Transcript Slide 1

Chapter 6
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
Phases, Tools, and Techniques
INTRODUCTION
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Information systems are the support structure
for meeting the company’s strategies and goals
New systems are created because employees
request it
New systems are created 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
THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
LIFE CYCLE
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Systems development life cycle
(SDLC)
Defining System Success?
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On time
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On budget
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Meets requirements
Terminology
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Deliverable
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Milestone
SDLC Phases & Major Activities
SDLC as a Waterfall
Methodology
Phase 1: Planning
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Planning phase - create a solid plan for
developing your information system
Three primary planning activities:
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Define the system to be developed
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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 simply
critical to your organization’s success
Phase 1: Planning
2.
Set the project scope
 Project scope - clearly defines the highlevel 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
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Project scope document
Phase 1: Planning
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Develop the project plan including tasks,
resources, and timeframes
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Project plan
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Project manager
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Project milestones
Other Activities?
Phase 1: Planning
Sample Project Plan
Phase 2: Analysis
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Analysis phase - involves end users and
IT specialists working together to gather,
understand, and document the business
requirements for the proposed system
Phase 2: Analysis
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Two primary analysis activities:
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Gather the business requirements
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Business requirements - the detailed set of
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Joint application development (JAD) -
knowledge worker requests that the system must
meet in order to be successful
knowledge workers and IT specialists meet,
sometimes for several days, to define or review the
business requirements for the system
Phase 2: Analysis
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Prioritize the requirements
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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
Other Activities?
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.
Phase 3: Design
Design phase - build a technical
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blueprint of how the proposed system
will work
Two primary design activities:
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Design the technical architecture
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the hardware, software, and telecommunications
equipment required to run the system
Design system models
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GUI screens that users will interface with,
database designs (see XLM/C), report formats,
software steps, etc
Phase 3: Design
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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
Other Activities?
Phase 4: Development
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Development phase - take all of your
detailed design documents from the
design phase and transform them into an
actual system
Two primary development activities:
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Build the technical architecture
Build the database and programs
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Both of these activities are mostly performed by IT
specialists
Other Activities?
Phase 5: Testing
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Testing phase - verifies that the system
works and meets all of the business
requirements defined in the analysis
phase
Two primary testing activities:
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Write the test conditions
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Test conditions - the detailed steps the system
must perform along with the expected results of
each step
Phase 5: Testing
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Perform the testing of the system
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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
Other Activities?
Phase 6: Implementation
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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
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Write detailed user documentation
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User documentation - highlights how to use the
system
Phase 6: Implementation
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Provide training for the system users
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Online training - runs over the Internet or off a
CD-ROM
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Workshop training - is held in a classroom
environment and lead by an instructor
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Other Activities?
Phase 6: Implementation
 Choose
the right implementation method
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Parallel implementation
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Plunge implementation
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Pilot implementation
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Phased implementation
Phase 7: Maintenance
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Maintenance phase - monitor and support
the new system to ensure it continues to meet
the business goals
Two primary maintenance activities:
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Build a help desk to support the system users
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Help desk - a group of people who responds to knowledge
workers’ questions
2.
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Provide an environment to support system changes
Other Activities?
Sourcing the Project
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Three choices for building a system
include:
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insourcing
selfsourcing
outsourcing
SELFSOURCING
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Selfsourcing (also called knowledge
worker development or end user
development)
The Selfsourcing Process
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The advantages of selfsourcing
 Improves requirements determination
 Increases knowledge worker
participation and sense of ownership
 Increases speed of systems
development
The Selfsourcing Process
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Potential pitfalls and risks of selfsourcing
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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
OUTSOURCING
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Developing strategic partnerships
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Outsourcing
Developing Strategic
Partnerships
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IT outsourcing takes on 1 of 4 forms:
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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
Outsourcing Options
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There are three different forms of outsourcing:
1. Onshore outsourcing - the process of
engaging another company within the same
country for services
2. Nearshore outsourcing - contracting an
outsourcing arrangement with a company in a
nearby country
3. Offshore outsourcing - contracting with a
company that is geographically far away
The Advantages of Outsourcing
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Focus on unique core competencies
Exploit the intellect of another
organization
Better predict future costs
Acquire leading-edge technology
Reduce costs
Improve performance accountability
The Disadvantages of
Outsourcing
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Reduces technical know-how for future
innovation
Reduces degree of control
Increases vulnerability of strategic
information
Increases dependency on other
organizations
PROTOTYPING
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Prototyping
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Prototype
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Proof-of-concept prototype
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Selling prototype
The Advantages of Prototyping
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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
The Disadvantages of
Prototyping
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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