. (2018). 8 Best Practices for Agile Software Deployment.
Ramil, D. (2018). Common types of cybersecurity threats.
Shahriar, H. (2016). System Implementation – SEBoK.
Shevchenko, L. (2017). 7 Best Practices in User Interface Design – Digital Signage, Touchscreen Applications, and Wayfinding.
Shim, W. (2013). User Interface Design – 12 Useful Techniques.
Showalter, J. (2018). User Interface Design – Some Of The Best Practices To Keep In Mind – Visual Hierarchy Blog. Retrieved from https://visualhierarchy.co/blog/user-interface-design-best-practices/
Williams, E. (2018). Quick Way to Understand Software Deployment Process.
Wong, E. (2018). User Interface Design Guidelines: 10 Rules of Thumb.
Yaskevich, A. (2017). Web application architecture: Components, models and types.
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