1. Information systems development Systems Development Life Cycle

2. IS Development – Highlights on SDLC – Systems thinking – SAD – Phases of SDLC

3. IS Development Information systems development When systems approach to problem solving is applied to the development of information systems solutions to business problems it is called information systems development or application development

4. Systems Approaches Systems approaches System approach to problem solving uses – a systems orientation to define problems and opportunities and – then to develop appropriate, feasible solutions in response.

5. Systems approaches Analysing a problem and formulating a solution involves the following interrelated activities – Recognize and define a problem or opportunities using systems thinking – Develop and evaluate alternative solutions – Select the system solution that best meets your requirements – Design the selected system solution – Implement and evaluate the success of the design system

6. Systems thinking It is seeing the forest and the trees – Seeing interrelationship among systems rather than linear cause-and –effect whenever events occur – Seeing processes of change among systems rather than discrete “snapshots” of change, whenever change occur

7. Systems thinking, cont’d simply put, it is visualizing a system in terms of its different components – In addition visualizing a system from Input Process Output Feedback Control environment, etc.

8. Rational for IS Development Basic rationales for information systems development User demand problems in current system, need for enhancements, improved efficiency Technology push new technology as catalysts Strategic pull system to support new business strategies/ products to stay competitive

9. SA&D Systems Analysis and Design (SA&D) The overall process by which information systems are designed and implemented within organization The process includes activities – Identification of business problems – proposed solutions in the form of an information systems – the design and implementation of the proposed solutions to the identified problems

10. System Analyst Systems Analyst A professional with a role of studying the problems and needs of an organization in order to determine how people, methods and information technology can best be combined to bring about improvement in the organization. Needs to have the following skills – Analytical (looking organization from systems perspectives) – Technical (helps to understand the potential as well as limitation of IT) – Managerial (helps in project management) – Interpersonal (helps to interact with such wider group of stakeholders: users, programmers, other systems professionals, etc.)

11. SDLC Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) One method of using systems approach to develop IS solutions It is a multi-steps, iterative process to the development of IS Generally SDLC has the following phases – Investigation – Analysis – Design – Implementation – Maintenance

12. PHASE I System investigation The first step in systems development process – Do we have business priorities? – What are our business priorities? – How can information technologies provide system solutions that address business problems? Considerations of proposals submitted by IT department/interested subsystem

13. PASE I, Cont’d Includes the preliminary feasibility study of the proposed IS – Operational ( how well a proposed system solves the problems) – Economic ( determine the positive economic benefits to the organization) – Technical ( focused on gaining an understanding of the present technical resources of the organization and their applicability to the expected needs of the proposed system) – Schedule (A project will fail if it takes too long to be completed before it is useful) – Legal/political ( Determines whether the proposed system conflicts with legal requirements)

14. PASE I, Cont’d Activities – Determine how to address business opportunities and priorities – Conduct a feasibility study to determine whether a new or improved business system is a feasible solution – Develop a project management plan and obtain management approval Deliverables – Feasibility study/project proposal

15. PASE II Systems Analysis Many of the activities carried out here are the continuation of the feasibility study It is an in-depth study of end user information needs resulted in the functional requirements which are basis for design of the proposed system It involves detailed study of – The information need of the organization and its end users – The activities, resources, and products of one or more of the existing systems being used – The information system capabilities required to meet your information needs, and those of other business stakeholders who may use the system

16. PASE II, Cont’d Activities Organizational analysis – Knowledge of the organization to which we are planning to implement the proposed solution is mandatory – Knowledge about the organization, its management, structure, people, its business activities, the environment within which it operates, etc. Analysis of the present/existing system – How it is using hardware, software, network and people resources to convert data into information/output, transactions, etc.

17. PASE II, Cont’d Functional requirements analysis and determination – Important and difficult steps in systems analysis – Helps to determine specific business information needs What type of information each business activity requires? What its format, volume, and frequency should be? What response time are necessary? – Helps to determine the information processing capabilities for each system activities (input, processing, output, storage and control)

18. PASE II, Cont’d – Upon successful completion of these activities the functional requirements are ready – Functional requirements are end user information requirements that are not tied to the hardware, software, network, data, and people Deliverables – Functional requirements

19. PASE III Design The step immediately comes after analysis is done Here is the logical model of the current system is modified until it represents the blue print of the new system It represents what the new system should do Here issues related with hardware, software, network, data, storage, security, etc. are discussed and determined Consists of design activities that ultimately produce physical system specifications satisfying the functional requirements that were developed in the systems analysis process

20. PASE III, Cont’d It may involve – User interface design Screen, form, report, and dialog design – Data design Data element structure design – Process design Program and procedure design

21. PASE III, Cont’d It might also takes different approaches – JAD (prototyping) Deliverables – System specifications

22. PASE IV Implementation The final step that would help us to put the envisaged system in place Codes are written based on system specifications Programs are tested

23. PASE IV, Cont’d Activities Acquisitions of hardware, software, and services Software development or modification Data conversion End user training Conversion Implementation is where we are about to realize the utilization of the newly developed system and must be carried out cautiously

24. PASE IV, Cont’d In order to acquire hardware, software, and services there must be an established criteria of evaluation Criteria for hardware acquisition Performance (speed, capacity, throughput) Cost (purchase, operation and maintenance) Reliability (risk of malfunctioning and its maintenance; error control and diagnostic nature) Compatibility (existing hardware and software; is it compatible with hardware and software provided by competing firms) Technology (year of production, does it used untested technology, etc.)

25. PASE IV, Cont’d Ergonomics (has it been manufactured with users in mind? Is it user friendly, designed to be safe, comfortable and easy to use?) Connectivity (can it be easily connected to wide area and local area network and bandwidth alternatives) Scalability (can it handle the processing demands of wider categories of users and other information processing requirements?) Software – Is system and application software available that can best use this hardware Support – Are the services required to support and maintain it available?

26. PASE IV, Cont’d Criteria for Software acquisition Quality – Is it bug free, or does it have many errors in its program code? Efficiency – Is the software a well-developed system of program code that does not use much CPU time, memory capacity or disk space? Flexibility – Can it handle our business process easily, without major modifications?

27. PASE IV, Cont’d Security – Does it provide control procedures for errors, malfunctions, and improper use Connectivity – Is it web-enabled or does it require other browsers to connect to the internet Maintenance – Can any problems get fixed by our professionals? Documentation – Is it well documented? Does it include help screens, etc.?

28. PASE IV, Cont’d Criteria for evaluating IS service Performance Systems development – Are websites and other e-business developers available? What are their quality and cost? Maintenance – Is equipment maintenance provided? What are its quality and cost? Conversion – What systems development and installation services will they provide during the conversion period? Training – Is the necessary training of personnel provided? What are its quality and cost?

29. PASE IV, Cont’d Backup – Are similar computer facilities available nearby for emergency backup purpose? Accessibility – Does the vendor provide local or regional sites that offer sales, systems development, and hardware maintenance services? Is a customer support center at the vendor’s website available? Business position – Is the vendor financially strong, with good industry market prospects? Hardware – Do they provide a wide selection of compatible hardware devices and accessories? Software – Do they offer a variety of useful e-business software and application packages?

30. PASE IV, Cont’d Deliverables Operational system

31. PASE IV, Cont’d Other implementation activities System testing Data conversion Documentation Training

32. PASE IV, Cont’d System conversion strategies – Direct conversion (old system turned off and new system is turned on) – Parallel conversion (old and new system run parallel until end users and project coordinators are satisfied that the new system is functioning well) – Pilot conversion ( helps to use either direct or parallel conversion) – Phased/ gradual conversion (attempts to take advantage of direct and parallel conversion)

33. Phase V System Maintenance Upon deploying a new system, the last phase is maintenance It is also one of the ways to capture new requirements for the improvement of the deployed system There are four basic system maintenance

34. PASE V, Cont’d – Corrective maintenance (focuses on fixing bugs and logic errors not detected during the implementation and testing – Adaptive maintenance (deals with those activities associated with modifying existing functions or adding new functionalities to accommodate change in the business environment) – Perfective maintenance (activities involve changes made in the existing system that are intended to improve the performance of a function or interface) – Preventive (those activities intended to reduce the changes of system failure or extend the capacity of a current system’s useful life.

35. PASE V, Cont’d Deliverables Improved system

36. Why project fails? Did not support business strategy & objectives poor planning, project management failure to understand user requirements – user involvement in system development inadequate cost vs. benefit analysis – escalating costs, intangible benefits myriad of design defects/ errors installation of incompatible or inadequate technology no adequate controls implemented unstructured, un-maintainable software