Chapter 4 : Identifying and Selecting Systems Development Projects

Objectives:

      Describe the project identification and selection process.

Describe corporate strategic planning and information systems planning process.

Explain the relationship between corporate strategic planning and IS planning.

Describe how IS planning can be used to assist in identifying and selecting systems development projects.

Analyze IS planning matrices to determine affinity between IS and IS projects and to forecast the impact of IS Projects on business objectives.

Describe three classes of Internet E-Commerce applications:Internet, intranets, and extranets.

Project Identification & Selection Tasks

 Identifying potential development projects • Identification from a stakeholder group  Classifying and ranking potential IS projects • Using value chain analysis or other evaluation criteria  Selecting projects • Based on various factors

Possible Evaluation Criteria When Classifying and Ranking Projects

      Value Chain Analysis Strategic Alignment Potential Benefits Resource Availability Project Size/Duration Technical Difficulty/Risks

Factors for Project Selection

Planning Based Approaches to Project Identification and Selection

 Projects have often resulted from attempts to solve isolated organizational problems  Planning-based approaches generally ask, “What information or (data) requirements will satisfy the needs of the business today and in the future?”

Corporate Strategic Planning

   A prerequisite for making effective project selection decisions is to understand where an organization is, wants to be and how to get there Ongoing process that defines mission, objectives, and strategies of an organization Corporate strategy involves: • Mission statement • • Objective statements Description of competitive strategy

Competitive Strategy

   The method by which the organization will attempt to satisfy its mission and objectives Three generic strategies, basis of competition, and also allows you to compare two companies in the same industry: • Low-cost producer • • Product differentiation Product focus or niche Organizations with different competitive strategies often have different informational needs

Information Systems Planning (ISP)

  Second planning process that can play a role in the quality of the project identification and selection process An orderly means of assessing the information needs of an organization and defining systems, databases, and technologies that will best meet those needs

Information Systems Planning (ISP)

 ISP must be done in accordance with the organization's mission, objectives, and competitive strategy: • Look at info systems in terms of how they help the business achieve its objectives • Model current/future organizational needs

Strategic and IS Planning Relationships

Approaches to IS Planning

1. Describe the current situation:   Top-down planning • Attempts to gain a broad understanding of information system needs of the entire organization Bottom-up planning • Identifies IS development projects based on solving specific operational business problems or taking advantage of specific opportunities • Faster, less costly, but may fail to view the informational needs of the entire organization

Benefits of Top-Down Planning

    Broader perspective Improved integration Improved management support Better understanding But, bottom-up planning can be faster and less costly, so may be beneficial in certain circumstances

Approaches to IS Planning

2: Describe target situations, trends and constraints. • Matrices of to-be situation can be created, considering trends and constraints • Focus on differences between current and future lists and matrices to identify project and transition strategies 3: Develop a transition strategy and plans

IS Plan Components

Electronic Commerce Applications

 The Internet • A large worldwide network of networks that use a common protocol to communicate with each other  Electronic Commerce • Internet-based communications to support day-to-day business activities

Three Modes of E-Commerce

  

Internet-based

• Supports business activities between a business and individual consumers

Intranet-based

• Supports business activities within a single organization

Extranet-based

• Supports business-to-business activities • A form of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – use of telecommunications for direct transfer of business documents between organizations

Issues in Internet Application Development