Chapter 10

Information Systems Development

Q1: What is systems development?Q2: Why is systems development difficult and risky?Q3: What are the five phases of the SDLC?Q4: How is system definition accomplished?Q5: What is the users’ role in the requirements phase?Q6: How are the five components designed?Q7: How is an information system implemented?Q8: What are the tasks for system maintenance?Q9: What are some of the problems with the SDLC?

Study Questions

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• AKA. - systems analysis and design (SAD)

• Process of creating and maintaining information systems that involves all five IS components– Hardware, Software, Data, Procedures, People

Q1: What Is Systems Development?

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• SAD requires more than programming and technical expertise, it requires:

– Establishing system goals– Setting up project– Determining requirements– Business knowledge and management skill– Human relations skills– Technical skills– Data modeling– Ability to interview users– Designing procedures– Understanding group dynamics– Developing job descriptions, staffing, training

Q1: What Is Systems Development? (cont’d)

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Q2: Why Is Systems Development Difficult and Risky?

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• Diseconomies of scale– Brooks’s Law

• “Adding more people to a project makes the project later.”

• Some tasks simply can’t be speeded up

Q2: Why Is Systems Development Difficult and Risky? (cont’d)

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• Systems Development Life Cycle is a structured approach to SAD and Project Management.

Is It Really So Bleak?

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1. Systems definition • Feasibility Study• Management’s statement of objective and goals for new system (Cost and

Benefit Analysis)

2. Requirements analysis (What?)• Business Requirements Document• Identify features and functions

3. Component design (How?)• System Architecture• Hardware, Software, Network• Based on approved user requirements

4. Implementation• Operational System• Purchase, build, test, and convert to new system

5. System maintenance• System Improvements• Repair, add new features, maintain

Q3: What Are the Five Phases of the SDLC?

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Phases in the SDLC

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Key Feature – Management Reviews

• Team of users and IT professionals assigned to assess feasibility.

a.) Define system goals for new system– Facilitate competitive strategy– Improve decision making

b.) Define scope for new system– Defined by customers, users involved, business processes

impacted, physical location, functional area – What is included?– What is excluded?

Q4: How Is System Definition Accomplished?

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Dimensions of feasibility• Cost feasibility

– Approximated - consider cost of previous projects– Purpose: eliminate infeasible ideas early

• Schedule feasibility– Is timeframe acceptable

• Technical feasibility– Is technology available to meet needs?

• Organizational feasibility– Fits with customs, culture, charter, legal requirements of

organization

Assess Feasibility

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• Develop and approve Business requirements (Define “What” is to be accomplished?)

Q5: What Is the Users’ Role in the Requirements Phase?

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• Hardware design– Purchase it, lease it, or lease time from hosting service

• Software design– Off-the-shelf or custom developed

• Database design– Convert data model to a database design (E-R-D)

• Procedure design– Users and operations personnel– Normal, backup, failure recovery procedures

• Design of job descriptions (People)– Duties and responsibilities for new jobs and revised jobs

coordinated with human resources policies

Q6: How Are the Five Components Designed?

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• System testing– Test plan (User actions and errors)– Product Quality Assurance (PQA)

• IT specialist constructs test plan with advice and assistance of users

– Users• Develop test plans and test cases• Final say on whether system is “production ready”

– Beta testing• Last stage of testing• Complete, fully functioning

Q7: How Is an Information System Implemented?

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• Figure 10-9

Design and Implementation for the Five IS Components

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Conversion options1. Pilot

• Implement entire system in limited portion of business• Use system for selected customers• Advantage: limits exposure to business if system fails

2. Phased• System installed in phases or modules• Each piece is installed and tested

3. Parallel• Complete new and old systems run simultaneously• Very safe, but expensive

4. Plunge (or direct)• High risk if new system fails, no old system to fall back on• Only used if new system is not vital to company operation

System Conversion

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• System problems priorities (Business vs. Technical)• Patch (HW/SW)

– Applied to all copies of a software product– Patches fix security and other critical problems– Usually bundled as “service packs”– Shipping software with defects is software industry practice

• Business Requirement Changes– Acquisitions– Divestitures– Product Introductions/Eliminations

Q8: What Are the Tasks for System Maintenance?

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• SDLC Waterfall– Sequence of non-repeated phases

– It rarely works smoothly, causing development team to go back and forth, raising costs and delaying project

• Requirements documentation difficulty– Business requirements sometimes change making documented

requirements incomplete or obsolete

– “Analysis paralysis” – projects spend so much time on documentation that it hampers progress

• Scheduling and budgeting difficulties– Time and cost estimates for large project are usually way off

– People who make initial estimates know little about how long it will take or cost

Q9: What Are Some of the Problems with the SDLC?

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Q1: What is systems development?Q2: Why is systems development difficult and risky?Q3: What are the five phases of the SDLC?Q4: How is systems definition accomplished?Q5: What is the users’ role in the requirements phase?Q6: How are the five components designed?Q7: How is an information system implemented?Q8: What are the tasks for system maintenance?Q9: What are some of the problems with the SDLC?

Active Review

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Chapter 11

Information Systems Management

Q1: Why do you need to know about the IT department?

Q2: What are the responsibilities of the IT department?Q3: How is the IT department organized?Q4: What IS-related job positions exist?Q5: How do organizations decide how much to spend

on IT?Q6: What are your IS rights and responsibilities?

Study Questions

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1. Need to understand responsibilities and duties of IT department– To obtain services, equipment, and systems needed

2. Need to know about functions of IT department to be IS-savvy manager – To better understand how to integrate disparate companies

or offices– To raise IT issues early in merger or acquisition– To better understand needs of IT department in supporting

new initiatives

3. Manager of small company needs to ensure functions of IT department are performed

Q1: Why Do You Need to Know About the IT Department?

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1. Plan for information systems and IT infrastructure

2. Develop and adapt information systems

3. Maintain Information Systems infrastructures

4. Protect infrastructure and data from threats

Q2: What Are the Responsibilities of the IT Department?

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• Chief Information Officer (CIO)– Principal manager – Company Officer

• Technology office– Head: Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

• Operations– Manages computing infrastructure

• Development– Creating new information systems– Maintains existing system

• Outsourcing relations• Data administration staff functions

Q3: How Is the IT Department Organized?

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• Figure 11-2

Typical Senior-Level Reporting Relationships

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• Systems analyst• Programmer• PQA test engineer• Technical writer• User support representative• Computer technician• Network administrator• Consultant

Q4: What IS-Related Job Positions Exist?

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• Salesperson• Small-scale project

manager• Large-scale project

manager• Database administrator• CTO• CIO

• Analyze costs and benefits of system (ROI)– Estimate dollar costs – Value tangible benefits

• Lifetime value of customers lost by not having support system

– Value intangible benefits• Value of email system

– Compute costs and benefits to determine ROI

Q5: How Do Organizations Decide How Much to Spend on IT?

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• Users’ Rights include:– Resources to perform work proficiently– Reliable network and Internet services– Secure computing environment– Participating in requirements definition for

applications– Reliable systems development and maintenance– Prompt attention to problems– Effective training

Q6: What Are Your IS Rights and Responsibilities?

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• Users’ Responsibilities include:– Learning basic computer skills and techniques– Following security and backup procedures– Using computer resources in a manner consistent

with employer’s policies– Making no unauthorized hardware modifications– Installing only authorized programs– Installing computer patches and fixes– Treating information systems workers

professionally

Q6: What Are Your IS Rights and Responsibilities? (cont’d)

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Q1: Why do you need to know about the IT department?

Q2: What are the responsibilities of the IT department?Q3: How is the IT department organized?Q4: What IS-related job positions exist?Q5: How do organizations decide how much to spend

on IT?Q6: What are your IS rights and responsibilities?

Active Review

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• Recent media reports blame overseas outsourcing on U.S. job loss

• Real culprit is increased productivity because of information technology

• “Creative destruction—Cleansers of the free market” (Joseph Schumpeter)

• What should you do?– Build your skill set– Adapt to Change

“The only thing that is constant is change…”

Guide: Jumping Aboard the Bulldozer

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Chapter Extension 20

Outsourcing

Q1: What is outsourcing?

Q2: Why do organizations outsource IS and IT services?

Q3: What are popular outsourcing alternatives?

Q4: What are the risks of outsourcing?

Study Questions

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• Process of hiring another organization to perform services– Any value chain business activity can be outsourced– Vendor can be domestic or international– Overseas outsourcing for:

• Cheaper labor• Taking advantage of time differences

“Your back room is someone else’s front room.” (Peter Drucker)

Q1: What Is Outsourcing?

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• Management advantages1. Easy way to gain expertise2. Avoid management problems3. Save management time and attention

• Cost reduction– Part-time services and economies of scale

• Risk reduction– Caps financial risk, budget stability (fixed cost contracts)

– Ensures level of quality– Reduces implementation risk (Risk shifts to vendor)

“Outsource non-core/distinctive competencies”

Q2: Why Do Organizations Outsource IS and IT?

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• Acquisition and operation of computer hardware• Acquiring licensed software• Software as a Service (SaaS)

– Entire information system– Application outsourcing

• Web storefront or Web Hosting

• Business function outsourcing– Accounting, Human Resources, etc.

Q3: What Are Popular Outsourcing Alternatives?

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• Figure CE20-2

IS/IT Outsourcing Alternatives

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Q4: What Are the Risks of Outsourcing?

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Q1: What is outsourcing?

Q2: Why do organizations outsource IS and IT services?

Q3: What are popular outsourcing alternatives?

Q4: What are the risks of outsourcing?

Active Review

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