Project Report on Marketing Information System

Description
The term market refers to group of consumers who are interested in the product, have the resources to purchase it and it is permitted by law to purchase the product.

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MARKET
The term market refers to group of consumers who are interested in the product, have the
resources to purchase it and it is permitted by law to purchase the product. The market
definition begins with the total population and progressively narrows downwards.

1. Potential market: Those people in total population who have interest in acquiring
in the product.
2. Available market: Those in potential market who have enough money to buy the
product.
3. Qualified available market: Those in available market who are legally
permitted to buy the product.
4. Target market: The segment of qualified available market to whom the firm has
decided to serve.
5. Penetrated market: Those people in target market who actually purchase the
product.

The size of market is not necessarily fixed. For eg: the size of available market for a product
can be increased or decreased by decreasing the product’s price.

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MARKETING
Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying , anticipating and
satisfying customer requirements profitably.
The marketing process can be modelled into a sequence of steps:
1. Situation analysis: A thorough analysis of the situation in which the firm finds it
serves as the base for identifying opportunities to satisfy unfulfilled customer needs.
In addition to this, firm must understand its capabilities and the environment in which
it is working.

2. Marketing strategy: Once the best opportunity to identify customer needs is
identified, a strategic plan for pursuing the opportunity can be developed. Market
research will provide specific information that will permit the firm to select the target
market segment and optimally position the offering within that segment.

3. Marketing Mix decisions: detailed tactical decisions are made for controllable
parameters of marketing mix. The action items include:

? product development,
? pricing decisions,
? distribution contracts ,
? promotional campaign development

4. Implementation and control : Given few market environments are static, the
results of marketing effort should be monitored closely . as the market changes,
marketing mix can be adjusted accordingly. Often small changes in customer wants
can be addressed by changing the advertising message.

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INFORMATION

The information serves a vital role in Marketing Information System. It serves the following
purposes:

1. Gain a competitive edge

2. Reduce financial risks

3. Determine consumer attitudes

4. Monitor the environment

5. Coordinate strategy

6. Measure performance

7. Improve advertising credibility

8. Gain support for decisions

9. Verify intuition

10. Improve effectiveness

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MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM

A system that analyzes and assesses marketing information, gathered continuously
from sources inside and outside an organization and helps the decision makers to improve
their marketing planning, implementation, and control.

There are many different factors collected and analyzed by MKIS, such as:

o Production, distribution and delivery costs
o Profit vs. costs (ROI)
o Effectiveness of advertising/special offers/discounts
o Target market penetration
o Market share
o Competitive information
o Financial indicators
o Demographic data
o Other additional factors

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ACTIVITIES OF MARKETING
INFROMATION SYSTEM (MKIS)

The various activities of MKIS are:

1. Strategic planning-It is concerned with deciding on the objectives, resources and
policies of the organisation. This level of decision making is predicting the future of
the organisation and its environment.

2. Management control-Such decisions are concerned with how efficiently and
effectively resources are utilised and how well operational units are performing.

3. Transaction processing-This includes sales orders, quotations for product sales
etc.

4. Operational control-Determining which units or individuals in the organisation
will carry out the task, establishing criteria of completion and resource utilisation,
evaluating outputs.

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FUNCTIONS OF MARKETING
INFORMATION SYSTEM

The various functions of Marketing Information System are:
1. The marketing identification function: The determination of potential buyers
and their characteristics is vital in order to satisfy their needs and desires. This enables the
marketer to know :
? where the buyers are located
? when do they buy
? how frequently do they buy
? in what quantity do they buy

2. The purchase motivation function: An assessment of various social, economic and
psychological forces which influence the purchase behavior of the market is made.
3. The product adjustment function: This function includes all such activities which
are necessary to match the product/services offerings with the market.
4. The physical distribution function: The actual movement of goods from the points
of production to the points of consumption is considered in this function.
5. The communication function: This function includes decisions on advertising,
personal selling, sales promotion, publicity, packaging issues etc.
6. The transaction function: It includes all such activities which are needed to facilitate
the transfer of title of ownership of goods/services between the parties in a transaction.
7. The post transaction function: In this function, feedback about the performance of
the product/service is obtained from the customer, so that customer satisfaction can be
ensured.

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WORKING MECHANISM OF
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM
Like any other Information System, Marketing Information System gathers data from
internal and external sources of market, then processes it and generates meaningful output
for marketing managers to assist them in various decision making process.
Marketing information system can be viewed as a combination of two subsystems:-

? Input Subsystem
? Output Subsystems

Input Subsystem: The input subsystems gather data from both environment and firm’s
operations and enter them into the databases.

Output Subsystem: The output subsystems process the data available on the databases
to produce desired information for marketing managers.

COMPONENT OF MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM

Input Output Processing
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SOURCE OF DATA FOR INPUT
In Marketing Information System, We gather data from Marketing Environment.
What is Marketing Environment?
Marketing Environment consists of certain factors that influence the marketing related
decisions in the company or concerned firm.
Major Factors are:
? Political-Legal Factors
? Technological Factors
? Economic Factors
? Social Factors

Factors in Layman Terms:
? Current Economy
? Latest Laws and Policies enforced
? Current Technology in use
? Customer Reviews
? Competitors
? Distributors
? Suppliers

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PROCESSING OF DATA
In order to process the data gathered from Marketing Environment, the data goes through
various subsystems into the Marketing Information System so that meaningful and useful
information can be developed for various marketing managers.
Subsystems:
? Internal Reporting System
? Marketing Research System
? Marketing Intelligence System
? Marketing Models

INTERNAL REPORTING SYSTEM: Collection of information within the company.
Data Sources: Reports on sales call, expenses, orders, order status, account (customer)
status, and sales forecast etc.
MARKETING INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM: It is the Collection and Analysis of publically
available information within the marketing environment.
Data Source: Employees, suppliers, customers, competitors and distributors
MARKETING RESEARCH SYSTEM: It is the process of Gathering, Analyzing, Designing
and Reporting of Data about the situation.
Data Source: Market Survey, Questionnaires, Personal interviews, Existing Study, etc.
MARKETING MODELS: These are the statistical or mathematical tools for interpreting
information in MKIS.
Tools:
? Time Series
? Linear Programming
? Regression and Correlation
? ANOVA
? Discounted Cash Flow
? Spreadsheet’s What if Models

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LATEST DEVELOPMENT
According to Latest Development in Marketing Information System since year 2005 and
onwards, few more subsystems are added into Marketing Information System

Explanation
Subsystem Subsystem use Description
Marketing Information System Analysis and external
control
Identifying problems, changes and
opportunities in the external
marketing environment

Marketing Research System Analysis Collecting information that is
relevant to a specific marketing
problem facing by the company

Marketing Decision Support
System
Analysis and Decision
Making
Consists of all available data
pertinent to marketing combined
with extensive statistical and
modelling capabilities and aptly
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designed user interface for making
improved marketing decisions.

Marketing Planning System Analysis and Planning Managing the whole marketing
planning process from analysing
marketing opportunities to planning
marketing tactics.

Marketing Control System Internal Control Monitoring of personnel, marketing
activities and effectiveness and
performance against plans.

Marketing Report System Internal Control Reporting on sales calls, expenses,
orders, order status, management
reports etc.

Marketing and Sales
Productivity and Support
System
Data Gathering and
Implementation
Managing distributors and
accounts, tracking leads, co-
ordinating sales activities, updating
customer information etc.

DISTRIBUTING INFORMATION
Information must be distributed to the Right Managers at the Right Time.
STRUCTURED INFORMATION: Distribute Routine Information for Decision Making in day –
to- day operations.
Example: Transactional Data, Daily Sales Data, Customer Data etc.
UNSTRUCTURED INFORMATION: Distributes Non-Routine Information for Special
Situation.
Example: Sudden Change in Company’s Policy

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USE OF MKIS AT MANAGERIAL LEVELS

At Operational Level:
? It tracks down operational data like sales, customer, production related data.
? Customer Feedback is also taken to estimate how much customer is satisfied with a
specific product of the company.

At Middle Management Level:
? Sales Staff Analysis is done to evaluate how much sales staff has contributed
towards the profit or loss of a particular product.
? Sales Performance Analysis is done to check whether sales has achieved the
benchmark or not.
? Market Analysis is done to understand the current market behaviour or scenario.

At Strategic or Administrative Level:
? MkIS helps in monitoring the competitor’s movements.
? It also helps in designing new sales product and services for the new opportunities.

•Designing new sales products &
services.
•Monitoring competitors.
Strategic
Level
•Market analysis
•Sales performance analysis
•Sales staff analysis.
Management
level
•Taking customer
feedback
•Tracking operational
facts and data
Operational Level
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SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE
CYCLE (SDLC)

SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION
OBJECTIVES
? Identify whether the request is feasible and valid
? Do we need to improve or modify the existing system
? Do we need to build altogether a new one
TYPES
1. Preliminary Investigation
2. Feasibility Study
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION: Study existing Marketing Management System.
How?
? Conduct surveys in the open market.
? Interviewing the customers.
1. System
Identification
2. Feasibility Study
3. System Analysis
4. System Design 5. System Coding
6. System Testing
7. System
Maintenance and
Evaluation
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? Questionnaires.
? Gather information.
? Analyze the information looking for inconsistencies, ambiguities or unresolved
issues.

FEASIBILITY STUDY: Implementation Function
A feasibility study looks at the viability of an idea that attempts to answer one main question:
“Should we proceed with the proposed project idea? Is it a viable business venture?”
Need of Feasibility Study
? Identify how, where, and to whom you intend to sell a service or product.
? Give focus to the project and outline alternative.
? Identify reasons NOT to proceed.
? Enhance the probability of success.
? Provide quality information.
? Increase investment in the company.
? Provides documentation.
? Help in securing funding from lending institutions and other monetary sources.

Types Of Feasibility Study
A feasibility study is conducted at three levels
? Operational Feasibility: “Will it work?”
? Technical Feasibility: “Can it be built?”
? Economic Feasibility: “Will it make economic sense if it works and is built?”
? Marketing Feasibility: “Will it generate PROFITS?

SDLC in MKIS
Operational Feasibility: Measure how people interact with the system.
Questions that help to test operational feasibility:
1. What is the size and growth forecasts of market segment?
2. What are the industry sales and market trends the product is based on?
3. Are current business methods are acceptable to users?
4. What training will users be given?
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Technical Feasibility: Study of function performance and constraints.
Questions that help to test the technical feasibility:
1. What are the target areas where the marketing is to be done?
2. What type of transportation and shipping facilities required for marketing?
3. What type of media is required for promoting the product?

Economic Feasibility: Profits at less expenditure.
Questions that help to test the economic feasibility:
1. What is the required marketing budget?
2. What is expected rate of return on new product in the market?
3. Will the product be profitable when delivered to customer at target price?
4. Will consumers buy the new product

Marketing Feasibility Study
AIM:
1. Make sure there is true market for the product.
2. Estimate the market share of the project.
3. Includes the evaluation, development and full implementation of marketing plans.
4. Identify, quantify and evaluate opportunities within a market.
POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED ARE:
? Description of Industry
? Current market analysis
? Competition
? Anticipated future market potential
? Potential buyers and sources of revenue
? Sales projection
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SYSTEM ANALYSIS:
KEY POINTS IN REPORT:

? What is system analysis in marketing terms?

? Role of system analysis in marketing.

? Person doing system analysis::THE SYSTEM
ANALYSI ST

? Activities for system analysis.

? System analysis report.

? Software requirement specification.

AIM OF THE PRESENTATION WAS TO PRESENT A BRIEF IDEA TO EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF
SYSTEM ANALYSIS IN MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM.

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Brief description of presentation:
SYSTEM ANALYSIS IN MARKETING
TERMS:
The systems-analysis phase is the specification of what
the system needs to do to meet the requirements of
end users. Gather sufficient information about the
performance of your marketing strategy using specific
statistical data.

ROLE OF SYTEM ANALYSIS IN MARKETiNG:
? Systems Analysis Is an Interactive process through which management and the
analyst work to refine and validate explicit models of those marketing processes
which are of concern to the executive.

? Market oriented Systems Analysis focuses on market Processes rather than existing
reports and decisions.

? The objective of such analysis is to Model, refine and validate or reject current
management understanding of market interactions and to relate relevant measures
of behavior and response to management action alternatives.

SYSTEM ANALYST
• The system analyst gives a system development project meaning and direction.
• The analyst first task is to prepare a statements specifying the scope and
objective of the problem in this only rough work is done an accurate study is
done in the feasibility study.
Qualities of system analyst
Training
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Experience
Common sense

SYSTEM ANALYSIS PHASE AND VARIOUS ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN IT:
The analysis phase answers the questions of who will use the system, what the system will
do, and where and when it will be used. During this phase, the project team investigates any
current system(s), identifies improvement opportunities, and develops a concept for the
new system. This phase has three steps:

1) ANALYSIS STRATEGY:
An analysis strategy is developed to guide the project team’s efforts. Such a strategy
usually includes an analysis of the current system.
2) REQUIREMENT GATHERING:
The next step is requirements gathering (e.g., through interviews or questionnaires). The
analysis of this information—in conjunction with input from the project sponsor and many
other people—leads to the development of a concept for a new system. The system concept
is then used as a basis to develop a set of business analysis models that describes how the
business will operate if the new
system were developed.
3) SYSTEM PROPOSAL:
The analyses, system concept, and models are combined into a document called the system
proposal, which is presented to the project sponsor and other key decision makers that
decide whether the project should continue to move forward

ANALYSIS REPORT :
Analysis report is prepared. It is done for review and approval of the project from the
higher management.
ANALYSIS REPORT
• PART 1: It should explain how the current system works.
• PART 2: It explains the problems in the existing system.
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• PART 3: It describes the requirements for the new system and make
recommendations for the future.

REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION
Analysis of data describing the system to determine how well it is performing, what
requirements must be met, and strategies for fulfilling them. It has three interrelated
parts.
1. Analysis of factual data
2. Identification of essential requirements
3. Selection of requirements fulfilment strategies.
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION:
A software requirements specification is a document which is used as a communication
medium between the customer and the supplier. When the software requirement
specification is completed and is accepted by all parties, the end of the requirements
engineering phase has been reached. This is not to say, that after the acceptance phase, any
of the requirements cannot be changed, but the changes must be tightly controlled. The
software requirement specification should be edited by both the customer and the supplier,
as initially neither has both the knowledge of what is required (the supplier) and what is
feasible (the customer).

NEED OF SRS
A software requirements specification has a number of purposes and contexts in which it is
used. This can range from a company publishing a software requirement specification to
companies for competitive tendering, or a company writing their own software requirement
specification in response to a user requirement document. In the first case, the author of
the document has to write the document in such a way that it is general enough as to allow
a number of different suppliers to propose solutions, but at the same time containing any
constraints which must be applied. In the second instance, the software requirement
specification is used to capture the users requirements and if any, highlight any
inconsistencies and conflicting requirements and define system and acceptance testing
activities.

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Output: SRS

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STRUCTURED ANALYSIS TOOLS
Structured analysis tools are development method for the analysis of existing manual or automated
systems, leading to the development of specifications for a new or modified system. Structured
analysis allow the analyst to learn about a system or process in a manageable and logical way while
providing a basis for ensuring that details don’t get overlooked
Various Structured Analysis Tools Are:-
? Data Dictionary
? Data Flow Diagram
? Structured English
? Decision Table
? Decision Tree

DATA FLOW DIAGRAM
Data Flow Diagram is a graphical representation of the logical flow of data . It helps in expressing
the system’s requirements in a simple and understandable form. It is also known as Bubble Chart.
DFD Serves The Two Purposes:
To provide an indication of how data are transformed as they move through system
To depict the functions (sub functions)that transforms the data flow.
Data Flow Diagram Give Answers To Four Questions
What Process Make Up A System?
What Data Are Used In Each Process?
What Data Are Stored?
What Data Enter And Leave The System?

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CONTEXT LEVEL DIAGRAM OF MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM
• The purpose of this is to conceptualize the general sources and sinks of data.
• It contain only one process(process 0) that depict the function of the entire system in
relationship to external entities.

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CONTEXT LEVEL DIAGRAM IS FURTHER DETAILED INTO VARIOUS LEVELS

In fig. customer make some requirement for the product
And then marketing information process comes
Here marketing information process consists of three processes:
Marketing identification process(1.0):- maintaining updated information file about
buyers and their characteristics and make out some strategies
Product adjustment process(2.0):- make some adjustment according to the changing
criteria on psychologies factors, economical and demands and make out some plan for planning
process
Planning process(3.0): it is further detailed into communication process, distribution and
sales process and customer’s service process having data from organizations plan.
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Finally product is delivered to customer and feedback is taken to check whether customers are
satisfied or not.

In 1st level DFD, planning process is not clear so it reqires more details so
in 2
nd
level DFD planning is further detailed into three more processes:
? Communication Process
? Distribution And Sales Process
? Planning Process
Communication planning process(3.1): It is communication between buyers and the
sellers on advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, publicity etc.
Distribution and sales process(3.2): The actual movement of goods from points of
production to points of consumptions. It involves decisions on integration of transportation,
warehousing and merchandising economics.
Customer’s service plan(3.3):- Decisions regarding about satisfaction of customers by
giving benefits like home delivery and some discount. Feedback is taken from customers after
delivering the product because marketing is not the case of just increasing sales volume but to
satisfy the customers’s requirements

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DATA DICTIONARY
A data dictionary is a structured repository of data about data. It is a set of precise and accurate
definitions of all DFD’s data elements and data structures

ADVANTAGES OF DATA DICTIONARY:-
? The most obvious is documentation; it is a valuable reference in any organization
? Improving analyst/user communication by establishing consistent definition of various elements,
terms and procedures
? During implementation , it serves as a common base for programmers who are working on system
Data dictionaries are an integral component of structured analysis. Since DFD themselves do not
fully describe the subject of the investigation. The data dictionary provides additional information
about the system.
DATA DICTIONARY ON PROCESS 0

It describes the marketing information process. This process uses customers’ requirements and
produces the product.
Purpose: The purpose of this process is to check for the feasibility of product according to the
various changes and then plans are made out for producing product. The processing logic is
summarized.

PROCESS: Marketing information process
DESCRIPTION: This process consists of sequence of all process like
Marketing identification Process, product Auditing Process and planning
process etc.
INCOMING DATA FLOW: Customer’s Requirements
OUTGOING DATA FLOW: Product Delivery
LOGICAL SUMMARY:

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DATA DICTIONARY ON DATA STORE

This product order file data store explains that process of production can’t be started until
all the details about the product is not given. So this process checks whether we have sufficient raw
materials or other things or not so we can start our project or not
To complete the definition of this data flow, the appropriated data structures are
listed which includes product-id,product –code,product-unit.
The data store describes data flow to and from the data stores as well as volume – an indication of
how busy this process so 1000(daily)

DATA DICTIONARY ON DATA FLOW

DATA STORE: Product Order’s File
DESCRIPTION: Includes all the details of all the orders of customers.
INBOUND FLOW: Marketing Information Process
OUTBOUND FLOW: Marketing Information Process
VOLUME: 1000
ACCESS: Sequentially processed
DATA FLOW NAME: Product Delivery
DESCRIPTION: Details regarding the delivery of product and carries the details to customer
FROM PROCESS: Marketing Information Process
TO PROCESS: Customer
DATA STRUCTURES: a) Product Size
b) Volume
c) Price

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Here data flow product delivery do the task of delivering the product to the customers according to
the specifications. Products are planned out from marketing information process and going to
customer. It includes the data structure of elements(product size,volume and price)

DESIGN OF MKIS

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the design phase is to plan a solution of the problem specified by the requirement
document. This phase is the first step in moving from problem domain to the solution domain. The
design of a system is perhaps the most critical factor affecting the quality of the software, and has a
major impact on the later phases, particularly testing and maintenance. The output of this phase is
the design document. This document is similar to a blue print or plan for the solution, and is used
later during implementation, testing and maintenance.

TYPES OF DESIGN
1. Logical Design
A logical design partitions the system into conceptual components and specifies their behavior. It is
important that as much information about the problem domain be reflected, and that minimal
attention be paid to considerations having to do with performance, platform, or technology choices,
unless these things are constants and known ahead of time, or are key choices that affect the
functional capabilities. The reason is that this postponement allows choices of platform and
technology to be deferred and left for implementation experts. The important goal of the logical
design phase is to synergize the knowledge of application experts and implementation experts to
produce a logical model of the system which could be implemented and would work, but perhaps
not optimally.

If the system has transactional behavior, transaction partitioning should be addressed in a logical
sense (what are the transactions), but not the implementation (e.g. whether DBMS locking is to be
used, or implemented with an optimistic policy or checkout). This does not mean that no thought
should be given to such issues; in fact, judgment about the likely technical challenges of the
alternative logical designs is crucial to coming up with a design that can be built within the project’s
budget. Pinning down specific implementations is probably premature, however, since at this point a
prototype has not even been built, and regardless the focus should be on making sure all the
application’s functionality is addressed.
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2. Detailed Design
The detailed design phase modifies the logical design and produces a final detailed design, which
includes technology choices, specifies a system architecture, meets all system goals for performance,
and still has all of the application functionality and behavior specified in the logical design. If a
database is a component of the system, the schema that results from the detailed design may be
radically different in key places from the one developed in the logical design phase, although an
effort should be made to use identical terminology and not change things that do not need to be
changed. The detailed design process should document all design decisions that require schema
changes, or in general any changes to the logical design, and the reasons for the change. The project
manager’s challenge will be to again disseminate understanding of the new design, which is
replacing a logical design that had achieved credibility and consensus. This is the reason why all
changes need to be well documented, so there is a clear migration, and the changes do not seem
radical or arbitrary.

If a features list approach is used, it is easy to separate the project into builds, and make the detailed
design and implementation phases of each build iterative. The systems’s features can be analyzed
for dependencies and resource requirements, and assigned to project builds based on these
dependencies, critical path, and priority. The minimum set of features for a testable bootstrap
system can then be determined. For each build, additional features are added, and all tests are
rerun, resulting in a working system after each build with increasing functionality and reliability.
During each build, a detailed design of each feature can be performed, identifying the packages and
classes affected, and with roughcut and then detailed updates to the specifications being produced,
possibly in an iterative manner, and finally actual implementation in code. I have seen this technique
work extremely successfully on many compiler and other projects with which I have been involved,
and it is directly applicable to all kinds of systems.

System Design consist of three activities

USER INTERFACE
DESIGN
DATA DESIGN PROCESS DESIGN
SCREEN, FORM, REPORTS,
AND DIALOG DESIGN
DATA ELEMENT
STRUCTURE DESIGN
PROGRAM AND
STRUCTURE DESIGN
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1. User Interface Design

• Focuses on designing the interaction between end user and marketing information
system.
• Produces detailed specification for marketing information system so that it becomes easy
for the user to interact with the system such as :
(a) Display screens
(b) Interactive user/computer dialogues
(c) Audio responses
(d) Forms
(e) Documents and reports.

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2. Data Design
It focuses on the design of the logical structure of databases and file to be used by a marketing
information system. Data design frequently produces a data dictionary, which catalogs detailed
description of:
(a) The attributes .
(b) The relationships.
(c) The specific data elements
(d) Database,files,records are maintained of consumer, salesman.
(e) The integrity rules.

3. Process Design
? Activities involved in determining the workflows and implementations requirements
for a particular process
? Different process files will be designed to hold the coding for different processes
? Process design, whether designing a new process or modernizing an existing
process, require knowledge of the process equipments.

Design Methods
A design methodology is a systematic approach to creating a design by application of set of
techniques and guidelines. Most methodologies focus on system design.
? Problem Partitioning:-Based on the principle of ‘Divide And Conquer'. the whole
problem is divided into small manageable parts to be solved separately.
? Structured Designroduce a structure where the modules have minimum
dependence on each other and high level of cohesion.
? Top Down design:-A system may be termed as a hierarchy of sub systems, the
highest level sub system corresponding to the total system.
Design verification
Like every other phase, the design phase ends with verification of the design. If the design is
not specified in some executable language, the verification has to be done by evaluating the
design documents. One way of doing this is thorough reviews. Typically, at least two design
reviews are held-one for the system design and one for the detailed and one for the
detailed design.

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Coding
For MKIS ,we have implemented two very small projects:-
Online Advertisement System
First We discuss how our Online Advertisement System works.

As we see above , First we created a advertisement data form into which we fill new
advertisement details . Then this Data Form is connected to our Blogging account and all
the advertisement details will be posted there. The Blogging account is further connected to
the Google SMS Channel. We have a created a SMS Channel for our advertisements.
Once we have got the mobile numbers of all the customers we can put them into our SMS
channel list and the advertisement will be sent to all of them through SMS. A customer can
also subscribe to our Channel or unsubscribe it.

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In the New Advertisement Data Form , we will fill the title of the new advertisement and the
details of the data form. The clicking Post button the form will we connected to the Bogging
Account and the whole advertisement data will be posted there.
Customer can go for the following options.
1.Customer can Enable/Disable the Adevertisements by sending the following messege to
9870807070.
On
Off
2.Customer Can Search any channel by sending the following messege to 9870807070.
Search
3.For subscription use.
Subscribe
And send it to 9870807070.

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Customer Record System
In Customer Record System , we can add new Customer data and also display all the
customers data.

The above picture shows the flow of activities in the customer record system. For the
customer there are two choices :->1. Add New Customer 2.Display All data. And according
to the choice the appropriate action will be tak
en.
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As you see in the data form , to add new customer we fill the Customer Number, Name
,Mobile Number and Address of the customer. After that all the details are added to the
database.

We the customer select the second choice the all customer data will be shown on the
Form given above.

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TESTING:
Does the software behave as specified?
Why we do Testing?
? An error free information system gives marketing managers accurate, timely and
relevant information.
? An error free information system is a basis for decision making in specific
responsibility areas of marketing management.
? After system development, generally firms conduct system testing, to verify and
validate the system.
? To assess whether the system meets the technical and commercial objectives at
various levels in order to ascertain the system acceptability.
? To make sure that the system developed is according to the specifications.
? Identifies defects, flaws, or errors in the system that must be fixed.

V-Model of Testing in MKIS

? System testing is too important to leave to the end of the project, so the V-Model of
testing in Marketing Information System incorporates testing into the entire system
development cycle.
? It illustrates that,
? Testing can and should start at the very beginning of the System
development.
? How each subsequent phase should verify and validate work done in the
previous phase

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Types of Tests

The V-Model of testing in marketing information System identifies four testing phases,
each with a certain type of test associated with it.

Unit
testing
Integration
testing
Validation testing
System testing
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Unit Testing
? Also known as Module Testing or Component Testing.
? Individual modules and components are tested, ensuring that they function
properly.
? Done by the developers and not by end-users.
Errors which are uncovered:-
? Incorrect comparison.
? Incorrect or nonexistent loop termination.
? Incorrect arithmetic operations.

Entry Criteria:
? System Requirements are at least 80% complete and have been approved to-date.
? Technical Design has been finalized and approved.
? Code development for the module is complete.
Exit Criteria:
? No major or critical defects prevents any modules from moving to Integration Testing.
? Project Manager Approval has been received

Integration Testing

? Tests all the components and modules that are integrated to form a sub-system.
? Tests the interaction with between the modules.
? When a defect is discovered, only those tests with a connection to the defect must be
rerun.
? Two basic strategies:
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? Top-down Integration.
? Bottom up Integration.
Entry Criteria:
? ? Unit testing has been completed and signed off.
Exit Criteria:
? ? All sub-systems meet the desired functionality and performance requirements.
? ? Outstanding defects have been identified, documented, and presented to the
business sponsor.

System Testing
? Testing the system as a whole.
? Evaluates the system's compliance with its specified requirements.
? Checks for unexpected interaction between the units and modules.
? When a defect is discovered, previously executed system tests must be rerun after
the repair is made.
? Requires many test runs, because it entails feature by feature validation of behavior
using a wide range of both normal and erroneous test inputs and data.

System
Testing
Load
facto
r
Recover
y
testing
Security
testing
Stress
testing
Performance
testing
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Entry Criteria:
? Integration Testing for each sub-system has been completed and
approved.
Exit Criteria:
? Application meets all documented functional requirements.
? No known critical defects prevent moving to the User acceptance
Testing.
? All appropriate parties have approved the completed tests.

User Acceptance Testing
? Final stage in the testing process before system is accepted for operational use.
? Reveal requirement problems where system facilities do not really meet the users
needs or system performance.
Alpha Testing:
? Done if the system is made for a single customer.
? Testing the system with data supplied by the client.
? Continues until the system developer and the client agrees that the delivered
system is acceptable.
Beta Testing:
? When a system is to be marketed as a software product.
? It involves delivering a system to potential customers.
? They report problems to the system developers.
? After the feedback, the system is modified and either released for further beta
testing or for general sale.
Entry Criteria:
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? Business requirements have been met.
? Security requirements have been documented and necessary user access obtained.
Exit Criteria:
? UAT has been completed and approved by the user community.
? Change Control Management is managing requested modifications and enhancements.
? Business sponsor agrees that known defects do not impact a production release.

Production Verification Testing
? Final opportunity to determine if the system is ready for release.
? Purpose is for a period of time simulates real business activity.
? As a sort of full dress rehearsal, it should identify anomalies or unexpected changes
to existing processes.
? Mock production runs will verify that the existing business process flows, interfaces,
and batch processes continue to run correctly.
Entry Criteria:
? Known defects have been documented.
? Migration package documentation has been completed, reviewed, and approved by the
production systems manager.
Exit Criteria:
? Installation testing has been performed and documented and the results have been
signed off.
? Mock testing has been documented, reviewed, and approved by managers.
? All tests show that the application will not adversely affect the production environment.
System testing is a critical element in the software development.
? Saves time and money by identifying problems early.
? Improve customer satisfaction by delivering a more defect-free product.
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SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

Once a system is fully implemented and being operated by end users, the maintenance
function begins. System maintenance is the monitoring, evaluating and modifying of
operational information system to make desirable or necessary improvements.
Regardless of how well designed, constructed and tested a system or application may
be, there may be any need in order to conducting System Maintenance

REASONS TO CONDUCT SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

? Changing needs of dynamic and competitive market.
? Negative feedback provided by the evaluation process.
? Maintaining the marketing information system at the highest level of
effectiveness and efficiency.
? Removing existing errors in the information system.
.

FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES OF
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE
1. To make predictable changes to existing programs to correct errors that were made
during system design or implementation.
2. To preserve those aspects of the program that were correct and to avoid the
possibility that “fixes” to programs cause other aspects of those programs to behave
differently.
3. To avoid as much as possible degradation of system performance. Poor system
maintenance can gradually erode system throughput and response time.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE TASKS
• Validating the Problem
• Benchmark Program
• Study and debug the program
• Test the program
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Validating the Problem
• The first task of the system analyst or the programmer is to validate the problem.
Working with the users, the team should attempt to validate the problem by
reproducing it.
• There could be following possible effects of bug:
1. One possible output is an unsubstantiated bug(means we r not sure dat it is a bug).
2. In some cases the analyst confirms the error but recognizes it as a simple misuse or
mistaken use of the program.
Benchmark Program
This task can be performed by either system analyst and/or programmer. Users should also
participate to ensure that the test is conducted as closely as possible under some
circumstances that simulate a normal working environment.
Study and debug the program
• The programmer response to “bug-fix” requirements that establish the exception for
fixing the problem. The programmer “debugs” (edits) a copy of the problem
program.
• Changes are not made in the production program. The result is corrected version of
the program.(deleivery of software’s new version)
• The purpose of program studies is to gain insight into how program works and
doesn’t works. Program studies can also lead to better estimates of the time and
resources that will be required to fix the error.
Test the program
A candidate release of the program must be tested before it can be placed into operation as
the next new version of the production program.
The following tests are essential :
1. Unit testing ensure that the stand-alone program fixes the bug without undesirable
side effect to the program.
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2. System testing ensures that entire application, of which the modified program was a
part , still works.
3. Regression testing extrapolates the impact of the changes on program .

CASE STUDY:
Market Information System boosts incomes of
Ukraine’s small
& medium sized growers

ABSTRACT:

The Market Information System (MIS) created by the Agricultural Marketing
Project (AMP) jointly with its Ukrainian subcontractor APK-Inform helped boost
sales and profits of small and medium sized growers, and attracted significant
investments. It resulted in about $20 in additional benefits to farmers for each
$ spent and became self-sufficient in 3 years from its launch.
Based on the market information received through the numerous contacts with
market players as well as official statistics, AMP analysts have created a flow of
analytical information, making horticultural market of the country more
transparent and predictable. It, in turn, has led to the increased amount of
investments into the industry, helped create additional production, trade and
processing opportunities, create new jobs and increase incomes of rural
population.

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Problem statement:

When the AMP team started working in Ukraine in 2003, it determined that further
development of the horticultural sector of Ukraine’s agribusiness sector, which was based
on many small and medium sized growers provided nearly 35% of all revenues to rural
inhabitants, was hampered by the lack of market infrastructure. Growers did not know
where and how to sell fruits & vegetables and consumers paid relatively high prices for
these products due to a large number of very small intermediaries and completely chaotic
marketing and complete lack of market transparency.
The AMP team only had 3 years to resolve this problem and the quickest way to do it,
according to AMP professionals’ was to develop a system, which would allow all market
players to receive easy and fast access, to information about market prices in various
regions of Ukraine; buyers and sellers of key products and their offers & bids, market news,
market reports and market forecasts. Lack of widely recognized standards for the fruits &
vegetables was another significant challenge as the fruits & vegetables have a great
variability of sizes, colors, shapes, varieties, etc. Yes another problem we faced was a large
number of different types of fruits & vegetables, which we had to monitor, as this sector of
agribusiness has a significant number of products, all of which are very important. As we
proceeded with our idea, we discovered several other problems on our way. To understand
the markets our analysts had to consider the interests of many market participants,
including different types of growers, processors, wholesale traders, input and equipment
suppliers, retail chains, etc. On the other hand we realized that if we succeed in helping this
industry become more efficient, we would be able to help create many new job and
improve incomes of people involved in these industries as well as living standards of rural
population overall.
From the very first steps of creating our own MIS, we thought about its sustainability. This
was a great tool by itself as it guided us in our decisions, helping choose only options that
would generate a real interest of our clients. If we created something people were ready to
pay money for, it meant that this was a really useful thing for them.

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Creating MIS step by step

The AMP started creating the MIS from several brainstorming sessions, where they
discussed what’s really essential to know about the markets to be successful based on the
opinion of various market players. Pooling it all together, they have discovered that most
market players had many things in common. Since they had 8 offices and they planned to
create a web-portal, they needed a modern on-line database that would allow many people
to access it at the same time. Thus, the system chose Oracle to create the database and our
subcontractors’ programmers did all of the work based on our vision of what this system
should be able to do. The database allowed us to track the markets and also monitor overall
Project’s activities. It is also true that we have been improving the database ever since we
created it.
They trained the Project Staff to use it and explained why it is important to keep all of the
contacts in this common database. The first few months the system spent in meetings with
clients, searching for industry contacts and entering them into the database. Since we had
all the database statistics online, it was easy to see the progress of contacts collection and
determine who of the employees needed additional help with this process.
In the meanwhile they polled many clients to determine their problems and this information
helped us develop efficient ways to resolve them. First of all, complete lack of information
about market prices and trends motivated them to start market monitoring. They started
monitoring retail markets in most regions of Ukraine by sending the enumerators there or
collecting price information from the markets’ administrations over the phone.
During the numerous meetings with farmers we explained them the intentions and
convinced them to purchase cell phones. They explained that otherwise they would not be
able to improve sales of their produce because buyers will have no way of reaching them.
After the wave of the seminars most farmers did buy mobile phones as they were becoming
really inexpensive. At that point they started collecting weekly farm-gate prices for the key
products from farmers included in the database via the phone. To motivate farmers provide
this information we gave them free of charge advertising in our publications and web-site as
we placed products they wanted to sell in the offers & bids section. Farmers were happy to
provide the information and, in most cases, they determined offer price when talking to the
MI specialists, who also provided consultation and advise. All of the valuable comments
provided by farmers were included in special internal section of the database.
At this point in time we have received many phone calls from potential buyers (processors,
traders and supermarket chains) who wanted to find suppliers of fruits & vegetables. They
shared their market information with us and we, in exchange, provided them with the free
advertisement as well and provided contacts of farmers who had products of their interest
for sale. Farmers who previously had very few opportunities to sell suddenly started getting
several phone calls per day, were able to look evaluate various options, had a possibility to
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call and consult with us and thus, have been able to sell their produce quickly and the
highest price offered. After many years of receiving no attention from the government or
anybody else, farmers really appreciated the support they were getting from us.
There were many things they did simultaneously at this point: they created a webportal,
started publishing weekly magazine and sending it to all market players who expressed their
interest and we continued to build and improve the database and train the clients. Once the
farmers got their first weekly magazines, we came around and explained how to use them.
Usually we did 5-6 hour trainings for 20-40 farmers were they were able to try all of the
options available. Most active farmers who came to such seminars later on transferred the
knowledge they gained to their colleagues. When our MI specialists talked to a client, they
entered information directly into the on-line database linked directly to a web-portal. Many
clients received phone calls from potential buyers or suppliers few minutes after their
conversations with the MI specialists, as offers & bids appeared on-line on the web-portal as
they spoke.
From the very beginning of the project we kept telling farmers to grow what’s in the
demand instead of trying to sell what they have grown. We did a lot of work explaining all
market participants the importance of contract growing for further industry development.
We also invited buyers (processors, traders, supermarkets) to all of our seminars and let
them tell farmers what kind of product do they need, when, how much, how should it be
packaged and delivered, etc. We also published numerous articles on these issues in our
magazines. Our production and price forecast for all key fruits & vegetables published every
spring and updated two or three times per year has helped many farmers who read it make
very profitable planting decisions.
To make sure farmers are able to grow what’s demanded by the markets, we have held
many field days and demonstrated modern production, post-harvest handling, storage and
packing technologies. We published this information in various manuals, in our publications
and on the web site. Thus, our MIS was more than just market information system; it
became a system for collection, processing and distribution of technological, legal, market
and other useful information for farmers.

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How AMP’s MIS is used in practice

There are many ways to use the MIS to farmers and other market participants’ advantage.
Here are some examples to demonstrate how much farmers and others gained from this:

A farmer, who was very pessimistic about MIS and did not want to get any offers placed in
the system, came to one of our regional offices to complain about lack of interest for his
cabbage. He had around 100 tons in stock and the wholesaler who told him he would buy it
from him has disappeared. The staff recommended placing an offer in our system, which he
reluctantly did. They also gave him one of our latest magazines with a list of buyers
interested in cabbage and he started calling this list from our office. 20 minutes later he had
identified two buyers interested in purchasing most of his cabbage and just when he was
about the leave the office he received a phone call from another potential buyer who found
his offer on the Internet. As a result the farmer has sold all of his cabbage during 2-3 weeks
for $10,000.

One of the top processing companies was searching for a large amount of good quality
carrots but in the area where it usually procured carrots a serious shortage of this vegetable
was observed. Managers have found our web portal through the Internet and discovered
around 30 farmers offering carrots during this week. They were not sure this was true and
called the analyst on the phone. When they confirmed this information and told them that
in the western part of Ukraine there was a significant over-production of carrots, they
started calling the farmers. In one week they have reportedly included contracts to supply
enough carrots to satisfy their processing plans. Farmers were very happy with the price and
processors were very happy to be able to fulfill their contracts.

One of the farmers decided to expend planting area under onions motivated by high prices
for this crop in the past season. When he was about to buy the seeds, he read our
production and price forecast, which suggested a high probability of very low prices for
onions. He consulted with the system and changed his mind. The system also suggested that
prices for eggplants, cucumbers and early cabbage may be higher and told him that it would
be better to focus on early onions if he wanted to plant any. He made the planting decisions
based on our recommendations and got very high prices for the products he planted
(including early onions) while these who did plant late onions had serious difficulties selling
it.
Since onion prices were really low due to over-production, we have started searching for
way to effectively help our growers. Ukraine has never exported onions but we found out
that during this very year there was a significant shortage of this production in Poland,
Holland and several other EU countries. The system published several articles providing
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information about this opportunity to all market players along with export requirements.
The system received several phone calls from wholesalers who got interested and four
weeks later several farmers reported improving demand for the onions. It turned out that
wholesalers have started shipping onions to Poland and other countries, which supported
prices and helped farmers avoid losses. Three months later the number of counties buying
onions from Ukraine has increased to around 15 and Ukraine became one of the largest
exporters of onions on the region.

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Impact

? Presently we estimate that our system has resulted in about $20 in additional benefits
to farmers for each $ spent.
? Expect it to be fully self-sufficient and profitable to all market participants in the
future.
? The web-portal presently attracts around 30,000 unique visitors every month and a
significant share of Ukraine’s fruits & vegetables gets sold through our portal.
? The MIS helped lower the transaction costs to farmers. Transaction costs for farmers
were reduced by 100-200 times.
? Farmers were also provided with a weekly magazine, which included key market
news, market prices (wholesale and retail) in all major regions of Ukraine, offers &
bids, produce production, PHH, packing, storage and marketing recommendations and
many other useful features.
? Helped farmers to develop a stronger negotiating position when talking to buyers.
? Price information from various regions within the country helped them improve their
marketing decisions and sell products to regions where highest margins were
observed.
? Price and production forecasts provided each spring and updated 2 times per year
helped farmers plan production of crops that were in strong demand on the market and
thus, for higher prices and greater revenues.
? The number of fruit & vegetable processors increased from 15 in 2003 to about 125 in
2006.
? The number of full-service wholesale companies has increased from virtually zero to
around 30 and many mid-size companies were created.
? Growers’ incomes at least doubled, consumers received lower prices for higher
quality fresh produce. Also, thousands of on-farm and off-farm seasonal and
permanent jobs were created.
? Ukraine, which prior to AMP’s interventions imported fruits & vegetables from
Poland and other neighbouring countries, in 2006 became a net exporter of many of
these products.
? Thus, the succeeded in the mission that even if farmers do not have access to the
Internet, it is enough for them to have access to a phone to have the benefits of
modern market technologies work for them.

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Conclusion
To conclude the whole project, we can say that Marketing Information System is necessary
element in the present scenario in order to develop any new product in the market. The
Whole System ensures that a product should not be just made to be sold in the market but
to be known for its brand name, quality, reliability, affordability along with the attainment
of customer satisfaction. The Marketing Information System also ensures that a product
should start from a scratch of analysing the feasibility of the product till its continuous
maintenance process.

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