Dfd Chapter 1

8/12/2019 Dfd Chapter 1

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Systems Analysis with Data Flow Diagrams (2007) Chapter One

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTINGTHE INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECT

Outline

Notes to Students

Assembling Te m ! Sel" Sele#tion

Condu#ting E""e#ti$e Meetings

P%o&e#t Pl nning ' si#s

P%o&e#t E(e#ution

S)stem Cost*'ene"it An l)sis

+o%, '%e ,do-n St tement

G ntt C. %t ' si#s

/sing E(#el to M ,e G ntt C. %ts

P%o&e#t M n gement P #, ges

PERT*CPM Te#.ni0ue "o% P%o&e#t Pl nning

T.e P%o&e#t Re1o%t

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies 1


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Notes to Students

This book is designed to provide an in-depth introduction to the use of Data FlowDiagramming techni ues in the !nal"sis and Design of #nformation S"stems$ Since itwill be of most use to students of #nformation S"stems Development, it begins withcoverage of methods of planning and organi%ing #nformation S"stems Development&ro'ects$ &lanning is an important first step in the comple( undertaking of an#nformation S"stems Development &ro'ect$

)ach student must locate himself*herself in a group, i$e$ self-selection of groups$Students, thus coalesced into groups, must begin to nurture this group into a team$ Thegroup must document its e(istence and its products continuall" during its e(istence,

starting with a name$ The first piece of documentation that is a +product - meaning thatit must be handed in to the lecturer - is the group cover sheet$ This one-page documentwill include roup .ame, names of group members, student #D .umbers, e-mail addressof group, phone contact number, roles of group members /such as 0eader, Secretar",Technical Specialist, Documentation Specialist, ommunications Specialist, 2esearcher3$

4ther activities include group nurturing and development, having group meetings,determining ob'ectives, selecting sub'ect compan" /client3, planning and scheduling

pro'ect work$

The ne(t important issue to be covered is the determination of re uirements, which is one

of the most challenging tasks facing the S"stems !nal"st$ Determining 2e uirementssimpl" means finding out what t"pe of s"stem the organi%ation needs, and what are thespecific things needed to be done in order to produce a s"stem which will meet the needsof the organi%ation$

4f course, this is not reall" simple at all$ There are reall" no pre-e(isting re uirementsthat are +cast in stone $ #f the anal"st is fortunate enough to find a well-documentedinformation s"stem in place, he should be happ" because his 'ob ma" be simplified$ #t issometimes easier to fi( a broken s"stem than to build one from scratch - sometimes$

The needs of the organi%ation are placed first$ 4f course, the anal"st must have his needs

taken care of even before this$ #f the anal"st is unhapp" /or unethical3 the organi%ationma" end up being unhapp" with the resultant s"stem$ These needs must be goal-directedtowards the achievement of goal achievement and goal congruence with all of thestakeholders of the information s"stems pro'ect$

#t is important for "ou to gain a deep understanding of the concepts "ou will encounter$Such understanding will be particularl" relevant if "ou now work, or plan to work, in anorgani%ation$ The tools "ou will learn to use can be e(tremel" helpful in facilitating



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organi%ation discourse towards organi%ational effectiveness$ #nformation is crucial forsound decision-making in an" organi%ation and it would definitel" be an asset to be ableto gain a deep understanding of organi%ations so that "ou ma" be better able to make asignificant contribution to "our own organi%ation$

Assembling Te m ! Sel" Sele#tion

During the first week of this course "ou are re uired to organi%e "ourselves in groups,then schedule and plan the pro'ect$ #t is important when choosing group members to6

1$ Do this earl" 7 get moving, talking, networking

5$ Take full names, #D numbers, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses$

8$ hoose people who do similar courses or at least have similar time schedules toallow sufficient meeting times$ oordination and coherence in this pro'ect isimportant$ 9ou cannot simpl" divide the pro'ect into sections and allocate,meeting in the end$ 9ou must have continuous communication$

:$ hoose people who "ou can work well with, and make friends with them$

;$ hoose people who are industrious and would read ahead$


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page $ #t can also be used most effectivel" for purposes of control, from the perspectivesof self-control and goal-directed control$

G%ou1 Nu%tu%ing nd De$elo1ment

The group, now formed, must go through the stages of storming, norming andconforming$ Feel free to bring out "our issues to the group, fight over leadership, argue"our principles, whatever$ Fight it out and settle down, make "our rules, norming, - thenconform, through "our attention to getting the 'ob done$ Tough 0ove$ 4f course, somegroup members ma" need a more gentle +touch"-feel" approach$ The point is to satisf"one another>s needs first, then get on with determining organi%ational needs$

Gi$ing Good Meetings

The management of meetings is a specific set of skills often overlooked b" managers and professionals$ There is no department of meetings, "et the meeting is a well-used /even ifnot used well3 event geared towards getting things done after the meeting and sometimes

before the ne(t meeting$ Man" people focus on the agenda and then on the minutes ofmeetings$ These are important, but # like to emphasi%e an often overlooked device, the!ction #tems, which # will define later$

The ne(t approach # want to take is to make some suggestions as to the things "ou ma"do to make "our meetings a success$ Since there are man" kinds of meetings there are nostandard rules for success, "ou have to make "ou own rules to reflect "our uni uecircumstances$

- The attendees- The agenda- The ground rules- 4pening the meeting- Documenting - Minutes

- !ction items- Managing time- losing the meeting

T.e ttendees

- The group secretar" or group leader usuall" takes the initiative in calling themeeting$

- The decision about who is to attend depends on what "ou want to accomplish inthe meeting$

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies :


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- #f possible, call each person to tell them about the meeting, its overall purpose andwh" their attendance is important$

- Follow-up "our call with a meeting notice, including the purpose of the meeting,where it will be held and when, the list of participants and whom to contact if the"have uestions$

- Send out a cop" of the proposed agenda along with the meeting notice$- ?ave someone designated to record minutes, action items and due dates duringthe meeting$ This person should ensure that this information is distributed to all

participants shortl" after the meeting$

T.e gend

- The group leader would normall" develop the agenda together with ke" participants in the meeting$ Think of what overall outcome "ou want from themeeting and what activities need to occur to reach that outcome$ The agendashould be organi%ed so that these activities are conducted during the meeting$

- #n the agenda, state the overall outcome that "ou want from the meeting$- Design the agenda so that participants get involved earl" b" having something for

them to do right awa" and so the" come on time$- .e(t to each ma'or topic, include the t"pe of action needed, the t"pe of output

e(pected /decision, vote, action assigned to someone3, and time estimates foraddressing each topic$

- !sk participants if the"@ll commit to the agenda$- Aeep the agenda posted at all times$- Don@t overl" design meetings be willing to adapt the meeting agenda if members

are making progress in the planning process$- Think about how "ou label an event, so people come in with that mindset it ma"

pa" to have a short dialogue around the label to develop a common mindsetamong attendees, particularl" if the" include representatives from variouscultures$

T.e g%ound %ules

- 9ou don@t need to develop new ground rules each time "ou have a meeting,surel"$ ?owever, it pa"s to have a few basic ground rules that can be used for

most of "our meetings$ These ground rules cultivate the basic ingredients neededfor a successful meeting$- Four powerful ground rules are6 participate, get focused, maintain momentum and

reach closure$ /9ou ma" want a ground rule about confidentialit"$3- 0ist "our primar" ground rules on the agenda$- #f "ou have new attendees who are not used to "our meetings, "ou might review

each ground rule$- Aeep the ground rules posted at all times$

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies ;


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O1ening t.e meeting

- !lwa"s start on time this respects those who showed up on time and remindslate-comers that the scheduling is serious$

- Celcome attendees and thank them for their time$- 2eview the agenda at the beginning of each meeting, giving participants a chanceto understand all proposed ma'or topics, change them and accept them$

- .ote that the secretar" will take minutes and action items, and provide these toeach participant shortl" after the meeting$

- larif" the roles of participants in the meeting$

Do#umenting ! Minutes 2 A#tion items

Ce have alread" discussed the !genda - it starts the meeting$ The ma'or products> ofthe meeting however are the Minutes and the !ction #tems$

The Minutes are a record of the discussions that took place during the meeting$ The"ma" be recorded b" hand b" the Secretar" during the meeting, or the" ma" be recordedand transcribed later$ E! summar" rather than full te(t is acceptable$ This is ke"documentar" evidence of the group>s e(istence and activities 7 it is a +product $

The !ction #tems is a list or a grid> of the things that need to be done b" members of thegroup$ These would have been agreed to b" members$ The !ction #tems is also a groupproduct> and would include task name, estimated time, responsible member, and taskdetails$

M n ging time

- 4ne of the most difficult facilitation tasks is time management -- time seems torun out before tasks are completed$ Therefore, the biggest challenge is keepingmomentum to keep the process moving$

- 9ou might ask attendees to help "ou keep track of the time$- #f the planned time on the agenda is getting out of hand, present it to the group

and ask for their input as to a resolution$

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies


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Closing t.e meeting

- !lwa"s end meetings on time and attempt to end on a positive note$- !t the end of a meeting, review action items and assignments$ Set the time for the

ne(t meeting and ask each person if the" can make it or not /to get their

commitment3$- larif" that meeting minutes and action items will be provided to members in 5:hours /this helps to keep momentum going3$

This section was adapted from +Basic uide to onducting )ffective Meetings b"arter Mc.amara /http6 **www$ managementhelp$org *misc*mtgmgmnt$htm3$

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies =

/sing Po-e%Point to Im1%o$e Meetings

C%e ting n Agend Slide

!genda slides have multiple purposes$ The" can be used to create meeting agendasor the" can be used to create a table of contents to a long presentation$

To create an agenda slide, move into Slide So%te% or Outline view and b" holding down the S.i"t ke", select the slides whose titles "ou want to use$ Then from the

toolbar click Summ %) Slide $ The Summar" slide will appear at the beginning of"our presentation$ !genda slides can be h"perlinked$ This is ver" useful if "ouwant to 'ump around in "our presentation$

Meeting Minde%

During a presentation "ou can take notes or meeting minutes b" right clicking on the Meeting Minde% or S1e ,e% Notes and selecting the appropriate item$ This enables "ou to electronicall" incorporate feedback "ou get during the meeting into action items and meeting minutes$

9ou can E(1o%t the notes "ou take to Cord for fanc"ing up the te(t, assigningaction items, or scheduling other meetings$ #f "ou select Speaker .otes, an"notes "ou make will go with the slide that "ou are viewing at the time "ou select

Speaker .otes$ This might be preferred if "ou have lots of notes to take$

http6**courses$washington$edu*hs; Ga*modules*18*advanced*adv- ppt18a$htmlHmeetings


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P%o&e#t Pl nning ' si#s

! Project is a set of activities which ends with specific accomplishment and which has

the following6/13 .on-routine tasks/53 Distinct start and finish dates/83 2esource constraints /e$g$ time, mone", people, e uipment3$

Tas s are activities that must be completed to achieve the pro'ect goal$ Break down the pro'ect into tasks and sub-tasks$ Tasks have start and end points$ The" are short, relativeto the pro'ect, and are significant$ Ise a verb-noun form for naming tasks, e$g$ JcreatedrawingsJ or Jbuild protot"peJ$ Ise action verbs such as JcreateJ, JdefineJ and JgatherJrather than Jwill be madeJ$ )ach task has a specific time period /duration3, but it ma" bever" difficult to estimate length of time periods accuratel"$ Doubling "our best guess

usuall" works well$

!ilestones are important checkpoints or interim goals for a pro'ect$ The" can be used tocatch scheduling problems earl"$ Ise the noun-verb form for naming milestones, e$g$Jreport dueJ, Jparts orderedJ, Jprotot"pe completeJ$

#t also helps to identif" risk" areas for the pro'ect for e(ample, things "ou don@t knowhow to do but will have to learn, or how long it will take to receive components "ou

purchased for the pro'ect$ These are risk" because "ou do not have a good idea of howlong the task will take$

Your plan will need to evolve, so be flexible and update it on a regular basis.

Pl nning nd S#.eduling t.e P%o&e#t

1$ Take note of the &ro'ect 2eport format at the end of this hapter$

5$ #dentif" the tasks that "ou will need to complete for the &ro'ect$ enerate a antthart and allocate responsibilities for completion of all tasks$ antt harts arediscussed later on in this hapter$

8$ #t is important to take minutes at ever" meeting, and assign action items$

:$ !ction items are the same tasks when the" are assigned to members of the group$)ach group member is responsible for the completion of specific action items$

;$ )ach week the group should assess whether the pro'ect work is completed asinitiall" scheduled and take corrective steps to ensure timel" pro'ect e(ecution$

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies K


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S)stem Cost*'ene"it An l)sis

Because the process of developing information s"stems can be costl", a preliminar" stud"called a "easi#ility st$%y is often re uired$ The goal of feasibilit" studies is to evaluatealternative s"stems and to propose the most realistic and desirable s"stem fordevelopment$ The ma'or categories for feasibilit" evaluation are6 organi&ational'economic' technical' an% operational

Organizational: 4rgani%ational Feasibilit" focuses on how well a proposedinformation s"stem supports the ob'ectives of the organi%ation andits strategic plan$

Economic: )conomic Feasibilit" addresses whether e(pected cost savings,increased revenue, increased profits, and other t"pes of benefitswill e(ceed the cost of developing and operating a proposeds"stem$

Technical: Technical Feasibilit" determines whether reliable hardware andsoftware e(ist or can be developed within the re uired time$

Operational: 4perational Feasibilit" looks at the willingness and abilit" of themanagement, emplo"ees, customers, suppliers and others tooperate, use and support a proposed s"stem$

Feasibilit" studies usuall" involve Cost *ene"it Analysis $ osts and benefits ma" betangible / uantifiable3 or intangible /difficult to uantif"3$

Tangible Costs: ost of hardware, software, emplo"ee salaries, cost of services,office space, training, furniture and fittings$

ntangible Costs: ost of loss of customer goodwill, cost of training for customers,cost of loss of emplo"ee morale, cost of internal political turmoil

and disruptions to operations$Tangible !enefits: #ncreases in sales or profits

Decrease in information processing costsDecrease in operating costsDecrease in re uired investment#ncrease in operational abilit" and efficienc"

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies 1G


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ntangible !enefits: .ew or improved information availabilit"#mproved abilities in computation and anal"sis#mproved customer service#mproved emplo"ee morale#mproved management decision-making

#mproved competitive position#mproved business and communit" image

+o%, '%e ,do-n St tement

!nother tool used in planning the pro'ect is the Cork Breakdown Statement /CBS3,which is a categori%ed list of tasks with an estimate of resources re uired to complete thetask$ !n e(ample CBS appears below$

+'SNo4

T s, Des#%i1tion Estim tedDu% tion

+.o Resou%#es M 2 S

1$ ?igh level anal"sis ; da"s5$ Selection of hardware platform 1 da"8$ #nstallation* ommissioning of

hardware5 weeks

:$ Detailed anal"sis of core modules 5 weeks;$ Detailed anal"sis of supporting

utilities

5 weeks


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G ntt C. %t ' si#s

Your group is expected to produce a "antt Chart and to #eep it up$to$date for use in planning and reporting on %our pro&ect. 'se () Excel or () *ro&ect +or e uivalent- to produce %our chart.

! antt chart is a pro'ect-planning tool that can be used to represent the timing of tasksre uired to complete a pro'ect$ antt charts are simple to understand and eas" toconstruct$ The" are used b" most pro'ect managers for all but the most comple( pro'ects$

#n a antt chart, each task takes up one row$ Dates run along the top in increments ofda"s, weeks or months, depending on the total length of the pro'ect$ The e(pected timefor each task is represented b" a hori%ontal bar whose left end marks the e(pected

beginning of the task and whose right end marks the e(pected completion date$ Tasksma" run se uentiall", in parallel, or overlapping$

!s the pro'ect progresses, the chart is updated b" filling in the bars to a length proportional to the fraction of work that has been accomplished on the task$ This wa",one can get a uick reading of pro'ect progress b" drawing a vertical line through thechart at the current date$ ompleted tasks lie to the left of the line and are completel"filled in$ urrent tasks cross the line, and are behind schedule if their filled-in section isto the left of the line$ Tasks are ahead of schedule if the filled-in section stops to the rightof the line$ Future tasks lie completel" to the right of the line$

#n constructing a antt chart, keep the tasks to a manageable number /no more than 1; or5G3 so that the chart fits on a single page$ More comple( pro'ects ma" re uiresubordinate charts, which detail the timing of all the subtasks, which make up one of themain tasks$ For team pro'ects, it often helps to have an additional column containingnumbers or initials, which identif" who on the team, is responsible for the task$

4ften the pro'ect has important events that "ou would like to appear on the pro'ecttimeline, but which are not tasks$ For e(ample, "ou ma" wish to highlight when a

protot"pe is complete, or the date of a design review$ 9ou enter these on a antt chart asJmilestoneJ events and mark them with a special s"mbol, often an upside-down triangle$

The simplest antt hart ma" look like this6


Ceeks 1 5 8 : ; < =

enerate &ro'ectsTest Design


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/sing E(#el to m ,e G ntt C. %ts

"antt charts made with Excel are eas% to update and maintain.

1$ 4n paper, make a list of tasks$ For each task assign tentative start and stop dates/or durations3 and the people responsible$

5$ !lso list important milestones and their dates$8$ #f "ou have more than 1; or 5G tasks, split "our pro'ect into main tasks and sub-

tasks, then make an overall antt hart for the main tasks$:$ Make separate antt harts for the sub-tasks that make up each main task$;$ Decide what resolution to use in the timeline$ For pro'ects of three months or less

use da"s, for longer pro'ects use weeks or months, and for ver" short pro'ects usehours$ /For these instructions, choose a resolution of da"s$3

)et 'p in Excel

1$ Inder &age Setup, select landscape orientation, then select the margin tab andcenter the chart hori%ontall" and verticall" on the page$5$ !lso under &age Setup, activate the Jfit to one pageJ button$8$ #f the te(t comes out too small, "ou ma" have to print "our chart on two pages and

paste together or, even better, ad'ust the resolution of "our date scale or drop lessimportant tasks to make "our chart fit comfortabl" on one page$

:$ Still under &age Setup, check that the header and footer are blank$ #t@s better to put the title right on the spreadsheet rather than use the header for the title$

T%pe

1$ T"pe in the tasks$

5$ T"pe in weeks or da"s heading using merge and center> button on the toolbar$8$ Make columns narrow to represent the smallest unit "ou re uire$

)et up cells

1$ 9ou can use the sample as a guide$5$ )nter "our scheduling data$ To make the gra" bars /shaded area3 that indicate

length of task - select the appropriate cells, then the fill> button on the toolbar$8$ Ise the border button on the toolbar to put a border around each shaded area

/representing length of task3 in each line$:$ &ut a border around entire area to be printed$

Tid% up

1$ B" selecting print preview> button on the toolbar "ou can note where "ou need touse bold letters, underline, etc$

5$ !s the pro'ect progresses, fill in the gra" bars with black to denote the fraction ofa task that is complete$

8$ op" and paste into MS Cord$



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To embed a antt hart created using MS &ro'ect into a MS Cord document,

1$ et the chart showing on the screen, then )dit O op" &icture$ $ $ O to #F file$5$ #mport the #F file into Cord$8$ 2otate it G degrees, or as needed, in MS &aint to get it to fit and be readable$

Follow these guidelines in creating "our chart6 Ise weeks as the time unit #nclude the Mid-&ro'ect 2eview, Design Show, and Final 2eport Due as

milestones$ Do not have more than four additional milestones$ Show more detail on design tasks, less detail on reports*documentation*

presentation tasks$ 9ou should have about three- uarter design tasks and one-uarter documentation*presentation related tasks$

PERT*CPM Te#.ni0ue "o% P%o&e#t Pl nning

This techni ue is one of the most advanced approaches for planning comple( pro'ects$ #twas concurrentl" developed b" the IS militar" and b" private corporations, and gainedgreat recognition when used b" .!S! to plan space e(ploration pro'ects$

&rogram )valuation and 2eview Techni ue /&)2T3 and ritical &ath Method / &M3 are

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies 1;


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two closel" related techni ues for monitoring the progress of a large pro'ect$ ! ke" partof &)2T* &M is calculating the critical path$ That is, identif"ing the subset of theactivities that must be performed e(actl" as planned in order for the pro'ect to finish ontime .

&)2T became famous when it was developed and used for the management of thedevelopment of the &olaris fleet ballistic missile s"stem for the I$S$ .av"$ This pro'ectwas notable in that it finished 1K months ahead of schedule and within budget$ !t roughl"the same time, the Du&ont compan" was using &M to manage its construction andrepair of manufacturing plants$

Ce will start b" looking at a simple e(ample of a standard &)2T* &M withoutcomplications$ The calculation of the critical path is conceptuall" simple, although forlarge pro'ects it is convenient to automate it$

#n the table below, we list the activities involved in the simple, but nontrivial, pro'ect of

building a house$ !n activit" cannot be started until all of its predecessors are finished6

A#ti$it) Mnemoni# A#ti$it) Time P%ede#esso%s8Mnemoni#9Dig Basement D# 8 ---&our Foundation F4I.D : D#&our Basement &4I2B 8 F4I.D#nstall Floor Poists P4#STS : F4I.D#nstall Calls C!00S ; F4I.D#nstall 2afters 2!FT)2S 8 C!00S, &4I2B

#nstall Flooring F0442 : P4#STS2ough #nterior 24I ? < F0442 #nstall 2oof 244F = 2!FT)2SFinish #nterior F#.#S? : 24I ?, 244F0andscape S !&) &4I2B, C!00S

#n Figure 1, we show the so-called &)2T /or activit"-on-arrow3 network for this pro'ect$Ce would like to calculate the minimum elapsed time to complete this pro'ect$ 2elativeto this figure, the number of interest is simpl" the longest path from left to right in thisfigure$ The pro'ect can be completed no sooner than the sum of the times of the

successive activities on this path$ learl", " and /O'0 must be on the critical path$!lso, at least one of / 0 )1 and )C2*E must be on the critical path$ Qerif" for "ourselfthat the critical path consists of activities " : /O'0 , 3244) , 52/TE5) , 5OO/ , and

/ 0 )1 and has a length of 5


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A#ti$it);on;A%# $s4 A#ti$it);on;Node Net-o%, Di g% ms

Two conventions are used in practice for displa"ing pro'ect networks6 /13 !ctivit"-on-!rc /!4!3 and /53 !ctivit"-on-.ode /!4.3$ 4ur previous e(ample used the !4!convention$ The characteristics of the two are6

2O0 )ach activit" is represented b" a node in the network$ ! precedence relationship between two activities is represented b" an arc or link between the two$ !4. ma" be less error prone because it does not need dumm" activities or arcs$

2O2 )ach activit" is represented b" an arc in the network$ #f activit" 6 must precede activit" Y, there are 6 leads into arc Y $ Thus, the nodes represent events or +milestones /e$g$, +finished activit" 6 3$ Dumm" activities of %ero length ma" be re uired to properl" represent precedence relationships$ !4! historicall" has been more popular, perhaps because of its similarit" to

antt charts used in scheduling$

! small pro'ect with si( activities is displa"ed in 2O0 form in Figure 5$ The number ne(tto each node is the duration of the activit"$ B" inspection, "ou can discover that thelongest path consists of activities 2 , C , E , and / $ #t has a length of 5 $ The corresponding

2O2 network for the same pro'ect is shown in Figure 8$ #n the 2O2 network, we haveenclosed the activit" letters in circles above the associated arc$ The unenclosed numbers

below each arc are the durations of the activities$ Ce have given the nodes, or milestones,

Terence Brunton, Department of Management Studies 1=

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