Background
Woodgrove Bank is a regional financial institution
that has 30 branch offices. It maintains a Web site that allows customers to
perform banking operations over the Internet.
Woodgrove Bank processes an increasingly large volume of loans. The existing
loan processing application cannot handle this volume effectively. The board of
directors wants to replace the application with a scalable solution based on
the Microsoft .NET Framework.
You are a developer employed by the bank. You will lead the development of the
new solution, which must be operational in six months. You already have all the
hardware that you will need for development and production.
Existing
IT Environment
Logical Design
The existing loan processing application is based
on a client/server architecture. The client application is written in Microsoft
Visual Basic 6.0. This application implements the loan processing logic and
interacts with a database server named Database1 to store and retrieve data.
An application can request a loan by using an HTML form available on the bank’s
Web site. The information on this form is e-mailed to a loan clerk, who
telephones the applicant to complete the request.
Physical Implementation
A computer named Server1 is located at the main
branch of Woodgrove Bank. Server1 hosts modules for reporting and for
exchanging data with a mainframe computer named Main1.
Main1 hosts a check disbursement application and an accounting application. Currently,
the interface to Main1 is not well integrated with the loan processing
application.
Database1 runs Microsoft SQL Server 2000. It hosts a database that includes a
table containing the loan request data. This table is indexed by applicant name
and by loan number.
All 30 branches of the bank are connected to a common internal network by
private T1 lines. The network supports TCP/IP and NetBEUI and is protected by a
firewall. All branches employ loan clerks and loan officers.
These employees use computers that run Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional.
Interviews
IT Department
IT Manager
All of our existing applications share a standard
appearance. Our standard includes colors, fonts, and the position of the
company logo. All new applications must adhere to this standard.
The new loan processing application must use a Web browser as the user
interface, without any additional client software.
Database1 will be used in the implementation of the new application. The
confidential information that resides on this server must be inaccessible to
unauthorized users. The information must remain secure even if our firewall is
penetrated.
When a loan is approved, the new loan processing application must send data to
the check disbursement application. The new application must also send data to
the accounting application to indicate which general ledger accounts need to be
created or debited. Therefore, we need a reliable interface between the new
application and Main1. The interface must support transaction recover and
logging.
The check disbursement application and the accounting application were
implemented 10 years ago. They remain unmodified. No one on my staff
understands how to interface with these applications.
Six people on my staff are assigned to work with you on this project. However,
four of them have less than one year of experience as a developer.
Finance Department
Chief Financial Officer
The new loan processing application must include an
audit module. The module must randomly select 5 percent of the loans approved
in each month to be audited by a member of my staff.
All server hardware to support development and production has already been
procured. For the new loan processing solution, budget is approved for
application software, development software, and utilities. However, we have no
budget to replace either the check disbursement application or the accounting
application.
At the beginning of the fiscal year, we made high-level projections about the
new application. We estimated that its development would require 30 staff
months, but only if we use senior staff. Our goal is to complete this project
in six calendar months.
Business Stakeholders
Loan Processing Manager
I authorized the founding for this project, and I
will make the final decisions.
The new loan processing application must reduce the amount of time needed to
process each loan request. If we can directly enter all of an applicant’s
personal data into the new application, we can work more efficiently.
The new application must also support simple workflow routing between the loan
clerks and the loan officers.
In addition, I want the application to assign loans to different loan officers
on the basis of business rules. These business rules will use loan amount and
loan type as criteria for assignment. The rules might need to change every
month.
The loan processing staff has little computer experience. Because of their
current workload and experience they might have difficulty learning how to use
the new application. I want to ensure that this project causes the least
possible disruption to our business.
Business
Process
Loan Processing
Each of the 30 branches of Woodgrove Bank employs
10 loan clerks and 10 loan officers. Using the current loan processing
application, both the clerks and the officers are directly involved in
processing loans.
The loan clerks perform the following actions:
1. Collect personal
data and credit history data from the applicant.
2. Enter the data
into the database by using the loan processing application.
3. Review all data
for clerical accuracy.
4. Verify the credit
history data by using external resources, such as lending agencies and
employers.
The loan officers then perform the following
actions:
1. Review the loan
request for risk.
2. Either reject the
loan request or approve it for disbursement.
An employee of Woodgrove Bank can fulfil more than
one role. For example, a branch manager can assist in processing loan requests,
and can also approve loans as needed. Employee roles are not defined in the
current application. Workflow and approval are managed by external business
processes.
Loan requests are stored in our database for six months and then purged.
Loan Request
Loan requests contain the following confidential
information about the applicant:
·
Name
·
Address
·
Telephone
number
·
Personal
identification number
·
Current
employer and salary
·
One
or more credit history items
The loan department handles many types of loans.
Applicants can request mortgages, automobile loans, home equity loans, and
unsecured consumer loans.