1. © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke
Chapter 10
Systems Development
© 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

2. This Could Happen to You
Dee wanted to develop a blog for communication
Focused goal
Short time frame
Was successful because system was simple
Single contributor
No user training
RFID at DSI more sophisticated
Vendors would need to place RFID chips
Computer program would be needed to process data

3. Study Questions What is systems development?
Why is systems development difficult and risky?
What are the five phases of the systems development life cycle?
How is systems definition accomplished?
What is the user’s role in the requirements phase?
How are the five components designed?
How is an information system implemented?
What are the tasks for systems maintenance?
What are the problems with SDLC?
How does the knowledge from this chapter help DSI?

4. Systems Development Systems analysis and design
Process of creating and maintaining information systems
Development involves all five components
Requires more than programming or technical expertise
Human relation skills
Business knowledge
Understanding of group dynamics
Information systems are never off-the-shelf
Must be adapted to fit needs of business and people

5. MIS in Use: Thinking Big about Systems Development
Large scale corporate information systems are more complex
Need to ensure all employees are working toward same goals
Must develop system that will function consistently in different languages
May need to store information on worldwide use of product and the relevant laws
Most information systems are process-design oriented
Must be carefully planned and executed

6. Major Development Challenges
Difficulty of determining requirements
Requirements change as system develops
Scheduling and budgeting difficult to estimate
Change as scope changes
Technology changes
Diseconomies of scale
Brook’s Law

7. Systems Development Processes
Methodologies:
Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
Rapid application development (RAD)
Object-oriented systems development (OOD)
Extreme programming (XP)
No single process works in all situations
Different requirements
Some systems wholly automated, others not
Use augmentation system to fill gaps

8. SDLC Classical process with five phases: Systems definition
Management’s statement defines new system
Requirements analysis
Identify features and functions
Component design
Based on approved user requirements
Implementation
Implement, test, and install new system
System maintenance
Repair, add new features, maintain

9. Phases in SDLC
Figure 10-2

10. Systems Definition Define goals and purpose for new system
Must facilitate organization’s competitive strategy
Supports business processes
Improves decision making
Determine project’s scope
May be delineated by users, processes, or facilities
Assess feasibility of project
Cost
Schedule
Technical
Organizational feasibility

11. Systems Definition, continued
If deemed feasible, project team created from IT personnel and users
Managers
Systems analysts
Programmers and software testers
Users

12. Ethics Guide: Estimation Ethics
Buy-ins
Companies agree to produce products for less than it knows will be required
“Time and materials” contracts
Fixed-cost contracts
In-house projects are often started with buy-ins
Projects started with hopes of more money later
Team members may disagree about costs
Not all costs may have been included in estimate
Also may have buy-in on schedule

13. Requirements Analysis Phase
Determine and document features and functions
Interview users
Document requirements
Examine existing system
Review reports, forms, queries, application features
Security and controls
Approve requirements
Less expensive to change system in this phase

14. Designing Components Develop and evaluate alternatives
Accurate requirements critical
Hardware design determined by project team
Software design depends on source
Off-the-shelf
Off-the-shelf with alterations
Custom-developed programs
Data model converted to database design
Procedures designed for BI system
Job descriptions created for users and operations personnel

15. Information System Implementation
System must be built
Components constructed independently
Document and review
System testing
Individual components tested
System integrated and tested
Users must be converted to new system

16. Systems Testing Test plan Product quality assurance (PQA) Beta testing
Sequences of actions that users take when employing system
Both normal and incorrect actions should be considered
Labor intensive
Product quality assurance (PQA)
Testing specialists
Beta testing
Future system users try out system on their own

17. System Conversion Converting business activity from old system to new
Pilot
Organization implements entire system on single, limited unit
If systems fails, it only affects limited boundary
Reduces exposure
Phased
New system installed in phases
Tested after each phase
Continues until installed at entire organization
Can’t be used in tightly integrated systems

18. System Conversion, continued
Parallel
New system runs in parallel with old system during testing
Expensive and time consuming
Data must be entered twice
Provides easy fallback position
Plunge
Direct installation
Install new system and discontinue old
There is no backup position

19. Systems Maintenance Fixing or adapting system
Need method to track system failures and enhancements
Corrections usually prioritized based on severity
Enhancements usually prioritized based on business decision
Must generate reasonable rate of return
Decision to restart systems development process

20. Problems With SDLC SDLC waterfall
Phases are not supposed to be repeated
Often teams have need to repeat requirements and/or design phases
Difficulty in documenting requirements
Analysis paralysis or uncertain requirements
Scheduling and budget difficulties
Multiyear projects difficult to properly schedule
Estimations on labor often produce insufficient budgets

21. Guide: The Real Estimation Process
Estimating is just theory
Project managers sum up estimates and take to management
Management then negotiates the schedule and budget
Every change will negatively impact the project
Start with optimistic schedules and end up with late projects

22. How Does the Knowledge from This Chapter Help You at DSI?
You can now give a summary of the phases of SDLC
Describe tasks more specifically
Create a realistic schedule

23. Active Review What is systems development?
Why is systems development difficult and risky?
What are the five phases of the systems development life cycle?
How is systems definition accomplished?
What is the user’s role in the requirements phase?
How are the five components designed?
How is an information system implemented?
What are the tasks for systems maintenance?
What are the problems with SDLC?
How does the knowledge from this chapter help DSI?