Case Study Architectural Diagram
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architectural_diagram_project_instructions.docxArchitectural Diagram Instructions
Introduction
The completed Architectural Diagram deliverable is due by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the due date shown in the Course Schedule. See the Additional Information section of the syllabus for the penalty for late or missed assignments and projects.
The Case Study is valued at 10% of the course grade.
Case Study
Company Overview
Freight Express, Inc. (FEI) is a global logistics provider that offers fully integrated freight and supply chain services through managed warehousing and domestic and international freight forwarding. Services range from door-to-door domestic and international delivery services to total supply chain management. With branches across the United States and Europe and partners worldwide, FEI continues to expand, and it has experienced rapid growth through acquisitions.
Note: The term supply chain refers to all the elements involved in bringing an organization's products from the raw-goods stage to the customer.
The Association for Operations Management (APICS) dictionary ((http://www.apics.org/Resources/APICSDictionary.htm ) defines “supply chain management (SCM)” as the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand and measuring performance globally.
The Business Challenge
FEI is competing in an environment where freight transport is as much about keeping customers informed as it is about on-time delivery. The company has adopted web-based technologies for tracking freight, differentiating its services, keeping customers informed, and ensuring the on-time delivery that is FEI's hallmark. As a result, FEI enjoys a very high level of customer satisfaction.
Its mobile workforce has rapidly increased, with drivers using PDAs to scan consignments, which are then synced in real time via GPRS links to headquarters applications that track the consignments. Customers use FEI's web services to view the progress of orders, from dispatch to warehousing to final delivery. Customers also use FEI’s web-based systems to create freight documentation and generate reports. With the EDI interface, invoices and payments are transferred directly between the customers' systems and FEI, saving both time and money.
As the company has expanded, the data flowing in the system have increased as well. Now, with more than 5,000 employees and thousands of customers worldwide, FEI is suffering from the effects of explosive growth. Demands on its wide area network (WAN) are exceeding capacity. The main data center has experienced several network outages and unscheduled downtime. The aging ISDN telephone system is failing, as the company has avoided the costly upgrades necessary to keep it operating at optimal performance. Telephone bills have increased without warning, and the voice mail system is overloaded.
The Opportunity
FEI wants to provide increased bandwidth between all 47 of its US offices and the main data center. There are three metropolitan areas that have four to eight FEI locations that need to coordinate among themselves: Chicago, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. The company desires a reliable and secure network to accommodate its planned growth as well as the unexpected.
The company does not want to spend any more on telephone services than it does today, and its goal is to upgrade the services while protecting against escalating costs from its ISDN service provider.
Efficiency and productivity goals for this rapidly growing company are of paramount importance, and there is a desire to provide capabilities and services that incorporate technology solutions to improve in those areas as well as retain the high level of customer satisfaction. FEI is also interested in reducing travel between its sites by implementing video conferencing.
In addition, FEI wants to be able to monitor and manage data and voice services, and ensure that consumption is appropriate to its business needs.
The Deliverable
For this assignment, you will use your proposed solution for the FEI requirements analysis. Briefly describe the proposed technology solution and list the business requirements (including security requirements) that are satisfied. This should be done on one (1) page. Then provide a diagram that illustrates the placement of various communications components within the context of developing an effective, efficient, security posture for the proposed solution for FEI's converged network.
Your deliverable will be a 1-page paper and an architectural diagram. If you use a program other than MS-Word to create your diagram (e.g., Visio, e-draw, etc.) you must cut and paste your diagram into the Word file so that your deliverable is one Word file only. Your deliverable will be scored according to the scoring rubric below. Be sure you have incorporated all required aspects of the assignment.
***PLEASE SEE THE SCORING RUBRIC BELOW****
Scoring Rubric
Attribute Full points Partial points No points Possible Points Points Earned
Business requirements
(including security
requirements) clearly
identified
Business requirements of
the converged network are
appropriately identified from
the proposed solution; work
demonstrates
understanding of course
concepts, analysis, and
critical thinking.
Business requirements of the proposed
solution are partially identified and/or
explained; work may be lacking in
demonstration of understanding of
course concepts, analysis, and/or
critical thinking.
Business requirements
are not included, or do
not apply to the
proposed solution.
2
Communications
components are clearly
identified
Communications
components are identified.
Communications components identified
are somewhat appropriate; they may
only partially address the business
requirements of the proposed solution.
No communications
components are
provided.3
Technology diagram
Communications
component layout is
appropriately integrated in
the architectural diagram.
Work demonstrates
understanding of course
concepts, analysis, and
critical thinking.
Communications component layout
somewhat appropriately integrated into
the architectural diagram; work may be
lacking in demonstration of
understanding of course concepts,
analysis, and/or critical thinking.
Communications
component layout is not
included in the
architectural diagram, or
is not incorporated
correctly.
3
Diagram quality
The architectural diagram is
professionally presented, is
clear, and appropriately
conveys the information.
The architectural diagram could be
clearer, and/or could be improved to
adequately convey the information.
No architectural
diagram is provided.
1
Document format
The document reflects
effective organization and
correct sentence structure,
grammar, and spelling; it is
presented in a professional
format; and any references
used are appropriately
incorporated and cited,
using APA style.
The document is not well-organized,
and/or contains grammar and/or
spelling errors; and/or it does not follow
APA style for references and citations.
The document is
extremely poorly written
and does not convey
the information.
1
