Systems Development: Design, Implementation, Maintenance, and Review - Principles of Information Systems - page 561

this section. To provide adequate support, many companies use a formal help desk . A help
desk consists of people with technical expertise, computer systems, manuals, and other re-
sources needed to solve problems and give accurate answers to questions. With today's
advances in telecommunications, help desks can be located around the world. If you are
having trouble with your PC and call a toll-free number for assistance, you might reach a
help desk in India, China, or another country. For most organizations, operations costs over
the life of a system are much greater than the development costs.
Systems maintenance involves checking, changing, and enhancing the system to make
it more useful in achieving user and organizational goals. Systems maintenance is impor-
tant for individuals, groups, and organizations. Individuals, for example, can use the
Internet, computer vendors, and independent maintenance companies, including
YourTechOnline.com ( www.yourtechonline.com ), Geek Squad ( www.geeksquad.com ), PC
Pinpoint ( www.pcpinpoint.com ), and others. Organizations often have personnel dedicated
to maintenance.
This maintenance process can be especially difficult for older software. A legacy system is
an old system that might have been patched or modified repeatedly over time. An old payroll
program in COBOL developed decades ago and frequently changed is an example of a legacy
system. Legacy systems can be very expensive to maintain. At some point, it becomes less
expensive to switch to new programs and applications than to repair and maintain the legacy
system. Maintenance costs for older legacy systems can be 50 percent of total operating costs
in some cases. Aspen Skiing Company, for example, decided to replace one of its legacy
systems for a newer one. 64 According to the CIO, “We've been using a legacy application
developed in-house. It's a very effective application from the standpoint of customer service.
But it's extremely difficult to sustain it. So we had to go out and actually buy a new system
to do what we do.”
Software maintenance is a major concern for organizations. In some cases, organizations
encounter major problems that require recycling the entire systems development process.
In other situations, minor modifications are sufficient to remedy problems. Hardware main-
tenance is also important. Companies such as IBM are investigating autonomic computing ,
in which computers will be able to manage and maintain themselves. 65 The goal is for com-
puters to be self-configuring, self-protecting, self-healing, and self-optimizing. Being self-
configuring allows a computer to handle new hardware, software, or other changes to its
operating environment. Being self-protecting means a computer can identify potential at-
tacks, prevent them when possible, and recover from attacks if they occur. Attacks can include
viruses, worms, identity theft, and industrial espionage. Being self-healing means a computer
can fix problems when they occur, and being self-optimizing allows a computer to run faster
and get more done in less time.
Getting rid of old equipment is an important part of maintenance. The options include
selling it on Web auction sites such as eBay, recycling the equipment at a computer-recycling
center, and donating it to a charitable organization, such as a school, library, or religious
organization. When discarding old computer systems, it is always a good idea to permanently
remove sensitive files and programs. Companies such as McAfee and Blancco have software
to help people remove data and programs from old computers and transfer them to new ones.
As mentioned in the section on environmental design, companies are finding ways to dispose
of old equipment in a way that minimizes environmental damage.

systems maintenance
A stage of systems development
that involves checking, changing,
and enhancing the system to make
it more useful in achieving user and
organizational goals.

Reasons for Maintenance
After a program is written, it will need ongoing maintenance. A Texas restaurant, for example,
decided to make maintenance changes to its security system after its customers' credit card
numbers were stolen. 66 Experience shows that frequent, minor maintenance to a program,
if properly done, can prevent major system failures later. Some of the reasons for program
maintenance are the following:
•

Changes in business processes

• New requests from stakeholders, users, and managers

•

Bugs or errors in the program