Chapter 12 developiong business&it solutionsMIS- MBA-1st Trimester- MBS

1. Chapter- 12
Developing
Business/IT Solutions

2. IS Development
• What to do when your CEO asks you to find a
Web-enabled way to get information to and
from the salespeople in your company?
• Where to START?
• System Approach
• Information Systems Development
– When the system approach to problem solving is
applied to the development of information system
solutions to business problem

3. The System Approach
• The system approach to problem solving uses system
orientation to define problems and opportunities and then
develop appropriate and feasible solution in response
• Analyzing the problem and formulating a solution involve the
following interrelated activities
– Recognize and define the problem or opportunity using
system thinking
– Develop and evaluate alternative system solutions
– Select the system solution that best meets requirements
– Design the selected system solution
– Implement and evaluate the success of designed system

4. What is Systems Thinking?
• Seeing the forest and the trees in any situation
– Seeing interrelationships among systems
rather than linear cause-and-effect chains
whenever events occur
– Seeing processes of change among systems
rather than discrete snapshots of change
whenever change occur
• Systemic view: find the system, sub-system &
components of the system in any situation
– Find the input, processing, output, feedback
and control components

5. Systems Thinking Example

6. Systems Analysis and Design
• The overall process by which Information
Systems are designed and implemented
• Includes activities like
– Identification of business problems
– Proposed IS solution (to one or many problems)
– Design & Implementation of proposed solution
• Two most common approaches
– Object-oriented analysis and design
– Life cycle

7. Systems
Development
Lifecycle (SDLC)
One method of
using system
approach to
developing IS
solutions with
multistep and
iterative process

8. • Do we have business opportunities?
• What are our business priorities?
• How can IT provide IS solutions that address our
business priorities?
• Considering of proposals generated by a business/IT
planning process
• Conducting preliminary feasibility study of proposed
information system solutions to meet a company’s
business priorities and opportunities as identified in
a planning process
System Investigation

9. System Investigation
Feasibility Study
• Development of IS is costly, so do feasibility study
• Preliminary study of the information needs of
prospective users and the costs, benefits, feasibility
of a proposed project are determined
• Written reports are presented for approval
• Evaluate alternative system solutions and propose
the most feasible & desirable business application for
development

10. System Investigation
Operational Feasibility
• Assessment of how well proposed development project
fits in with the existingbusinessenvironment & objectives
– with regard to development schedule, delivery date,
corporate culture and existing business process
• Is the identified problem worth solving?
• Does the proposed solution actually solve the problem?
• Determine the degree to which the project meets the
specific business objectives set forth during the proposal
phase

11. System Investigation
• Can we identify and solve the problem at hand within a
reasonable time period?
• To what degree the proposed physical system will require
changes in our organizational structure?
• What changes in the current authority level need to be
made to accommodate the new system?
• How well the proposed system will
– Support the business priorities of the organization
– Solve the identified problem
– Fit in with the existing organizational structure

12. System Investigation
Economic Feasibility
• Determine the extent to which the proposed system will
provide positive economic benefits to the organization
• Identify & quantify all the expected benefits Vs. all the
expected costs of the project
• Cost/Benefit Analysis
– Tangible costs – cost/benefit can be quantified in high
degree like hardware, software, employee salaries
– Intangible costs – costs that are difficult to quantify
like loss of customer goodwill or employee morale
caused by errors and disruptions arising from the
installation of a new system

13. Tangible Benefits Examples
Increase in sales or profits Development of IT-based products
Decrease in information processing cost Elimination of unnecessary documents
Decrease in operating cost Reduction in inventory carrying costs
Decrease in required investment Decrease in inventory investment reqd.
Increased operational efficiency Less spoilage, waste and idle time
Intangible Benefits Examples
Improved information availability More timely and accurate information
Improved abilities in analysis OLAP and data mining
Improved customer service More timely service response
Improved employee morale Elimination of burden some job tasks
Improved management decision making Better information & decision making
Improved competitive position Systems that lock in customers
Improved business image Progressive image as perceived by
customers, suppliers, investors
Tangible/Intangible Economic Benefits

14. Technical Feasibility
• Understanding the existing/present technical resources
of the organization and their applicability in the
proposed system
• Assessing the degree to which the current technical
resources – hardware, software, operating environments
– can be upgraded or added to the new proposed system
• Does the necessary technology exists?
• Is the newest technology stable and reliable?
• Despite the vendors claim, analyst must analyze
accurately the needed technology for suitability.
System Investigation

15. Human Factors Feasibility
• No matter how elegant the technology, the system will
not work if the end users and managers do not perceive
it to be relevant – therefore, will not support it
• Assess the degree of resistance to proposed system
• The perceived role of the end users in the development
process
• The degree of change to the end user’s working
environment as a result of the new system
• Current stateofhuman resources (IT and non-IT) available
to conduct the project, & tomanage & use the new system
System Investigation

16. Legal/Political Feasibility
• A thorough analysis of any potential legal ramifications
resulting from the construction and implementation
– Any copyright or patent infringements
– Violations of antitrust laws (Mobile Ad & CRM)
– Foreign trade restrictions
• How the proposed system will positively/negatively affect
the power distribution
• Governmental restrictions
System Investigation

17. • An in-depth study of information needs of end user
– that produces the functional requirements used
as the basis for the design of an IS
• It typically involves a detailed study including:
– What are the Information needs of a company and
end users
– What are the Activities, resources, and products of
the information systems currently being used
*Comparison with
– What are the Information system capabilities required
tomeettheinformationneedsof business stakeholders
System Analysis

18. Organizational Analysis
• Know the current organizational environment before
improving the Information System
• Members of the development team must know
– Something about organization
– its management structure
– Its people
– Its business activities
– The environmental systems it must deal with
– The specific business unit or end-user workgroups
that will be affected by the new or improved IS
System Analysis

19. Analysis of the present system
• Study the old system that will be improved or replaced
• Analyze hardware, software, network and people
resources
• Analysis how those resources are used to convert
data – like transaction data – into information
products – reports and displays
• Document how IS activities are accomplished
– Input, Processing, Output, Storage and Control
System Analysis

20. Logical Analysis
• A logical model is a blueprint of the current system
• It displays what the current system does, without regard
to how it does it
• It allows an analyst to understand
– the processes
– functions and
– data associated with a system
• without getting bogged down with hardware and software
• Logical model helps to incorporate, analyze & understand
various non-computer components of the system
• Logical Vs. Physical models – Order through email
System Analysis

21. Functional Requirements Analysis & Determination
• Work as a team of IS analysts and end users to determine
the specific business information needs
– Determine the type of information each business activity
requires & what response times are necessary
– Determine the information processing capabilities
required for each system activity to meet the needs
• Product: Functional requirements for proposed system
• Functional requirements – end user information
requirements that are not tied to the h/w, s/w, n/w, data
and people resources that end users presently use or
might use in the new system
System Analysis

22. Examples of Functional Requirements
Proposed e-Commerce System
• User Interface: automatic entry of product
data and easy-to-use data entry screens for Web
customers
• Processing: fast, automatic calculation of sales totals
and shipping costs
• Storage: fast retrieval and update of data from
product, pricing, and customer databases
• Control: signals for data entry errors and quick e-mail
confirmation for customers

23. System Design
• The logical model of current system is modified until it
represents the blueprint for the new system
• Users and analyst focus on determining
– ‘how’ the system will accomplish its objectives
• Issues related to hardware, software, networking, data
storage, security, etc will be discussed and determined
• System design consists of design activities that ultimately
produce physical system specification satisfying the
functional requirements that were developed in the
system analysis process

24. Systems Design
• Systems design focuses on three areas or
deliverables

25. Prototyping
• Prototyping is the rapid development and
testing of working models
– An interactive, iterative process used during
the design phase
– Makes development faster and easier, especially when
end user requirements are hard to define
– Has enlarged the role of business stakeholders
• Prototype system is repeatedly refined until it is
acceptable
• A Prototype of a business application is developed quickly
using variety of application development software tools
Systems Design

26. Prototyping
Life Cycle

27. System Design
User Interface Design
• Focuses on supporting the interactions between end
users and their computer-based applications
– Designers concentrate on the design of attractive
and efficient forms of user input and output
– Frequently a prototyping process
• UID process produces a detailed design specifications
for information products
– display screens, interactive user/computer dialogs,
audio responses, forms, documents, reports

28. Checklist for Corporate Websites
• Remember the customer
• Aesthetics
• Broadband content
• Easy to navigate
• Searchability
• Incompatibilities
• Registration forms
• Dead links

29. System Specifications
• Formalizing the design of
– User interface methods and products
– Database structures
– Processing procedures
– Control procedures
• System designer frequently develop
– Hardware & software
– Data & Network
– Personnel specifications for a proposed system

30. Examples of System Specifications
User interface
specifications
Use personalized screens that welcome repeat Web
customers and that make product recommendations
Database
specifications
Develop databases that use object/relational database
management software to organize access to all customer
and inventory data and to multimedia product information
Software
specifications
Acquire an e-commerce software engine to process all
e-commerce transactions with fast responses, i.e.,
retrieve necessary product data and compute all sales
amounts in less than one second
Hardware
and network
specifications
Install redundant networked Web servers and sufficient
high-bandwidth telecommunications lines to host the
company e-commerce website
Personnel
specifications
Hire an e-commerce manager and specialists and a
webmaster and Web designer to plan, develop, and
manage e-commerce operations

31. End User Development
• IS professionals play a consulting role, while
user do their own application development
– A staff of user consultants may be available
to help with analysis, design, and installation
• Other support
– Application package training
– Hardware and software advice
– Help gaining access to organization databases

32. Focus on IS Activities
• End user development should focus on the
fundamental activities of an IS
– Output
– Input
– Processing
– Storage
– Control

33. Focus of End User Development

34. Doing End User Development
• Application development capabilities built into
software packages make it easier for end users to
develop their own solutions

35. Encouraging End User Web Development
• Look for tools that make sense
– Some are more powerful or costly than needed
• Spur creativity
– Consider a competition among departments
• Set some limits
– Limit what parts of a web page or site can be changed and
who can do it
• Give managers responsibility
– Make them personally responsible for content
• Make users comfortable
– Training will make users more confident and can save the IT
department the trouble of fixing problems later on
– It can limit the need for continuous support

36. Implementing New Systems
• Implementation activities are needed to transform
a newly developed information system into an
operational system for end users
• Difficult and time consuming process
• Vital for ensuring the success of any newly
developed system
– Well-designed system may fail
• Implementation process requires project
management effort

37. Implementing New Systems
• The systems implementation stage involves
– Hardware and software acquisition
– Software development
– Testing of programs and procedures
– Conversion of data resources
– Conversion alternatives
– Education/training of end users and
specialists who will operate the new system

38. Implementation Process
• Implementation process typically requires a project
management effort for proper accomplishment
• Enforce a project plan with
• Job responsibilities
• Timetables
• Financial budget

39. Project Management
• Project management process, technique and
tool are necessary for Information System
design and development
• The skills and knowledge necessary to be
a good project manager will translate into
virtually any project environment
– The people who have acquired them
are sought after by most organizations

40. What is a Project?
• A set of activities with a clear beginning and end
• Every project has
– Goals
– Objectives
– Tasks
– Limitations or constraints
– A series of steps or phases
• Managing a project effectively requires
– Process
– Tools
– Techniques
• SDLC is a project management approach tailored
toward the design and development of IS

41. Sample Implementation Process

42. Phase Example Activities
Initiating/
Defining
• State the problem(s) and/or goal(s)
• Identify the objectives
• Secure resources
• Explore the costs/benefits/risk in the feasibility study
Planning
• Identify and make sequence of activities
• Identify the “critical path”
• Estimate the time and resources needed for project completion
• Write a detailed project plan
Execution
• Commit resources to specific tasks
• Add additional resources and/or personnel if necessary
• Initiate work on the project
Controlling
• Establish reporting obligations
• Create reporting tools
• Compare actual progress with baseline
• Initiate control interventions, if necessary
Closing
• Install all deliverables
• Finalize all obligations and commitments
• Meet with stakeholders
• Release project resources
• Document the project
• Issue a final report

43. Evaluating Hardware, Software, Services
• Establish minimum physical and performance
characteristics for all hardware and software
– Formalize these requirements in an RFP/RFQ
• Send RFQ to appropriate vendors
• Evaluation factor and scoring
• 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

44. Hardware Evaluation Factors
Hardware Evaluation Factors Rating
Performance • What are the speed, capacity, and throughput?
Cost
• What is its lease or purchase price?
• What will be its cost of operations and maintenance?
Reliability
• What are the risk of malfunction and its maintenance
requirements?
• What are its error control and diagnostic features?
Compatibility
• Is it compatible with existing hardware and software?
• Is it compatible with hardware and software provided
by competing suppliers?
Technology
• In what year of its product life cycle is it?
• Does it use a new untested technology or does it run
the risk of obsolescence?

45. Hardware Evaluation Factors
Hardware Evaluation Factors Rating
Ergonomics
• Has it been “human factors engineered” with the user
in mind?
• Is it user-friendly, designed to be safe, comfortable, and
easy to use?
Connectivity
• Can it be easily connected to wide area and local area
networks that use different types of network
technologies and bandwidth alternatives?
Scalability
• Can it handle the processing demands of a wide range
of end users, transactions, queries, and other
information processing requirements?
Software
• Is the system and application software available that
can best use this hardware?
Support • Arethe services reqd. tosupport & maintain it available?
Overall Rating

46. Software Evaluation Factors
Software Evaluation Factors Rating
Quality
• Is it bug-free, or does it have many errors in its
program code?
Efficiency
• Is the software a well-developed system of program
code that does not use much CPU time, memory
capacity, or disk space?
Flexibility
• Can it handle our business processes easily, without
major modification?
Security
• Does it provide control procedures for errors,
malfunctions, and improper use?
Connectivity
• Is it Web-enabled so it can easily access the Internet,
intranets, and extranets, on its own, or by working with
Web browsers or other network software?

47. Software Evaluation Factors
Software Evaluation Factors Rating
Maintenance
• Will new features and bug fixes be easily
implemented by our own software developers?
• Is it written in a programming language that is
familiar to our own software developers?
Documentation
• Is the software well documented? Does it include
help screens and helpful software agents?
Hardware
• Does existing hardware have the features required to
best use this software?
Other Factors
• What are its performance, cost, reliability,
availability, compatibility, modularity, technology,
ergonomics, scalability, and support characteristics?
Overall Rating

48. Evaluating 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
– System integretors
– Value-added reselling

49. Evaluating IS Services
Hardware Evaluation Factors Rating
Performance
• What has been their past performance in view of
their past promises?
Systems
development
• Are website and other e-business developers
available? What are their quality and cost?
Maintenance
• Is equipment maintenance provided? What are its
quality and cost?
Conversion
• What systems development and installation services
will they provide during the conversion period?
Training
• Is the necessary training of personnel provided?
What are its quality and cost?
Backup
• Are similar computer facilities available nearby for
emergency backup purposes?

50. Evaluating IS Services
Hardware Evaluation Factors Rating
Accessibility
• Does the vendor provide local or regional sites that
offer sales, systems development, and hardware
maintenance services?
• Is a customer support center at the vendor’s website
available?
• Is a customer hot line provided?
Business
Position
• Is the vendor financially strong, with good industry
market prospects?
Hardware
• Do they provide a wide selection of compatible
hardware devices and accessories?
Software
• Do they offer a variety of useful e-business software
and application packages?
Overall Rating

51. Other Implementation Activities
• The keys to successful implementation of
a new business system
– Testing
– Data conversion
– Documentation
– Training

52. System Testing
• System testing may involve
– Testing and debugging software
– Testing website performance
– Testing new hardware
– Review of prototypes
• Iterative & Interactive Development & Testing
• Examine and critique input documents, screen
displays and processing procedures
• Immediate end-user testing

53. Data Conversion
• Data conversion includes
– Converting data elements from the old database to
the new database
– Correcting data errors
– Filtering out unwanted data
– Consolidating data from several databases
– Organizing data into new data subsets
– Databases, data marts, data warehouse
• Improperly organized and formatted data is a major cause of
implementation failures

54. Documentation
• User Documentation
– Sample data entry screens, forms, reports
– System operating instructions in system repository
• Systems Documentation
– Method of communication among those
developing, implementing, and maintaining
a computer-based system
– Detailed record of the system design
– Extremely important when diagnosing
problems and making system changes

55. Training
• End users must be trained to operate a new
business system or its implementation will fail
– May involve only activities, such as data entry,
or all aspects of system use
– Managers and end users must understand how
the new technology impacts business operations
• System training should be supplemented with
training related to
– Hardware devices
– Software packages

56. Major System Conversion Strategies

57. • Direct conversion
– The simplest conversion strategy
– The most disruptive to the organization
– Sometimes referred to as the slam dunk or
cold-turkey strategy
– May be the only viable solution in cases of emergency
implementation or if the old and
new system cannot coexist
– Has the highest risk of failure
– Involves turning off the old system and turning on the
new one
Major System Conversion Strategies

58. Parallel Conversion
• Old and new systems are run simultaneously until
everyone is satisfied that
– The new system functions correctly
– The old system is no longer needed
• Conversion to new system can be single
cutover or phased cutover
• Has the lowest risk, but the highest cost
– Can cost 4 times more than using the old system
• Best choice where an automated system is replacing a
manual one

59. Pilot Conversion
• Scenarios best suited to a pilot conversion
– Multiple business locations
– Geographically diverse locations
• Advantages of single location conversion
– Can select a location that best represents
the conditions across the organization
– Less risky in terms of loss of time or delays
in processing
– Can be evaluated and changed before further
installations

60. Phased Conversion
• A phased or gradual conversion
– Takes advantage of both the direct and parallel
approaches
– Minimizes the risks involved
– Allows the new system to be brought online
as logically ordered functional components
• Disadvantages
– Takes the most time
– Created the most disruption to the organization over
time

61. Post-Implementation Activities
• The single most costly activity
– Correcting errors or faults in the system
– Improving system performance
– Adapting the system to changes in the operating
or business environment
– Requires more programmers than does
application development
– May exist for years

62. Systems Maintenance
• There are four basic categories of system
maintenance
– Corrective: fix bugs and logical errors
– Adaptive: add new functionality
– Perfective: improve performance
– Preventive: reduce chances of failure