Chapter 5 systems analysis design

Web-Based System Costs

Platform Costs o o Web-hosting service o Web server o Server software o Software plug-ins o Firewall server o Router o Internet connection Content and Service o Creative design and development o Ongoing design fees o Web project manager o Technical site manager o Content staff o Graphics staff o Support staff o Site enhancement funds o Fees to license outside content o Programming, consulting, and research o Training and travel Marketing o Direct mail o Launch and ongoing public relations o Print advertisement o Paid links to other websites o Promotions o Marketing staff o Advertising sales staff

Elements of a base line project plan:

1. Introduction 2. System Description 3. Feasibility Assessment 4. Management Issues

Intangible benefit:

: A benefit derived from the creation of an information system that cannot be easily measured in dollars or with certainty

Baseline Project Plan (BPP):

A major outcome and deliverable from the project initiation and planning phase that contains the best estimate of a project's scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements.

Walkthrough

A peer group review of any product created during the systems development process; also called a structured walkthrough.

Technical feasibility

A process of assessing the development organization's ability to construct a proposed system.

Economic feasibility

A process of identifying the financial benefits and costs associated with a development project.

(CTS):

Customer Tracking System

Better cost estimating:

Have clear guidelines for creating estimates. 2. Use experienced developers and/or project managers for making estimates. 3. Develop a culture where all project participants are responsible for defining accurate estimates. 4. Use historical data to help in establishing better estimates of costs, risks, schedules, and resources. 5. Update estimates as the project progresses. 6. Monitor progress and record discrepancies to improve future estimates

Tangible benefit

A benefit derived from the creation of an information system that can be measured in dollars and with certainty.

Tangible cost:

A cost associated with an information system that can be measured in dollars and with certainty.

Intangible cost:

A cost associated with an information system that cannot be easily measured in terms of dollars or with certainty.

One-time cost

A cost associated with project start-up and development or system start-up.

Present value formula:

PVn=Y×1/(1+i)n

Intangible Benefits from the Development of an Information System:

• Competitive necessity • More timely information • Improved organizational planning • Increased organizational flexibility • Promotion of organizational learning and understanding • Availability of new, better, or more information • Ability to investigate more alternatives • Faster decision making • More confidence in decision quality • Improved processing efficiency • Improved asset utilization • Improved resource control • Increased accuracy in clerical operations • Improved work process that can improve employee morale or customer satisfaction • Positive impacts on society • Improved social responsibility • Better usage of resources ("greener")

Project initiation

• establishing the project initiation team • establishing a relationship with the customer • establishing the project initiation process • establishing management procedures • establishing the project management environment and project workbook • developing the project charter

project identification and selection:

• planning • analysis • design • implementation • maintenance

Business case

The justification for an information system, presented in terms of the tangible and intangible economic benefits and costs and the technical and organizational feasibility of the proposed system.

Political feasibility

The process of evaluating how key stakeholders within the organization view the proposed system.

Discount rate

The rate at which money can be borrowed or invested is referred to as the cost of capital,

Examples of these costs typically include:

• Application software maintenance • Incremental data storage expenses • Incremental communications • New software and hardware leases • Supplies and other expenses (e.g., paper, forms, data center personnel)

Recurring cost:

A cost resulting from the ongoing evolution and use of a system.

(SSR):

System Service Request

Assessing project feasibility

assessing project feasibility is a required activity for all information systems projects and is a potentially large undertaking

Legal and contractual feasibility

The process of assessing potential legal and contractual ramifications due to the construction of a system

Discount rate:

The rate of return used to compute the present value of future cash flows. Present value: The current value of a future cash flow.

Break-even analysis:

A type of cost-benefit analysis to identify at what point (if ever) benefits equal costs.

Time value of money (TVM):

The concept that money available today is worth more than the same amount tomorrow.

Most tangible benefits will fit within the following categories:

• Cost reduction and avoidance • Error reduction • Increased flexibility • Increased speed of activity • Improvement of management planning and control • Opening new markets and increasing sales opportunities

most feasibility factors are represented by the following categories:

• Economic • Technical • Operational • Scheduling • Legal and contractual • Political

Operational feasibility:

The process of assessing the degree to which a proposed system solves business problems or takes advantage of business opportunities.

Schedule feasibility

The process of assessing the degree to which the potential time frame and completion dates for all major activities within a project meet organizational deadlines and constraints for affecting change.

Project Scope Statement (PSS):

is a short document prepared for the customer that describes what the project will deliver and outlines all work required to complete the project.; A document prepared for the customer that describes what the project will deliver and outlines generally at a high level all work required to complete the project.

Roles of a walkthrough meeting

• Coordinator. This person plans the meeting and facilitates a smooth meeting process. This person may be the project leader or a lead analyst responsible for the current life cycle step. • Presenter. This person describes the work product to the group. The presenter is usually an analyst who has done all or some of the work being presented. • User. This person (or group) makes sure that the work product meets the needs of the project's customers. This user would usually be someone not on the project team. • Secretary. This person takes notes and records decisions or recommendations made by the group. This may be a clerk assigned to the project team or it may be one of the analysts on the team. • Standards bearer. The role of this person is to ensure that the work product adheres to organizational technical standards. Many larger organizations have staff groups within the unit responsible for establishing standard procedures, methods, and documentation formats. These standards bearers validate the work so that it can be used by others in the development organization. • Maintenance oracle. This person reviews the work product in terms of future maintenance activities. The goal is to make the system and its documentation easy to maintain.

Elements of project planning:

• Describing the Project Scope, Alternatives, and Feasibility • Dividing the Project into Manageable Tasks • Estimating Resources and Creating a Resource Plan • Developing a Preliminary Schedule • Developing a Communication Plan • Determining Project Standards and Procedures • Identifying and Assessing Risk • Creating a Preliminary Budget • Developing the Project Scope Statement • Setting a Baseline Project Plan

The potential consequences of not assessing and managing risks can include the following::

• Failure to attain expected benefits from the project • Inaccurate project cost estimates • Inaccurate project duration estimates • Failure to achieve adequate system performance levels • Failure to adequately integrate the new system with existing hardware, software, or organizational procedures

four general rules for conducting a technical risk assessment:

• Large projects are riskier than small projects. Project size, of course, relates to the relative project size with which the development group typically works. A "small" project for one development group may be relatively "large" for another. • A system in which the requirements are easily obtained and highly structured will be less risky than one in which requirements are messy, ill structured, ill defined, or subject to the judgment of an individual. For example, the development of a payroll system has requirements that may be easy to obtain due to legal reporting requirements and standard accounting procedures. On the other hand, the development of an executive support system would need to be customized to the particular executive decision style and critical success factors of the organization, thus making its development more risky • The development of a system employing commonly used or standard technology will be less risky than one employing novel or nonstandard technology. A project has a greater likelihood of experiencing unforeseen technical problems when the development group lacks knowledge related to an aspect of the technology environment. A less risky approach is to use standard development tools and hardware environments. It is not uncommon for experienced system developers to talk of the difficulty of using leading-edge (or in their words, bleeding-edge) technology • A project is less risky when the user group is familiar with the systems development process and application area than if the user group is unfamiliar with them. Successful IS projects require active involvement and cooperation between the user and development groups. Users familiar with the application area and the systems development process are more likely to understand the need for their involvement and how this involvement can influence the success of the project

Guidelines for making an effective presentation:

• Presentation planning: o Who is the audience? To design the most effective presentation, you need to consider the audience (e.g., What do they know about your topic? What is their education level?). o What is the message? Your presentation should be designed with a particular objective in mind. o What is the presentation environment? Knowledge of the room size, shape, and lighting is valuable information for designing an optimal presentation. • Presentation Design: o Organize the sequence Organize your presentation so that like elements or topics are found in one place, instead of scattered throughout the material in random fashion. o Keep it simple Make sure that you don't pack too much information onto a slide so that it is difficult to read. Also, work to have as few slides as possible; in other words, only include information that you absolutely need. o Be consistent Make sure that you are consistent in the types of fonts, font sizes, colors, design approach, and backgrounds. o Use variety Use both textual and graphical slides to convey information in the most meaningful format. o Don't rely on the spell checker alone Make sure you carefully review your presentation for typographical and wording errors. o Use bells and whistles sparingly Make sure that you use familiar graphical icons to guide and enhance slides; don't lose sight of your message as you add bells and whistles. Also, take great care when making transitions between slides and elements so that "special effects" don't take away from your message. o Supplemental materials Take care when using supplemental materials so that they don't distract the audience. For example, don't provide handouts until you want the audience to actually read this material. o Have a clear beginning and end: At the beginning, introduce yourself and your teammates (if any), thank your audience for being there, and provide a clear outline of what will be covered during the presentation. At the conclusion, have a concluding slide so that the audience clearly sees that the presentation is over. • Presentation Delivery: o Practice Make sure that you thoroughly test your completed work on yourself and others to be sure it covers your points and presents them in an effective manner within the timeframe required. o Arrive early and cue up your presentation It is good practice, when feasible, to have your presentation ready to go prior to the arrival of the audience. o Learn to use the "special" software keys Using special keys to navigate the presentation will allow you to focus on your message and not on the software. o Have a backup plan Have a backup plan in case technology fails or your presentation is lost when traveling. o Delivery To make an effective presentation, you must become an effective public speaker through practice. o Personal appearance Your appearance and demeanor can go a long way toward enhancing how the audience receives your presentation.

Possible information systems costs

• Procurement: Hardware, software, facilities infrastructure, management and staff, Consulting and services • Start-Up: Initial operating costs, Management and staff, Personnel recruiting

development groups and can be used for more activities than reviewing the BPP, including the following:

• System specifications • Logical and physical designs • Code or program segments • Test procedures and results • Manuals and documentation

determination of scope factors

• Which organizational units (business functions and divisions) might be affected by or use the proposed system or system change? • With which current systems might the proposed system need to interact or be consistent, or which current systems might be changed due to a replacement system? • Who inside and outside the requesting organization (or the organization as a whole) might care about the proposed system? • What range of potential system capabilities will be considered?