SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT Phases, Tools, and Techniques Chapter 6 SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT Phases, Tools, and Techniques

Opening Case: Cameras Use Film?

Opening Case: Cameras Use Film? Kodak 35mm film sales dropped from $7 billion in 2004 to an estimated $1.9 billion in 2010 Many retailers no longer process 35mm film Web sites like SnapFish, Photo Bucket, and Flickr are now the norm

INTRODUCTION Information systems are the support structure for meeting the company’s strategies and goals New systems are created -- because employees request it to obtain a competitive advantage Billions of dollars spent yearly on acquisition, design, development, implementation, and maintenance of IT systems Companies depend on information more than ever

THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE Systems development life cycle (SDLC) Defining Success On time On budget Meets requirements Deliverable Milestone

SDLC Phases & Major Activities

SDLC as a Waterfall Methodology

Phase 1: Planning Planning phase Three primary planning activities: create a solid plan for developing your information system Three primary planning activities: Define the system to be developed You can’t build every system, so you make choices based on your organization’s priorities, which may be expressed as critical success factors Critical success factor (CSF) - a factor critical to your organization’s success

Phase 1: Planning Set the project scope Project scope - clearly defines the high-level system requirements Scope creep - occurs when the scope of the project increases Feature creep - occurs when developers add extra features that were not part of the initial requirements Project scope document – written document of the project scope

Phase 1: Planning Develop the project plan including tasks, resources, and timeframes Project plan Project manager Project milestones

Phase 1: Planning Sample Project Plan

Phase 2: Analysis Analysis phase Two primary analysis activities: involves end users and IT specialists working together to gather, understand, and document the business requirements for the proposed system Two primary analysis activities: Gather the business requirements Business requirements - the detailed set of knowledge worker requests that the system must meet in order to be successful Joint application development (JAD) - knowledge workers and IT specialists meet, sometimes for several days, to define or review the business requirements for the system

Phase 2: Analysis Prioritize the requirements Requirements definition document -prioritizes the business requirements and places them in a formal comprehensive document Users sign off on this document which clearly sets the scope for the project

Phase 2: Analysis Take time during analysis to get the business requirements correct. If you find errors, fix them immediately. The cost to fix an error in the early stages of the SDLC is relatively small. In later stages, the cost is huge.

Phase 3: Design Design phase Two primary design activities: build a technical blueprint of how the proposed system will work Two primary design activities: Design the technical architecture the hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment required to run the system Design system models GUI screens that users will interface with, database designs (see XLM/C), report formats, software steps, etc

Phase 3: Design Starting with design, you take on less of an active participation role and act more as a “quality control” function, ensuring that the IT people are designing a system to meet your needs

Phase 4: Development Development phase take all of your detailed design documents from the design phase and transform them into an actual system Two primary development activities: Build the technical architecture Build the database and programs Both of these activities are mostly performed by IT specialists

Phase 5: Testing Testing phase verifies that the system works and meets all of the business requirements defined in the analysis phase Two primary testing activities: Write the test conditions Test conditions - the detailed steps the system must perform along with the expected results of each step Perform the testing of the system Unit testing – tests individual units of code System testing – verifies that the units of code function correctly when integrated Integration testing – verifies that separate systems work together User acceptance testing (UAT) – determines if the system satisfies the business requirements

Phase 6: Implementation Implementation phase distribute the system to all of the knowledge workers and they begin using the system to perform their everyday jobs Two primary implementation activities Write detailed user documentation User documentation - highlights how to use the system Provide training for the system users Online training - runs over the Internet or off a CD-ROM Workshop training - is held in a classroom environment and lead by an instructor

Phase 6: Implementation Choose the right implementation method Parallel implementation Plunge implementation Pilot implementation Phased implementation

Phase 7: Maintenance Maintenance phase monitor and support the new system to ensure it continues to meet the business goals Two primary maintenance activities: Build a help desk to support the system users Help desk - a group of people who responds to knowledge workers’ questions Provide an environment to support system changes

Sourcing the Project Three choices for building a system include: Insourcing Selfsourcing Outsourcing

Selfsourcing Selfsourcing (also called knowledge worker development or end user development)

Selfsourcing Advantages Improves requirements determination Increases knowledge worker participation and sense of ownership Increases speed of systems development Potential pitfalls and risks Inadequate knowledge worker expertise leads to inadequately developed systems Lack of organizational focus creates “privatized” IT systems Insufficient analysis of design alternatives leads to subpar IT systems Lack of documentation and external support leads to short-lived systems

OUTSOURCING Developing strategic partnerships Outsourcing

Developing Strategic Partnerships IT outsourcing takes on 1 of 4 forms: Purchasing existing software Purchasing existing software and pay the publisher to make certain modifications Purchasing existing software and pay the publisher for the right to make modifications yourself Outsourcing the development of an entirely new and unique system for which no software exists

Outsourcing Options There are three different forms of outsourcing: Onshore outsourcing - the process of engaging another company within the same country for services Nearshore outsourcing - contracting an outsourcing arrangement with a company in a nearby country Offshore outsourcing - contracting with a company that is geographically far away

Outsourcing Advantages Focus on unique core competencies Exploit the intellect of another organization Better predict future costs Acquire leading-edge technology Reduce costs Improve performance accountability Disadvantages Reduces technical know-how for future innovation Reduces degree of control Increases vulnerability of strategic information Increases dependency on other organizations

PROTOTYPING Prototyping Prototype Proof-of-concept prototype Selling prototype

Prototyping Advantages Disadvantages Encourages active knowledge worker participation  Helps resolve discrepancies among knowledge workers  Gives users a feel for the final system  Helps determine technical feasibility Helps sell the idea of a proposed system  Disadvantages Leads people to believe the final system will follow shortly Gives no indication of performance under operational conditions Leads the project team to forgo proper testing and documentation