DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COLLABORATIVE SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE BASED OFFICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

This project work sets out to improve the file management processes in organisations. It has been observed that the major problem of file management system is that accessibility and availability to stored files is limited to users in that particular environment which also limits the collaborative sharing of electronic data over a large network coverage or at distance. This usually determines the workflow of an organization, which negates the aim and objectives for which a particular organization was set up in the first place. The project work revealed that the traditional file management system is not flexible, extensible and interoperable and as such slows down the workflow, and not readily available outside the work environment thereby decreasing the output of any particular organization. Object Oriented Hypermedia and Design Methodology (OOHDM), was found efficient to Web applications as navigational views over an object model. Thus, this work is to be deployed on the cloud, using the Software as a Services model for a very efficient user experience. PHP and JQuery were the programming languages used for its design. Structured Query Language (SQL) was used for the database. The project work offers efficient file management in corporate establishment

Background of the Study

File management is the process of storing, accessing, retrieving and manipulating files. The necessity of moving a file from the RAM to a secondary storage calls for future reference (re-usability), availability (having this file ready and at hand at any time anywhere), safety (ensuring data integrity without the fear of loss or damage) and most times privacy (authentication and access control). This purpose is not fully achieved when files are saved just by the traditional file management system usually provided by the user‟s operating system or the manual system. The traditional system is exposed to insecurity, unavailability, and data loss through viral attacks and other malicious software. This created the need of an additional system for saving files (back up mechanism), where files will be available with or without the user‟s workstation, highly secured platform, and cost effective system.

Storage and access to files which has been a core concept of computing and information technology requires the moving of files to a better environment where availability and security is assured. The cloud system is a recent development which has dramatically changed the landscape of software development. It provides a simple interface where the user is abstracted from the underlying framework of the system. According to Hancleng (2009), Cloud computing is a model of enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on demand network access to shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g networks, servers, storage, application and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

Moving files to a cloud system has been a welcomed advancement in file management but has failed in addressing challenges. Some of these challenges include security and cost. Adopting Software as a Service (SaaS) as the befitting cloud computing model for this work does not only provide software availability but also provides an efficient means of billing users. The billing system will be monitored by the number of times the application will be used. That is, keeping a log of records, which in turn aids in monitoring any form of intrusion created by unauthorized access.

Conclusively, cloud computing and file management has „security‟ as its mediator. It is well understood that no one could take an additional step of moving files to the cloud system for storage or backup if such files are not important. Therefore, every cloud computing system should make adequate provisions for security.