COMDDAP Experience

The Computer Manufacturer Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines, also known as COMDDAP, have held an event where there will be exhibits, seminars and demonstrations of their many products, which are computer-related stuffs i.e. systems, motherboards, graphic cards, laptops, flat-screen LCDs, etc. The even was held at the Apo View Hotel, Grand Ballroom, Davao City. I, together with my classmates, attended the event on July 2, 2009 during the afternoon session. There was a registration desk right outside the hotel’s ballroom and many people, with business or business-related affiliation crowded at the desk where they have to register and fill out some forms before proceeding inside. We, as students, were only just given a sticker stating that we were student guests and did not need to fill any forms or enter any kind of procedures so we immediately went in.

The Grand Ballroom of the Apo View Hotel was filled with lots of booths showcasing many different kinds of products ranging from hardware such as hard disks and LCD monitors to software systems. The Ballroom had an atmosphere of professionalism and had an air of business intended affairs. The mood was not very welcoming to us, students (especially so because we do not possess the necessity to become potential sources of income), but even so we were accommodated appropriately. Upon our entrance, we have little time to sightsee the entire room since it was time for the seminar which was our main intention upon the event. The seminar was called Technology Update Seminar and it was held at a room inside the Grand Ballroom. Although the room was quite small from what I expected (especially since I expected there will be many businessmen, professionals, professors as well as students that will attend), it was still enough to contain all the excited spectators that afternoon. The audience in that time was mostly composed of students that came from our university with a few businessmen and professionals. After ensuring that there will be no more (or at least many more) visitors to come, they had started the seminar with minor delays. I did not want to listen carefully all through out his discussion since I was not interested at first.

At first, I thought that the things they will show and discuss during the seminar was about new Technologies and related stuffs because it was named “Technology Update” Seminar. So I thought that we would be updated with new technologies from various companies. I was expecting things like “new” data storage media or new innovated technologies. However, right at the start, it was like product showcase as the first speaker introduced their product and discussed its details. The first speaker was from the company called “Jupiter” and his name was Mr. Celster Santos, their Sales and Marketing head. He was a proud employee of their company since it was a company that was owned and run by Filipinos only (I mean 100% pinoy company, not only owned by pinoy but also ran by pinoys). The Jupiter System Inc. is now operating twenty four (24) years and has offices in Thailand, Hongkong and China. He said that their company was among the pioneers of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. Well, that was very amazing for us students but I do not know about others. But later on as the discussion progressed, I found interest in their system, not on the system itself but the principles and ideas behind the development and design of their system. I, as an aspiring IT professional, wanted to see and discover how real systems are developed in the business world. As I started to listened intently, I made a note of every idea that came into my mind relating to my concerns.

The first discussion was about a TPS or transaction processing system. I thought that it would be too common if people were to develop TPS as it is the most common system. The name of the system was ERIC DMS. I did not quite get the meaning behind ERIC but I know it was all about Dealer Management System or more specifically on car dealership. It was introduced as complete end-to-end solution for car dealers, and I thought maybe all ends are being covered by the system like car sales, maintenance or repair, production and supply monitoring and performance evaluation for both cars and dealers. It turned out that I was right (well except for the production or manufacture of cars). It was complete in the sense that it also caters back office operations such as accounting, supply, etc. I could go on and rant about the details of the system but then it would be to long and boring to read. One of my realizations in that time is that I could never comprehend the concerns and details effectively more or equally to those that were engaged in car dealership business. Some guy at the front, an adult maybe in mid thirties (I know its rude to guess his age but I want to say that he’s that old), kept asking questions like he was concerned since he was thinking of using that system. I assumed that he was a dealer himself or a manager of a car dealership business. I tried to understand his concerns but I can’t really say I fully understand him. As matters go on and the discussion continued, I stopped looking too much into details except wondered if they have done requirement analysis and specification for their system. Well, I know it is effective and efficient since the speaker showed to us that their system is currently used by some big companies for their famous cars.

The next discussion was from the HP company introducing their new product (again with the products, is this seminar or product showcasing?). It was called HP thin and it looked like a PC compressed to fourth of the size of standard PCs. What interested me in his discussion is the application of their product. It was a scheme for networking effective when running a business that needs computer network and has a server operating. It was a very good discussion and I learned quite a few new things from it. But what made me (maybe perhaps all of us) listen was the promise of a prize reward if you answered the questions correctly after his discussion. The prizes were T-shirts and USBs. It was fun when the quiz was started and it was all chaotic since all of us desires to win the prizes. In the end, few of my classmates got it. The discussion was very rewarding (other than the prizes) since the discussion was not only intended for business but also for us students because an innovation of the networking technology was introduced. It has given us ideas and thoughts to remember.

After the last discussion, I headed out since my head was starting to feel heavy and my mind is getting fuzzy. So much for paying attention the discussion and the details, I though my mind is going blank. But what I learned from that time is worth remembering and the knowledge I obtained is worthy of appreciation. Thanks COMDDAP!

Evaluation of the Enrollment System: An Insight of a Student Enrollee

With the discussion of the details of the enrollment system in my previous blog post, I now babble what I have observed that may help in the improvement of our university’s enrollment system. Being a student of our university, I have experienced firsthand the process for the enrollment system just this semester. Among the things that I have noticed and observed, I realized that there is a great difference from your perspective as the developer (or an entity outside the system’s end users) from what the real users usually felt or experienced undergoing the process of the system.

From my previous experiences in developing systems (more specifically in my subjects Software Engineering I and II, Database Analysis and Design I, II and III, and other instances), I have always thought, though this time as a developer or analyst, very differently from what I have thought when I have finally undergone through a system that was developed recently. The thought process for the two roles, developer and user, is very apart or different. At the time I was just developing the systems, I always developed the designs as something the user will find very easy as well as satisfying in catering the expectations of the users. So the system that I (though it was always a team with my fellow classmates, not only me) developed was made with that kind of thought process. The process for transactions, procedures for handling events or cases, etc. etc. are designed thinking for the users good. But since the systems we developed is not really implemented and deployed, there were no circumstances that we get to see firsthand the reactions and effects of the system that we developed. Because that time, it was only our professors or teaching staff that gets to rate and criticize our work, the finished system or even just system proposal. Upon this, I immediately thought how great it was if the college would just try to find a way to simulate an environment where our systems would get to be implemented and used by sample population. The sample users would then create comments or criticize our works. Even if it sounds too imposing and excessive, I think it would be a good chance to learn and discover the flaws we have by just being newbie developers. I also thought that these things must be also part of the role and responsibility of the teacher in-charge of the subjects related to the development of systems since they are only the ones who can impart knowledge and information about how the development of systems would work in a real environment, not only with academic assumptions and imaginations.

Then since what I have experienced during the enrollment (now with the newly developed enrollment system), I have noticed things that may not be perceived at all by the developers or analysts. You see, for me nothing beats customer satisfaction even if it is very cheap, easy to use or “colorful”. My personal policy dictates that customer satisfaction should be placed high above else, even if it is something that is not pretty or presentable, cheap and affordable, and decorated elegantly, as long as it is something that suits to the satisfaction and need of the user, then it is better than any other else (of course, better than the lesser kind, nothing can still beat “perfection”). Back to the issue at hand, even though the new enrollment system have set the procedures organized and uniformed, it may not still be satisfactory as what the developer/s or analyst/s have thought it to be. Although it answers to the problem/s raised that lead to the development of the new enrollment system, the user is not really thinking of such things other than his/her satisfaction with regards to the performance of the system. To help understand this, I will lay out the details of some things I have experienced.

At first, the processes depicted by the new enrollment system do not greatly differ to that of the old enrollment system. It has the same initial steps and same manner of processing the transactions. What is noticeable is that upon finishing the enrollment procedure, enrollees are not required the COR (certificate of registration) at the university registrar but instead, after presenting the necessary receipts and clearance form, the registrar then gives you your COR already stamped “Officially Enrolled”. It was not like that during the previous enrollment system, the previous enrollment system had the encoders give you four copies of the COR, one copy is yours; the others are to be handed to the university bookkeeper and registrar’s office. What I thought is they really do not need much documents any more since the database is now automated and found on the server rather on the steel cabinets and book shelves. I was wrong. This time, you just have to wait at the university registrar longer than you needed to since it takes a lot of time to print new sets of CORs. Aside from that I believe that there is no significant change also found in the system software that would affect to how the transactions are processed, the efficiency of the system, and other factors. The speed to how the transactions are processed still depends on the human operation of the system.

Despite these minor changes I observed, there were cases where failures occur. These failures consist of the system software not producing the right set of information and casually show errors in computing the bills. This causes delays in the transactions leading to the dissatisfaction of the enrollees. During that time, minor delays or interruptions could mean that your time is wasted and your time for enrolling is cut off giving the possibility of being unable to finish the enrollment at that day. But the thing which I considered a major factor that time was the operation of the system involving human participation and control. Aside from the part where you have to get advised with your advisor prior to your enrollment, there are many cases which the system operation is slow and unsatisfactory. The part where you have to pay your bills at the university cashier, submit the COR to the bookkeeper and present the receipts as well as get your copy of the COR in the university registrar are the procedures which disruptions and delays occur, mostly due to human involvement. First, the university having only two cashiers handling the thousands of enrollee is just way too disproportionate. There would no way you could expect a smooth and fast handling of transactions with having just two (2) cashier to face with the floods of enrollees, according to my assumptions, that would reach the number of at least 1000 enrollees per day. Then the bookkeeper would only be one person and the registrar would also be one for each college.

From this situation, it seems the university have expected this so they have thought of a way (maybe part of the new enrollment system) to handle the flood of enrollees. They limited the number of enrollees and controlled the flow to the above mentioned offices. They posted security guards to prevent enrollees entering the CAS building (where the above mentioned offices is located) directly. Instead, they forced the enrollees to climb to the second floor of the building (which was possible from the CAS building design) and go down to the first floor where the offices where located. In this way, the line would be started from the first floor leading to the second or third floor. They thought of this scheme as a way to control the flow as well as to lessen disruptions and commotions from being too overcrowded. But having it that way means forcing the enrollees to expend more time and energy from going all the way to the second floor then back to the first floor. Most of the time, the enrollees are more confused with this strategy since the information was posted only on the first floor. So enrollees that went up to the second floor will immediately see a long line then have no idea where it will lead and why it is being made this way. There was also a tarpaulin that shows the enrollment procedures in the new enrollment system.

That were just some situations that I experienced during the recent enrollment (with the new enrollment system implemented). I suppose the developers for this system can not presume that these things will happen and directly relate to what the user/s might experience. The system itself is not bad and inadequate but moreover, it is how it operated and implemented under the conditions of the university. Otherwise, if the university could provide more service stations (IT term for areas where transaction or service are handled such as cashiers and registrars) and a suitable location good for housing many people. That way, the transaction handling would be swift and smooth lessening the chances for disruptions. It would also be better if the university have a good information system which would support enrollees as well as other people by providing complete and accurate information such as how the enrollment will proceed for enrollees and such. Including these factor may help improve the enrollment system, that I really believe.

Using your own resources inside, Is it right or what?

During the initial four (4) years stay I had in the University of Southeastern Philippines as a student, the enrollment system of the university, may it be for old or new students as well as the transferees have not been changed or improved at all. The procedures found in the enrollment system proved to be traditional yet not very efficient. I thought it was the standard procedure for the University of Southeastern Philippines or more specifically for the CHED (Commission on Higher Education). Every semester we had to enroll and every time we enroll, we experience different kinds of troubles and struggles related to the enrollment system of the university. We may have complaints and grievances yet we were satisfied with the way the enrollment goes. There were no significant reasons (at least on our side as the students who experienced the hardships of enrollment) for an action that would require the university to generally change the enrollment system. Yeah sure the enrollment processes is very slow and tough. There were lots of students getting annoyed and short-tempered, some were discouraged to enroll at the scheduled enrollment dates and decided to content themselves with late yet easy enrollment. Not only for those who enrolled or attempted to enroll but also those staff and faculty that were in-charge of the enrollment procedures experienced irritations and difficulty. Overall, the now previous and old enrollment system proved to be too traditional and old to cope up with the growing population of students or enrollees as well as the demands they carried to the service offered by the university. Though the old enrollment system also proved itself successful during those times, the university has concluded that it has now needed a new enrollment system.

So what happened to the new enrollment system? It was hastily developed and implemented, that is what happened. The whole development cycle or process for the new enrollment system was short and also untimely. Without sufficient time to gather useful data and collect the necessary information from the concerned population, the development for the new enrollment system was based on the meetings and discussions done by the involved parties. With minimal reflection to actual and substantial data, the designs for the development were put through and the development of the system was underway.

So who developed what? Astoundingly, the university decided to use resources found inside the organization to assign the responsibility for the design and development of the new enrollment system. Why astounded? The university have always (but on second thought, maybe not always) sought the services of companies or parties outside the organization to handle these matters (which from my experience, what most of the government offices or bureaus have always done, that is to seek the service of private or outside organizations). The old or past enrollment system was designed and developed by some private organization and that would always require payments to them only to maintain it. It may have proved to be too costly and the enrollment system (especially the software) was proving itself to be way too obsolete and old. The ones that developed the new enrollment system are both our college’s professors (as college I mean the Institute of Computing where I belong). At the start of the second semester, they were not yet tapped by the university to conduct the development so they were both given classes with their according subject courses to handle. I belonged to one of the classes handled by on of those teachers that were tapped by the university. But as the semester started, they were suddenly informed of the development of the new system. With that happened, their corresponding classes were left with no teacher leading to cause of alarm and little confusion. The college was forced to use its other teaching staff to substitute for both of the teachers as the only solution to this problem. Even though with that, the problem may seem to be solved. It was not in the case for us the students, because what we had started to do under the supervision of our old professor was fruitless since the new professor have forced us to change our proposals even though he adapted to the group we have formed under our professor before. Applying new teaching principles, we were left with no choice but to follow. Although it was not generally related to the development of the system involved, this was one of the cases of what may happen if an organization suddenly decided to use in-house strategy for system development, which in this case is an academic institution.

What lead the university to adapt and use in-house resources to develop the new enrollment system was primarily because of expenses. Not limited only to financial expense but also in time for development and implementation. Having the issue raised and discussed during those times, the university was open to choose using its own resources for the development. It was primarily and compellingly due to the disadvantages of outsourcing and the benefits of insourcing that made the university to tap the resources inside. But whether it was a right decision or not, there are many factors that we may consider deriving before determining it. In this case which was short of time and very abrupt, not only the operations of the university were affected but also the design and development of the system was also influenced. It may be prejudicial to state that the university chose the wrong option but it can be seen that it may only not in the right time to tap the in-house resources to commit to another responsibility despite having a prior engagement that may affect other entities. But in general occasions, in-house strategy for development of a system is highly recommendable and beneficial especially to those that possessed the capacity and adequate resources to proceed with it.

System Analysis and Design I Update

In the recent updates of our SAD proposal, I have reflected that my knowledge and skills is not yet enough, most especially in experience. I am grateful for our professor for guiding us accordingly in creating our major paper. From my experiences with our consultations, I have learned many things, especially when producing a good major paper. And as we struggle with finishing our major paper, I am gradually motivated to implement and make our integrated systems development proposal successful.

 Currently, I was forcefully assigned as the President for the class of our SAD I. Unfortunately, the burden of making our system implementable by SAD II falls on me. Now, I am trying to see if I am determined enough to lead the class to our system’s implementation. 

SDLC for Real Life

To set things clearly, my own SDLC follows:

• Retrospection or more like information gathering. My personality projects a nature that I work on things that I currently know and sure of thus making sure that the most desirable outcome will be conceived. I believe that when you act based on facts, nothing can ruin your plan, of course with every possible things added as the factor.
• Planning. Based on the fact or information gathered, I then will set my sight on an exact goal then plan on what steps and actions are necessary to achieve that goal. My planning consists of the main course of action, a plan B and a fallback plan. Based on my personality, i do not risk on things that would not conceive any good results or plans when a failure will occur. It is most beneficial that even when you fail, you have achieved much and the outcome of the failure will weigh closer to the outcome of the success.
• Executing the plan. The plan will only be most useful when you are using or following it. In my case, I am usually not strict in implementing my plans but I just make it sure that the projected outcome will still be derived.
• Success? No more like progress. In my case, I do not usually plan for a clear objective but for a goal that can never be reached so that I will continually be trying to reach that goal, never ending my progress for I believe that improvement and progress should be stopped when success is derived but only stopping when you can not go any further despite all things.