Introduction
Product management is an important stage for project management. Product management addresses all aspects related to the products modelling and support during its development. It helps to analyze how products are to be designed and what are the basic qualities required for the product. The product generally evolves from an abstract solution to a defined specification. During this process, various designers require different models of the product to help solve their problems, and analyze the performance of each model. The development of computers offers a lot of benefits to our day to day life. It has also well defined role – both academically and industrially.
Computers are essential for our daily life because a computer is a time saving device. It provides an easy method of data flow and is also capable of performing various technical tasks through the help of various soft wares installed in it. Development of computers eliminates the risks relating to data recording and other similar tasks. The system can have the ability to keep all the records in segments. The proposed system will reduce the work load of employees and also keep the record of issue and return systematically. Besides, it will offer greater security to the documents and also it is easy to search any required data without difficulty.
To check whether the developed system meets the objective of the project is examined by employing configuration management technique. Design reuse and standardization are the next step to be taken in the project for increasing the quality of the product; then only it will meet actual requirements. By adapting evolution management, the project members can make any further changes, which are suited for the situation.
Attitude of the company, lower cost of product and high market share and low product liability are the keys for making high quality products. By employing the integrity control systems, the team members can analyze how the developed system exists in the market competitions. Variant management is other important concept suited for the best modelling of the product, the functionality and design of the product, which are capable of satisfying the current market trends.
Computers are inevitable for business and academic field. In addition, it has a crucial role in the industrial market. Many of the computer manufacturing companies like IBM, Hewlett Packard, and Compaq are the leading business firms in the global market. Even though the usage of computers offers numerous benefits, the method of production is a quite complicated process. The various processing steps of computer manufacturing include assembling various hardware components and installation of needed software and finally testing of all the components together. Famous computer manufacturing companies like IBM give great care for the satisfaction of customers and always give preference to produce high quality products.
At the initial stages of computer manufacturing, a perfect planning is essential and also it should be considered whether the designed product meets the requirement of the customers. Cost effective approach of production is important for the economic success of the production in market. The designers always give consideration for quality of the products that they implement in the system. The top management of the production department is responsible for placing components based on quality and accessibility of the products. Quality control is another important step which is important in manufacturing process.
The Harwell computer or WITCH is the oldest working computer in UK. In this, electronic data storage system is used for storing the data and the development of the system brings a new hope in the technological world of UK. The design of the machine is in such a way that it provides more consistency other than speed. Earlier, computer usage was seen only in offices and it was not popular among the common people. The working of olden computers is fully based on vacuum tubes. Later, vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors and now it is completely based on IC chips and thus it became most popular.
Earlier, students were collecting data from libraries and it is a time consuming method for them. Nowadays, computers are mainly used for academic purpose because through computers students can very easily access the documents that are relevant for their studies. Computers are inevitable for business activities. The usage of computers has eliminated the complicated business tasks. Through the internet, the business partners from different part of the world can discuss about their business.
Usage of computers in business offers advantages like saving of time and energy. Usage of personal computers has increased a lot. It provides easy accessing of required data anywhere anytime. Almost all the areas of life can get benefit from computers, which also directly relates to economic success of the country. It also improves the quality of life by generating new culture, job opportunities, entertainment etc.
Aim and objectives
The aim of this project is to develop a computer system. Computer plays an important role in this world, mainly in academic and business areas. It is one of the excellent technologies to access the academic resources, which are used for different tasks. There are some difficulties while doing a work manually i.e. when writing and drawing by hand, maintenance and storing of data etc. Writing by hand can cause mistakes and it is difficult to store and maintain when there is numerous data, which needs more space and care. The objective behind this project is to overcome the difficulties of manual system by implementing the computer system.
It takes more time and effort to do a task manually. Therefore, by introducing computer system, it reduces the workload and strain of the user, as this system does the works easily. The computer system does the entire task much faster than the manual way of doing. Computer helps to reduce time and effort needed to do a work. There are many benefits by using this system, such as it can write in a computer without any error; if there is any spelling mistake in a word, the computer automatically finds the error and corrects it.
It can do calculations and other operations properly and easily. One of the main benefits of computer system is that it can be used for multitasking. Computer contains a huge quantity of memory space, so it can be used for storing many data and files. The data is safe in the computer once it is saved in it; moreover, there is only less chance of missing the data from the computer. One can play many games in the computer; so it is a good product for enjoyment in leisure time.
Project methodology
The methodology of a project explains how to manage a project from beginning to end. It also explains all the steps needed for the project. It describes all the steps in the life cycle of the project. In the project on development of computer, several methodologies are included. The different steps included in the project are configuration management, design re-use and standardization, evolution management, integration and control, integrity, variant management.
Configuration management
Configuration management deals with managing the reliability of any system. The computer system consists of two parts i.e. the hardware and software. Each of the two parts has different configurations. Hardware constitutes physical parts of the computer, which can be seen externally. Software consists of the set of programs that are used for various functions. The configuration management includes both software and hardware configuration management.
Software configuration management helps in recognizing the attributes of the software and helps in handling any changes in these attributes. The software configuration management helps in checking whether the final software that is delivered consists of all the requirements needed. The hardware configuration management helps in managing the entire infrastructure that is part of the computer system. It helps keep a record of all the hardware parts.
Design re-use and standardization
Design re-use includes the addition of some data that was already developed in the software and hardware. It helps in the development of the computer system. The computers could be developed faster and cheaper using this process. Design re-use helps in developing larger components from small parts. Standardization helps to develop the computers based on the standards. There are different organizations that provide standards. There are several rules that need to be followed while developing a product. Only if these steps are followed, the product will be feasible in the market.
Evolution management
Evolution management deals with managing of all the evolution activities that are included in the project. The evolution process of the project goes through a number of steps. It is necessary to manage all the activities that are included in the development of the computer. Only if the evolution processes are managed properly, the computer developed will be of good quality.
Integration and control
The next methodology that is included in the project is integration and control. The project activities lead to the development of different parts of the computer. All these parts need to be integrated to form a complete system. Mainly the parts of the central processing unit (CPU) will have to be integrated. The CPU will be formed by integrating the motherboard, buses, memory unit etc. The CPU is the main part of the computer. Other parts include the keyboard and monitor. All the activities have to be properly controlled so that there are no errors after the computer is developed.
Integrity
Integrity is needed in the development of any project. All the members in the team have to work together with integrity for the product development. Working with integrity helps in improving the outcome of the project.
Variant management
The next methodology adopted in this project is variant management. Variant management is necessary due to the large size of the project. The development of computer system includes different processes that occur in parallel. The development of different parts is done in parallel to each other. Variant management can coordinate all these works.
Programme of work
Different tasks are involved in the production or development of a computer system. The manufacturing process of a computer system requires various inputs and outputs to function properly and to produce good outcomes. Computers are available at different rates and on different style in the market, such as LCD, laptop, and so on. The needs of different customer are dissimilar. Therefore, first it conducts the analysis of the requirements process in order to know the actual requirements and budget of the customer. Then only the manufacturer can make the system according to the need of the customer and within the allotted budget.
The manufacturer has to create the excellent product at the lowest rate. The computer is assembled in two ways. One process is that a single worker does the entire production of computer. While in other method, many workers do several tasks of the computer production and later, all the parts are assembled i.e. a single computer is produced by several workers. The assembling method is better because the person doing a particular task becomes efficient in his work. Thus, both the quality of the product and performance of the worker increase. After knowing the requirement of the customer, next phase is modelling which demonstrates the model of the product. The manufacturer makes a model of the computer and only when the customer is satisfied with the model, the original product is created.
Making the model helps to find the mistake in the product before manufacturing it. It is difficult to make any change once the product is fully developed. Further, it is a chance to the customer to make any alteration, if need be. After the success of the model, next phase is designing of the hardware. Various workers design each part of the computer and testing is conducted after the completion of each hardware parts. This is done to verify the quality of the product, because only if the testing is successful, it can be used for implementation. When the production of the entire hardware parts is complete, next is assembling of the hardware.
After that, it is installation of the software in the computer. There are two types of software – application software and system software. It is the system software which controls the computer system and which is needed to run other computer functions or applications. Application software is intended for the users to do the task and the application software is installed according to the need of the customers. There are several application soft wares, such as software for doing programs, for playing games and for drawing pictures, graphs etc. Each soft ware is of different rate and it is available in different versions. After the installation of each soft ware, testing is conducted in order to verify whether they are running properly. The last phase of the computer development is implementation, i.e. the product is ready to function.
Risk assessment form
The risk assessment forms help in managing the risks in the project. It helps in identifying the risks and taking necessary steps to reduce their occurrence. Many risks occur during the development of a computer. Utmost care has to be taken in all the stages of production. All the parts of the computer have to be developed with proper care. Otherwise, there will be problems for the system after the computer is developed. Failure of any one of the parts can cause system breakdown. One of the main problems in the computer system is lack of security. There can be attacks from different intruders on the system.
Different types of viruses and other malicious programs can cause damage to the computer system. A virus when attacked a system will damage the data or may degrade the system performance. Many other risks can be there during the development of the project. There may be failure to estimate the proper time required for the development of the product. No resources needed may have been recognized properly. There can also be risks on the budget.
Sometimes the actual budget required may not be same as the estimated one. During such a condition, the project will have to be stopped before completion. Since the computer is a complex system, its implementation may be difficult. The integration of different parts may also be a tedious job. Therefore, there is a risk that these activities cannot be completed on time. All these risks are to be included in the risk assessment form.