Management Information
Systems
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones
Chapter 11: System Planning and
Development www.cengage.co.uk/oz
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Objectives
• Explain the importance of and steps in IT planning
• Describe the systems development life cycle, which is the traditional approach to systems development
• Explain the challenges involved in systems development
• List the advantages and disadvantages of different system conversion strategies
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Objectives (continued)
• Enumerate and explain the principles of agile systems development methods
• Explain the concept of systems integration
• Discuss whether IS professionals should be certified
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Planning Information Systems
• Enterprise ISs gaining in popularity
• High risk involved in implementation
• Successful integration of system vital
• Planning of IS necessary
• Align IS and organizational strategies
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Steps in Planning Information Systems
• IS planning includes several key steps
– Create IS mission statement
– Articulate vision for IS
– Create IS plans
– Create operations plan
– Create budget
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Steps in Planning Information
Systems (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Steps in Planning Information
Systems (continued)
•
Mission statement : most important overarching goal of organization
• IS mission statement describes goal of IS
– Should be compatible with organizational mission statement
• CIO develops strategic plan for implementation
• Goals broken down into objectives
• Objectives broken down to operational details
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Steps in Planning Information
Systems (continued)
• IT planning similar to planning of other resources
• Growing proportion of IT funds spent on software
– More purchasing
– Less developing in-house
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

The Benefits of Standardization in
Planning
• Major goal of planning is standardization
• Many benefits
– Cost savings
• Better bargaining power
• Applies to hardware and software
– Efficient training
• Smaller variety of software
– Efficient support
• More specialization
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

From Planning to Development
• After planning decide how to obtain systems
– Usually software
• Approaches to systems development universal
– Two approaches
• Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
• Nontraditional methods
• Agile methods more efficient
• Prototyping : fast development of application based on initial requirements
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

The Systems Development Life Cycle
• Large ISs conceived with systems development life cycle (SDLC)
• SDLC also known as waterfall development
– Consists of sequential phases
• Organizations sometimes take shortcuts
• Four major phases
– Analysis
– Design
– Implementation
– Support
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

The Systems Development Life Cycle
(continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Analysis
• Systems analysis : five-step process
– Investigation
– Technical feasibility study
– Economic feasibility study
– Operational feasibility study
– Requirements definition
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Analysis (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Analysis (continued)
• First step is investigation
– Determine if system necessary
– Small team interviews employees
• Feasibility studies : conducted after IS warranted
– Technical feasibility
• Determine if components exist
• Adequate hardware
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Analysis (continued)
• Economic feasibility study
– Cost/benefit analysis : spreadsheet showing costs
• Benefits must outweigh costs
–
Return on investment (ROI) : most accurate economic analysis
• Difference between stream of benefits and costs
• Many benefits are intangible
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Analysis (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Analysis (continued)
• Operational feasibility study
– Determine how new system will be used
– Organizational culture : general tone of corporate environment
– System compatibility with culture
• Requirements definition
– Project team installed
–
System requirements : functions expected from system
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design
• Second step in systems development is design
• Systems design : three steps
– Description
– Construction
– Testing
• If purchasing system must determine how to adapt
– Construction requires changing programming code
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
• Symbols used to communicate ideas
– Visual information grasped more quickly
• Data flow diagram ( DFD ): describes flow of data
– Four symbols
• External entities
• Processes
• Data stores
• Direction of data flow
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
• DFD symbols
– External entities are external individuals and groups
– Processes are events that change data
– Data store is resting data
– Data flow is direction that data moves
• Simplicity of DFD is advantage
• DFD suitable for describing non-computer based
IS
• DFD cannot describe system completely
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
•
Unified modeling language (UML) : de facto standard for diagramming
– Helps developers communicate features
– Provides standard symbols and notations
– Consists of diagrams describing software
• Use case
• Class
• Interaction
• State
• Activity
• Physical components
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Design (continued)
• Construction
– Mostly programming
– Takes months to years
– Testing done on completed modules
• Walk-through logic of program
• Simulation of actual program execution
• System testing
– Test entire integrated system
– Try to “outsmart” system
– Poor testing causes many failures
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Implementation
• Implementation : Two steps
– Conversion
– Training
• Conversion : switching old system to new
– Four basic strategies
• Parallel conversion : old system used with new system at first
• Phased conversion : break IS into modules and integrate one at a time
•
Cut-over conversion : immediately replace all
• Pilot conversion : introduce in one business unit at a time
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Implementation (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Support
• Support : two responsibilities
– Maintenance
• Post-implementation debugging
• Updates
• Adding postponed features
– User help
– Longest phase of system life cycle
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Agile Methods
• Agile methods : alternatives to SDLC
– Treat software development as series of contacts with users
– Fast development of software
– Improve software after user specifications received
– Iterative programming
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Agile Methods (continued)
• Popular agile methods
– 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
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Agile Methods (continued)
• Agile method risks
– Analysis phase limited or eliminated
• Risk of incompatibilities
– Less documentation
• Difficult modification
• Manifesto for Agile Software Development prioritizes individuals and interactions over processes
• Light but sufficient development process
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Agile Methods (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Agile Methods (continued)
• User involvement encouraged throughout process
• Test modules immediately after completion
• Communication with users informal
• Two programmers per module
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

When to Use Agile Methods
• Best to use agile method
– When system is small
• Analysis less important
• Small investment of resources
– For unstructured problems
– Users cannot specify all requirements at start
• Unfamiliar with technology
• Difficult to conceptualize
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

When Not to Use Agile Methods
• Do not use agile methods when
– System is large
• System failure entails great financial loss
– Designed to interface with other systems
• SDLC recommended for complex systems
• Documentation is key
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

When Not to Use Agile Methods
(continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Systems Integration
• Systems integration : combine disparate systems
– Examines needs of entire organization
– Allows data to flow between units
– Some service companies specialize in this
– Integration more challenging than development
– Interface legacy systems with new systems
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Systems Integration (continued)
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Systems Integration (continued)
• Systems integrators must be skilled in hardware and software
• Difficult to overcome incompatibility issues
• Systems integration may span several organizations
• Integration with telecommunications
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Summary
• IT planning important because of high investment rate
• Standardization important part of IT planning
• Systems development life cycle (SDLC) has well-defined phases
• Purpose of systems analysis is to determine needs the system will satisfy
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Summary (continued)
• Feasibility studies determine if system is possible and desirable
• System requirements detail features needed
• Developers outline system components graphically
• Unified Modeling language used to create model of desired system
• Implementation includes training and conversion to new system
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning

Summary (continued)
• Support entails maintenance and satisfying changing needs
• Agile methods are popular alternative to traditional systems development cycle
• Systems integration more complicated than systems development
• Great responsibility of IS professionals results in certification requirements
Use with Management Information Systems 1e
By Effy Oz & Andy Jones ISBN 9781844807581
© 2008 Cengage Learning