Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Quality and Standards
Quality and standards are other key success factors for systems development. Increasingly,
corporations are expanding their standards to include many different computer platforms.
While many companies try to standardize their operations on one operating system, others
have multiple systems and platforms to take advantage of the strengths of each. 56 In these
cases, many IS managers seek one tool to manage everything. According to a Clear Channel
IS executive, “I don't care what enterprise you walk into, they're not going to be single-
platform. I want to manage it all from one spot.” Today, many companies, including
Microsoft, are developing software and systems that can be used to manage different operating
systems and software products. In addition, organizations that do business around the globe
may be required to meet certain international standards, such as ISO 9000, a set of interna-
tional quality standards originally developed in Europe in 1987.
ISO 9000 is a set of international
quality standards used by IS and
other organizations to ensure the
quality of products and services.
(Source: www.iso.org.)
The bigger the project, the more likely that poor planning will lead to significant prob-
lems. Many companies find that large systems projects fall behind schedule, go over budget,
and do not meet expectations. Although proper planning cannot guarantee that these types
of problems will be avoided, it can minimize the likelihood of their occurrence. Good systems
development is not automatic. Certain factors contribute to the failure of systems develop-
ment projects. These factors and the countermeasures to eliminate or alleviate the problem
are summarized in Table 12.5.
Organizational experience with the systems development process is also an important
factor for systems development success. 57 The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is one
way to measure this experience. It is based on research done at Carnegie Mellon University
and work by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). CMM is a measure of the maturity
of the software development process in an organization. CMM grades an organization's
systems development maturity using five levels: initial, repeatable, defined, managed, and
optimized. 58
 
 
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