Computer Asset

Management System

Project FeasibilityCS 410, Fall 2005 Semester

October 20, 2005

ToldeamG

CS 410

2

ToldeamG

CS 410

Agenda

• Speakers

• Problem Statement

• Proposed Solution

• What We Are Not Doing

• Hardware Components

• Software Components

• Market Analysis

• Schedule

• Cost

• Risks & Issues

• Conclusion

3

ToldeamG

CS 410

Speakers

• Gold Team:– Keith Mulkey – Project Overview

– Joe Kane – Hardware

– Sergei Yemelianoff – Software

– John Gedville – Market Analysis

– Keith Mulkey – Wrap up

4

ToldeamG

CS 410

Problem Statement

Network Administrators and Corporate Asset managers in large organizations spend numerous hours each year tracking and locating computer hardware assets.

5

ToldeamG

CS 410

Proposed Solution

A turn-key computer asset management and inventory system based on RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag technologies integrated with a specialized database management system.

6

ToldeamG

CS 410

What We Are Not Doing

We are not re-inventing the RFID based inventory management systems already available and used by the Department of Defense and corporate giants such as Wal Mart.

7

ToldeamG

CS 410

Hardware Components

• RFID Tags– Passive or Active – Four frequency ranges– Re-writeable or write once

• RFID Scanner– Types of readers: Fixed and Mobile– PC card and compact flash– Wireless LAN with 802.11G or other

wireless technology

8

ToldeamG

CS 410Hardware Components of the

Computer Asset Manager System

RFID Tag PDA

Computer

RFID Scanner

9

ToldeamG

CS 410

Software Components

• RFID Application Program Interface– Every manufacturer provides its own API– Communicates with a PC via TCP/IP socket

or COM port

• Client – Server paradigm– Connect PDA to remote server PC– Server PC communicates with a database

engine

10

ToldeamG

CS 410

Software Components

• Database Engine– Independent database server– Software provides initial script of DB

creation

• Development Platform & SDKs– J2SE & J2ME– JAVA APIs: java.com.*, java.net.*,

sun.jdbc.*

11

ToldeamG

CS 410

Market Analysis

• Straw poll survey indicates 72% of those surveyed indicated an interest in such a product

• Very large potential market: computer repair facilities such as the Geek Squad®– Nearly 7,000 agents– Plans to open 20-50 stand-alone stores by

the end of 2006

12

ToldeamG

CS 410

ScheduleID Task Name Start Finish

Nov 2005Oct 2005 Dec 2005

11/2710/9 12/411/1310/16 11/2010/2310/2 11/610/30 12/11

1 10/20/200510/20/2005Presentation II (Feasibility

6 11/17/200511/17/2005Presentation III

8 11/29/200511/29/2005Preliminary Web Page Due

9 12/13/200512/13/2005Presentation IV

10 12/13/200512/13/2005Final Web Page Due

11 12/13/200512/13/2005SBIR Proposal Due

2 11/11/200510/24/2005Requirements Analysis

23 4/5/20064/5/2006Project Completion

Jan 2006 Feb 2006

12/18 12/25 1/1 1/8 1/15 1/22 1/29

Mar 2006

2/5 2/12 2/19 2/26 3/5 3/12 3/19 3/26

Apr 2006

4/2 4/9

May 2006

4/16 4/23 4/30 5/7

22 4/5/20063/31/2006Acceptance Test

19 3/31/20063/20/2006Integration Test

11/11/200511/7/2005RFID Hardware Selection3

4 11/28/200511/14/2005Client Side Software Design

5 12/12/200511/21/2005Server Side Software Design

14 2/13/20061/23/2006Client Side Software Develop

16 3/20/20062/13/2006Server Side Software Develop

12 1/23/20061/9/2006Simulation Software Develop

13 1/23/20061/16/2006Simulation Software Functional Test

15 2/13/20061/30/2006Client Side Software Functional Test

17 3/20/20062/20/2006Server Side Functional Test

18 3/20/20062/20/2006Integration Test Plan & Procedures

21 3/31/20063/6/2006Acceptance Test Plan & Procedures

20 3/31/20062/20/2006User Documentation

7 12/13/200510/24/2005Web Page Development

13

ToldeamG

CS 410

Estimated Development CostLabor: Rate Hours Cost

Joe 19.00$ 440 8,360$

John 19.00$ 440 8,360$

Keith 40.00$ 440 17,600$

Sergei 19.00$ 440 8,360$

Hardware: Price Quantity Cost

RFID tags 2.00$ 4 8$

RFID scanner 400.00$ 1 400$

PDA 200.00$ 1 200$

Software Price Quantity Cost

RFID SDK -$ 1 -$

Java DE -$ 1 -$

Total Labor 42,680.00$

Total Hardware 608.00$

Total Software -$ Total Cost 43,288.00$

14

ToldeamG

CS 410

Risks & Issues

Risks:

• Most obvious risk is questionable market

• Meeting development schedule given other demands on team members’ time

Issues

• Management challenge with respect to diverse schedules of team members

15

ToldeamG

CS 410

Conclusion

• Market is questionable mainly due to already existing products.

• Overall however:– This system would be of great benefit to

organizations that track a great many computer assets.

– Project is technically feasible– Costs are within the budget of our group– Development schedule is achievable in CS410/411– Our team has the expertise to complete the project.– The potential benefits outweigh the risks