Ch 8 - Systems Development 

Participants in systems development:

1. Development team:

• Determines objectives of the information system
• Delivers system that meets objectives

1. Project:

• Planned collection of activities that archives a goal

1. Stakeholders:

• People who benefit from a project

1. Users:

• People who interact regularly with the system

1. system analyst:

• Professional who specialises in analysing and designing business systems

1. programmer:

• Responsible for modifying or developing programs to satisfy user requirements

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Individual systems developer: person who performs all of the systems development roles

Individual users: acquire applications for both personal and professional use

End-user systems development: describes any systems development project in which business managers and assume the primary effort

Information systems planning and aligning corporate and IS goals:

• Information systems planning: translating strategic and organisational goals info systems development initiatives
• Aligning goals and IS goals: critical for successful systems development effort

%%System Development Life Cycles%%:

1. Traditional systems development life cycle:

• Systems investigation: identifies problems and identities and considers them in a light of business goals
• Systems analysis: studies existing systems and work processes to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement
• Systems design: defines how the information system will do what it must to obtain the problem’s solution
• Systems implementation: creates or acquires various system components details in systems design, assembles them, and places new or modified system info operation
• Systems maintenance and review: ensures the system operates as intended
• Modifies the system so it continues to meet changing business needs

Outsourcing and on-demand computing: Reasons for using outsourcing and on-demand computing approaches

• Reduce costs
• Obtain state-of-the-art technology
• Eliminate staffing and personnel problems
• Increases technological flexibility

Degree of Change: Continuous improvement projects vs. reengineering

• Continuous improvement projects have a high degree of success
• Reengineering projects have a high risk high benefit

Managing change: essential to recognise and deal with existing or potential problems

Project Management Tools:

• Project schedule: detailed description of what is to be done
• Project milestone: critical date for completion of a major part of the project
• Project deadline: date the entire project is set to be completed and operational

Critical path: activities that, if delayed, would delay the entire project

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Feasibility analysis: Assesses:

• Technical feasibility
• Economic feasibility
• Legal feasibility
• Operational feasibility
• Schedule feasibility
• Object-oriented approach is used through all phases of system development

Investigation process: Initiated by a systems request form

Systems analysis: The examination of existing systems

• The systems investigation report summarises results of systems investigation

Data modelling: accomplished through the use of entity-relationship (ER) diagram

Activity modelling:

• Accomplished through the use of data-flow diagrams
• DFDs: describe the activities that fulfils a business relationship or accomplish a business task

Requirements analysis: determines user, stakeholder, and organisational needs

System Design:

• Logical design: describes functional requirements of a system
• Physical design: specifies the characteristics of the system components necessary to put the logical design into action
• Purpose of systems design: To prepare the detailed design needs for a new system or modifications to an existing system
• Environmental design: Involves systems development efforts that slash power consumption and take less physical space
• Request for proposal (RFP): document that specifies required resources such as hardware and software in detail
• Purpose of systems implementation: To install a system and make everything, including users, ready for its operation
• IS vendor: Company that offers hardware, software, telecommunications systems, databases, IS personnel, or other computer-related resources
• Software: Can be purchased from external vendors or developed in house
• Systems operation: The use of a new or modified system \n \n \n