669_Management Information System

1. Systems Planning and Development

2. Planning Information Systems
• Enterprise ISs are gaining in popularity
• However, they:
– Require a substantial investment
– Carry a high risk in implementation
• Successful integration of the system is vital
– Must align IT strategies with the overall
organization strategies
• Careful planning of an IS implementation is
necessary

3. Steps in Planning Information Systems
• IT planning includes several key steps:
– Create a corporate and IT mission statement
– Articulate the vision for IT within the organization
– Create IT strategic and tactical plans
– Create a plan for operations to achieve the
mission and vision
– Create a budget to ensure that resources are
available to achieve the mission and vision

4. Steps in Planning Information Systems
(continued)
• Mission statement: communicates the most
important overarching goal of organization
– Includes how the goals will be achieved
• IS mission statement: describes the role of IT in
the organization
– Should be compatible with the organizational
mission statement
– Includes the ideal combination of hardware,
software, and networking to support the mission

5. Steps in Planning Information Systems
(continued)
• CIO develops a strategic plan for
implementation of IT in the organization:
– What technology will be used by employees,
customers, and suppliers
• Goals in the plan are broken down into
objectives, such as:
– Resources to be acquired or developed
– Timetables for acquiring and implementing
resources
– Training

6. The Benefits of Standardization
in Planning
• One major goal and advantage of planning is
standardization
• Benefits include:
– Cost savings: better bargaining power in
purchasing and leasing hardware and software
– Efficient training: a smaller variety of software
reduces employee training needs
– Efficient support: enables more staff
specialization

7. From Planning to Development
• After planning, management must decide how to
obtain the systems (usually software)
• Two general approaches:
– Systems development life cycle (SDLC), the
traditional approach
– Nontraditional methods, including agile methods
• Prototyping: fast development of an application
based on initial user requirements

8. The Systems Development Life Cycle
• Large ISs are conceived, planned, and
developed within the systems development life
cycle (SDLC) framework
• Also known as waterfall development
• Consists of four major sequential phases:
– Analysis
– Design
– Implementation
– Support

9. Analysis
• Systems analysis: a five-step process
– Investigation
– Technical feasibility study
– Economic feasibility study
– Operational feasibility study
– Requirements definition

10. Analysis (continued)
• Investigation
– Is a system really necessary?
– Is the system, as conceived, feasible?
• Small ad hoc team usually performs a
preliminary investigation by interviewing
employees
• Feasibility studies: a larger analysis conducted
after preliminary results indicate an IS is
warranted

11. Analysis (continued)
• Technical feasibility study:
– Determines if components exist or can be
developed
– Determines if the organization has adequate
hardware
• Economic feasibility study:
– Determines if the new IS is economically justified
– Cost/benefit analysis: spreadsheet showing all
costs and benefits of the proposed system
– Benefits must outweigh the costs over the life of
the system

12. Design
• Design: the second phase in systems
development
• Systems design: includes three steps for
devising the means to meet all the requirements
– Description of the components
– Construction
– Testing
• If purchasing a system:
– Design phase determines how to adapt the
existing software
– Construction: actual changes in program code

13. Design (continued)
• Symbols are used to communicate ideas about
data, processes, and information
– Visual information can be grasped more quickly
• Data flow diagram (DFD): describes the flow of
data in a business operation using four symbols
– External entities: individuals and groups external
to the system (customers, employees, etc.)
– Processes: an event or events that affect data
– Data store: any form of data at rest
– Direction of data flow: indicates how data moves

16. Design (continued)
• Construction
– Consists of mostly programming activities
– May take months or years
– Completed modules are tested via a walk-through of
the program logic or a simulation of actual program
execution
• System testing
– Tests the entire integrated system, comparing
results to the system requirements

17. Implementation
• Implementation: delivery of a new system
– Consists of two steps:
• Conversion
• Training
– Training may or may not precede conversion
• Conversion: switching from the old system to
the new system
– Can be a very difficult time

18. Implementation (continued)
• Four basic conversion strategies:
– Parallel conversion: the old system is used
simultaneously with the new system at first
– Phased conversion: breaks the new IS into
modules and integrates one at a time
• Reduces risk but delays some benefits
– Cut-over conversion (or flash cut conversion):
immediately replaces all modules
• Risky but may be inexpensive
– Pilot conversion: introduces the IS into one
business unit at a time
• Beta site: a site that tests the new system

19. Agile Methods
• Agile methods: alternative development
methods
– Treat software development as series of contacts
with users
– Goal: fast development of software
– Improve software after user requests for
modifications received
• Agile methods use iterative programming

20. Agile Methods (continued)
• Popular agile methods include:
– Extreme programming (XP)
– Adaptive software development (ASD)
– Lean development (LD)
– Rational unified process (RUP)
– Feature driven development (FDD)
– Dynamic systems development method (DSDM)
– Scrum
– Crystal

22. Agile Methods (continued)
• Major advantage of agile methods:
– Fast development of application software
• Agile method risks include:
– Analysis phase is limited or eliminated, increasing
the risk of incompatibilities
– More emphasis on programming, resulting in less
documentation, which may make it difficult or
impossible to make later modifications

23. When to Use Agile Methods
• Agile methods are best used:
– When a desired system is small
• Analysis is less important
• Requires a smaller investment of resources
– For unstructured problems
– For developing user interfaces
– When users cannot specify all requirements at
the start of the project.

24. When Not to Use Agile Methods
• Do not use agile methods when:
– The desired system is large or complex
• System failure entails great financial loss
– The desired system must interface with other
systems
• SDLC recommended for complex systems
• Documentation is key for integration