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IS480 Team wiki: 2008T2G4 Rojak/Learning Outcomes

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Learning Outcomes

  1. Business aspects
    1. Business processes
      1. Through interviews with the client, we achieved a better understanding of the business processes behind the Events Management industry. It is an industry where work is often outsourced from one company to another. This resulted in confusion among us of how the resellers and suppliers actually worked. However, through much internal discussion and repeated clarification with the client, we were able to gain a more complete understanding of how they work, and the business processes involved. This is of particular benefit to Ricky and Hafiz who have an interest in the events management. [Week 1-2]
    2. business-IT alignment
    3. Use of IT as a business enabler
      1. Meemo explained to us that a system that makes it convenient for resellers to transact through Meemo would be very beneficial to them, and have the potential to significantly improve revenue. This was a very interesting point as our initial idea of the project was a a low-cost alternative to commercial accounting software that helps improve operational efficiency for Meemo. We had not thought of the system as a source of competitive advantage for them. This really helped to reshape our thinking of what IT can do for businesses. [Week 2]
  2. IT aspects
    1. project management
    2. software development
    3. working with open-source community
    4. large scale development with multiple frameworks
  3. Soft skills
    1. Client management
      1. In the initial stages of discussion, we had problems with interpreting the requirements of the client as there is a large gap in our understanding of the business processes. We realized that they weren't giving us the full picture as some of the business processes involved are so intuititive to them that they skipped over it. On our part, we filled up the gaps with what we thought was correct, which turned out to be wrong. As Wee Kee had experience from a different industry (manufacturing), he had a very different idea from that of the client. Our solution to that was to map out the business process in a workflow as we had done in PMSB. Any gaps became apparent and we were able to clarify with the client. Furthermore, it provided a common ground which made it easy for us to understand each other. Also, we changed some of the terms they were using to make it clearer and more aligned with what they are referred to in OFBiz. For example, Meemo was referring to multiple business documents as Quotation (Reseller enters Quotation. Meemo updates Quotation.) We referred to what Reseller enters as RFQ, and quotation only when Meemo updates it. This makes the process flow and business documents clearer and more understandable. Meemo is happy with the changes we made as long as it does not contradict with what they are already doing. [Week 1-2]
    2. negotiation skills
    3. working in diverse team