Ethics.ppt1 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 Today: Course Summary John Krogstie, IDI

2 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 Summary of the entire course Three major, interrelated parts: IS strategy IS Dev methods Available technology P & S book Last part last exercise H book UML Dist Exercises Lecture notes H book (ch 1-3) Notes about ERP Lecture notes Exercise 1 P&S book

3 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 IS Strategy – what should have been learnt? The importance of IS stategy Challenges of modern organizations  Competition, increased effeciency Organizations must HAVE a strategy, and Ensure that IS projects are in line with the strategy Understanding basic strategy frameworks The IS strategy triangle Eras of information usage 5 competitive forces, value chain (Porter)

4 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 IS Strategy (cont.) How IT and the use of information has evolved And how it is affecting the organization, e.g.  Flatter org. structures, network org., T-form org.  New org.types, e.g., virtual corporations, strategic alliances, co-opetition  Effect on management How IT changes the nature of work New types of jobs, new patterns of collaboration Evaluation, compensation, rewarding, hiring Telecommuting: advantages and disadvantages Gaining acceptance for IT-induced change

5 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 IS Strategy, cont. IT and changing business processes Silo vs process perspective TQM vs BPR Enterprise systems and application packages vs process change Funding of IT Funding of IT Department Valuing of IT Investments Monitoring of IT Performance Knowledge management Why manage knowledge? Knowledge as competitive advantage  And forces driving this development Knowledge taxonomies Knowledge management processes Types of KM projects (and difference from IT projects)

6 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 IS Strategy and the exam Should be able to Explain basic concepts and frameworks Write discussion essays  Similar to discussion questions after each chapter  Based on (shorter) case descriptions  Ability to relate concrete case to textbook concepts, trends, principles, frameworks Write critical assessments of suggested answers to such questions

7 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 Available technology – what should be learnt? Understanding different types of information systems and applications often found Traditional IS applications  Types and purpose  Problems / challenges with these Novel types of applications / packages  ERP, EAI, corporate portals  Data warehouses  Workflow, collaboration support software  B2B and B2C integration More detailed insight: only ERP E.g., functionality, architecture, configuration

8 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 Available technology and the exam Should be able to Explain / distinguish between different types of applications Given a problem (case description), discuss what type(s) of application might fit For ERP,  Explain the purpose of ERP  Explain the basic functionality and architecture of package solutions (e.g., SAP R/3)  Explain how development method and requirements analysis will be different for ERP vs traditional custom- development projects  Discuss pros and cons of ERP, typical pitfalls and issues to consider when buying or adapting  Given a case description, discuss whether ERP is a good solution or not

9 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 IS development methods – what should be learnt? Modelling: Languages:  Data Flow Diagrams  + connection to ER diagrams  Process descriptions (e.g., decision tables)  UML activity diagrams Understand  Concepts and notation  When to use the languages, how to use them Ability to make models Ability to review models  Various review techniques  Syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic quality

10 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 IS dev., cont. Requirements elicitation & specification Various elicitation techniques  Interview, workshop: how to do them  Others: what they are Which are good in which situations? Different levels of requirements:  Goal level, domain level, product level, design level  Task & Support tables vs use cases  Which levels are appropriate for what project types? Non-functional requirements  Importance and challenges of NF reqs  Taxonomies (different types of NF reqs)  Security requirements  Interoperability requirements

11 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 IS development and the exam, possible Q’s Make models / requirements From natural language case description Translate from one representation to another Evaluate a model or some textual requirements Wrt syntactic / semantic / pragmatic quality And guidelines for the particular format Given a NL case description Suggest use of reqs elicitation techniques Given a project context Or evaluate a given suggestion Or evaluate an interview / workshop performance given transcript of a dialogue

12 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 What can this knowledge be used for? Future work The course covers basics for IS consultants But need to learn more  On the job, or from future courses Future courses More about IS development methodology  TDT4250 Modelling of IS  TDT4290 Customer-driven project  TDT4235 Software quality and process improvement More about available technology  TDT4245 Collaboration technology  TDT4215 Document management and text mining  TDT4210 Healthcare informatics More about strategy  Ind-econ. courses?

13 TDT Information Systems, Spring 2006 The exam itself 4 hours written, Friday 2 June No multiple choice questions Allowed to bring Simple calculator (but no real need) The Hawryszkiewycz book Not allowed to bring Any other books or papers Precise reading list can be found on the course web page Do you want a ”questions” meeting? (and when?)