Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
SUMMARY
Principle
Effective systems development requires a team effort
from stakeholders, users, managers, systems devel-
opment specialists, and various support personnel,
and it starts with careful planning.
resource requirements; setting schedules, milestones, and
deadlines; and developing the IS planning document. IS plan-
ning can result in a competitive advantage through creative
and critical analysis.
Establishing objectives for systems development is a key
aspect of any successful development project. Critical suc-
cess factors (CSFs) can identify important objectives. Systems
development objectives can include performance goals (qual-
ity and usefulness of the output and the speed at which output
is generated) and cost objectives (development costs, fixed
costs, and ongoing investment costs).
The systems development team consists of stakeholders,
users, managers, systems development specialists, and var-
ious support personnel. The development team determines
the objectives of the information system and delivers to the
organization a system that meets its objectives.
Stakeholders are people who, either themselves or
through the area of the organization they represent, ulti-
mately benefit from the systems development project. Users
are people who will interact with the system regularly. They
can be employees, managers, customers, or suppliers. Man-
agers on development teams are typically representative of
stakeholders or can be stakeholders themselves. In addition,
managers are most capable of initiating and maintaining
change. For large-scale systems development projects,
where the investment in and value of a system can be quite
high, it is common to have senior-level managers be part of
the development team.
A systems analyst is a professional who specializes in
analyzing and designing business systems. The programmer
is responsible for modifying or developing programs to satisfy
user requirements. Other support personnel on the develop-
ment team include technical specialists, either IS department
employees or outside consultants. Depending on the magni-
tude of the systems development project and the number
of IS development specialists on the team, the team might
also include one or more IS managers. At some point in
your career, you will likely be a participant in systems devel-
opment. You could be involved in a systems development
team—as a user, as a manager of a business area or project
team, as a member of the IS department, or maybe even
as a CIO.
Systems development projects are initiated for many rea-
sons, including the need to solve problems with an existing
system, to exploit opportunities to gain competitive advan-
tage, to increase competition, to make use of effective infor-
mation, to spur organizational growth, to settle a merger or
corporate acquisition, and to address a change in the market
or external environment. External pressures, such as poten-
tial lawsuits or terrorist attacks, can also prompt an organi-
zation to initiate systems development.
Information systems planning refers to the translation of
strategic and organizational goals into systems development
initiatives. Benefits of IS planning include a long-range view
of information technology use and better use of IS resources.
Planning requires developing overall IS objectives; identifying
IS projects; setting priorities and selecting projects; analyzing
Principle
Systems development often uses tools to select,
implement, and monitor projects, including net
present value (NPV), prototyping, rapid application
development, CASE tools, and object-oriented
development.
The five phases of the traditional SDLC are investigation,
analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance and
review. Systems investigation identifies potential problems
and opportunities and considers them in light of organiza-
tional goals. Systems analysis seeks a general understanding
of the solution required to solve the problem; the existing
system is studied in detail and weaknesses are identified.
Systems design creates new or modifies existing system
requirements. Systems implementation encompasses pro-
gramming, testing, training, conversion, and operation of the
system. Systems maintenance and review entails monitoring
the system and performing enhancements or repairs.
Advantages of the traditional SDLC include the following:
It provides for maximum management control, creates con-
siderable system documentation, ensures that system
requirements can be traced back to stated business needs,
and produces many intermediate products for review. Its dis-
advantages include the following: Users may get a system that
meets the needs as understood by the developers, the docu-
mentation is expensive and difficult to maintain, users' needs
go unstated or might not be met, and users cannot easily
review the many intermediate products produced.
Prototyping is an iterative approach that involves defining
the problem, building the initial version, having users work
with and evaluate the initial version, providing feedback, and
incorporating suggestions into the second version. Proto-
types can be fully operational or nonoperational, depending
on how critical the system under development is and how
much time and money the organization has to spend on
prototyping.
Rapid application development (RAD) uses tools and tech-
niques designed to speed application development. Its use
 
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