Costanza, Case Study Example

Primary activities of the organization

Costanza Architectural design is a small business focused upon the provision of design and consulting services. The 4 architects work mainly remote from their office.

Computing activities Adversely impacted by the current system

The main issues resided with the limitations of the existing system and their inability to facilitate the Architects working remotely. This was particularly in the area of printing services, inadequate communications preventing access to data / information and the inability to transmit this. The existing system had limitations on access and only permitted two users at a time to access the system. The architects were improvising by copying data onto disks or USB drives but they had no means of recovery whilst on the road.

Applications costanza is currently running

The current application is based upon a home based server that is connected to laser printer and colour dot matrix printers. Each of the Architects was provided with laptops and modems running under Windows 98 and a printer.

The illustration to the right illustrates the initial basic system configuration.

Current data rate of transition for costanza

In the early system the central server did not have the capability to transmit data to the remote PC’s. Instead the Architects copied the files they needed onto the laptops, for remote use. Once in the field there was no way to retrieve it. As such data transmission rates are not applicable here

New proposed data rate

Data and transmission rates in the new systems configuration have not been supplied; as part of the new configuration details as provided by Kramer communications.

Proposed office network

The proposed office network comprised the following features:

• 100 Base T Ethernet network, utilizing a 16 port Ethernet switch
• All devices connected by Type 6 UTP cable
• Install 10/100/1000 in each of the PC’s
• Upgrade the PC’s / Laptops to Windows 2000 professional
• Install Windows 2000 Server ( file, print and remote access)
• Laser Printer and other printers attached to Ethernet network
• Replace dial up internet access with high speed ADSL service, thereby allowing multi access to the internet service
• Install remote access service on laptops so the Architects can transfer data whist travelling

Reason for upgrading the network.

Mr. Constanza identified a number of reasons supporting his decision in order to upgrade the network:-

• Poor network capacity and lack of functionality
• Limited access to printers
• Inability to transfer data whilst working remotely
• Poor internal processes governed by the existing computer systems
• Limited internet access availability

Technology service provision to the users.

The main technology service provision to the users would be provided by a Windows 2000 server This offered file, print, mail and remote services to all of the users. In addition the server was upgraded to have increased storage capacity and this facilitated better communications facilities on the network. The implementation was a success and resulted in an increase in design contract awards for the company.

Information Technology has become the life-blood of virtually every organization. Most large business operations contain Data Centre’s of expensive computer and communication systems (hardware) and important client information and programs (software). Together they provide the central back-bone of the organization and as such any threat to these systems can be extremely disruptive and costly to the business. This provides a future network issue that the firm will need to address in the next development cycle of the business:

• Internet Security Software / Firewalls
• Anti-virus protection software
• Password and security protocols.