1. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION
Chapter 15
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION

2. Learning Objectives
Understand the basic concepts of systems development
Discuss the major steps in developing a decision support system (DSS) and management support system (MSS) application
Describe the major MSS applications and list their major functionalities
List the major MSS application development options, along with their benefits and limitations

3. Learning Objectives
Describe the four phases of the system development life cycle: planning, analysis, development, and implementation (PADI)
Understand prototyping and throwaway prototyping and why MSS are typically developed using these methods
Discuss various MSS application outsourcing options, including the use of an application service provider (ASP) and utility computing

4. Learning Objectives
Describe some major MSS software packages and MSS application suites
Describe various methods for connecting an MSS application to back-end systems and databases
Discuss the value and technical foundation of Web services in integrated applications
Understand the service-oriented architecture (SOA) and its relationship to MSS

5. Learning Objectives
Describe the criteria used in selecting an outsourcing vendor and package
Describe the factors that lead to MSS success or failure
Discuss the importance of project management and the skills a good project manager needs to have
Understand the learning process that occurs during MSS development

6. What Types of Support Systems Should You Build?
Introduction to MSS development
Types of Support Systems
Infrastructure
Data warehouses and business intelligence systems
Knowledge management systems
Enterprise information systems
Portals
The gateways to Web sites; they can be public (like Yahoo!), or private (corporate portals)

7. What Types of Support Systems Should You Build?
Introduction to MSS development
Types of Support Systems
Specific applications
Tools and tool kits
Platforms

8. The Landscape and Framework of MSS Application Development

9. The Landscape and Framework of MSS Application Development
Step 1: Planning, identifying, and justifying MSS
Step 2: Creating an MSS architecture
MSS architecture
A plan for organizing the underlying infrastructure and applications of the MSS project

10. The Landscape and Framework of MSS Application Development
Step 3: Selecting a development option
Build the system in house
Have a vendor build a custom-made system
Buy an existing application and install it, with or without modifications, by yourself or through a vendor
Lease standard software from an ASP, utility computing, or set up a software-as-a-service arrangement
Enter into a partnership or an alliance that will enable the company to use someone else's application
Use a combination of these approaches

11. The Landscape and Framework of MSS Application Development
Step 4: Installing, testing, connecting, and deploying MSS applications
Step 5: Operations, maintenance, and updating

12. The Landscape and Framework of MSS Application Development
Managing the development process
The development process can be fairly complex and must be managed properly
For medium to large applications, a project team is usually created to manage the process and the vendors
Project management software

13. Development Options for MSS Applications
In-house development: Insourcing
Development options for in-house development
Building from scratch
Building from components
Integrating applications

14. Development Options for MSS Applications
Methods used in in-house development
System development life cycle (SDLC)  
A systematic process for the effective construction of large information systems

15. Development Options for MSS Applications

16. Development Options for MSS Applications
Rapid application development (RAD)  
A development methodology that adjusts a system development life-cycle so that parts of the system can be developed quickly, thereby enabling users to obtain some functionality as soon as possible. It includes methods of phased development, prototyping, and throwaway prototyping

17. Development Options for MSS Applications
Prototyping
In system development, a strategy in which a scaled-down system or portion of a system is constructed in a short time, tested, and improved in several iterations

18. Development Options for MSS Applications
Buying applications
Leasing applications
Lease from an outsourcer and then install it on the company’s premises
Lease from an ASP that hosts the application at its data center

19. Development Options for MSS Applications
Methods used in in-house development
Software-as-a-service (SaaS)
Software that is rented instead of sold
Factors driving the switch to software-as-a-service:
Reducing the risks involved in acquiring new software
Influencing product and service quality via an ongoing relationship with vendors
Changing usage commitments as business circumstances change
Preparing financially justifiable business cases
More accurately predicting ongoing expenses

20. Development Options for MSS Applications
Outsourcing development options
Outsourcing
Application Service Providers (ASP)
A software vendor that offers leased software applications to organizations
Utility (on-demand) computing
Unlimited computing power and storage capacity that, like electricity, water, and telephone services, can be obtained on demand, used, and reallocated for any application, and billed on a pay-per-use basis

21. Utility Computing Value Utility Computing Value
Figure 15.3 Tools and Value-Added Services of Utility Computing
Utility Computing Value
Utility Computing Value
Multi-sourcing delivery & financing services
Customer access & management services
Multi-sourcing delivery & financing services
Customer access & management services
Service-level-management tools
Resource-management tools
Virtualized infrastructures

22. Development Options for MSS Applications
Utility computing value proposition consists of three layers of tools and two types of value-added services
Tools
Policy-based service-level-management tools
Policy-based resource-management tools
Virtualization tools
Value-added services
Multisourcing delivery and framework services
Customer access and management services

23. Development Options for MSS Applications
A hybrid approach to MSS development
Hybrid models work best when the outsourced partner offers:
A high level of security
Fast time to market
Service-level agreements

24. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
Advantages of prototyping
Short development time
Short user reaction time (i.e., feedback from user)
Improved user understanding of the system, its information needs, and its capabilities
Low cost

25. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
Limitations of prototyping
Gains obtained from cautiously stepping through each of the system’s lifecycle stages might be lost including:
A thorough understanding of the information system’s benefits and costs
A detailed description of the business’s information needs
An easy-to-maintain information system design
A well-tested information system
Well-prepared users

26. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
The prototyping development process
Users and managers, as well as an executive sponsor, must be involved
The analysis, design, and prototype implementation phases are iteratively performed until a small prototype is sufficiently developed
The final implementation takes place
Simultaneously, further iterations occur as other subsystems or capabilities are added to the deployed system until a fairly stable, comprehensive system evolves

27. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology

28. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology

29. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
Collaboration in prototyping
The interaction of user, developer, and technology is extremely important in the prototyping process
Evaluation in prototyping
Iterative design
A systematic process for system development that is used in MSS. To produce a first version of MSS, then revise it and produce the second design version, and so on is called an iterative design

30. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
Implementing prototyping
Target small, tactical applications that show quick results
Use software components
Make application deployment iterative and open to customization
Use commodity hardware
Use object technology, including tools such as Java
Break major projects into manageable, deliverable chunks
Use packaged applications whenever justifiable
Consider IT service providers as well as utility and grid computing
Use Web services, if possible

31. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
Successes factors in prototyping
Users and managers should be involved in every phase and iteration
Learning should be explicitly integrated into the design process
Prototyping should essentially bypass the formal information requirement definition in the SDLC
A key criterion associated with prototyping is the short interval between iterations
The initial prototype must be low cost

32. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
Prototyping failures
No prelaunch objectives or metrics
Too many major projects were conducted simultaneously
The CEO set budgets and deadlines before the project team was involved
The budget and deadlines were not realistic
There was no insider presence on the data warehouse project team
An overburdened project manager was involved
The availability of source data was unconfirmed at the outset
No user demand for sophisticated data analysis was considered
No routine meetings of executive sponsors and the project manager took place
Business managers were not initially involved

33. Prototyping: A Practical MSS Development Methodology
Lessons learned from prototyping failure:
Executive sponsorship and partnership of the IT staff and end users are the most critical success factors for developing a data warehouse
Unclear understanding of the business objectives and how they will be measured
An incremental pilot project should occur to determine whether it is possible to obtain the projected benefits
An organization should expect to make a major investment in ongoing management of the data warehouse
When all else fails, an organization should cut its losses and run

34. Criteria For Selecting an MSS Development Approach
Selection criteria for buy or lease decision:
Flexibility
Information requirements
User friendliness
Hardware and software resources
Installation
Maintenance services
Vendor quality and track record
Estimating costs
Personnel
Technological evolution
Scalability
Sizing
Performance
Reliability
Security

35. Third-party Providers of MSS Software Packages and Suites
Specialized and functional software packages
MSS suite
An integrated collection of a large number of MSS tools that work together for applications development

36. Third-party Providers of MSS Software Packages and Suites

37. Third-party Providers of MSS Software Packages and Suites
Representative MSS suites
MicroStrategy 8
Hyperion System 9 BI+
BusinessObjects XI
Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004
Oracle’s MSS Products
IBM’s WebSphere Commerce Suite

38. Connecting to Databases and Other Enterprise Systems
Connecting to databases: Four tier architecture
Web browser
Web server
Application server
Database server

39. Connecting to Databases and Other Enterprise Systems

40. Connecting to Databases and Other Enterprise Systems
Integrating MSS applications and back-end systems
Many commercial MSS suites have built-in integration capabilities
If a company wants to build its own database interface:
Web scripting languages
Specialized application servers

41. Connecting to Databases and Other Enterprise Systems
Middleware
Software that links application modules from different computer languages and platforms

42. The Rise of Web Services, XML, and Service-Oriented Architecture
The need for integration
Platform-specific objects
Dynamic environment
Security barriers
Address these problems with
Web Services
An architecture enabling assembly of distributed application from software services and tying them together

43. User-Developed MSS End-user computing
Developing one’s own information system
User-developed MSS  
An MSS developed by one user or by a few users in one department including decision makers and professionals (knowledge workers, like financial or tax analysts and engineers) who build or use computers to solve problems or enhance their productivity

44. User-Developed MSS User-Developed MSS: Advantages
Delivery time is short
The prerequisites of extensive and formal user requirements specifications are eliminated
Some MSS implementation problems are reduced
The cost is usually very low

45. User-Developed MSS User-Developed MSS: Risks
User-developed MSS can be of poor quality.
Three categories of potential quality risks:
Substandard or inappropriate tools and facilities used in MSS development
Risks associated with the development process
Data management risks
Security risks
Lack of documentation and maintenance procedures

46. User-Developed MSS Steps to get users involved in MSS development:
Get management buy-in
Understand the users’ business
Consider the users’ priorities
Assign good communicators
Talk with users all along the business process
Don’t meet at users' offices
Turn off mobile phones
Focus on users’ problems, not on technology
Listen well
Use prototypes

47. User-Developed MSS Reducing the risks of end-user computing
Factors that contribute to spreadsheet errors include:
Developer inexperience
Poor design approaches
Application types
Problem complexity
Time pressure
Presence or absence of review procedures
Team-Developed MSS

48. MSS Vendor and Software Selection
MSS development tool selection
MSS tools
Software elements (e.g., languages) that facilitate the development of a MSS or a MSS generator
Hardware selection
Software selection

49. MSS Vendor and Software Selection
Selecting vendors and MSS software packages
On time
On budget
Full functionality

50. MSS Vendor and Software Selection
Six steps in selecting a software vendor and a package:
Identify potential vendors.
Determine the evaluation criteria.
Evaluate vendors and packages.
Choose a vendor and package.
Negotiate a contract.
Establish a service-level agreement

51. Putting Together an MSS
MSS implementation issues
Managers are more readily accepting MSS tools, techniques, and methods
AI tools and methods are being embedded in MSS and in enterprise applications
Web technologies continue to enable new developments in MSS/BI
GSS continue to proliferate through collaborative computing
Computer technology continues its fast-paced evolution
Capabilities are increasing and costs are decreasing
ERM/ERP systems, although extremely expensive, are proliferating