MIS Project

KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

PROJECT REPORT: MIS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

Submitted on: 27th December, 2009

Submitted by:Mr. Bimal Daga

Mr. Dharendra RayamajhiMr. Govinda GyawaliMr. Sandip TimsinaMr. Shushant Limbu

Mr. Tribikram DhunganaEMBA -2009

Submitted to:Mr. Sudarshan Raj Sharma

Course instructorManagement Information System

SIGNATURE PAGE

I/we certify that I/we have read this document and, in my/our opinion, it is satisfactory in scope and quality as a project report in partial fulfillment for the graduate course of Management Information System held at the School of Management of Kathmandu University.

_______________________ _____________________Mr. Bimal Daga Mr. Sandip Timsina

_______________________ ______________________

Mr. Dharendra Rayamajhi Mr. Sushant Limbu

_______________________ _______________________Mr. Govinda Gyawali Mr. Tribikram Dhungana

COPYRIGHT & DISCLAIMER

3 Copyright @ 2007, By the authors

All rights reserved.

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by the acts of Nepal without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Request for the permission or further information should be addressed to the authors.

DISCLAIMER

The object of this project work was to study the MIS requirement in the context of Nepalese Organization. The authors are confident that the results of analysis and the results presented in this report will be taken as a guide for a more comprehensive study at a future date. The authors are not responsible or liable legally and morally against the results and consequent decisions based on the project report. The project shall only serve the academic purpose. The views expressed in this report are those of the project team members only.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTWe would like to express our gratitude to Kathmandu University School of Management for giving us the opportunity to conduct a project work on a topic that helped us not only to assess the MIS requirement of a unit of an established organization, but the project also helped us learn to do research and enrich our knowledge.

We are very grateful to our instructor Mr. Sudarshan Raj Sharma for his guidance, suggestions and resource materials without which the project work would not have been possible.

Last but not the least we would like to express our sincere thanks to employees at Employees Provident Fund for letting us conduct a project task on one of their crucial unit.

Executive SummaryEmployees Provident Fund is a government owned fund management organization. It collects the contribution deduction from various organizations (government, non-government, police, and army) and maintains account for each employee. It then invests the fund and distributes the interest. There are various functions from fund collection to investment that are core to Employees Provident Fund’s operation. There are various departments and sections each dedicated to carry out specific operation and one of them is agency. The primary function of agency section/unit is to collect information from offices and statements from banks and to reconcile these statements. The agency section is fully computerized however the agency section at Thamel branch and Pulchowk branch use different software to carry out their operation. These independent systems are incompatible. Though there is no requirement for the Pulchowk’s agency section to work on Thamel ‘s data it is Thamel’s agency section that has to carry out the entire reconciliation process.

In this project the team proposes a single system that carries out the entire agency functionalities that includes from statements entry, to batch import from schedule collection, to reconciliation to ledger file generation at the end of every fiscal year. The project will also study the need for business process re-engineering as well as implementation of technology (software, hardware, and network) to enable the process.

The system will support multiple users, will be able to import data from files with various formats, generate MIS reports and automate most of the agency process. The system will also generate the year end ledger files.

ContentsOrganization................................................................................................................................................1

History.....................................................................................................................................................1

Objective.................................................................................................................................................1

Statistics..................................................................................................................................................2

Work-flow................................................................................................................................................3

Organization

HistoryIn Nepal, the history of Provident Fund (PF) dates back to 1934 when the PF scheme came into existence with the establishment of Sainik Drabya Kosh (Army Provident Fund) during the Rana Regime.

The scheme was initiated with the intentions of removing financial hardships to the army personnel after their retirement. Under the scheme, the army staffs were required to contribute a specific percentage of their salary to their provident fund (PF) account in Sainik Drabya Kosh.

A decade later the scheme was broadened to cover the employees of civil services as well. A separate organization named Nijamati Provident Fund was established in 1944 to manage the scheme for civil servants working within Kathmandu.

In 1948 the coverage of the scheme was extended to provide coverage to the entire civil servants working throughout the kingdom of Nepal.

In 1959, Employees' Provident Fund Department was established under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. This department was entrusted with the management of both Sainik Drabya Kosh and Nijamati Provident Fund. With this, the scope of the scheme was extended to cover all government employees including the police.

Three years after the establishment of Employees Provident Fund Department, a special Act called "Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh (or Employee's Provident Fund) Act" was legislated in the year 1962. The same year the present Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh (KSK), or Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in English, was established under the act as an autonomous provident fund organization.

After the establishment of EPF the erstwhile Sainik Drabya Kosh, Nijamati Provident Fund and Provident Fund Department were merged into the EPF. Since then EPF has grown by leaps and bounds and today it stands as a strong social security providing organization in Nepal.

ObjectiveThe primary objective of the Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh (KSK) or the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in English is to manage the provident fund of the government, public and private sector employees and to help them financially on retirement or separation from their jobs.

Related other objectives of KSK are:

To mobilize the savings received in KSK through the compulsory provident fund contributions on the part of employees and employer.

To extend the KSK coverage so that a larger section of the organized sector employees, who have yet not been covered, can be brought under the KSK umbrella with a view to benefit them.

1 | P a g e

To generate maximum return on the investment of KSK for the benefits of the members. To undertake activities that can provide social security to the members of KSK. To conduct research activities and to explore welfare schemes, this benefits the KSK members at

large.

StatisticsTotal Contributors 4 Lakh 40 Thousand TotalTotal Contributing Offices 28 ThousandProvident Fund NRs. 7266.98 CroresLoan to Contributors NRs. 3557.09 CroresReserve Fund (est) NRs. 437.80 CroresInvestment NRs. 354.31 CroresFixed Deposit in Banks NRs. 2578 CroresGovernment Bond NRs. 664.91 CroresInvestment in Buildings NRs. 38.05 CroresInvestment in Shares NRs. 91.80 CroresInvestment in Fixed Assets NRs. 45.37 CroresOther Funds NRs. 585.56 Crores

2 | P a g e

ICT Usage in the organizationEPF is one of the very few organizations in the country that uses ICT at maximum from accounting to transaction management to employees’ information management. It has its own website, email system, and well managed network.

Hardware infrastructureNo of Servers (High End):

Database server : 1 Application Server : 1 Backup Server : 1 Remote Server : 1

Low-end Servers: DNS Server : 1 Web Server :1 Database Server (Web) : 1 Internal Web Server : 1

Router:Fortinet Routers: 8

Printers:Large Laser Printers: 2Small Laser Printers: 45Line Printers: 25Others (Dot Matrix, Cheque Printers etc): 50

Client Computers: 330

UPS: 200

Scanners: 45

Network infrastructureThe computers at EPF Thamel branch are all in a network and are capable of sharing files, printers, scanners and hardware. The use of network has enabled EPF to maximize the utilization of resources by sharing it, for example every section has not more than 5 printers that are simultaneously used by around 30 users. There are scanners that are also shared due to which there is no requirement to have a separate printer for individual teller.

Pulchowk branch is semi-networked with more than 70% of the computers in a network, the network of the Pulchowk branch is also managed by the Computer Management Department at Thamel.

3 | P a g e

Outside branches like Hetauda, Biratnagar, Pokhara and Butuwal are fully networked. These networks are in turn connected to the Thamel LAN with lease line and thus making a VLAN. All these networks are managed by the Computer Management Department at Thamel. In branches the support is provided by the computer operators or the local technicians.

Router:Fortinet Routers: 8

SoftwareWindows Server 2003 (internal network management)Linux Enterprise Edition – 2005 (web management)

Network Analyzer: 1

Existing DatabaseEPF has Oracle 9i Release 2.0 RDBMS database. Before that it had foxpro database system.

4 | P a g e

Existing SoftwareThe major software systems are listed below

CMSEPF was one of the pioneer organizations that adopted computer system over the manual system. EPF had its first computer in the mid 80s for the accounting purpose. Later it built a Fox-pro based Contribution management system in house and remained as its core system till early 2000. Later the need for a centralized contribution management system became inevitable and EPF decided to build a new centralized system in-house with partnership with some other software company. It called for proposal and IT-Nepal got the contract and the project CMS started, the whole system was migrated into the new CMS system and it was in the year 2005 the fiscal year ledger processing was done in the CMS system and CMS system officially became the main Transaction processing system in the organization. Following are the major characteristics of the CMS system

1. CMS is a centralized Contribution Management System2. CMS is a multiuser system.3. CMS has Oracle Database, Oracle 9i release 2.4. CMS was built in Oracle 6i form and reports developer.5. CMS ownership lies at the hand of Employees Provident Fund.6. CMS is basically a transaction processing system but has now been expanded to cover

accounting, investment and MIS reporting.7. CMS is a window based software solution.

WebsiteEPF with its purpose of information dissemination launched its website in early 2000 but the web-site was revamped to make it service oriented in the year 2007 allowing the users to log-in into the system and check the status of their accounts. The website of EPF can be visited at http://www.epfnepal.com.np. The website was also built in-house and is managed and hosted by Employees Provident Fund itself. One can find most of the necessary information about EPF, its services, organizational structure, tender notices, vacancies and statistics in its website. In order to simplify the process of service delivery EPF has also made various forms e.g. loan form, payment forms, contribution deduction forms in the internet. The contributors can simply download these forms print them and then submit it to the EPF offices. It is from the web-site that the contributors and their offices can get secure access to their account related information.

EmailEPF has also an email system of its own and this email system is also managed by EPF itself. Recently EPF has also been providing services to its contributors and to other information seekers via notice board services. It provides basic information to its contributors on the notice-board. All the departments,

5 | P a g e

http://www.epfnepal.com.np/

sections, branches have their own email ids and the communication can be done with email. With implementation of email there has been a drastic drop in the number of the traditional mail handling and EPF is aggressively looking for reducing the number of traditional mail handling by 50%.

Chat SystemTo facilitate the internal communication, EPF has an internal chat system where the employees can exchange information in real time. This chat server is managed by the computer Management Department and is a free source software system.

IMS systemEPF also has an internal web-based system that is to get into the shape of the core MIS system of the organization. IMS (Information Management System) currently serves circulars, inventory reports, software related issues and transaction reports or previous fiscal year.

EMS systemEmployees Management System (EMS) is intended to be the Human Resource Information System. It has the records of employees like their personal record, educational record, professional experience, training and HR inventory report.

6 | P a g e

ICT strategies at EPFAs stated in earlier paragraphs Employees Provident Fund is one of the pioneer organizations as far as adoption of the computer system is concerned. From a one computer, non-network system organization it has grown up into a completely computerized organization and there are no manual processes in EPF. EPF has always realized the importance of the ICT in terms of information management, accuracy and reliability. It has a policy of one man one computer and ubiquitous role based information access policy.It has eight branches and a central office and all these branches are linked with the servers stationed at the Computer Management Department at Thamel branch.

Currently only 3 branches are linked with optical fiber connection with the Thamel branch, however there has been a strategy to link all the branches via optical fiber and have a virtual Local Access Network (vLAN) so that the systems across all the branches can communicate seamlessly.

EPF is also looking toward the expansion of its web-services to incorporate the capability to accept the contribution schedules from various offices. In the mean time to make its tender and bidding process transparent it has strategy to implement the e-bidding system.

It also has plans to support the account unification and ledger distribution process via its website that will not only facilitate the contributors but also reduce the work load for the employees. Since all the computers in the EPF offices (8 braches) are in the network, they can share information and despite the geographical distance the people are brought near especially at the click of the mouse.

EPF also has plans to have an email id for all its staffs to facilitate their communication requirement.

EPF is also looking toward the implementation of digital signature to authenticate its digital transactions. It has few other plans to maximize its reach to the customers and these plans include following:

i) SMS based serviceUnder this system, the contributors having a mobile and wanting to subscribe to the SMS service will be given a pin-code and on the basis of this pin code they will be able to check the status of their contribution, loan and other services that they are eligible to receive.

ii) Kiosk systemsEPF also aims to stall few kiosk systems (self interactive systems) at different places especially in its own premises and industrial areas so that the contributors will be able to access the services of the EPF on their own. This system will be similar to the ATM systems however they will not allow transactions.

iii) IVR systemEPF also plans to provide services via Interactive Voice Response where toll-free number will be dedicated that will be linked with the Database system at EPF and which upon user query will retrieve user information based on the pin-code provided by the user.

7 | P a g e

Work-flow

8 | P a g e

Start

Offices deposit the PF deductions and receive a voucher from bank

Offices send the schedules with the bank voucher attached to KSK

The Collection section receives the schedule and makes batch entry

The entry made by collection is available to agency, account and sections

Bank sends the draft to the pulchowk’s investment department

Investment department maintains records of bank drafts

Agency Section collects statements from banks

Ledger file

Contribution entry into individual account of employees

Year end ledger processing (passing interest and generate opening balance for next fiscal year)

Ledger file

Special Loan/Full Payment

End

AGENCY SECTION

The main function of the Agency section is the collection of the bank statements from various banks where the contributing offices deposit the provident fund deduction of their employees. The agency function collects these statements from all over Nepal and the data entry operators post these individual transactions into the computer. On the other hand the Collection section receives the contribution schedule from the contributing offices and makes the batch entries based on the bank voucher submitted to it. Among the various banks, the current practice is to receive the bank statements from the private and joint venture banks from the Investment Department located at Pulchowk i.e. instead of Agency section directly receiving the statements from private and joint venture banks these are received by the investment department and they send it to the Agency section. At the end of a fiscal year, Agency section reconciles the bank statements that have been entered by the data entry operators with the entries made in the ‘Collection’ section. After the reconciliation process the statements that are not reconciled are put on the pending files for reconciliation later. So, in a given fiscal year the Agency section can reconcile the pending statements from current fiscal year and other years which statements have not been reconciled.

Organizational structure of the Agency Section

9 | P a g e

Workflow at agency system

10 | P a g e

Contributing Offices

Bank1. Deposit PF deduction

2. Receive voucher

AGENCY SECTIONCOLLECTION SECTION

RECONCILIATION PROCESS

Pending statementsReconciliation

Statements

3. Send schedule with voucher3. Send statements of transactions

2. schedule entry 1. statement entry

Information Requirement

Position Activities and Requirement

Department Head See the status of the pending statements Check the status of the reconciliation process Check the pending amounts bank wise Submit the status of agency to the management committee

Manager Compare summaries of collection and agency information. Check consolidated report of the collection and agency section. Check the status of pending and reconciled statements.

Section Chief Compare the pending amount fiscal year wise. Verify the transaction with the collection section, investment

department. Check the summary of the transactions. Prepare various kinds of reports to be submitted to upper level. Report the status of pending statement to senior level.

Section Officer Check the summary of the transactions. Prepare various kinds of reports to be submitted to upper level. Report the status of pending statement to senior level.

Supervisor Approve the data entries made by the operators. Check the list of approved transactions Check the list of total entries made on the basis of date range,

entry operator, banks.

Data entry operators Make the data entries into the system. Check the approved transaction. Check the rejected entries. Check the status report of entries in terms of number of entries

and dates.

11 | P a g e

Revised Section structure of Agency section

12 | P a g e

Data Access PolicyThere is no requirement for a separate sever just for the agency section. Agency database shall be a part of the entire CMS (Contribution Management System) database. We do not even recommend a separate schema for the agency. However each table, views, procedures and other related objects should be highly secure. There should be a separate access control list for the agency section. The access policy should be based on the duties and responsibilities of the employee. There can be following users

Data entry operatorsIt will take a long time for the agency section to receive all the statements from the various banks in a digital format so we cannot avoid the data entry operators. These operators will post the transaction statements that EPF receives in paper into the computer system. These users shall have following rightsFormsPassword change/modification form This form will allow the users to change password

when they want it to change or when the password expires.

Data entry form It is in this form that the data entry operators shall post the transaction statements into the CMS system.

Data submit form After the data entry operators finish their tasks, they will make a final check and submit the records for release/approval to the supervisors.

Reconciliation form This form will allow the operators to reconcile the bank statements and the batch entries.

Message form It is via this form the operators should be able to send messages to their supervisors or receive/read their messages and replies

ReportsData entry report The operators shall be able to see the entries they

have made. There can be three types of such reports and they are

i) Data entry report before submissionii) Data entry report of submitted transactions.iii) Data entry report of approved entries.iv) Data entry report of rejected entries or

entries with notes specified.

13 | P a g e

Activity report This report will display the various activities that the operators have carried out for e.g. total number of entries, total voucher passed, number of log in into the system, number of approved transactions etc.

Reconciliation report The data import operators will also be able to see the reconciliation status of the banks that they have reconciled.

Database area The entries are not posted directly into the master table but into the online transaction table. The operators will have full access to the subset of the online transaction table so that they will

be allowed to enter records, update and delete the records that they have entered. The operators will have read-only access to the master table and only in the subset of the data

i.e. they will be allowed to read only those data that they have entered. They will have read only access to the user credentials table but will be allowed to update their

passwords.

Data ImportersThe main job of the data importers is to import the digital data received by the Agency section into the CMS. As per the current practice the data are received in excel files however the format varies between various banks. The role of the data importers is to convert the excel files in the required format and to import these converted format in the CMS system. These users will have following rights

Forms

Excel data import form With this form the data importers will import excel files into the CMS.

Import-edit form In order to check and edit the mistakes that could have remain unseen and unsolved in excel files can be edited and updated in this form.

Data import from Collection The data importers will also be responsible for process of importing the batch entries made by the collection section.

Data submit form After the data entry operators finish their tasks, they will make a final check and submit the

14 | P a g e

records for release/approval to the supervisors.

Reconciliation form This form will allow the operators to reconcile the bank statements and the batch entries.

Message form It is via this form the importers should be able to send messages to their supervisors or receive/read their messages and replies

ReportsData import report The operators shall be able to see the entries they

have made. There can be three types of such reports and they are

i) Data import report before submissionii) Data import report of submitted transactions.iii) Data import report of approved entries.iv) Data import report of rejected imports or

imports with notes specified.Reconciliation report The data import operators will also be able to see

the reconciliation status of the banks that they have reconciled.

Activity report This report will display the various activities that the importers have carried out for e.g. total number of imports, total voucher passed, number of log in into the system, number of approved transactions etc.

SupervisorsThe main responsibilities will be to evaluate the entries and imports done by the operators and the importers. They will be responsible for the approval process of the transaction. Beside they will also validate the data fetched from the collection section. The entries and imports will be posted into the main/master file only after the approval of the supervisors.

Forms

Transactions viewing form This form will let the supervisors to check the transactions, make minor changes when necessary and write note in the transaction.

15 | P a g e

Transactions approval form The main task of the supervisors is to validate the entries carried out by the data entry operator and verify the data imports carried out by the data importers. So, this form lets them validate the transaction and approve the data to be written into the base file. They will also be able to invalidate the data.

Batch import form The other activity that the supervisors need to do is to import the entries made in the collection section. Batch import is not something that is regularly done and it involves various manual processes like getting approval from the managers, section chief so this task is that of the supervisors.

Reports

Pending transactions With this report the supervisors will be able to see the transactions waiting for approval or release. This transaction report can be viewed on the basis of bank code, user, and date range.

Approved transactions This report displays the transactions approved by the supervisors.

Status of reconciliation This report gives the amount of pending transactions i.e. the transactions that are yet to be reconciled and the transactions that have already been reconciled.

Ledger reports The supervisors will also be allowed to view the ledger status reports of the various fiscal years.

Section OfficerThe main responsibilities of the section officer are to ensure the smooth operation of the section, the entries are being made, the work is properly distributed and the reconciliation process is in progress. He needs to report the status of the work basically the pending statements and reconciliation to the section chief and has to supervise the staffs at the lower level of hierarchy.

Forms

Data display form In this form the reports of the data that have been

16 | P a g e

released or approved by the supervisor is displayed. In this form the officer will be allowed to drill-down further, make notes.

Setup forms These forms will be used to add/update/delete new master records like banks, offices, agencies and other financial statements.

ReportsReports of pending statements Number and amount of the pending statements

and ledger.

Reconciliation report This report will display the state of the reconciled statements.

Activity report With this report the section officer will be able to view the number of entries made by data entry operators, data importers and the approvals.

Section Chief/ManagerThe main responsibility of the section chief and the manager is to formulate the working plan, communicate with banks, investment department in order to smoothen the reconciliation process. They are also responsible identifying the status of the bank accounts and recommend the opening and closing of the accounts to the department chief.


and ledger.

Reconciliation report This report will display the status of the reconciled statements.

Activity report With this report the section officer will be able to view the number of entries made by data entry operators, data importers and the approvals.

Bank wise pending reports With this report the section chief will be able to identify the banks with whom the volume of pending transactions is high and needs communication.

17 | P a g e

Comparative pending reports fiscal year wise This will be a graphical report displaying the comparative reports on the pending statements/ledgers.

Department headThe main responsibility regarding the agency section is to ensure that the offices are routinely depositing contribution deduction, the tax, interest, commission are properly accounted. The department head only requires viewing reports (consolidated) on the status of pending and reconciled statements.


and ledger.

Reconciliation report This report will display the status of the reconciled statements.

Activity report* With this report the section officer will be able to view the number of entries made by data entry operators, data importers and the approvals.



*The managers will not require this report.

18 | P a g e

ManagementManagement refers to the chief officer, administrator and members of board of directors who have to formulate various policies and strategies that can affect the activities of Agency section of EPF.



19 | P a g e

Proposed SystemThe proposed system will not be a different system but will be modification to the existing system. Few of the features of the proposed system are listed below

It will be a web-based system with interface to accommodate requirement of the external parties/partners.

It will be a server based system with thin-client architecture and most of the processing will be handled by server for e.g. the reconciliation process.

It will incorporate the information requirement at all levels of management and cater their needs.

The communication system will be taken special care with email system built as a part of the system to communicate with the banks and with the system being capable to send email to banks when the delay in statement receipt is noticed.

It will have a powerful error tracking feature, user alert features and reconciliation messages. A smart module will be designed that will not only accelerate and enhance the reconciliation

process but will also inform user on possible measures that can be carried out to enhance reconciliation for e.g. it will compare the collection entries with the statement entries to check the level of similarities of information.

Added information like Cheque number, contribution-deduction month and office code will be made mandatory.

The same system will include the data processing at the Pulchowk branch so that the system will automatically receive the data from the investment department.

A powerful multi-format supporting module will be built to make it possible to import excel files provided in different format.

Hardware Requirement 1 High-end server (Shared server, no dedicated server requirement for Agency section alone) 1 Back-up server 9 desktop computers at client end (on the basis of one man one computer policy, currently

there are 9 staffs at the agency section)

Computers that shall be used for the reconciliationMonitor 17” flatronCPU Minimum 3 GHzHard Disk Minimum 180 GBRAM 1 GB of RAMCD-DVD ROM (RW) latest

Computers that shall be used for data entry and importMonitor 17” flatronCPU Minimum 1 GHzHard Disk Minimum 40 GBRAM 256 MB of RAMCD-DVD ROM (RW) latest

20 | P a g e

Centralized UPS for Agency section (the UPS should support minimum 50% of the computers to run 4 hours without need for shutdown)

Software RequirementAs with the hardware system there will not be any independent and different software system for the Agency section. The software system shall be a part of the entire CMS module. However unlike the current system where there are different redundant systems that often generate incompatible data formats there shall be a single system that will be implemented in investment department, branches and the Thamel Agency section. The system shall support data sharing and communication in real time among multiple users and the sections. The communication system will enable the Agency section to receive digital statements, notifications from banks and other agencies.

The major software requirements are listed below:

i) Oracle Relational Database management system (Release 9i or later)ii) Windows operating system (Windows Server 2003 or later)iii) Windows Operating System (Windows XP)iv) Internet Explorer 5 or greaterv) Antivirusvi) Security Certificate for communication with the third party like banks

Gap Analysis

Technological gapThe current system does have a one user one computer policy however the computers are very old and hence slow. This hampers the reconciliation process as it takes more than hour to reconcile small banks which shouldn’t have otherwise taken less than half hour. The RAM in these computers has little data capability with few only 32 MB. Most of the reconciliation process is carried out in the client system due to which the network traffic rise unnecessarily and slows the other programs as well. Again the client computers are not high end and they take comparatively longer time to execute the reconciliation process. So, there is a requirement to carry out this reconciliation at the server end. This can be done by writing modules and procedures (data base) which will cut down the network traffic, smoothen the reconciliation process and ultimately lead to timely completion of the ledger processing task at the end of the fiscal year.The other point that will help the reconciliation process is making the entry of cheque no mandatory during the statement entry process. The current practice has been the ‘Collection’ section does not enters the cheque number otherwise the reconciliation process would have been far more effective and lesser statements would be pending.

21 | P a g e

Non-technological gapAgency section handles one of the most crucial tasks of EPF but there has not been proper policy, strategy and concern in the Agency section. In the first place the work done at Agency section is a very rigorous process and also requires a comparatively greater number of staffs to complete the tasks. However currently the staffs in Agency section have been the ones with history of absenteeism and they also lack proper IT skills which makes the entry process prone to error.

The entry operators have no motivation for making entries so it is very important to give them some cash benefit on the basis of number of entries. On the other hand it is also important to take disciplinary actions against the employees who remain absent for a long time and who avoid work by dedicating most of their time in union related activities.

It is also important for the entire management to consider the bank transactions with much care and attention, the attitude of “bank will keep records” does not help now and the amount that is not reconciled might be subject to embezzlement and misuse.

One of the major problems is despite being able to do its tasks independently; the Agency section has to depend on other sections and departments for data e.g. it has to constantly ask the “Investment Department” to provide it the statements of the private banks.

The other problem of the Agency section is that the number of banks is more than necessary. The main problems are with the government owned banks like Nepal bank Limited, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Agriculture Development Bank as they have very poor accounting practices and they do not provide the statements timely. In many places there are no options but to rely on these banks but on others there are competitive private banks who are far more effective in management of accounts and sending the statements to EPF.

On the other hands there is more than one account in a particular bank and these accounts are very redundant and make the account management so the redundant bank accounts should be closed.

22 | P a g e

Entity relationship diagram

23 | P a g e

Physical ArchitectureThe physical architecture consists of the main server (database, middleware server, webserver) as the source of information. The client computers will be connected with the server via switches and hubs and each section shall be in a different subnet. There will be a firewall that will separate the external network (internet and partners network) and the internal system shall be connected with the external network with router. Following is the pictorial representation of the proposed physical mode. The branches can be inside the firewall and will seamlessly work as the part of the LAN of EPF.

24 | P a g e

Application ArchitectureThe application architecture consists of three tier module consisting of the database server, the business logic server and the web-server. The clients will pass the request information to the web-server which in turn will demand the credentials from the clients and when supplied with credentials will forward the request to the business logic server. The business logic server will check the credentials; get the access rights list to the web server. The web-server will in turn provide a ticket (session-ticket) to the clients. The clients have to pass this ticket with every request. The database server will perform very few logical operations apart from supplying information. The information supplied will be tested against business logics of EPF by the Business Logic Server and will pass the reworked data to the web-server. The web-server will format the data it receives in the readable form and supplies them back to the clients and the clients will do their tasks. So, this model has following major components:

Database server/layer Business Logic server/layer Web-server/Application layer Clients

The model is based on thick server-thin client model. Except for simple data validation, no checking and control will be done at the clients. More than 90% of the data processing will be done at the server end.

25 | P a g e

Conclusion and RecommendationOur team proposes to develop a web-based system for the Agency section with proper security features allowing the seamless communication between the Agency section, Investment department and the external agencies like bank. We propose the web-based system because web-based system needs no client software management though it is based in the client server architecture; it is light and properly manageable.

We also recommend that important processes be written into the database in the forms of procedures, views, triggers and packages however we recommend the proper use of business layer system or the middleware technology that shall allow the change in business process without actually changing the other part of the system. It is also advised to try to make system that is less tied to the database or the web-server, so that if there is change is the database software, the same business logic shall be compatible with minimal adjustments.

A special care should be given to the security as web-based system is more vulnerable to security threats unlike windows based system. Highly capable firewall technology should be implemented that shall pose very little threat.

On the non-technical front it is advised to build a proper training package for the staffs. The architecture of the agency section also needs adjustment making it more independent and each staff with a clear set of task and responsibilities.

26 | P a g e

References

27 | P a g e

Documents

MIS Project