Developing Business/IT Solutions

Chapter12

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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• Use the systems development process outlined in this chapter and the model of IS components from Chapter 1 as problem-solving frameworks to help you propose information systems solutions to simple business problems

• Describe and give examples to illustrate how you might use each of the steps of the information systems development cycle to develop and implement a business information system

Learning Objectives

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Learning Objectives

• Explain how prototyping can be used as an effective technique to improve the process of systems development for end users and IS specialists

• Understand the basics of project management and their importance to a successful system development effort

• Identify the activities involved in the implementation of new information systems

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Learning Objectives

• Compare and contrast the four basic system conversation strategies

• Describe several evaluation factors that should be considered in evaluating the acquisition of hardware, software, and IS services

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IS Development

• Information Systems Development – Applying the Systems Approach to IS

Development– Also called Application Development

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The Systems Approach

• Problem solving technique

• Interrelated activities– Recognize and define a problem or opportunity

using systems thinking

– Develop and evaluate alternative system solutions

– Select the solution that best meets your requirements

– Design the selected system solution

– Implement and evaluate the success of the system

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What is Systems Thinking?

• Seeing the forest and the trees in any situation

– Seeing interrelationships among systems rather than linear cause-and-effect chains

– Seeing processes of change among systems rather than discrete snapshots of change

• Seeing the system in any situation

– Find the input, processing, output, feedback and control components

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Systems Thinking Example

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RWC 1: Virtualization Helps Developers

• First used quietly for development tasks• Later introduced to IT Executives• Simplifies development and testing• Protection from system crashes

– Create system snapshots and imaging– Restore to last-known good version

• Doesn’t facilitate load testing– Need physical machine

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Systems Analysis and Design (SA&D)

• Overall process

– Identification of business problems

– Design

– Implementation

• Two most common approaches

– Object-oriented analysis and design

– Life cycle

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Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

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Systems Development Process

• Systems Investigation– First step

– Consider multiple proposals

– Preliminary feasibility study• Information needs of prospective users• Resource requirements• Costs• Benefits• Legal environment

– Feasibility study may be unnecessary• Government mandate

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Types of Feasibility Studies

• Operational– Fix the problem, fit the organization

• Economic– Cost/Benefit Analysis

• Technical– Components and time available

• Human Factors– Right people and roles available

• Legal/Political– Government, patent, or license restrictions

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Systems Analysis

• Produces the functional requirements

• Basis for the design of the new system

• In-depth study– Information needs

• Company

• End users

• Business stakeholders

– Existing system

• Activities, resources, and products

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Types of Analysis

• Organizational– Structure, people, activities

• Present System– Hardware, software, network, input, output,

processing

• Logical– What the current system does

– Not concerned with how it works

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Functional Requirements

• Goal: what needs to be done, not how

• One of the most difficult steps

• Determine what type of information each business activity requires

• Determine the information processing capabilities required for each system activity

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Functional Requirements

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Systems Design

• Focuses on three areas

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Prototyping Life Cycle

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User Interface Design

• Supports interactions between end users and computer-based applications

– Get help from end-users

– Designers create attractive and efficient forms

– Frequently a prototyping process

– Produces detailed design specifications

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System Specifications

• Components of formal design

– User interface methods and products

– Database structures

– Processing procedures

– Control procedures

• Examples of System Specifications– User interface specifications– Database specifications– Software specifications– Hardware and network specifications– Personnel specifications

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End User Development

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Encouraging End User Web Development

• Look for tools that make sense

• Spur creativity

• Set some limits

• Give managers responsibility• Make users comfortable

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Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

• Object – anything a programmer needs manipulated

• Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) techniques:– Inheritance– Modularity– Polymorphism– Encapsulation

• Object-Oriented Analysis (OOA)– Model of object interaction, not solution

• Object-Oriented Design (OOD)– Solution based on constraints

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Implementation Process

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Sample Implementation Process

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RWC 2: Difficult Path to Software Upgrades

• System upgrades are daunting• Failures are costly

– Loss of immediate revenue– Loss of customer loyalty– Three to six month recovery

• Contingency plans– Backup website– Extra operators in call center

• Packet implementation helps– Basic install– Additional features

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Project Management

• The skills and knowledge necessary to be a good project manager will translate into virtually any project environment

– Sought after by most organizations

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What is a Project?

• Every project has– A set of activities with a clear beginning and end– Goals– Objectives– Tasks– Limitations or constraints– A series of steps or phases

• Managing a project effectively requires– Process– Tools– Techniques

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Phases of Project Management

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Evaluating Hardware, Software, Services

• Establish minimum physical and performance characteristics– Formalize in an RFP or RFQ

• Send RFQ to appropriate vendors

• Evaluate bids when received– All claims must be demonstrated

– Obtain recommendations from other users

– Search independent sources for evaluations

– Benchmark test programs and test data

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Hardware Evaluation Factors

• Performance• Cost• Reliability• Compatibility• Technology• Ergonomics• Connectivity• Scalability• Software• Support

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Software Evaluation Factors

• Most Hardware Evaluation Factors Apply• Quality• Efficiency• Flexibility• Security• Connectivity• Maintenance• Documentation• Hardware• Overall Rating

– Software that is slow, hard to use, bug-filled, or poorly documented is not a good choice at any price

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IS Services

• Examples of IS services

– Developing a company website

– Installation or conversion of hardware/software

– Employee training

– Hardware maintenance

– System design and/or integration

– Contract programming

– Consulting services

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IS Service Evaluation Factors

• IS evaluation factors include– Performance– Systems development– Maintenance– Conversion– Training– Backup facilities and services– Accessibility to sales and support

• Business position and financial strength– Hardware selection and compatibility– Software packages offered

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Other Implementation Activities

• Testing

• Data conversion

• Documentation

• Training

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Major System Conversion Strategies

(Plunge)

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Post-Implementation Activities

• System Maintenance

– Corrective: fix bugs and logical errors

– Adaptive: add new functionality

– Perfective: improve performance

– Preventive: reduce chances of failure

• Post Implementation Review– Correct Errors

– Periodic review/audit

• Single most costly activity

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• How do global companies keep their consumer sites updated in the local language or localizing the content without spending a lot of time and money?

• PayPal redesigned software– Allow simultaneous refreshes for 15 locales

ranging from France to Poland.

• Result– Net total payment volume – $14 billion

• 12 percent of U.S. e-commerce• 8 percent of global e-commerce.

RWC 3: PayPal Going Global

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RWC 4: Project Backlog

• Demand for IT is increasing • Requests for IT projects are piling up. • Budget is not increasing.• Backlog is number-one barrier to effectiveness, • Two types of backlog

– Backlog of desire • Applications that users are yearning for

– Backlog of commitment • Projects that are approved but not started

• CIOs need to pay attention to both types of a backlogs.