Riordan Manufacturing

In part one of the Riordan Manufacturing Service Request we discussed Hugh McCauley and his request to take advantage of the more sophisticated state-of-the-art information systems that are implemented in the Riordan Manufacturing department. This week we will discuss the application architecture, process design, and security controls that are recommended for the design of the Riordan Manufacturing system upgrade. Application Architecture

The application architecture is going to be used as the blueprint for the modules of the application and future proofing can be determined here. ” According to “Wikipedia” (28 August 2014 ), “An applications architecture describes the structure and behavior of applications used in a business, focused on how they interact with each other and with users. It is focused on the data consumed and produced by applications rather than their internal structure” (Definition). Application architectures have three fundamentals the sever based architecture, client-server based architecture, and client based architecture.

Operational Requirements
The architecture to be used for the upgrade to the current Riordan Manufacturing information systems will be the fundamental client-server architecture. In this fundamental the client will have the responsibility of providing the local login and the server will house the data that will be accessed after a login has been provided. Process Design

The proposed system to be implemented will have the feature of logging into a web portal where employees can input data and run reports from. The current data that was housed within excel spreadsheets will now be imported into the web portal. After employee data has been imported into the new system managers will now have the ability to have employee profiles that include resumes, employee files, timesheet information, and salary etc. Riordan Manufacturing’s current human resource software integration with the client-server architecture will meet the system requirements in order to complete the project. Security Controls

The security controls for this or any project should be a high priority and should be understood by every individual involved in the project. To determine this we will use the questions “How do you use these data? That is, are you the source of the data for the organization, do you refer to the data, do you modify them, and do you destroy them? Who is not permitted to use these data? Who is responsible for establishing legitimate values for these data?” (Hoffer, Valacich, & George, 2012, p. 196). Security Requirements

Since the operations group takes responsibility of security all intrusion prevention systems, firewalls, and backup solutions the developers can focus on the security of the information systems and protecting data with permissions. A few things can be done to ensure security control one being to train and educate employees about security protocols. Another important technique is to routinely monitor computers for suspicious activity, new employees will undergo a screening process to ensure reliability. With the client-server architecture the chance of an intrusion is reduced and should ensure the security of Riordan Manufacturing data. For the client-server architecture encryption and authentication systems will be used to help provide resistance to malware and viruses.

Network
For the network at Riordan Manufacturing a virtual local area network could be created to provide more security so only employees provided with a username and password will be able to access payroll and benefit information. Since there is confidential files to be accessed we will need a more secure way of accessing these files, our recommendation for the Riordan Manufacturing Human Resource department to access these files is to have the username and password as well as an additional security method of a thumb or palm scanner. Interfaces

Interfaces by definition are the process of how well the information system will act with external factors such as suppliers and customers as well as other information systems. Since these interfaces will be exchanging data with other information systems it is important that they also have a high level of security, a username and password for these files that will be accessed should be sufficient enough.

A Request to read or modify Data via Web Portal

After a username and password has been provided the database may be accessed

The request is read and data is stored on the database server

The VLAN protects data integrity

The Intrusion Prevention System detects potential threats real-time

The Firewall does the initial blocking of malicious attacks to Riordan Manufacturing

References
1. Wikipedia. (28 August 2014 ). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applications_architecture 2. Hoffer, J. A., Valacich, J. S., & George, J. F. (2012). Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design (5th ed.). : Paear sjono Edkucaatio nj Loimitked.