1. 12 - 1 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Developing Business/IT Solutions Chapter 12

2. 12 - 2 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Why Study IS Development? When the systems approach to problem solving is applied to the development of information systems solutions to business problems, e-business systems and applications can be developed that meet the business needs of a company and its employees and stakeholders.

3. 12 - 3 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. What is the Systems Approach? A problem solving technique that uses a systems orientation to define problems and opportunities and develop solutions. Analyzing a problem and formulating a solution involves the following interrelated activities: Recognize and define a problem or opportunity using systems thinking Develop and evaluate alternative system solutions Select the system solution that best meets your requirements Design the selected system solution Implement and evaluate the success of the designed system

4. 12 - 4 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. What is Systems Thinking? Seeing the forest and the trees in any situation by: Seeing interrelationships among systems rather than linear cause-and-effect chains whenever events occur Seeing processes of change among systems rather than discrete snapshots of change, whenever changes occur

5. 12 - 5 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Thinking Example

6. 12 - 6 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

7. 12 - 7 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Prototyping Definition: The rapid development and testing of working models, or prototypes, of new applications in an interactive, iterative process that can be used by both IS specialists and business professionals

8. 12 - 8 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Prototyping Process

9. 12 - 9 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Investigation Stage Do we have business opportunities? What are our business priorities? How can information technologies provide information systems solutions that address our business priorities?

10. 12 - 10 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Feasibility Study Definition: A preliminary study where the information needs of prospective users and the resource requirements, costs, benefits, and feasibility of a proposed project are determined

11. 12 - 11 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Feasibility Categories Organizational – how well a proposed system supports the strategic business priorities of the organization Economic – whether expected cost savings, increased revenue, increased profits, reductions in required investment, and other types of benefits will exceed the costs of developing and operating a proposed system

12. 12 - 12 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Feasibility Categories Technical – determine if reliable hardware and software capable of meeting the needs of a proposed system can be acquired or developed by the business in the required time Operational – willingness and ability of the management, employees, customers, suppliers, and others to operate, use, and support a proposed system

13. 12 - 13 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Feasibility

14. 12 - 14 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cost/Benefit Analysis Tangible – costs or benefits that can be quantified Intangible – costs or benefits that can not be quantified

15. 12 - 15 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Analysis Definition: An in-depth study of end user information needs that produces functional requirements that are used as the basis for the design of a new information system

16. 12 - 16 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Analysis

17. 12 - 17 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. What does Systems Analysis Study? The information needs of a company and end users. The activities, resources, and products of one or more of the present information systems being used. The information system capabilities required to meet information needs of users, and those of other business stakeholders that may use the system.

18. 12 - 18 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Organizational Analysis Study of the organization including: Management Structure People Business Activities Environmental Systems Current Information Systems

19. 12 - 19 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Functional Requirements Definition: End user information requirements that are not tied to the hardware, software, network, data, and people resources that end users presently use or might use in the new system

20. 12 - 20 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Functional Requirement Categories User Interface Processing Storage Control

21. 12 - 21 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Design Definition: Design activities that produce system specifications satisfying the functional requirements that were developed in the systems analysis process

22. 12 - 22 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Design

23. 12 - 23 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. System Design Categories

24. 12 - 24 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. User Interface Design Definition: Focuses on supporting the interactions between end users and their computer- based applications

25. 12 - 25 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Checklist for Corporate Websites Remember the customer – successful websites are built solely for the customer, not to make company vice presidents happy Aesthetics – successful designs combine fast- loading graphics and simple color palettes for pages that are easy to read Broadband Content – the Web’s coolest stuff can’t be accessed by most Web surfers; don’t make it the focus of a site

26. 12 - 26 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Checklist for Corporate Websites Easy to navigate – make sure it’s easy to get from one part of site to another Searchability – include a useful search engine Incompatibilities – test site with target web browsers

27. 12 - 27 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Checklist for Corporate Websites Registration forms – short registration forms are a useful way to gather customer data Dead links – be sure to keep links updated

28. 12 - 28 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. System Specifications Definition: Hardware, software, network, data, and personnel specifications for a proposed system that formalize the design of an application’s user interface methods and products, database structures, and processing and control procedures

29. 12 - 29 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. End User Development Definition: IS professional plays a consulting role, while end user does his/her own application development

30. 12 - 30 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. End User Development

31. 12 - 31 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Encouraging End User Web Development Look for tools that make sense Spur creativity Set some limits Give managers responsibility Make users comfortable

32. 12 - 32 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Implementation Hardware and software acquisition Software development Testing of programs and procedures Conversion of data resources Conversion alternatives Education and training of end users and specialists who will operate a new system

33. 12 - 33 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Project Management Definition: IT and business unit managers enforce a project plan which includes job responsibilities, time lines for major stages of development, and financial budgets

34. 12 - 34 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Implementation Process

35. 12 - 35 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Hardware Evaluation Factors Performance Cost Reliability Compatibility Technology Ergonomics Connectivity Scalability Software Support

36. 12 - 36 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Software Evaluation Factors Quality Efficiency Flexibility Security Connectivity Maintenance Documentation Hardware

37. 12 - 37 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. IS Services Developing a company website Installation Conversion Employee training Hardware maintenance System design Contract programming Consulting services System integration

38. 12 - 38 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. IS Services Evaluation Factors Performance Systems development Maintenance Conversion Training Backup Accessibility Business Position Hardware Software

39. 12 - 39 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. System Testing Testing and debugging software Testing website performance Testing new hardware Review of prototypes of displays, reports and other output

40. 12 - 40 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Data Conversion Converting data elements affected by new application Correcting incorrect data Filtering out unwanted data Consolidating data from several databases Organizing data into new data subsets

41. 12 - 41 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Importance of Data Conversion Improperly organized and formatted data is frequently reported to be one of the major causes of failures in implementing new systems.

42. 12 - 42 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Importance of Documentation Documentation serves as a method of communication among the people responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining a computer-based system. Documentation is extremely important in diagnosing errors and making changes, especially if the end users or systems analysts who developed a system are no longer with the organization.

43. 12 - 43 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Training Data entry All aspects of the proper use of a new system Educate managers and end users in how the new technology impacts the company’s business operations and management

44. 12 - 44 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Conversion Methods Parallel – both old and new systems are operating until the project development team and end user management agree to switch completely to the new system Plunge – no overlap of old and new system

45. 12 - 45 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Conversion Methods Phased – only parts of a new application or only a few departments at time are converted Pilot – One department serves as a test site

46. 12 - 46 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Conversion Methods

47. 12 - 47 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Maintenance Definition: Monitoring, evaluating, and modifying of operational business systems to make desirable or necessary improvements

48. 12 - 48 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systems Maintenance

49. 12 - 49 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Learning Curve Definition: Personnel who operate and use the system will make mistakes simply because they are not familiar with it; though such errors usually diminish as experience is gained with a new system

50. 12 - 50 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Postimplementation Review Definition: Periodic review or audit of a system to ensure that it is operating properly and meeting its objectives

51. 12 - 51 Copyright © 2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. End of Chapter Chapter 12