W4_ISHAQ_System_hosting

W4_ISHAQ_System_hosting

Problem Definition

We are working to procure a Market Management System (MMS) for Oman electricity market. Once the development is completed by the vendor, we will be looking for a place to host the system hardware.

Development of Feasible Alternatives

There are three options for hosting the MMS:

1.       The company premise data center

2.       Renting a co-location service from a hosting company

3.       Hosting the system in the cloud (e.g.: Google)

Development of the Outcome for Alternative

We are looking for an option that is cost effective, available and legal. So, I adopt these attributes as the outline to make our decision.

Selection of Criteria

Table 1 lists the comparison date for the three alternatives.

Table 1. Data Alternative

Analysis and Comparison of the Alternative.

Using the compensatory approach, which consists of two models: Non-Dimensional Scaling and Additive Weighting Technique, the following results are calculated.

1.       Non-Dimensional Scaling

The below table shows the dimensionless values with a range from 0 to 1. Turning each attribute into a Base of 1 or dimensionless value, the scoring 1 means the highest/optimum value of attribute (preference decision). On the other hand, the scoring 0 means the minimum value (avoided decision).

Table 2. Dimensionless Scoring model

Table 3. Dimensionless Relative Weighting

Using the quantitative comparison for each attribute in table 2, the total score is calculated to represent the rank of an alternative (table 3). Using the non-dimensional scaling, both hosting in the company premise and renting co-location got the highest rank with a total score 2.

2.       Additive Weighting Technique

Table 4 below, shows the calculation using the additive weighting technique, where ranking the considered attributes by giving higher rank to the preferred attribute. The totals show that renting co-location for hosting the MMS hardware ranked the highest value as the best option.

Table 4. Additive Weighting Score

Selection of the Preferred Alternative.

Although using the relative weighting shows two alternatives can be considered, the additive weighting technique shows that co-location renting is the best alternative to host the hardware for the Market Management System.

Performance Monitoring and the Post Evaluation of Result.

Monitoring the performance and support given by the hosting company is essential for providing a good service. Also, other attributes could be considered for the evaluation process.

References

1.       Oman Data Park - Hosting, Colocation, Cloud Services, Managed Services. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://omandatapark.com

2.       Google Cloud Computing, Hosting Services & APIs | Google Cloud Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://cloud.google.com

3.       Afshari, A., Mojahed, M., & Yusuff, R. M. (2010). Simple additive weighting approach to personnel selection problem. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 1(5), 511.

4.       GUILD OF PROJECT CONTROLS COMPENDIUM and REFERENCE (CaR) | Project Controls - planning, scheduling, cost management and forensic analysis (Planning Planet). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.planningplanet.com/guild/gpccar/managing-change-the-owners-perspective  (accessed 20/21 November 2017)

5.       Yakowitz, D. S., Lane, L. J., & Szidarovszky, F. (1993). Multi-attribute decision making: dominance with respect to an importance order of the attributes. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 54(2-3), 167-181.