BIS FINAL EXAM
SDLC implementation phase
-build system components -conduct unit test -integrate components -conduct integrated test -convert to new system
IS rights
-computer hardware and programs that allow you to perform your job proficiently -reliable network and internet connections -a secure computing environment -protection from viruses, worms, and other threats -contribute to requirements for new system features and functions -reliable systems development and maintenance -prompt attention to problems, concerns, and complaints -properly prioritized problem fixes and resolutions -effective training
requirements analysts phase
-conduct user interview -evaluate existing systems -determine new web pages/forms/reports/queries -identify new application features and functions -consider security -create the data model -consider all five components
systems definition phase
-define system goals and scope -asses feasibility( cost, organizational, schedule,and technical) -form project team -plan project
IS responsibilities
-learn basic computer skills -learn standard techniques and procedures for the applications you use -follow security and backup procedures -protect your passwords -use computer resources according to your employers computer-use policy -make no unauthorized hardware modifications -install only authorized programs -apply software patches and fixes when directed to do so -when asked, devote the time required to respond carefully and completely to requests for requirements for new system features and functions -avoid reporting trivial problems
what are the responsibilities of the IS department?
1. plan for information systems and IT infrastructure 2. develop and adapt information systems and IT infrastructure 3. maintain information systems and operate and manage infrastructure 4. protect infrastructure and data
operations
2nd group in the IS department manage the computing infrastructure, including individual computers, computer centers, networks, and communications media group includes system and network administrators important function for this group is to monitor user experience and respond to user problems
why do you need to know about the IS department?
3 principle reasons: you might someday be a manager of a business that is too small to hire a full-time IS manager second- you need to understand the responsibilities and duties of the IS department so you can be an effective consumer of the IS departments resources third- you need to know the functions of the IS department to be a better informed and effective business planner or innovator
development
3rd group in the IS department this group manages the process of creating new information systems as well as maintaing existing information systems maintenance means either removing problems or adapting existing information systems to support new features or functions size and structure depend on whether the programs are developed in house this department will be staffed by systems analysts who work with users, operations, and vendors to acquire and install licensced software if its developed in house this department will include programmers, test engineers, technical writers, and other developmental personnel
plan for information systems and IT infrastructure
IS department has the responsibility of aligning all of its activities with the organizations primary goals and objectives the IS department is responsible for assessing that technology and determining if it can be used to advance the organizations goals as business changes the IS department is responsible for adapting infrastructure and systems to the new business goals
Brooks law
adding more people to a late project makes the project later this is true not only because a larger staff requires increased coordination, but also because new people need training the cost of training new people can overwhelm the benefit of their contribution
developing an information system involves
all five components: hardware, software, data, procedures, and people
system analysts
are IT professionals who understand both business and technology closer to IT and a bit more technical, though there is considerable overlap in the duties and responsibilities of business and system analysts
diseconomies of scale
as development teams become larger, the average contribution per worker decreases there are economies of scale up to a point, but beyond a workgroup of about 20 employees diseconomies of scale begins to take over
enhancements
because an enhancement is an adaptation to new requirements, developers usually prioritize enhancement requests separate from failures -the decision to make an enhancement includes a business decision that the enhancement will generate an acceptable rate of return -major enhancements usually result in a new release of a product
business and system analysts
both are active throughout the systems development process and play a key role in moving the project through the systems development process b analysts work more with managers and executives s analysts integrate the work of the programmers, testers, and users depending on the nature of the project the team may also include hardware and communications specialists, database designers and administrators and other IT specialists
failures and enhancements
can apply to other components besides software like hardware or databases or procedures and people the decision to enhance a system is a decision to restart the systems development process
unauthorized data disclosure
can occur by human error when someone inadvertently releases data in violation of policy the popularity and efficacy of search engines has created another source of inadvertent disclosure
organizational feasibility
concerns whether the new system fits within the organizations customs, culture, charter or legal requirements
test plan
consists of sequences of actions that users will take when using the new system include not only the normal actions that users will take but also incorrect actions a comprehensive test plan should cause every line of program code to be executed should cause every error message to be displayed
asses feasibility has four dimension
cost, schedule, technical, and organizational cost and schedule can only be an approximate, back of the envelope analysis
software design
depends on the source of the programs for off-the-shelf software the team must determine candidate products and evaluate them against the requirements for off the shelf with alteration software- the team identifies products to be acquired off the self and then determines the alterations required for custom development programs- the team produces design documentation for writing program code
design of job descriptions
design involves developing job descriptions for both users and operations personnel. sometimes new information systems require new jobs the duties and responsibilities for the new jobs need to be defined in accordance with the organizations human resources policies as with procedures, teams of systems analysts and users determine job descriptions and functions
components design phase SDLC
determine hardware specifications determine software specifications-depends on source design the database design procedures create job definitions
how the phases are related
developers in the first SDLC phase-system definition- use managements statement of the system needs in order to begin to define the new system. the resulting project plan is the input into the second phase- requirement analysis. here, developers identify the particular features and functions of the new system. the output of that phase is a set of approved user requirements, which become the primary input used to design system components. In phase 4, developers implement, test and instal the new system. over time users will find errors mistakes and problems and will also develop new requirements. the description of fixes and new requirements is input into a system maintenance phase
schedule feasibility
difficult to determine because it is difficult to estimate the time it will take to build the system the purpose of these estimates is simply to rule out any obviously unacceptable projects
requirements documentation difficulty
difficult to document requirements in a usable way by the time you enter into the next phase many requirements were incomplete and some were obsolete
major challenges to systems development
difficulty of determining requirements changes in requirements difficulties involving scheduling and budgeting changing technology diseconomies of scale
how are the five components designed
each of the five components is designed in this stage the team designs each component by developing alternatives, evaluating each of those alternatives against the requirements, and then selecting among those alternatives accurate requirements are critical here; if they are incomplete or wrong they will be poor guides for evaluation
scheduling and budgeting difficulties
estimates are so approximate as to become laughable many large projects live in a fantasy world of budgets and timelines rapid application development, object oriented development, and extreme programming are three methodologies that have emerged for developing systems through a series of small and manageable chunks
recording requests for change
for small systems organizations can track failures and enhancements using word-processing documents as systems become larger and as the number of failure and enhancement request increases,
determining requirements
good interviewing skills are crucial; users are notorious for being unable to describe what they want and need users also tend to focus on the tasks they are performing at the time of the interview tasks performed at the end of the quarter or end of the year are forgotten if the interview takes place mid-quarter seasoned and experienced system analysts know how to conduct interview to bring such requirements to light
What IS-realted job positions exist?
highly developed interpersonal communication skills all positions require a 4-year degree all require business knowledge accept programmer and PQA test engineer most positions require good verbal and written communication skills wide salary range
database design
if developers are construction a database, then during this phase they convert the data model to a database design using techniques if developers are using off the shelf programs then little database design needs to be done; the programs will handle their own database processing
requirements
if the new system involves a new database or substantial changes to an existing database, then the development team will create a data model sometimes the requirements determination is so focused on the software and data components that other components are forgotten team should consider requirements for procedures and personnel requirements need to be considered for all of the components of the new information system
define system goals and scope
information systems exist to facilitate an organization's competitive strategy by supporting business processes or by improving devision making- this is when the development team defines the goal and purpose of the new system in terms of these reasons the scope might be defined by specifying the users who will be involved, or the business processes that will be involved, or the plants, offices, and factories that will be involved
plan for information systems and IT infrastructure
information systems exist to further the organizations competitive strategy they exist to facilitate business processes and to help improve decision making all projects involving IS are a part of some other business system or facilitate some business goal
technology office
investigates new information systems technologies and determines how the organization can benefit from them many organizations today are investigating cloud computing, virtualization, SOA, social networking, and user generated content and planning how they can best use those technologies to accomplish their goals and objectives
cost feasibility
involves the assessment of the cost of the project for the project to be cost feasible it will need to reduce the projects scope or find other solutions
single most important criterion for information systems success
is for users to take ownership of their systems
beta testing
is the process of allowing future system users to try out the new system on their own software vendors such as Microsoft often release beta versions of the product for users to try and test beta testing is the last stage of testing products in the beta test phase are usually complete and fully functioning and typically have few serious errors
scheduling and budgeting difficulties
labor costs are a direct function of labor hours, if you cannot estimate labor hours, you cannot estimate labor costs
outsource relations
last group in the IS department exists in organization that have negotiated outsourcing agreements with other companies to provide equipment, applications or other services
what are the tasks for system maintenance
last phase of SDLC maintenance is a misnomer; the work done during this phase is either to fix the system so that it works correctly or to adapt it to changes in requirements first there needs to be a means for tracking both failures and requests for enhancements to meet new requirements
typical personnel on a development team
manager, business analysts, system analysts, programmers, software testers, and users
requirements phase
most important phase in the systems development process if the requirements are wrong the system will be wrong if the requirements are determined completely and correctly, the design and implementation will be easier and more likely to result in success
approve requirements
must review and approve requirements before the project continues the easiest and cheapest time to alter the information system is in the requirements phase changing a requirement at this stage is simply a matter of changing a description changing a requirement in the implementation phase may require weeks of reworking applications components and the database
develop and adapt information systems and IT infrastructure
next task is to create, develop, ad adapt both information systems and IT infrastructure IS department is responsible for creating and adapting IT infrastructure, such as computer networks, servers, data centers, data warehouses, data marts, and other IS resources
3 sources for software
off-the-shelf, off-the-shelf with adaptation and tailor-made
system testing
often developers can reduce the labor cost of testing by writing programs that invoke system features automatically
CTO chief technology officer
often heads the technology group this job requires deep knowledge of innovative technology and the ability to envision how hew IS will affect the organization over time
system testing
once developers have constructed and tested all components they integrate individual components and test the system software and system testing are difficult, time consuming, complex tasks they need to devise a system to assign fixes to people and to verify that fixes are correct and complete
system conversion
once the system has passed integrated testing, the organization installs the new system this term is often used for this activity because it implies the process of converting business activity from the old system to new
the difficulty of determining requirements
one of the main purposes of the systems development process is to create an environment in which such questions are both asked and answered
systems development
or systems analysis and design is the process of creating and maintaing information systems
How is the IS department organized?
organizational structure varies depending on the organizations size, culture, competitive environment, industry, and other factors
database for tracking failures
organizations find it necessary to develop a failure tracking database the database would contain a description of each failure or enhancement also records who reported the problem, who will make the fix or enhancement, what the status of that work is and whether the fix or enhancement has been tested and verified by the originator
organizations can implement a system conversion in one of four ways
pilot phased parallel plunge companies should avoid taking plunge
pretexting
proprietary and personal data that is released maliciously this occurs when some deceives by pretending to be someone else
maintain information systems and operate and manage infrastructure
realize that IT infrastructure is not like the buildings plumbing or wiring IT infrastructure must be operated and monitored from time to time they need to be adjusted or TUNED, to changes in the workload
SDLC system maintenance phase
record requests for change -failures -enhancements prioritize requests fix failures -patches -service packs -new releases
technical feasibility
refers to whether existing information technology is like to be able to meet the needs of the new system
software component
software developers group fixes for high priority failures into a PATCH that can be applied to all copies of a given product software vendors supply patches to fix security and other critical problems
developing a computer program involves
software programs, possibly with some focus on data and databases
plunge installation
sometimes called direct installation the organization shuts off the old system and starts the new system if the new system fails the organization is in trouble nothing can be done until the new system is fixed or the old system is reinstalled the one exception is if the new system is providing a new capability that is not vital to the operation of the organization
business analysts
specialize in understanding business needs, strategies, and goals and helping businesses implement systems to accomplish their competitive strategies
data admistration
staff function the purpose is to protect data and information assets by establishing data standards and data management practices and policies
five phase process for systems development
system definition requirement analysis component design implementation maintenance
changes in requirements
systems development aims at a moving target requirements change as the system is developed, the bigger the system and the longer the project the more requirements needed for change
how is an information system implemented?
tasks in this phase are to build, test, and convert the users to the new system developers construct each of the components independently they obtain install and test hardware they license and install off-the-shelf programs they write adaptations and custom programs they construct a database and fill it with data they document, review, and test procedures and they create training programs organization hires and trains needed personnel
forming a project team
team composition changes over time during requirements definition, the team will be heavy with business and system analysts during design and implementation it will be heavy with programmers, testers and database designers during integrated testing and conversion, the team will be augmented with testers and business users
hardware design
team determines specifications for the hardware they need and the source of that hardware purchase it, lease it, or lease time from hosting service in the cloud
form a project team
team normally consists of both IT personnel and user representatives can be in house or outside contractors
phishing
technique for obtaining unauthorized data that used pretexting via email pretends to be a legitimate company and sends an email requesting confidential data
spoofing
term for someone pretending to be someone else if you pretend to be your professor you are spoofing your professor IP spoofing occurs when an intruder uses another site IP address as if it was another site email spoofing is a synonym for phishing
product quality assurance PQA
testing or pqa is an important career usually construct the test plan with the advice and assistance of users PQA are programmers who write automated test programs
develop and adapt information systems IT infrastructure
the IS department is also charged with creating systems infrastructures, such as email systems, VPNs, company blogs, share point sites and other IS-based infrastructure company needs the IS department will specify standard computer systems and configurations that it will support the IS department is responsible for defining those specifications
what are some problems with the SDLC?
the SDLC waterfall requirements documentation difficulty scheduling and budgeting difficulties
examples of requirements
the contents and the format of web pages and the functions of buttons on those pages, or the structure and content of a report or the fields and menu choices in a data entry form requirements include not only what is to be produced but also how frequently and how fast it is to be produced some requirements specify the volume of data to be stored and processed
phased installation
the new system is installed in phases across the organization once a given piece works then the organization installs and tests another piece of the system, until the entire system has been installed some systems are so tightly integrated that they cannot be installed in phased pieces
parallel installation
the new system runs in parallel with the old one until the new system is tested and fully operational this installation is expensive because the organization incurs the costs of running both systems users most work double time to run both systems some organizations consider the costs of parallel installation to be a form of insurance it is the slowest most expensive style but it does provide an easy fallback position if the new system fails
pilot installation
the organization implements the entire system on a limited portion of the business advantage of this is that if the system fails, the failure is contained within a limited boundary this reduces exposure of the business and also protects the new system from developing a negative reputation throughout the organization
the SDLC waterfall
the process is supposed to operate in a sequence of non repetitive phases unfortunately systems development seldom works smoothly there is often a need to crawl back up the waterfall one some projects the team goes back and forth between requirements and design so many times that the project seems out of control
agile enterprise
the term Microsoft used for its advertising use this term to refer to an organization that can quickly adapt to changes in the market, industry, product, law or other significant external factors microsoft used this term because IT infrastructure and systems are known to be particularly difficult to adapt to change and it claimed its products would change this characteristic
chief information officer CIO
the title of the principle manager of the IS department varies from organization to organization
procedure design
they system developers and the organization must also design procedures for both users and operations personnel
asses feasibility
this step answers the question, " Does the project make sense?" aim is to eliminate obviously non sensible projects before forming a project development team and investing significant labor
protect infrastructure and data
threats to IT infrastructure and data arise from 3 sources: human error and mistakes malicious human activity natural events and disasters IS department helps the organization manage risks and the department needs to identify potential threats, estimate both financial and other risks, specify appropriate safeguards
What are the sources and types of security threats?
three sources of security threats are -human error and mistakes -malicious human activity -natural events and disasters
maintain information systems and operate and manage infrastructure
to understand importance consider what happens when a network fails the business stops
systems development lifecycle SDLC
tradition process used to develop information systems
forming a project team
user involvement is critical throughout the system development process depending on the size and nature of the project, users are assigned to review and oversight committees that meet periodically, especially at the completion of project phases and other milestones important point is for users to have active involvement and to take ownership of the project throughout the entire development process first major task for the assembled project team is to plan the project members of the project team specify tasks to be accomplished, assign personnel, determine task dependencies, and set schedules
system testing
users should be involved in system testing users participate in the development of test plans and test cases can also be a part of the test team users have the final say on whether the system is ready for use take the responsibility serious because it will become much more difficult to fix problems after you have begun to use the system in production
normal processing- procedure design
users- procedures for using the system to accomplish business tasks operational personnel- procedures for starting, stopping, and operating the system
failure recovery- procedure design
users- procedures to continue operations while system fails,, procedures to convert back to the system after recovery operations personnel- procedures to identify the source of failure and get it fixed,, procedures to recover and restart the system
back up- procedure design
users- user procedures for backing up data and other resources operations personnel- operations procedures for backing up data and other resources
service packs
usually bundle fixes of low priority problems into large groups called these usually fixes 100 to 1000 of problems
analysis paralysis
when there are projects that spend so much time documenting requirements
changing technology
while the project is underway, technologies continue to change
all commercial software products are shipped
with known problems usually vendors test their products and remove the most serious problems but they seldom if ever remove all of the defects they know about
