Implementing a new computer system can be a tricky and mind boggling issue. With the choice of computers ever increasing and prices continuing to fall, choosing the right computer for the right person has become challenging, demanding and confusing.

A case scenario of two users is undertaken in this study.

This portfolio looks into the needs of Jim Nasium and his wife Lola in detail. I have known them for several years and they are good friends of my parents. They know that I'm doing 'A' Level Applied ICT and asked me to help them cost and setup a new computer system. I went round to their house for an informal discussion  to see what their IT needs were.

Jim is about to start working from home, as a training consultant and freelance Ofsted inspector, having been made redundant from his previous job. He is going to use their study as an office. Jim wants a new computer system for work use but is not sure what suits his needs. They both currently share a single stand-alone computer with dial-up internet connectivity, with an attached printer. They use this system mostly for creating personal files, sending emails etc. Jim will use the new system and Lola will continue to use the old machine. However Lola would like to upgrade her current computer to make it suitable for running Microsoft Windows XP and MS Office 2003. She feels that she wants to keep up-to-date with the latest operating system and application software. She has recently purchased a digital camera and wants to upload photos to her computer. She plans to send some of these to her friends. She is not certain if any additional hardware might be required to run the above software. Her current machine is 7 years old and runs Windows 98 and Office 97.

I took the above information away from the meeting and decided that my next step would be to carry out an in depth needs analysis to find a computer system that meets the needs of both Jim and Lola.

 This eportfolio contains  a detailed needs analysis, requirements, costing of two possible systems for Jim and Lola and a recommendation of a suitable system.