1 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Systems Analysis Lecture 13 Post-Implementation Training

2 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Lecture Objectives Describe the work of the Analyst at the end of the Implementation Phase

3 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 The Work of the Analyst At post implementation the analyst usually interviews users, and examines all reports, system logs and screen displays The analyst also conducts interviews and observations This ensures that the new system is effective and accepted

4 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Example User Evaluation Form

5 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Final Report to Management At the end of the post implementation evaluation, then the final report to management is prepared It contains a recap of all system Development costs and schedules It contains planned modifications and improvements

6 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Completion The end of project management report marks the end of Systems development work By this stage the system has been developed, tested, evaluated and installed

7 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 What comes next? The next phase involves: Operation Maintenance Support Security begins when the system becomes operational continues until the end of the system’s useful life carries the biggest cost

8 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 User Expectations The main questions at this stage: Does the system fulfill the expectations of the user?’ ‘Does it fulfill the business objectives?’ Is it secure?

9 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 User Support Activities Users need training –When the new system is first introduced –When they themselves are new employees –If significant changes in the system arise –To support other users (e.g. Help Desk)

10 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Training is both Initial and Continuous

11 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 User Training Packages The purpose of training packages is to show users how to do their jobs Computerised training packages are often available The analyst and designer must also produce user manuals

12 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 User Support Users need not just initial training, but also ongoing user support This can be done via a Help Desk, by technical staff, Information centres etc…

13 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Help Desk These are often used provide a range of supporting activities – for example –Show a user how to create a data query or produce a report –Resolve network or access problems –Demonstrate an advanced feature of the software –Help recover lost data

14 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 The Help Desk 1.Is a valuable link between IT staff and users 2.Is a central contact point for IT maintenance activities

15 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 On line chat support – This is interactive support in the form of on line chat

16 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Blackboard – virtual classroom allows for discussion about topics with other students or staff

17 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Maintaining the System “Systems must be maintained and improved continuously to meet changing business demands and users constantly require assistance” Quotation: Shelley Cashman Ch 10 Evaluate maintainability of the system

18 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Maintenance Phase The economic life of a system is determined by the operation, support and security phase of the SDLC – we have Operational costs Maintenance activities Maintenance expenses

19 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Cost of operating an information system Operational costs (green) are relatively constant Maintenance costs (purple) vary over time

20 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Maintenance Types Corrective – to fix errors Adaptive – adds new facilities and enhancements Perfective – improves efficiency Preventative – reduces the possibility of system failure

21 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8

22 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Information systems maintenance depends upon type and age of the system

23 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Managing System Support Requires a maintenance team including: Systems Administrator Systems Analyst Programmer Analyst Applications programmer Systems programmer Database programmer Applications programmer

24 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 SAGE attempt to advance the status of system administration and develop professional guidelines

25 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Managing System Support Maintenance requests involve a number of steps…. Firstly a maintenance request, then the initial determination, the review committee, the actual maintenance, formal review and finally notification of user.

26 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Although the procedure varies from company to company, the chart shows a typical process for handling maintenance requests Shelly et al p. 518 Start User sends maintenance request to system administrator Req. justifiable? Req. immediate attention? Rejected? Req. under prescribed cost limit? System administrator assigns maintenance tasks and monitors the work System administrator advises systems review committee and affected users of the status and outcome Systems review committee assesses request and assigns priority or rejects End Yes No Yes

27 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Managing System Performance System performance affects users who rely on it to do their jobs To support business operations the IT Department monitors performance of the system They use a technique called Benchmark testing

28 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Benchmark Testing Benchmarking is a set of standard tests on one system to compare its capacity and performance with other systems One example of this is given by Benchmark Factory (on line)

29 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Benchmark Factory software provides a variety of tests

30 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 System Maintenance Tools Many CASE tools include system evaluation and maintenance features We can also use Spreadsheets to calculate trends and perform a ‘what if analysis’ Presentation software can be used to display the results in the form of graphs and illustrations

31 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Security is a vital part of any computer system System Security

32 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Back-up and Disaster Recovery It would be foolish not to back up data and take steps to recover from a disaster resulting from loss of data Suggested activity: Find out about tools and techniques of Disaster recovery

33 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 System Obsolescence EXAMPLE Forty years ago, punch cards represented the state-of-the-art in data management As technology evolved, punch cards quickly became obsolete To maintain a competitive edge, companies must use the newest, most efficient IT available, and obsolescence should never come as a surprise

34 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 Example of Punch Card

35 BTEC HNC Systems Support Castle College 2007/8 In Conclusion The future will bring continuous change Change itself is neither good, nor bad The issues are how people and organisations deal with the changes These changes can also be opportunities