MIS 321 Exam

Why is the process of "project identification and selection" important? What problems might arise if this phase was not addressed?

Because its the first phase and this groups of people assess all possible system development projects that an organization could undertake. They deem what would yield significant organization benefits, given available resources, and development activities.

Role of an analyst

Computer system analysts study an organization's current computer systems and procedures, and design solutions to help the organization operate more efficiently and effectively. They bring business and information technology (IT) together by understanding the needs and limitations of both.

Strengths of SDLC

Control, monitor large projects, detailed steps, front, documentation, project overruns, limited, ease of maintenance, development and design standards

Next questions in regards to "economic" feasibility What are examples of tangible benefits? Intangible benefits?

- Tangible Benefit: A benefit derived from the creation of an information system that cannot be easily measured in dollars or with certainty. - Example: improvement of employee morale, or they may have broader societal implications, such as the reduction of waste creation or resource consumption. - Intangible Benefits: Not a benefit, no improvement of employee morale.

What are examples of tangible costs? Intangible costs?

- Tangible costs refer to items that you can easily mea- sure in dollars and with certainty. - tangible costs include items such as hardware costs, labor costs, and operational costs including employee training and building renovations. - intangible costs are items that you cannot easily measure in terms of dollars or with certainty. - Intangible costs can include loss of customer goodwill, employee morale, or operational inefficiency.

What is decomposition?

- The act of going from a single system to four component processes is called (functional) decomposition - An iterative process of breaking the description of a system down into finer and finer detail, which creates a set of charts in which one process on a given chart is explained in greater detail on another chart.

Why do organizations consider the "time value of money" when conducting a cost-benefit analysis for an IS Project?

- The concept that money available today is worth more than the same amount tomorrow. - Furthermore, benefits from systems development will likely occur sometime in the future. Because many projects may be competing for the same in- vestment dollars and may have different useful life expectancies, all costs and ben- efits must be viewed in relation to their present value when comparing investment options.

Balancing

- The conservation of inputs and outputs to a DFD process when that process is decomposed to a lower level. - You must conserve inputs and outputs to a process at the next level of decomposition. In other words, Process 1.0, which appears in a level-0 diagram, must have the same inputs and outputs when decomposed into a level-1 diagram. This conservation of inputs and outputs is called balancing.

Project initiation and planning 1. Learn more about proposed IS project

- What will IS do? - Costs - Benefits - Risks - Resource Requirements

Project initiation and planning 4. If project gets approval, prepare a game plan.

- e.g., schedule, staffing, project management

Data flow diagrams (DFDs) are a common tool in systems development. What is a DFD and why do systems analysts use them?

A data flow diagram is a picture of the movement of data between external entities and the processes and data stores within a system. It is the traditional process modeling technique of structured analysis and design and most frequently used with system analysts. Used to study and document a system's process. Shows the scope of the system, what elements are inside and out the system. These diagrams are developed with sufficient detail to understand the current system and to determine how to convert the current system into its replacements.

Please provide an example of a "consistency" error associated with a DFD(s).

A gross violation of consistency would be a level-1 diagram with no level-0 diagram. Another example of inconsistency would be a data flow that appears on a higher-level DFD but not on lower levels (also a violation of balancing). Yet another example of inconsistency is a data flow attached to one object on a lower-level diagram but also attached to another object at a higher level; for example, a data flow named Payment, which serves as input to Process 1 on a level-0 DFD, appears as input to Process 2.1 on a level-1 diagram for Process 2.

What types of activities are associated with "project initiation"?

focuses on activities designed to assist in organizing a team to conduct project planning. During initiation, one or more analysts are assigned to work with a customer—that is, a member of the business group that requested or will be affected by the project—to establish work standards and communication procedures. Examples of the types of activities performed are shown in Table 5-1. Depending upon the size, scope, and complexity of the project, some project initiation activities may be unnecessary or may be very involved. Also, many organizations have established procedures for assisting with common initiation activities. One key activity of project initiation is the development of the project charter

Identifying and Selecting IS Development 2. Classifying and ranking IS development projects

- Can we fund project - What does the IS project do - Perform a screening assessment (value chain analysis)

Project initiation and planning 2. Fasibility assessment

- Economic - Technical - Operational fit - Scheduling - Political

Identifying and Selecting IS Development 3. Selecting IS development projects

- Potential projects are reviewed - Only projects that have most help make the first cut - Selected projects move on to project initiating and planning phase. BPP (Baseline Project Plan) Done in Step 3. It is plan reflects best estimate of project's scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements given the current understanding of the project.

Characteristics of an analyst: Communication skills

Analysts work as a go-between with management and the IT department and must explain complex issues in a way that both will understand.

Characteristics of an analyst: Creativity

Analysts are tasked with finding innovating solutions to computer programs, an ability to "think outside the box" is important.

Characteristics of an analyst: Analytical skills

Analysts must interpret complex info from various sources and decide the best way to move forward on a project. They also must figure out how changes may affect the project.

Value chain analysis

Extent to which activities add value and costs when developing products and/or services

Project initiation and planning 3. Present findings to decision makers

Follow BPP -- plan that reflects best estimate of project's scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements given the current understanding of the project.

Please provide an example of a "completeness" error associated with a DFD.

If your DFD contains data flows that do not lead anywhere or data stores, processes, or external entities that are not connected to anything else, your DFD is not complete.

Why is it important to structure/document the findings of the analysis phase? What types of information needs to be structured?

In the last chapter, you learned of various methods that systems analysts use to collect the information necessary to determine information systems requirements. In this chapter, our focus will be on one tool that is used to coherently represent the information gathered as part of requirements determination—data flow diagrams.

Weaknesses of SDLC

Increased development time, increased development cost, system must be defined up, rigidity, hard to estimate costs, user input is sometimes

How might DFDs be used to identify inefficiencies in a system? Please illustrate with an example.

Inefficiencies can also be identified by studying DFDs, and there are a wide variety of inefficiencies that might exist. Some inefficiencies relate to violations of DFD drawing rules. For example, a violation of rule R from Table 7-3 could occur because obsolete data are captured but never used within a system. Other inefficiencies are due to excessive processing steps. For example, consider the correct DFD in item M of Figure 7-1. Although this flow is mechanically correct, such a loop may indicate potential delays in processing data or unnecessary approval operations.

Can CASE tools help to identify problems associated with completeness? Be prepared to provide an example.

Most CASE tools have built-in facilities that you can run to help you determine if your DFD is incomplete. When you draw many DFDs for a system, it is not uncommon to make errors. CASE tool analysis functions or walk-throughs with other analysts can help you identify such problems.

Is a source/sink considered to be inside or outside the boundary of a system represented by a DFD?

Outside the boundary of system. A source/sink is the origin and/or destination of data and is an external entity to the system.

Identifying and Selecting IS Development 1. Identifying potential development projects

Performed by key members of organization - a key member of top management - CEO of a small or medium sizes company - senior executive in a larger organization - Steering committee composed of cross section managers with an interest in systems - User department where the head of the requesting unit or committee from the requesting department decides which projects to submit (OFTEN DONE BY SYSTEM ANALYST, will help users prepare such requests, Development group or a senior IS manager.)

System Development Life Cycle Phases

Planning -> Analysis -> Design -> Implementation -> Maintenance

With regard to systems development, what has typically been accomplished prior to the analysis phase? (Hint: Which stages precede the analysis stage?)

Planning stage is before this.

What are the four symbols used to generate DFDs?

Process, data store, source/sink, data flow.

Examine the "DFD Rules" shown in Table 7-2 and Figure 7-6. Be able to explain why each of the rules makes sense.

Process: A. No process can have only outputs. It would be making data from nothing (a miracle). If an object has only outputs, then it must be a source. B. No process can have only inputs (a black hole). If an object has only inputs, then it must be a sink. C. A process has a verb phrase label. Data Store: D. Data cannot move directly from one data store to another data store. Data must be moved by a process. E. Data cannot move directly from an outside source to a data store. Data must be moved by a process that receives data from the source and places the data into the data store. F. Data cannot move directly to an outside sink from a data store. Data must be moved by a process. G. A data store has a noun phrase label. Source/Sink: H. Data cannot move directly from a source to a sink. It must be moved by a process if the data are of any concern to our system. Otherwise, the data ow is not shown on the DFD. I. A source/sink has a noun phrase label. Data Flow: J. A data ow has only one direction of ow between symbols. It may ow in both directions between a process and a data store to show a read before an update. The latter is usually indicated, however, by two separate arrows because these happen at different times. K. A fork in a data ow means that exactly the same data goes from a common location to two or more different processes, data stores, or sources/sinks (this usually indicates different copies of the same data going to different locations). L. A join in a data ow means that exactly the same data come from any of two or more different processes, data stores, or sources/sinks to a common location. M. A data ow cannot go directly back to the same process it leaves. There must be at least one other process that handles the data ow, produces some other data ow, and returns the original data ow to the beginning process. N. A data ow to a data store means update (delete or change). O. A data ow from a data store means retrieve or use. P. A data ow has a noun phrase label. More than one data ow noun phrase can appear on a single arrow as long as all of the ows on the same arrow move together as one package.

Is the process of "project initiation and planning" conducted for projects that have already gotten final approval for funding or is this process conducted to determine whether a project should be approved for funding? Please explain.

The "project initiation and planning" is conducted for projects is used to determine whether a project should be approved for funding, not after it's gotten final approval. This is done before the analysis stage. The BPP must be developed before it is reviewed and accepted and move to the next phase.

Does one person always perform all the steps of the SDLC or is it possible that the work may be split across a number of the role players in systems development? Who might be the key role players and what role would each play?

System Analyst does it but collaborates, designs it, person they talk to is the client.

What activities are associated with "project planning"?

The Baseline Project Plan and the Project Scope Statement. The PSS produced by the team clearly outlines the objectives and constraints of the project for the customer. As with the project initiation process, the size, scope, and complexity of a project will dictate the comprehensiveness of the project planning process and resulting documents.

How is a context diagram different from a level-0 diagram? What is the value of a context diagram?

The context diagram is the internal system that connects to different data sources which are the external entities.

Maintenance

The final phase of the SDLC, in which an information system is systematically repaired and improved.

Planning

The first phase of the SDLC in which an organization's total information system needs are identified, analyzed, prioritized, and arranged.

Why is the process of "project identification and selection" considered to be a "pre project" step of the life cycle (see p. 123 of text)?

The first, project identification and selection, focuses on the activities during which the need for a new or enhanced system is recognized. This activity does not deal with a specific project but rather identifies the portfolio of projects to be undertaken by the organization. Thus, project identification and selection is often thought of as a "pre-project" step in the life cycle.

Implementation

The fourth phase of the SDLC, in which the information system is coded, tested, installed, and supported in the organization.

What is the purpose of the analysis phase? What types of activities are done during the analysis phase?

The purpose of analysis is to determine what information and information processing services are needed to support selected objectives and functions of the organization. Gathering this information is called requirements determination, the subject of Chapter 6. The fact-finding techniques in Chapter 6 are used to learn about the cur- rent system, the organization that the replacement system will support, and user requirements or expectations for the replacement system. During this phase, the analyst thoroughly studies the organization's current procedures and the information systems used to perform organizational tasks. Analysis has two sub-phases. The first is requirements determination. In this sub-phase, analysts work with users to determine what the users want from a proposed system. The requirements determination process usually involves a careful study of any current systems, manual and computerized, that might be replaced or enhanced as part of the project. In the second part of analysis, analysts study the requirements and structure them according to their interrelationships and eliminate any redundancies. The output of the analysis phase is a description of (but not a detailed design for) the alternative solution recommended by the analysis team. Once the recommendation is accepted by those with funding authority, the analysts can begin to make plans to acquire any hardware and system software necessary to build or operate the system as proposed.

Analysis

The second phase of the SDLC in which system requirements are studied and structured.

Design

The third phase of the SDLC in which the description of the recommended solution is converted into logical and then physical system specifications.

System Development Life Cycle

The traditional methodology used to develop, maintain, and replace information systems. It is common for system development in many organizations where it features several phases that mark the progress of the system analysis and design effort.

What types of criteria might an organization use when selecting potential IS projects? Please illustrate with an example.

Value chain analysis. analyzing an organization's activities to determine where value is added to products and/or services and the costs incurred for doing so; usually also includes a comparison with the activities, added value, and costs of other organizations for the purpose of making improvements in the organization's operations and performance.

The textbook mentions on p. 203 that a DFD does not do a good job with respect to representing timing. What does this mean? Please explain with an example.

You may have noticed in some of the DFD examples we have presented that DFDs do not do a very good job of representing time. On a given DFD, there is no indication of whether a data flow occurs constantly in real time, once per week, or once per year. There is also no indication of when a system would run. For example, many large, transaction-based systems may run several large, computing-intensive jobs in batch mode at night, when demands on the computer system are lighter. A DFD has no way of indicating such overnight batch processing. When you draw DFDs, then, draw them as if the system you are modeling has never started and will never stop.