13.1 Revision IMS Information Systems Development Practices

13.2  what is systems development?  the activities of systems development  ISDMs as a structure for development  the role of the system developer  the organisational context Revision

13.3  implicit and explicit assumptions about: -the nature of human organisations -the nature of the systems development process -the role of the systems developer as embodied in specific SDMs  frameworks for comparison of SDMs  paradigms for understanding SDMs Revision

13.4 the technical expert? the facilitator? the management change agent? the collaborative agent? the role of the system developer: Revision

13.5  “A collection of procedures, techniques, tools and documentation aids which will help the systems developers in their efforts to implement a new information system. A methodology will consist of phases, themselves consisting of sub-phases, which will guide the systems developers in their choice of the techniques that might be appropriate at each stage of the project and also help them plan, manage, control and evaluate information systems projects” Avison and Fitzgerald (2003) p 20  a “methodical approach” to information systems development “used by one or more persons to produce a specification” or “design product” by performing a “design process” Olle et al (1991) pp 1-2 What is a system development methodology?

13.6  a methodology must have an underlying philosophy, otherwise it is just a method: -a method: a prescribed set of tasks -a technique: a way of doing a particular activity in the systems development process -a tool: usually automated tools to help systems development Avison and Fitzgerald (2003) Revision

13.7 Evolution of information systems development methodologies the traditional systems development approach: (SDLC) structured approaches of the 1970s data-oriented methodologies of the 1980s strategic planning approaches (mid 1970s and 1980s) soft approaches (SSM, ETHICS) the 1980s: information systems development prototyping, CASE tools, database systems, decentralisation, user participation, end user computing the 1990s: information systems development object-oriented approaches, reuse, outsourcing, enterprise planning systems (ERP), BPR, data warehouses, Internet and intranets, multimedia

13.8 the “hard” or “engineering” approaches: a functionalist view: tasks, products objectives are primarily technical a methodology is an abstraction, a philosophy on which to base action a “task list”: prescriptive, normative Revision

13.9 the “soft” approaches: interpretivist: a subjective view of reality the broad socio-organisational context systems development is a social process ill-structured, complex problem situations Revision

13.10 Wood-Harper and Fitzgerald (1982) the science paradigm: -reductionism -repeatability -refutation the systems paradigm: general systems theory: theoretical models for interpretation of complex, diverse systems Revision

13.11 Klein and Hirschheim (1989): the objectivist paradigm  a realist ontology: reality is objectively given, exists independently of our perceptions of it there is one “correct” view which is discoverable  a positivist epistemology: explain observable phenomena by identifying causal relationships same methods are appropriate for the natural and the social worlds Revision

13.12 Klein and Hirschheim (1989): the subjectivist paradigm  a nominalist ontology: reality is subjectively constructed via our framework of values, beliefs and experiences there are different, valid viewpoints  an interpretivist epistemology: relativistic, questions the existence of “objective” knowledge understand the way in which the world is interpreted Revision

13.13 Frameworks:  for describing the concept of a methodology e.g. the meta-model of Olle et al (1991)  for describing a specific methodology e.g. the system lifecycle  for comparing and / or evaluating methodologies e.g. feature analyses analyses of results of using methodologies Revision

13.14 Structured Analysis Information Engineering Soft Systems Methodology ETHICS SSADM OOA/ UML information systems development methodologies: Revision

13.15 Analyst Methodology Situation using a methodology: Avison and Wood-Harper (1990) Revision

13.16 the organisational context:  organisational culture - role, influence, management  introducing and managing change - new information systems, new information technologies  targets for change, resistance to change  a model of the change process Revision

13.17  user participation  JAD/JRP sessions  prototyping  CASE technology  reuse  rapid application development  outsourcing  application packages/ ERP systems ways of improving quality and/or productivity: Revision

13.18 implications for ISDMs:  faster development -fewer phases, fewer deliverables (condensed) -overlapping phases ( not discrete)  increased communication -more user involvement -communication amongst participants Revision

13.19 implications for ISDMs:  emphasis on earlier phases -more time on analysis and design -prototyping, CASE tools  documentation -automated documentation, CASE tool support -online for easier reuse and access Revision

13.20 Revision topics  Role and purpose of ISDMs; benefits and limitations  User participation  Prototyping  CASE tools  RAD  Organisational change  Outsourcing  Application packages  Evaluating ISDMs  An ISDM focusing on technological dimension and ISDM focusing on human dimension