ymca, hazelwood student consultant, shardul thakur ...ymca, hazelwood shardul thakur ,student...

YMCA, Hazelwood Shardul Thakur ,Student Consultant

of 17 May 6th, 2005

YMCA, Hazelwood Student Consultant, Shardul Thakur

Community Partner, Mr. Aaron Gibson I. The Consulting Situation Organization: History: The Hazelwood YMCA is centrally located in the Greater Hazelwood Community at 4713 Chatsworth

Avenue, Hazelwood. It was established in 1971 and has been serving the community residents since then.

It focuses on youth development, delinquency prevention and recreational programs for the youth, adults

and senior citizens. It provides services to all community residents from school children to the senior

citizens irrespective of their class, race or religion.

It offers a number of programs the more notable ones being after school programs for underprivileged

children, rehabilitation programs and adult computer literacy programs. Participation in the programs

varies depending on the program and season .For instance, the organization has plenty of participants for

its summer camps during the holidays. But on an average it receives enrollment of around 25 to 35

participants per program. The organization is a bit understaffed considering the number of programs it

has.

The funds for the various programs provided comes from Weed & Seed money, United Way- their main

contributor, Community Block Grant monies-Pittsburgh. It has an annual budget of around $250,000 per

year. Its technology budget is around $10,000 per year.

Mission: The mission of YMCA is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. They try to induct the following values in all their participants: 1. Be respectful to others. 2. Be kind and caring to each other 3. Honesty is the policy 4. Take responsibility to your actions The goal of Hazelwood YMCA is to make it an exemplary model for all other YMCAs.

373


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Facilities: The facilities at Hazelwood YMCA can be summarized as follows: • The main building which houses all the facilities. Adjacent to it is a large yard where they are planning

to expand their facilities. • A spacious meeting room that also serves as recreation room, dining or a party hall. • Offices of Staff Members: Executive director-Aaron Gibson, Program Director-Rick Croyle and

Administrative Assistant- Lisa Reihl. Each staff member has his/her own computer in the office. • Two Computer clusters with 20 to 25 computers, 6 printers and a fax machine. The computers are

connected together in a Local Area Network and have internet access. They have facilities for wireless connection which was recently made functional with an Access Point. The network archive

• Facilities for licensed child care programs.

• Study rooms for the school kids to study after school.

• Food pantry and kitchen

• Teen Room

Programs: There are several programs offered by Hazelwood YMCA. They are as follows: Adventure Club: These feature outdoor activities for all ages and groups- hiking, camping, fishing, and learning outdoor safety and survival. Junior/Adult/Senior Computer Class: These include computer technology classes for different age groups with respect to computer software, basic applications, maintenance, usage, browsing the internet, searching for information, music and games. After-School Recreation and Tutorial Programs: These programs provides tutoring, homework help, computer training with internet access, family events, field trips, all day programming, snacks & dinner. Summer Camp: The program provides wide variety of themes, activities and fieldtrips. The activities in the camp range from swimming and sport leagues to camp fires and hiking. Karate Classes: The program is to enhance strength, flexibility and cardio-vascular fitness. Secondary benefits of these classes are that they help reducing stress and improving academic performance. Miscellaneous: Apart from the above mentioned programs, YMCA-Hazelwood also offers programs like Cheerleading Classes, Guitar lessons, Gardening classes, First Aid training etc.

374


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Staff: The staff consists of around 5-6 members. The organizational structure is defined with the Board of

Directors at the top followed by the Executive Director-Aaron Gibson, Program Director/Child Care-

Rick Croyle and Administrative assistant- Lisa Reihl. Apart from this there are a number of maintenance

workers and a couple of cooks.

Most of the staff members know how to use basic application software like Microsoft Office, browsing

the internet and checking email. They normally use Microsoft Excel for keep track of program data and

MS Outlook for checking email. The staff can thus be classified as intermediate or beginner computer

users.

Hazelwood YMCA regularly has volunteers called “circuit riders” from different departments of

University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University for helping them with several technical and

organizational issues. They are called “circuit riders” because they ride a circuit of 3 non-profit

organizations every week providing support. At present there is a Carnegie Mellon student Rashmi

Sanbhadti who helps them with speech recognition software and maintenance of computer labs.

Technical Environment: There are allocated an annual technology budget of around $10,000.However the budget allocated depends also on the amount spent on technology in the previous year. The Technical environment can be summarized as: 1. Two computer clusters having around 20-25 workstations. 2. Each staff member has his/her own personal computer in their offices. 3. The computers are connected together in a Local Area Network .The network is connected to the internet and their Internet Service Provider is Wireless Neighborhoods. 4. They have 6 printers connected to the Network. 5. The workstations are driven by Pentium 3 processors, 128mb ram, Windows 2000 Operating System. 6. Most of the workstations have Basic Application Software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel,

Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Software for tutoring kids and Internet Software.

7. They have the infrastructure for wireless which was recently made functional by installing an access point.

375


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Technology Management: There have an on-call engineer from Golden Illusions to help them look after their network. They do not

have any fulltime employees to manage the equipment. The organization staff manages it as possible.

Hazelwood YMCA has regular volunteers called “circuit riders “from different departments of University

of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University for helping them with technical issues. At present there is a

Carnegie Mellon student called Rashmi who helps them with speech recognition software. For issues

related to their network, they call an external technician who also helped them set up the network.

Technology Planning: They do not have a specific technical plan and there is no technology planning committee. The network was set up by an external technician. The organization also consults him for any network related issues. Internal & External Communications: A peer-to-peer Local Area Network exists at YMCA-Hazelwood which enables all the 20-25

workstations and the several printers to be connected with each other. In addition, all staff members have

their own email account .YMCA-Hazelwood also has a website on the World Wide Web. However, it is

static and currently gives information about the several programs available and contact information. File

sharing mechanism within the network is not well implemented. There are no proper mechanisms in place

to ensure data security.

Information Management: The organization needs to maintain records of information regarding the donors (funding), employees, programs and the participants. Records of this information are important to the organization – 1. To keep track of past participants 2. To increase participation in future by informing past participant of future programs. 3. To secure funding in future 4. Form Budget They are just stored on files such as Excel sheets and Word documents. This we can say that the information is rather crudely managed in the organization and is not well organized.

376


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Problem or Opportunity being addressed: 1. Communication Problem/Coordination and Scheduling of activities As the staff is small considering the number of programs, they have problems coordinating each other’s activities and keeping track of each other’s schedules. For example, if Rick is taking care of after school program on a particular day the others may be unaware about it and might assign him some task .Many times the community partner, Mr. Aaron Gibson is out of town to attend conferences or meetings. To avoid confusion and to ensure success of all programs, it is crucial for the staff to keep track of each other’s activities. 2. Data Screening One of the major problems faced by the organization is misuse of their facilities. For instance, the organization has two computer clusters with internet access which can be used by anyone for learning purposes. However sometimes users misuse these facilities for by accessing unwanted sites like porn, violent online videogames etc. As mentioned above, the mission of YMCA is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. Misuse of YMCA facilities conflicts with their mission. Hence it is important for the organization to prevent such activities. Consulting Task: A solution that can take care of both problems is to have a Microsoft Small Business server installed on the network through which all traffic flows. Currently the organization has a peer-to-peer network. Once client-server architecture is in place, it can be used to solve a number of problems faced by the organization.

1. Data Content Filtering: The server software can be used to block out unwanted sites and spam at the server level itself .This can prevent misuse by the users. Also restricted internet access can be given to different types of users to ensure that the internet is used for only constructive purposes.

2. Coordination of all activities: Microsoft Exchange server provides a feature to share Microsoft Outlook Calendar feature among users to share their schedules. This will enable the staff to plan and coordinate their activities efficiently, reduce confusion and thus make their programs a success.

Approach:

The steps in brief would be: 1. Survey the existing network infrastructure. 2. Draft out a list of requirements for the central server 3. Survey types of servers that will meet the requirement 4. Find out and compare costs 5. Purchase 6. Install the server 7. Implement the functionalities

377


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Problem and mission: Resolving the problem will enable the organization to support its mission. 1. By preventing misuse of its facilities, it will help the organization to promote its mission of putting Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. 2. Coordination of activities of all staff members will ensure that all programs carried out by the organization are implemented successfully and on time. Success of programs will help the organization secure funding from its sponsors for future programs.

Impact: Staff

It would take some time to familiarize the staff with the new system. However, in the long run it would certainly improve efficiency of work by the staff and make it easier for them to coordinate each others activities. Program The coordination of all staff members will ensure that all the programs initiated by the organization are implemented successfully. This will further ensure that the organization gets proper funding for its future programs from its sponsors. Technology Planning The successful implementation of the Server will encourage Hazelwood YMCA to initiate more such projects to enhance the technical infrastructure. Internal & External Communications By sharing Microsoft Outlook Calendar using the Exchange Server, internal communications among staff members will improve and enable them to coordinate their activities much better. Feasibility The task is entirely feasible and can be completed within the duration of the course.

The Community Partner is very motivated to get the work done as he intends to make Hazelwood YMCA a model for all other YMCAs. The suggested solution is not that expensive & can be done with minimal resources especially taking into consideration the functionalities it will provide. Apart from this, it is a single solution to multiple problems.

378


of 17 May 6th, 2005

The solution is not that difficult to implement although the staff will have to be trained to use the functionalities and make modifications in future if required.

II. Outcomes The Consulting Task: The existing computer network at YMCA, Hazelwood was a simple peer-to-peer network. The network architecture was disorganized with redundant equipment. For instance, they have 5 to 6 printers for five staff members. As a result the organization used to face a number of problems due to disorderly network architecture.

Apart from this the organization also faced other problems related to data screening and coordination among staff members. My consulting task was to:

1. Implemented Client-Server network using Microsoft Exchange Server for Small Business 2. Trained the staff to implement the functionalities of the Exchange Server The server could be used to control activities on the network.

Observable Outcomes: 1. The existing peer-to-peer network was converted to client server network. Microsoft 2000 Advanced

Server with following configurations was installed keeping in mind the organization’s requirements: Mid-ATX Case w/300W PS Soyo KT600 Dragon SocA MB AMD Sempron 2600+ Processor 512MB DDR RAM Hitachi 250GB HDD (7200-8MB-ATA100-EIDE) Toshiba 52x CD-Rom Drive Total Cost: $697

2. Data content filtering has prevented the misuse of facilities by users. Sites that promote violence,

porn etc were blocked and thus prevented any misuse of the YMCA facilities. Restricted levels of internet access were provided to staff and users depending on their requirements. For instance the staff members need full internet access to carry out their work .However other users do not necessarily need internet access as they just use the application programs available on the computers. For these users internet access is disabled.

3. It also helped to block spam, viruses, worms and ad-ware at the server level. Spam emails, viruses

and worms have been reduced by blocking the domains, IP addresses, subject names at the server level.

4. The installation of Server has introduced a feature that enables sharing of Microsoft Outlook Calendar of all users. Staff members can now access each others’ schedules and plan accordingly .This has

379


of 17 May 6th, 2005

helped the staff to coordinate their activities efficiently. This is very important considering that the organization is understaffed.

(Screenshots of outcomes provided in appendix)

State before the Outcomes were Observed:

1. Some of the users misused facilities provided. They accessed sites promoting violence or porn sites. The goal of YMCA-Hazelwood in providing computing facilities is to enable users to learn. By accessing violent video game sites, porn etc. they have misused the facilities.

2. Before installing the Microsoft Exchange Server, there was a lack of coordination in the schedules and activities of all staff members. This occurred because the number of programs carried out by the organization is very large as compared to the number of their staff.

Capacity yet to be reached:

At present the organization has a static website which provides basic information regarding the organization. With Windows 2000 Advanced Server it is possible for the organization to implement its own dynamic website on its own domain ymcahazelwood.org .This is important as the Community Partner aims to make YMCA at Hazelwood a model organization for all the YMCAs. Having business email addresses @ymcahazelwood.org will give a more professional outlook to the organization. Building a dynamic website however will take some time and this capacity will not be reached at present. All information regarding the organization and its programs will have to be gathered and organized which will take a lot of time .Also the registration of domain will take some time as the organization will first have to obtain permission of YMCA for the same. I have recommended the Community Partner to get a dynamic website done in future as it will help increase participation in the programs offered by the organization.

Increased capacity to meet organization’s mission:

The organization’s mission is to provide basic facilities to people from all walks of life, especially the deprived sections of the society. Misuse of organizations resources, reduces the organization’s capacity to support its mission. By preventing this misuse, the organization’s capacity to meet its mission is strengthened and the organization can serve more people.

Sustaining the outcome:

For the outcome to be sustained for a longer period of time training session were carried out- The staff can now: 1) Coordinate their activities share the Calendar feature using Microsoft Exchange Server 2) Update the sites and spam to be blocked periodically.

380


of 17 May 6th, 2005

3) Implementing all the functionalities of the server such as restricting internet access, email addresses etc. 4) Documentation has been provided to help the staff in case they encounter difficulties in future. Documentation for common issues has also been provided on http://www.msexchange.org/ There is a risk that if the server goes down it will result in failure of entire network. The organization’s normal functioning will get disrupted while the server is down. Taking this into consideration it is important to have an external on call consultant. As the organization already has one, the effects of such a risk are minimized. Outcome and Mission: The organization’s mission is to provide basic facilities to people from all walks of life, especially the deprived sections of the society. Misuse of organization’s resources, reduces the organization’s capacity to support its mission. By preventing this misuse the organization’s capacity to meet its mission is strengthened and the organization can serve more people. After implementing the client-server network, the Community Partner has realized it has many more functionalities than simply data screening and activities coordination e.g. having an intranet, protecting sensitive information from hackers. By exploiting all the facilities provided by the Exchange Server to the fullest extent, the organization can execute its programs more efficiently thus strengthening its mission. The Community Partner has realized this and is eager to maximize the benefits of client-server network architecture. With the use of new technology the organization is taking a new step towards exploiting latest technology to support their mission and making YMCA at Hazelwood a model organization for all other YMCAs.

III. Recommendations

A. Vision:

The aim of recommendations made to the organization is to extend the functionalities of the consulting task further to solve other issues faces by the organization over a period of 3 years.

The consulting task was to implement client-server architecture primarily for data content filtering and staff coordination. However, this client-server architecture can be further exploited to organize data storage. The organization can also save a lot of money by administering the network themselves than employ a network administrator.

B. Goal 1:

Recommendation: Central data storage and backup

381


of 17 May 6th, 2005

The YMCA at Hazelwood currently has a peer-to-peer network consisting of around 20-25 computers. These can be classified into –

1. User computers 2. Staff computers

The user computers are used by those who participate in the YMCA programs .e.g. Adults who are enrolled in the adult computer literacy programs or children in the after school programs. As such most of these computers contain common software. Instead of installing this software on each computer and wasting hard disk space they can be installed on the server itself and can be accessed by all users. Also 2-3 computers contain speech software for use by school children to improve their learning capabilities .These software occupy a lot of space and can be used be used only on the 2-3 computers where they are installed. If these are on the server they will occupy less space and can be used on all computers served by the server. To ensure this does not compromise efficiency a high capacity hard disk of 250 GB has been installed. Apart from the basic application software, the staff computers contain mainly important data regarding the organization’s day to day operations such as budget, accounting etc. Records and backup of this data is very crucial to the organization. As of now each staff member who looks after the data stores on his/her computers. As the data is on different computers all over the place it is difficult to locate it each time it is needed. Also it is difficult to detect loss of data if any and the impact of it on the organization. It is recommended that a back of all data crucial to the organization be saved on the server so that it can be easily accessed when needed in the future.

Approach:

1. Find out size of existing data that needs back up. For this we need to know the size of data to be back up on all the computers. As we only need to get an estimate that an exact figure, we can find the size of data on a staff computer and then multiplying by the number of staff computers. The same can be done for user computers. 2. From the existing data estimate how much space will be needed in future to back up data. Based on the size of the existing data and the time taken for the data to accumulate one can estimate future requirement. 3. Depending on estimation, decide on the size of hard disk to be purchased so that data can be back up

for at least another 3 years. 4. Compare prices of hard disks Some websites like www.cnet.com provide an online comparison. 5. Back up Existing Data on Server. 6. Form a schedule for backing up data in future. Depending on the amount of data it could be weekly, bi-weekly and so on. 7. Backed up data can be organized up based on type of data, date, user dealing with the data etc to provide easier access later on.

382

http://www.cnet.com/


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Timeline: Step 1& 2: June 2005 Step 3: July 2005 Step 4: August 2005 Step 5: September 2005 Step 6-7: till June 2008

Justification: Benefits: The benefits of the having a centralized data server and back up system mainly lie in increasing the efficiency of the organization. The organization is at present understaffed as compared to the programs it carries out .Implementing this recommendation will help save precious man hours. At present data is located on computers all over the network and is hard to locate. Having a centralized back up of data will save approximately 2-3 hrs a week of an employee which can be used productively to carry out other work. As there are 5-6 employees it would result in saving around 15 hours .At an average pay of $20/hr the value of the system to the organization would be $300/week or around $15,000/year. Costs: As the server has already been implemented, it will save the costs of purchasing a new server. Other costs include a 250 GB hard disk which costs around $200. Creating a back up of all existing data will require a staff member to work on it for a week. This would be 40 man hours roughly costing $800 at $20/hour.Other miscellaneous costs such as shifting data from one system can be approximated at $500.The total cost of the system to the organization can thus be estimated at around $1500. Return on Investment (ROI): ROI = (Benefits – Costs)/Costs X 100 (15000-1500)/1500 X 100 = 900%. Thus in the first year itself the organization can expect ROI of 900%.This is primarily because there is already an existing client server network thereby minimizing the costs.

Expected Outcomes

1. If all the common software is on the server they will occupy less space and can be used on all computers served by the server.

2. Computers with the speech recognition software will be freed to be used by all users. 3. Organize records and backup of this data is very crucial to the organization. 4. Easier detection of data loss (if any) and its impact on the organization as it is saved in a central

location.

Resources:

http://www.thechannelinsider.com/article2/0,1759,1617707,00.asp

http://www.veritas.com/Products/www/html/Data_Protection/bewsbs_faqs.html

http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Choosing-Storage-Exchange-Server.html

383

http://www.thechannelinsider.com/article2/0,1759,1617707,00.asp

http://www.veritas.com/Products/www/html/Data_Protection/bewsbs_faqs.html

http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Choosing-Storage-Exchange-Server.html


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Budget:

Server: $0 (Exists) 250 GB hard disk: $200. (Upgrading every 2 years) Maintenance & Miscellaneous: $200 per year (approx) Cost of external on-call consultant: $0 (already paid for to maintain the network) Data back up products: $100

Goal 2:

Recommendation 2: Training Sessions for the Staff by rotation

After implementing the technology, it is important to sustain it by network administration. The organization faces the following problems for the same: 1. At present the organization does not have a fulltime technical person. 2. Most of the staff members know how to use basic application software but do not have further technical knowledge. 3. Another problem the organization faces is that it is very understaffed considering the number of programs it undertakes and the number of participants in the program. As such it cannot afford to let one staff member get involved fulltime for network administration.

Approach:

The training can be done – 1. By joining professionally training classes or seminars 2. Online classes/message boards for Microsoft Server Administration (Sites Mentioned in Resources) 3. As the YMCA Hazelwood is close to University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University it can hire summer interns to help them out with training. Justification:

Benefits: As it will save the cost of employing a network administrator it will save the organization around $50,000 /year. Thus the value of it to the organization is around $50,000 per year.

384


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Costs: The cost will depend on the approach. Depending on the whether the organization decides to hire summer interns from universities, enroll for training classes or online courses. However the costs for training will not exceed $1000/month over a 3 month period. Thus its maximum cost would be around $3000. Rate of Investment: (Benefits – Costs)/Costs X 100 = (50000 – 3000)/1000 X 100= 4700%

Expected outcomes:

Network administration by each staff member by rotation would achieve multiple goals-

1. The organization will not need a fulltime network administrator.

2. It will help generate an interest in the staff members in the technology being used by the organization.

3. As the staff member will administer the network by rotation, only one staff member needs to be

trained. This staff member can then train next staff member whose turn it is to administer the network.

This way only one staff member needs training for network administration.

Resources:

http://www.msexchange.org/

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/default.mspx

Budget: The budget will depend on the approach. Depending on the whether the organization decides to hire summer interns from universities, enroll for training classes or online courses. However the costs for training will not exceed $1000/month over a 3 month period. Thus its maximum cost would be around $3000.

References: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/

385

http://www.msexchange.org/

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/default.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/

Appendix: 1. Computer Management on Server


of 17 May 6th, 2005

386

2. Net meeting for communication:


of 17 May 6th, 2005

387

3. Restricting user privileges (e.g. Disk Quotas)


of 17 May 6th, 2005

388


of 17 May 6th, 2005

Student Consultant:

Name: Shardul Thakur

Department: Information Networking Institute (Fall 2004 batch)

Major: Information Security/Management

I am a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University pursuing my M.S in Information Security Technology and Management. I did my undergraduate studies in Information Technology from Bombay University .I would like to pursue a career in technology consulting as I enjoy interacting with people and helping other people solve their problems gives me immense satisfaction.

389

ymca, hazelwood student consultant, shardul thakur ...ymca, hazelwood shardul thakur ,student...

Documents