The Information Systems Development Process

Chapter 9

Chapter Objectives
Understand the process used by organizations to manage the development of IS Describe each major phase of the systems development life cycle Explain how organizations identify projects, assess feasibility, identify benefits and costs, and perform economic analysis of a system project

The Need for Structured Systems Development

Systems Development
Process of designing, building and maintaining information systems

Performed by systems analysts

Requires both managerial and technical expertise

The Evolution of Information Systems Development

Early days
Techniques used to develop systems varied Difficult to integrate large systems

In response, IS professionals developed software engineering

Easier to train programmers and analysts to use common techniques Results in more maintainable systems

Options for Obtaining Information Systems

Build internally by IS staff Buy a pre-packaged system Hire an organization or consultant to custom-build a system
Outsourced

Users/departments build their own custom systems for their individual needs
End-user development

Sources for IS

Information Systems Development in Action

The problem decomposition process

The Role of Users in the Systems Development Process

Systems analysts rely on information from system users Key to project success
A close and mutually respectful working relationship between analysts and users

Steps in the Systems Development Process

System identification, selection, and planning System analysis System design System implementation System maintenance

Phase 1: System Identification, Selection, and Planning

Undertake only those projects critical to mission, goals, and objectives Select a development project from all possible projects that could be performed Different evaluation criteria used to rank potential projects

Table 9.1 Sources of systems development projects and their likely focus. Project Source Primary Focus

Top management Steering committee

Broad strategic focus Cross-functional focus

Individual departments and business units Systems development group

Narrow, tactical focus

Integration with existing information system focus

Table 9.2 Possible evaluation criteria for classifying and ranking projects. Evaluation Criteria Description

Strategic alignment

The extent to which the project is viewed as helping the organization achieve its strategic objectives and long-term goals. Potential benefits The extent to which the project is viewed as improving profits, customer service, and so forth, and the duration of these benefits. Potential costs and The number and types of resources the project resource avail. requires and their availability. Project size / The number of individuals and the length of time duration needed to complete the project. Technical The level of technical difficulty involved in difficulty / risks successfully completing the project within a given time and resource constraint.
Source Adapted from Hoffer, George, and Valacich. 1999. Modern Systems Analysis and Design. 2d ed. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley Longman.

Assessing Project Feasibility

Economic Technical Operational Schedule Legal and contractual Political

Table 9.3 Types of feasibility used when assessing an information systems project. Feasibility Type Purpose for Assessing

Economic Technical

Operational

Schedule

Legal and contractual Political

To identify the financial benefits and costs associated with the development project To gain an understanding of the development organization's capability to construct the proposed system To gain an understanding of the degree to which and the likelihood that the proposed system solves the business problems or takes advantage of the opportunities outlined in the project request To gain an understanding of the likelihood that all potential timeframe and completion date schedules can be met To gain an understanding of any potential legal ramifications of the construction of the system To gain an understanding of how key stakeholders within the organization view the proposed system

Identifying System Benefits

Tangible benefits easily measured in dollars and certainty
Reduced personnel expenses Lower transaction costs Higher profit margins

Intangible benefits difficult to measure

Improvement of employee morale Reduction of waste creation

Identifying System Costs

Tangible costs
Hardware Labor Employee training

Intangible costs
Loss of customer goodwill Loss of employee morale

Performing an Economic Analysis of a System Project

Uses the concept of the time value of money
Compare present cash outlays to future expected returns

Spreadsheet analysis
Net present value Return on investment Break-even analysis

Table 9.4 Commonly used economic costbenefit analysis techniques. Name of Technique Description of Technique

Net Present Value (NPV) NPV uses a discount rate determined from the company's cost of capital to establish the present value of a project. The discount rate is used to determine the present value of both cash receipts and outlays. Return on Investment ROI is the ratio of the net cash receipts of the (ROI) project divided by the cash outlays of the project. Tradeoff analysis can be made between projects competing for investment by comparing their representative ROI ratios. Break-Even Analysis This technique finds the amount of time required for the cumulative cash flow from a project to equal its initial and ongoing investment.
Source Adapted from Hoffer, George, and Valacich. 1999. Modern Systems Analysis and Design. 2d ed. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley Longman.

Phase 2: System Analysis

Gain a thorough understanding of an organizations current way of doing things Determine system requirements
Interview users Develop questionnaires Watch the day-to-day activities of users

Organize information using data, process, and logic-modeling tools

Modeling Organizational Data

Systems analysts determine data needed to accomplish intended tasks Use data-modeling tools to depict the data Entity-Relationship Diagram
Relationships represented on diagram by lines drawn between entities

Entity-Relationship Diagram

Modeling Organizational Processes

Data flows
Show the movement of data within an information system

Processing logic
Represents the way data are transformed

Phase 3: System Design

The proposed system is designed Elements designed include
Forms and reports Interfaces and dialogs Databases and files Processing and logic

Designing Forms and Reports

Forms
Collect data to input into system Some pre-defined data with blank spaces for additional data

Reports
Receive information from system Static documents that summarize data

Designing Interfaces and Dialogs

Text-based interfaces
Waits for a text command from the user

Graphical user interfaces (GUI)

Provides user with icons and menus of choices First introduced on Macintosh Windows made GUI available to IBMbased machines

Designing Databases and Files

Requires thorough understanding of the data and informational needs Uses data-modeling tools to create a conceptual data model

Designing Processing and Logic

Steps and procedures that transform data into new or modified information Pseudo code
Text descriptions of detailed processing steps

Structure charts
Break a large problems into smaller pieces

Decision trees
Help design how the logic flows

Structure Chart

Decision Tree

Phase 4: System Implementation

Transform the design into a working system
Software programming Testing

Prepare organization to use the new system

System conversion Documentation User training Support

Software Programming and Testing

Programming
Transforming the system design into a working computer system

Testing
Developmental testing by programmers to assure that each module is error-free Alpha testing by software testers to assess if it meets the design requirements of the users Beta testing by actual system users to test with actual data

System Conversion, Documentation, Training and Support

Conversion
Parallel conversion Direct conversion Phased conversion Pilot conversion

Training
In-house Outside vendors

Support
Install system Consult on features Set up user accounts Provide demonstrations Help with problems

Documentation
User guides User training Installation procedures

Software Conversion Strategies

Table 9.6 User training options. Training Option Description

Tutorial

One person taught at one time by a human or by paper-based exercises Course Several people taught at one time Computer-aided One person taught at one time by the computer instruction system Interactive training Combination of tutorials and computer-aided manuals instruction Resident expert Expert on call to assist users as needed Software help Built-in system components designed to train and components troubleshoot problems External sources Vendors and training providers to provide tutorials, courses, and other training activities

Phase 5: System Maintenance

Largest part of system development effort Maintenance process
Obtain maintenance request Transform requests into changes Design changes Implement changes

Changing Maintenance Mix

Types of Maintenance
Corrective
To repair flaws in the design, coding, or implementation

Adaptive
To meet changing business needs

Perfective
To improve processing performance

Preventive
To reduce the chance of future system failure