1. Chapter 12: Systems Planning and Development
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition
Chapter 12:
Systems Planning and Development

2. Objectives Explain the importance of and steps in IT planning
Describe the systems development life cycle, which is the traditional approach to systems development
Explain the challenges involved in systems development
List the advantages and disadvantages of different system conversion strategies
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

3. Objectives (continued)
Enumerate and explain the principles of agile systems development methods
Be able to contribute a meaningful set of requirements when serving on a project development team for a new or modified IS
Explain the concept of systems integration
Discuss whether IS professionals should be certified
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

4. Planning Information Systems
Enterprise ISs are gaining in popularity
However, they:
Require a substantial investment
Carry a high risk in implementation
Successful integration of the system is vital
Must align IT strategies with the overall organization strategies
Careful planning of an IS implementation is necessary
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

5. Steps in Planning Information Systems
IT planning includes several key steps:
Create a corporate and IT mission statement
Articulate the vision for IT within the organization
Create IT strategic and tactical plans
Create a plan for operations to achieve the mission and vision
Create a budget to ensure that resources are available to achieve the mission and vision
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

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7. Steps in Planning Information Systems (continued)
Mission statement: communicates the most important overarching goal of organization
Includes how the goals will be achieved
IS mission statement: describes the role of IT in the organization
Should be compatible with the organizational mission statement
Includes the ideal combination of hardware, software, and networking to support the mission
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

8. Steps in Planning Information Systems (continued)
CIO develops a strategic plan for implementation of IT in the organization:
What technology will be used by employees, customers, and suppliers
Goals in the plan are broken down into objectives, such as:
Resources to be acquired or developed
Timetables for acquiring and implementing resources
Training
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

9. Steps in Planning Information Systems (continued)
Objectives are broken down to operational details
IT planning is similar to planning of other resource acquisitions
Growing proportion of IT funds is spent on software in recent years
More purchasing and adapting of software
Less developing in-house software
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

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11. The Benefits of Standardization in Planning
One major goal and advantage of planning is standardization
Benefits include:
Cost savings: better bargaining power in purchasing and leasing hardware and software
Efficient training: a smaller variety of software reduces employee training needs
Efficient support: enables more staff specialization
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

12. From Planning to Development
After planning, management must decide how to obtain the systems (usually software)
Approaches to systems development are the same for in-house or purchased systems
Two general approaches:
Systems development life cycle (SDLC), the traditional approach
Nontraditional methods, including agile methods
Prototyping: fast development of an application based on initial user requirements
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

13. The Systems Development Life Cycle
Large ISs are conceived, planned, and developed within the systems development life cycle (SDLC) framework
Also known as waterfall development
Consists of four major sequential phases:
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Support
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15. Analysis Systems analysis: a five-step process Investigation
Technical feasibility study
Economic feasibility study
Operational feasibility study
Requirements definition
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17. Analysis (continued) Investigation
Is a system really necessary?
Is the system, as conceived, feasible?
Small ad hoc team usually performs a preliminary investigation by interviewing employees
Feasibility studies: a larger analysis conducted after preliminary results indicate an IS is warranted
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

18. Analysis (continued) Technical feasibility study:
Determines if components exist or can be developed
Determines if the organization has adequate hardware
Economic feasibility study:
Determines if the new IS is economically justified
Cost/benefit analysis: spreadsheet showing all costs and benefits of the proposed system
Benefits must outweigh the costs over the life of the system
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

19. Analysis (continued)
Return on investment (ROI): most accurate economic analysis
Calculates the difference between the stream of benefits and the stream of costs over the life of the system
May be difficult to justify the cost of a new IS because many benefits are intangible and cannot be quantified in dollar terms
Examples: business intelligence (BI) and knowledge management (KM) systems
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21. Analysis (continued) Operational feasibility study:
Determines how the new system will be used
Organizational culture: general tone of the corporate environment
Must determine the new system’s compatibility with the organizational culture
Requirements definition: details what the system should be able to do
System requirements: detail the functions and features expected from the new system
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

22. Design Design: the second phase in systems development
Systems design: includes three steps for devising the means to meet all the requirements
Description of the components
Construction
Testing
If purchasing a system:
Design phase determines how to adapt the existing software
Construction: actual changes in program code
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24. Design (continued)
Symbols are used to communicate ideas about data, processes, and information
Visual information can be grasped more quickly
Data flow diagram (DFD): describes the flow of data in a business operation using four symbols
External entities: individuals and groups external to the system (customers, employees, etc.)
Processes: an event or events that affect data
Data store: any form of data at rest
Direction of data flow: indicates how data moves
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26. Design (continued) The simplicity of a DFD is its advantage
DFD symbols are suitable for describing any IS, including noncomputer-based ISs
Can help pinpoint weaknesses:
Where processes can be automated
What is shared by different processes
What can be changed to strengthen the IS
A DFD cannot describe a system completely
Does not depict computations within processes or timing relationships among data flows
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28. Design (continued)
Unified modeling language (UML): de facto standard for visualizing, specifying, and documenting software
Helps developers communicate and logically validate desired features
Is independent of programming languages
Provides standard symbols and notations for depicting object-oriented elements
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

29. Design (continued) UML consists of diagrams:
Use case: an activity of the system in response to the user (an actor)
Class: describes class structure and contents
Interaction: describes interactions of objects and the sequence of their activities
State charts: indicate the states through which objects pass and their responses to stimuli
Activity: represents highly active states triggered by completion of other actions
Physical diagrams: high-level descriptions of software modules
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31. Design (continued) Construction System testing
Consists of mostly programming activities
May take months or years
Completed modules are tested via a walk-through of the program logic or a simulation of actual program execution
System testing
Tests the entire integrated system, comparing results to the system requirements
Testing period often is the victim of schedule or budget compression, resulting in poor testing
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

32. Implementation Implementation: delivery of a new system
Consists of two steps:
Conversion
Training
Training may or may not precede conversion
Conversion: switching from the old system to the new system
Can be a very difficult time
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

33. Implementation (continued)
Four basic conversion strategies:
Parallel conversion: the old system is used simultaneously with the new system at first
Phased conversion: breaks the new IS into modules and integrates one at a time
Reduces risk but delays some benefits
Cut-over conversion (or flash cut conversion): immediately replaces all modules
Risky but may be inexpensive
Pilot conversion: introduces the IS into one business unit at a time
Beta site: a site that tests the new system
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35. Support
Support: begins after delivery, and includes two responsibilities
Maintenance: postimplementation debugging, updates, and adding postponed features
User help
Maintenance comprises up to 80% of IS budgets
Support is the longest phase of the system life cycle
Effective maintenance requires good system documentation
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

36. Agile Methods Agile methods: alternative development methods
Treat software development as series of contacts with users
Goal: fast development of software
Improve software after user requests for modifications received
Agile methods use iterative programming
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

37. Agile Methods (continued)
Popular agile methods include:
Extreme programming (XP)
Adaptive software development (ASD)
Lean development (LD)
Rational unified process (RUP)
Feature driven development (FDD)
Dynamic systems development method (DSDM)
Scrum
Crystal
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39. Agile Methods (continued)
Major advantage of agile methods:
Fast development of application software
Agile method risks include:
Analysis phase is limited or eliminated, increasing the risk of incompatibilities
More emphasis on programming, resulting in less documentation, which may make it difficult or impossible to make later modifications
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

40. Agile Methods (continued)
Manifesto for Agile Software Development expresses these priorities:
Individuals and interactions over processes
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Agile methods aim to have light but sufficient development processes
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

41. Agile Methods (continued)
User involvement is encouraged throughout the process
Modules are tested immediately after completion
Communication with users is informal
Extreme programming uses two programmers per module working on the same computer
Fosters constructive criticism and feedback
Domino’s Pizza successfully implemented XP method; DaimlerChrysler did not
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

42. When to Use Agile Methods
Agile methods are best used:
When a desired system is small
Analysis is less important
Requires a smaller investment of resources
For unstructured problems
For developing user interfaces
When users cannot specify all requirements at the start of the project
They may be unfamiliar with the technology
Requirements may be difficult to conceptualize
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

43. When Not to Use Agile Methods
Do not use agile methods when:
The desired system is large or complex
System failure entails great financial loss
The desired system must interface with other systems
SDLC recommended for complex systems
Documentation is key for integration
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45. Project Planning and Management Tools
Several tools exist to help plan and manage a development project, including IS projects
IBM’s Rational Portfolio Manager:
Helps plan investment in a new system and manage the development project and delivery
Primavera’s ProSight:
Helps plan and manage application portfolios, resources, budgets, and compliance with government regulations
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

46. Project Planning and Management Tools (continued)
Primavera’s eProject:
Web-based tool that allows members and customers to define tasks and manage projects
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

47. Systems Integration Systems integration:
Examines the needs of entire organization
Produces a plan to combine disparate systems to allow data to flow between units
Some service companies specialize in systems integration
Integration is more challenging than development
Legacy systems may need to be interfaced with new systems
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49. Systems Integration (continued)
Systems integrators must be skilled in hardware and software
May be difficult to overcome hardware and software incompatibility issues between systems
Systems integration may span several organizations, requiring integration using telecommunications
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

50. Summary
IT planning is important because of high investment costs and high risk in implementing enterprise applications
Standardization is an important part of IT planning
Systems development life cycle (SDLC) has well-defined phases: analysis, design, implementation, and support
Purpose of systems analysis is to determine what needs the system will satisfy
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

51. Summary (continued)
Feasibility studies determine if a proposed system is possible and desirable
System requirements detail the features needed
Developers outline system components graphically using tools like UML
Unified Modeling Language (UML) is used to create model of desired system
Implementation includes training and conversion from the old system to the new system
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition

52. Summary (continued)
Support entails maintenance and satisfying changing needs
Agile methods are a popular alternative to traditional systems development life cycle
Tools help plan and manage development projects
Systems integration may be more complicated than systems development
Great responsibility of IS professionals results in the desirability of certification
Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition