1. SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT Phases, Tools, and Techniques
Chapter 6
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
Phases, Tools, and Techniques

2. Opening Case: Cameras Use Film?

3. Opening Case: Cameras Use Film?
Kodak 35mm film sales dropped from $7 billion in 2004 to an estimated $1.9 billion in 2010
Many retailers no longer process 35mm film
Web sites like SnapFish, Photo Bucket, and Flickr are now the norm

4. INTRODUCTION
Information systems are the support structure for meeting the company’s strategies and goals
New systems are created --
because employees request it
to obtain a competitive advantage
Billions of dollars spent yearly on acquisition, design, development, implementation, and maintenance of IT systems
Companies depend on information more than ever

5. THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
Defining Success
On time
On budget
Meets requirements
Deliverable
Milestone

6. SDLC Phases & Major Activities

7. SDLC as a Waterfall Methodology

8. Phase 1: Planning Planning phase Three primary planning activities:
create a solid plan for developing your information system
Three primary planning activities:
Define the system to be developed
You can’t build every system, so you make choices based on your organization’s priorities, which may be expressed as critical success factors
Critical success factor (CSF) - a factor critical to your organization’s success

9. Phase 1: Planning Set the project scope
Project scope - clearly defines the high-level system requirements
Scope creep - occurs when the scope of the project increases
Feature creep - occurs when developers add extra features that were not part of the initial requirements
Project scope document – written document of the project scope

10. Phase 1: Planning
Develop the project plan including tasks, resources, and timeframes
Project plan
Project manager
Project milestones

11. Phase 1: Planning
Sample Project Plan

12. Phase 2: Analysis Analysis phase Two primary analysis activities:
involves end users and IT specialists working together to gather, understand, and document the business requirements for the proposed system
Two primary analysis activities:
Gather the business requirements
Business requirements - the detailed set of knowledge worker requests that the system must meet in order to be successful
Joint application development (JAD) - knowledge workers and IT specialists meet, sometimes for several days, to define or review the business requirements for the system

13. Phase 2: Analysis Prioritize the requirements
Requirements definition document -prioritizes the business requirements and places them in a formal comprehensive document
Users sign off on this document which clearly sets the scope for the project

14. Phase 2: Analysis
Take time during analysis to get the business requirements correct. If you find errors, fix them immediately. The cost to fix an error in the early stages of the SDLC is relatively small. In later stages, the cost is huge.

15. Phase 3: Design Design phase Two primary design activities:
build a technical blueprint of how the proposed system will work
Two primary design activities:
Design the technical architecture
the hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment required to run the system
Design system models
GUI screens that users will interface with, database designs (see XLM/C), report formats, software steps, etc

16. Phase 3: Design
Starting with design, you take on less of an active participation role and act more as a “quality control” function, ensuring that the IT people are designing a system to meet your needs

17. Phase 4: Development Development phase
take all of your detailed design documents from the design phase and transform them into an actual system
Two primary development activities:
Build the technical architecture
Build the database and programs
Both of these activities are mostly performed by IT specialists

18. Phase 5: Testing Testing phase
verifies that the system works and meets all of the business requirements defined in the analysis phase
Two primary testing activities:
Write the test conditions
Test conditions - the detailed steps the system must perform along with the expected results of each step
Perform the testing of the system
Unit testing – tests individual units of code
System testing – verifies that the units of code function correctly when integrated
Integration testing – verifies that separate systems work together
User acceptance testing (UAT) – determines if the system satisfies the business requirements

19. Phase 6: Implementation
Implementation phase
distribute the system to all of the knowledge workers and they begin using the system to perform their everyday jobs
Two primary implementation activities
Write detailed user documentation
User documentation - highlights how to use the system
Provide training for the system users
Online training - runs over the Internet or off a CD-ROM
Workshop training - is held in a classroom environment and lead by an instructor

20. Phase 6: Implementation
Choose the right implementation method
Parallel implementation
Plunge implementation
Pilot implementation
Phased implementation

21. Phase 7: Maintenance Maintenance phase
monitor and support the new system to ensure it continues to meet the business goals
Two primary maintenance activities:
Build a help desk to support the system users
Help desk - a group of people who responds to knowledge workers’ questions
Provide an environment to support system changes

22. Sourcing the Project Three choices for building a system include:
Insourcing
Selfsourcing
Outsourcing

23. Selfsourcing
Selfsourcing (also called knowledge worker development or end user development)

24. Selfsourcing Advantages Improves requirements determination
Increases knowledge worker participation and sense of ownership
Increases speed of systems development
Potential pitfalls and risks
Inadequate knowledge worker expertise leads to inadequately developed systems
Lack of organizational focus creates “privatized” IT systems
Insufficient analysis of design alternatives leads to subpar IT systems
Lack of documentation and external support leads to short-lived systems

25. OUTSOURCING
Developing strategic partnerships
Outsourcing

26. Developing Strategic Partnerships
IT outsourcing takes on 1 of 4 forms:
Purchasing existing software
Purchasing existing software and pay the publisher to make certain modifications
Purchasing existing software and pay the publisher for the right to make modifications yourself
Outsourcing the development of an entirely new and unique system for which no software exists

27. Outsourcing Options There are three different forms of outsourcing:
Onshore outsourcing - the process of engaging another company within the same country for services
Nearshore outsourcing - contracting an outsourcing arrangement with a company in a nearby country
Offshore outsourcing - contracting with a company that is geographically far away

28. Outsourcing Advantages Focus on unique core competencies
Exploit the intellect of another organization
Better predict future costs
Acquire leading-edge technology
Reduce costs
Improve performance accountability
Disadvantages
Reduces technical know-how for future innovation
Reduces degree of control
Increases vulnerability of strategic information
Increases dependency on other organizations

29. PROTOTYPING Prototyping Prototype Proof-of-concept prototype
Selling prototype

30. Prototyping Advantages Disadvantages
Encourages active knowledge worker participation 
Helps resolve discrepancies among knowledge workers 
Gives users a feel for the final system 
Helps determine technical feasibility
Helps sell the idea of a proposed system 
Disadvantages
Leads people to believe the final system will follow shortly
Gives no indication of performance under operational conditions
Leads the project team to forgo proper testing and documentation