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alphena
5. Functional Specifications
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Who We Are
Our Specialties and Capabilities
What We Seek To Achieve
VALUE PROPOSITION
FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS
Discovery Phase
Creative Phase
Technical Phase
Review Phase
PRICING
Training
Support
CONCLUSION
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5. Functional Specifications
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
WHO WE ARE
PA-CENT Technologies Limited is a Nigerian incorporated Information Technology Consulting firm. It is registered in
Nigeria and licensed by the Computer Professionals (registration council) of Nigeria (CPN) with License No CMCPN
002291/2009 to proffer quality services in the computer profession. Sir, permit me to let you know that we are the first
and for now the only firm in Anambra State to be issued with this license. We have both local and International
affiliations and possess in our profile over Ten (10) years corporate experience in the business of computing.
PA-CENT Technologies Limited is made up of a team of innovative and experienced people with the vision of enhancing
the value of life through the adept use and implementation of technological advancements in the areas of
communication, business automation and intelligence, and also ICT services to provide strategic design, development and
deployment of information technology solutions to a wide variety of industries which vary from education, healthcare,
manufacturing, transport and a lot more.
PA-CENT Technologies Limited offer relevant and cost effective solutions delivered using international best practices
coupled with a local knowledge and based on our understanding of the diverse needs of our clients.
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5. Functional Specifications
office to assisting you with an online advertising plan or providing your management team with a systems integration
strategy, our team is here to help. Although we are still young, we consistently strive with our Design, Content, and
Originality to rival the others already in the industry before us. This we know will lead to the confidence and loyalty of our
customers.
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VALUE PROPOSITION
THE NEED FOR THE PROJECT
The most frequently asked question is why would a school need the computerization of their processes and operations?
They are not corporate which do require software for better management of their resources. The corporate are the
Multi-National Companies which have resources spread in multiple companies and so they are required to manage their
resources effectively. So the question still remains unanswered why we need software for the school. The answer to this
question is very simple. Like a Multi-National Company, a school is also an organization which has lot of resources
namely; student, teachers, administrative staff, clerks and the school premises.
For an effective and proper management of the school, management of all these resources is highly important. For
proper management of any academic institute it is very important to have a very well advance plan of how to utilize the
resources. The computerization of a schools processes and operation provides that platform which facilitates effective
management of the school. The central management of the school is very important as it removes the redundant tasks
that are carried at the institution. The central data storage leads to easy access of data at all departments which removes
the redundant administrative tasks of generating the data whenever required as the data is ready for retrieval and
printing if need be instead of building the data every time it is required.
Basically, if you want to search a students attendance, academic and profile records without going through dust coated
files in 10 seconds flat, you need to have your schools processes and operations computerized; if you want to know
which teacher is teaching a particular subject to a class and at what time, you need to have your schools processes and
operations computerized; if you want to just enter students assignments, tests, quizzes, exams and annual academic
results and have them custom-computed automatically and completely, with a facility to graphically output and compare
the present performance with past performances on the fly in 10 minutes flat, you need to have your schools processes
and operations computerized; if you want to automatically send emails or short text messages to students, parents,
teachers, or a particular group of students, a particular group of parents, a department in the school, a staff, a group of
staff members, you need to have your schools processes and operations computerized; if you want to bulk print any
result anytime including any result of graduated students whose records are in the database, you need to have your
schools processes and operations computerized; if you want to centralize your human resources management and
compute with custom rules the payroll of your staff, you need to have your schools processes and operations
computerized; if you want to view a class timetable in under 15 seconds, you need to have your schools processes and
operations computerized; if you want to keep track of your schools income, expenses, student fees, even donations
Pa-cent technologies ltd
1 OBY OKOLI AVENUE, OPPOSITE ACORN FILLING STATION AWKA ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA
08035906416, 08057669456
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5. Functional Specifications
received from individuals and organizations , if you want to know where your properties (assets and liabilities) are and
how much they're worth, you definitely need to have your schools processes and operations computerized.
School Administration
It allows you to manage administrative tasks saving your efforts and maintaining accuracy.
School Academics
It allows you to create and manage time-table, exam schedules, test schedules, results and student assignments.
Financial Management
Finance-related tasks of the school can be wrapped under this module including donations, income, expenses, fees and
the payroll system.
Report Management
Generate customized reports and keep a record of the same of them securely for future references.
Communication
A communication utility between school, students and parents through mass-mailing and SMS.
Attendance Management
Provides facility to keep a record of the attendance of students and school staff secure throughout the year.
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Benefits for Teachers
Automated student attendance
Computerised management of marks and grades
Timetable creation in advance
Efcient and effective interaction with students
Better organization of school activities
Collaborate with students and other users via mails and SMS at anytime
Benefits for Students
Enhanced interaction with teachers
Access to attendance, timetable, marks, grades and examination schedule
Freedom to browse through library books catalogue and identify the book(s) to be issued
Prior information about school events, news and holidays
Collaborate with students and other users via mails at anytime
Benefits for Parents
Access to children and school information anytime anywhere
Enhanced interaction with teachers, management and others
Access to children attendance, timetable, marks, grades and examination schedule
Prior information about school events, news and holidays
Collaborate with students and other users via mails at anytime
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FUNTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS
Below are the functional specifications of ALPHENA our School Enterprise Resource Planner (DIMS). We hope that they
will meet your requirements.
your school.
subjects.
Host
exams,
assignments
and
school.
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5. Functional Specifications
ALPHENA Administration Module
Alphena Administration Module allows you carry out all the day to day administrative tasks which consume a lot of
time and requires much attention and efforts, easily and effortlessly.
paperwork.
be published.
your school.
members.
news board.
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ALPHENA Finance Module
Finance Management module allows you to carry out all tasks related to the finances of the school effortlessly making
it simple and easy. This module allows you to manage all the financial calculations and keep a record on the flow of
money coming and going out of the school and automates many of the tasks.
for them.
5. Functional Specifications
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ALPHENA Communications Module
Alphena Communications Module allows two simple yet advanced ways of communicating with the students, parents
and teachers of the school. Important information to be sent to a particular group of students or their parents can be
sent easily by the built in optional SMS (Short Messaging Service) or the integrated mailing system.
department(s) etc.
5. Functional Specifications
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MS - 2
MS - 3
Week 1
MS - 1
Weeks 2 - 3
Weeks 3 - 6
Weeks 6 - 7
MS - 4
Weeks 7- 10
MS - 5
Week 11
MS - 6
Project Commencement
Information Architecture
XHTML/CSS Scripting
Modules Configuration
Deliverables:
Deliverables:
Deliverables:
Deliverables:
Deliverables:
Deliverables:
MS - 7
Week 12
Testing Complete
Alphena
DIMS
Launched
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PRICING
TRADITIONAL SOFTWARE PRICING MODEL
Traditional software applications are based on a model with large upfront licensing costs and annual
evergreen support costs. Important functions of the package are often optioned in a front-loaded licensing
arrangement with annual renewal for upgrades and support. Increasing the number of users may raise the
base cost of the package due to the need for additional hardware server deployments and I.T. support.
Licensing costs are often based on metrics that are not directly aligned with usage (e.g. server type, number of
CPUs, etc.).
A typical enterprise software package requires hardware deployment, servers, backup and network
provisioning in order to accommodate the number of users on and off-campus. Security architecture is also
taxed in an effort to protect this valuable resource from unauthorized access. Traditional software
applications tend to be highly customizable. This customization comes at a cost both in money and people
resources terms.
All on-going maintenance and management of the application is provided by the customer installing the
application on its network. Similarly, the customer is also responsible for providing the logical and physical
security to the applications as well as offering end-user training and support. Architecturally, the traditional
software model is single-tenant.
Higher education in Nigeria has made monumental strides in the way that academic programs are delivered
and student information is managed but many universities continue to be plagued by challenges when it
comes to hardware and software. These include expensive up-front costs, ongoing maintenance costs, IT
complexities, lack of ability to adapt to changing opportunities and little to no integration across the
institution
Schools have invested in hardware and software that might either go unused due to smaller than anticipated
loads or be used only sporadically. On the other hand, they are not set up to support unexpected larger
than anticipated loads, putting schools between a rock and a hard place.
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The SaaS vendor assumes all the support, training, infrastructure and security risks in exchange for the
recurring subscription fees. The SaaS service model is designed to deliver business applications anywhere,
anytime which in turn requires the SaaS vendor to employ dedicated support teams and staff that make
themselves available to customers on short notice. Along with the personnel comes reserve capacity to
handle any spikes in usage, outages or network mishaps and to do this continuously, globally and securely.
SaaS applications are characterized by no difference between the license fee and the hosting fee, application
delivery over a web browser or other thin client and the application is both configurable and customizable.
SaaS is typically accessed by users using any web enabled device via a web browser. This means that Alphena
DIMS can be accessed using a web browser. This also means that the corporate users of Alphena DIMS do not
have to be present at the school premises to do their work. They can from anywhere, at their convenience
attend to their duties and responsibilities with ease and flexibility. It also means that the authorized users
such as parents and students can from anywhere in the world, at any time have access to Alphena DIMS.
PA-CENT Technologies Limited adopted the SaaS pricing model as our licensing and pricing model so that we
can provide our clients a price that is competitive with on-premises software and at the same time reduce IT
costs for them by their outsourcing maintenance and support to us. This means that you do not need a
dedicated IT staff for this project and that we proactively monitor, manage and control your IT assets related
to Alphena DIMS remotely, easily and efficiently from one integrated Web-based platform.
Benefits of Software as a Service (SaaS) Pricing Model
Reduced Total Cost of Ownership There is negligible or no upfront expenses which leads to SaaS
being a better choice for institutions that are trying to reduce and better manage costs. Additionally,
the economies of scale add to lower costs over the span of ownership.
Faster Deployment With the SaaS business model, the softwares installation as well as
configuration is much faster and in some cases, instant.
New features are quickly installed Release management is performed by us and leads to very
minimal impact on the availability of the application.
Reduced costs for human resources The SaaS business model removes the need to hire additional IT
personnel that are skilled in software engineering, database, system administration, and business
intelligence. Therefore, it saves the client money both in benefits and in salary. This returns your focus
to what is most important, educating students, and leaves the job of IT to us. Your data is backed up
every day. If your server fails, another one takes its place. Always there, always on and always safe,
much safer than your place.
Staff Expertise and Efficiency Schools can better leverage staff expertise by moving the focus away
from software maintenance and upkeep to instead focusing on strategic decisions to improve the
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overall student experience. Staff can be reallocated to such key areas as Business Analysts, Project
Management, Vendor Management, Application Management, Applications Development (BI,
Integration), Enterprise Architecture, and Customer Facing Services.
No need for additional hardware We procure the needed hardware for hosting and delivery.
Increased ROI and productivity Since there are faster deployments and reduction of total cost of
ownership, the SaaS business model shifts the burden of successful deployment and management
from the institute that is employing the services back to us. This improves your productivity by
increasing the security and reliability of the application.
Increasing student demand and improving retention a SaaS model provides high reliability,
enabling schools to deliver near perfect 99.999 percent system availability so users, including current
and prospective students, can access the system at the times that are most convenient to them.
Addressing growth SaaS delivers a level of scalability that easily supports an increasing number of
students to meet a schools growth objectives. No longer do you have to plan for enrolment growth or
expansion to other campuses or locations.
Serving new markets quickly and easily SaaS allows schools to quickly and easily add programs.
Also, because staff can be reallocated to focus on trends and the student experience, schools can
adapt to changing student demands at a faster rate.
Managing business-driven IT projects By removing the reliance on IT to provide the necessary
infrastructure, college departments can lead technology projects that address true business needs.
In todays economic climate, academic institutions are looking for ways that they can cut the costs of their
processes and become more efficient. Utilizing a SaaS business model is a key strategy that they can employ
to gain a productivity edge. Meeting your institutions software needs with software delivery versus
acquisition lowers initial cost and reduces the daunting expenses that come with enterprise software
licensing. It enables your school to embrace complete student lifecycle management through tightly
integrated, best-of-breed solutions by having a server somewhere, to not have to worry about it, and pay for
only what you use, which is a very attractive business proposition
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PRICE SHEET
Unlike traditional software which is conventionally sold as a perpetual license with an up-front cost (and an
optional ongoing support fee), PA-CENT Technologies Limited prices Alphena DIMS based on user base and
subscription fees, most commonly a termly fee for Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools. Thus, the initial
setup cost for Alphena DIMS is free as against equivalent enterprise software. The Software as a Service (SaaS)
pricing model allows you to completely outsource Alphena DIMS to PA-CENT Technologies Limited Limited. It
is a pay-as-you-go all inclusive solution that includes the software, hosting, support and maintenance. With
no software to install, and no initial set-up fees, Alphena DIMS can be up and running in a matter of minutes.
Alphena DIMS is offered on per student user account pricing model. It allows for unlimited number of staff
and parent enrolments into the system. The prices below does not and will never include staff and parents
user accounts or the use of other services made available by the numerous modules that come with Alphena
DIMS. These are completely free of charge. It is advised by us that the Alphena SaaS fee is to be a derivation
from the school fees being paid on termly basis by the students.
SAAS Fee
N500
25000 MB
N400
30000 MB
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TRAINING
Training will be provided on-site for a minimum period of three working days and a maximum period of seven
working days. This is dependent on the number of staff involved.
SUPPORT
Phone and e-mail support will be provided as needed after the on-site training free of charge.
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CONCLUSION
We are happy for the opportunity granted us to present this proposal for your review. Upon acceptance of
this proposal, we will draft a comprehensive statement of work for your review that will serve as the project
contract between PA-CENT Technologies Limited and Federal Science and Technical College, Awka.
If you have any questions or need additional explanation on any part of the proposal, please let us know.
Yours Faithfully,
For: PA-CENT Technologies Limited