Virtual Work Collaboration

In order to retrieve, collect and manage with a proper mechanism the system's data recorded and historic information (around 2,946 records in the table of parts, and 11,474 records in the table of changes), during the period where the prototype was used (six months from March to August of 2008), we built a data-mart (fig. 2), following a multidimensional database model and star-like schema design, where using a DWH and OLAP technology allowed us to acquire all information using pivot tables as visual tool for the Knowledge Discovery Process (fig. 3). This subsystem is considered a complement of the systems proposed.

Figure 2. Data-mart, multidimensional database model, star-like schema design.

Figure 3. Pivot table for the Knowledge Discovery Process.

Additional comments and suggestions from participant's experience were collected conducting a survey by a questionnaire with open-ended questions, where 22 virtual team members participated from 27 users that worked with the prototype during the six month period for this study, representing 81.5 % of total.