Chapter 13 Review Questions
List and describe the steps in the prototyping process.
- identify the user's basic requirements - develop an initial prototype - use the prototype - revise an enhance the prototype
Describe prototyping benefits and limitations.
Benefit: - prototyping is useful when there is uncertainty about the requirements or design solutions - it is often used for designing and information systems end user interface because it encourages intense end user involvement throughout the systems lifecycle - it is more likely to produce systems that fulfill requirements Limitations - it can gloss over essential steps in systems development if the completed prototype works well. - Sometimes decisions will be made that there is no more naval reprogramming or redesign or full documentation - Sometimes this may cause the system to not easily accommodate large quantities of data or users in a production environment
Define end-user development
End user development allows end users to create simple information systems with little or no formal assistance from technical specialists. A query language is a software tool that provides immediate online answers to questions that are not pre defined these are often tied to data management software.
Define an application software package.
commercially available application software packages or cloud software as a service Many applications are common to all business organizations—for example, payroll, accounts receivable, general ledger, or inventory control. For such universal functions with standard processes that do not change a great deal over time, a more generic system will fulfill the requirements of many organizations.
Explain the disadvantages of developing information systems based on software packages.
if too much customization is required it can become expensive and time-consuming which negates many of the advantages of software packages and services the organization no longer has total control over the system design process it cannot be tailored to user requirements instead they will need to mold the user requirements to conform to the features of the package or software service if the requirements conflict with the way the package or software works and it cannot be customized the organization has to adapt to the package or service and change it's procedures.
Describe end-user development disadvantages
they cannot easily handle the processing of large numbers of transactions or applications.with extensive procedural logic and updating requirements They pose organizational risks because it occurs outside of the traditional mechanisms for information systems management and control Testing and documentation may be inadequate control over data can be lost
Describe the disadvantages of using outsourcing for building information systems.
A company is more likely to benefit from outsourcing if it takes the time to evaluate the risks and make sure that outsourcing is appropriate. It must thoroughly understand the project including its requirements method of implementation, anticipated benefits, cost components, and metrics for measuring performance. It can occur additional costs for coping with cultural differences that drain productivity and dealing with human resources issues such as terminating or relocating domestic employees . many companies underestimate the cost for identifying and evaluating vendors of information technology services for transitioning to a new vendor improving internal software development methods and for monitoring vendors to make sure they are fulfilling their contractual obligations it can take three months to a year to successfully onboard an offshore partner and make sure the vendor thoroughly understand your business hidden costs increased the total cost of the offshore outsourcing project by an extra 15 to 57%
Describe each of the 4 kinds of organizational change that can be promoted with information technology.
Automation: assist employees with performing their tasks more efficiently and effectively. Rationalization of procedures this is a different form of organizational change because automation frequently reveals new bottlenecks in production and makes the existing arrangement of procedures and structures painfully cumbersome. This is the streamlining of standard operating procedures. Examples include total quality management TQM which makes achieving quality an end in itself and responsibility of all people and functions within the organization. Lean Six Sigma is a specific measure of quality representing 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Business process redesign: this is a even more powerful type of organizational change. Business processes are analyzed simplified. A redesigned business process redesign reorganizes workflows combining steps to cut waste and eliminate repetitive labor intensive tasks. It is more ambitious than the rationalization of procedures. Paradigm shift while rationalizing procedures and redesigning business processes are limited to specific parts of the business, new information systems can affect the design of the entire organization. This is done by transforming how the organization carries out its businesses and even the nature of the business. Paradigm shifts in business process redesign often fail because of the extensive organizational change which can be difficult to orchestrate. In many instances firms seeking paradigm shifts in pursuing reengineering strategies achieve an order of magnitude that increases their return on investment to make it worth it.
Define business process management and describe the steps required to carry it out
Identify process for change: firms must understand what business processes need improvement so that they are strengthening the correct business model or business process. These are the process which allows them to become more efficient and ensure they are doing what they should be doing. Managers need to determine what business processes are the most important and how improving these processes will help business performance. Analyze existing processes: these should be modeled and documented, noting the input, output, resources, and sequence of the activities. The design team will identify redundant steps, paper intensive tasks, bottlenecks and other inefficiencies. Design the new process: once the existing process is mapped and measured in times in terms of time and cost, the design team will then try to improve the process by designing a new one. This is called a streamline "to be" processed which is documented and modeled to be compared with the old process. Implement the new process: once the new process has been modeled and analyzed it's then translated into a new set of procedures and work rules. The new information systems or enhancements to the existing systems must be implemented to support the design process. These are rolled out into the business organization. As the business starts using these processes problems are uncovered and should be addressed. Employees working with the process may recommend improvements. Continuous measurement: once the process has been implemented and optimized it needs to be measured. We find that processes can deteriorate overtime or employees may fall back onto the old methods. - When properly implemented business process design produces dramatic gains in productivity and efficiency and may even change the way a business is run. In some instances it drives a paradigm shift that transforms the nature of business itself. This happened when Amazon challenge traditional physical bookstores with its online retail model an Kindle ebook reader . - BPM also poses challenges, The largest single barrier to successful BPM change is organizational culture. Employees don't like it when there are unfamiliar routines and are often resistant to change.
Name some policies and procedures for managing end-user development.
If management can control the development of these applications by requiring cost justification an establishing hardware software and quality standards then they can maximize the benefit of these end user application development
Define information requirements and explain why they are difficult to determine correctly.
Information requirements are also part of the systems analyst job. This involves identifying who needs what information, when, where, and how. They also define the objectives of the new or modified system and develops a detailed description of the functions the new system must perform. A system designed around the wrong set of requirements will either have to be discarded because of poor performance or need to undergo major modifications.
Describe end-user development advantages
It can reduce the time and steps required to produce a finished application. Can be completed more rapidly They allow users to specify their own business needs Improved requirements gathering leads to higher level of user involvement and satisfaction.
Explain how component-based development and web services help firms build and enhance their information systems.
It is an approach to software development where groups of objects have been assembled to provide software components for common functions such as graphical user interface or online ordering capabilities. - These can be combined to create large scale business applications - It enables a system to be built by assembling and integrating existing software components - web services is one example that can be used as tools for building new information system applications or enhancing existing systems
Explain the features of mobile application development and responsive web design.
Mobile website: version of a regular website that is scaled down in content and navigation for easy access and search on a small screen mobile web app: Internet enabled app with specific functionality for mobile devices the app resides primarily on a server in his access via the Internet but doesn't need to be installed on the device native app: a standalone application designed to run on a specific platform and device it is directly installed on the mobile device it connects to the Internet to download and upload data and so it can operate on this data even when it's not connected to the Internet responsive web design enables web sites to change layouts automatically according to the visitor screen resolution whether it's on a desktop laptop tablet or smartphone. - It uses tools such as flexible grid based layouts flexible images and media queries to optimize the design for different viewing - This eliminates the need for separate design and development work for each device - HTML5 supports cross platform mobile applications.
Describe the object oriented approaches for modeling and designing systems.
Object-Oriented Approach: Object oriented development uses the object as the basic unit of systems analysis and design. An object contains data and specific processes that operate on the data. - The system is modeled as a collection of objects and relationships among them. - Because processing logic resides within objects rather than in separate software programs the objects must collaborate with each other to make the system work. - Based on concepts of class and inheritance where objects belonging to a certain class or general category of similar objects have features of the classes of objects - They can inherit all the structure and behaviors of a more general class and then add variables and behaviors unique to each object - Object oriented development is more iterative an incremental - During analysis system builders document the functional requirements of the system specifying its most important properties and what the proposed system must do - The information system is implemented by translating the design and program code reusing classes that are already available in a library of reusable software objects and adding new ones as needed - Because the objects are reusable object oriented development can potentially reduce the time and cost of writing software Computer aided software engineering (CASE) sometimes called computer aided systems engineering provides software tools to automate the methodologies described. To reduce the amount of repetitive work in systems development these tools provide automated graphics, facilities for producing charts and diagrams, screens and report generators, data dictionaries, extensive reporting facilities, analysis and checking tools, code generators and documentation generators
Describe the advantages of using outsourcing for building information systems.
Outsourcing is driven primarily by the fact that outsourcing firms possess skills resources and assets that the client itself does not have often it is less expensive to outsource work that has a shorter time period such as 12 months in offshore outsourcing the decision is usually more cost driven since a skilled programmer in an offshore country such as India or Russia will be paid much less than one who is in the United States Internet and low-cost communication technologies has drastically reduced the expense and the difficulty of coordinating the work when the teams are in offshore locations
Describe the role of programming, conversion, production, and maintenance in systems development.
Programming: system specs that were prepared during the design stage are translated into software program code. Or they purchase the software that meets the requirements for a new system. Conversion: The process of changing from an old system to a new system there are 4 strategies 1) parallel strategy both the old system and the replacement are run together for an amount of time until everyone assured the new one will function correctly. It is the safest conversion approach because just in case there are problems with the new system, the old system can be used as a backup. It can also be very expensive since you have to support both systems. 2) direct cut-over strategy replaces the old system entirely with the new system on a specific day. This is a risky approach as it can be serious problems with the new system if there is no system to fall back on. 3) pilot study strategy introduces the new system in a limited area of the organization such as a single Department or operating unit when the pilot version is complete and working smoothly it's then installed throughout the rest of the organization. 4) phased approach strategy introduces the new system in stages either by function or organizational unit. Detailed documentation showing how the system works from a technical an end user standpoint is finalized during the conversion time to be used during training in everyday operations failure to do this can contribute to a system failure as a whole. Production & Maintenance: After a new system is installed in the conversion is complete the system is in production. The system will be reviewed by both users and technical specialist to determine how well it has met its objectives and decide if any revisions or modifications are needed. Sometimes this takes the form of a post implementation audit. Maintenance are changes in hardware software documentation or procedures to a production system in order to correct errors meet new requirements or improve processing efficiency
Define information system prototyping.
Prototyping is the building of an experimental system rapidly an inexpensively for users to evaluate a prototype is a working version of an information system or part of the system but meant only to be a preliminary model when it's operational it is then further refined until it confirms exactly to what the user's requirements are once the design is finalized the prototype is then converted into a polished production system the process of building the preliminary design trying it out or finding it and trying it again is an iterative process of systems development because the steps required to build the system can be repeated over and over again it actively promotes system design changes
Define the traditional systems life cycle.
The system's lifecycle methodology is a phased approach to building a system which includes system analysis, system design, programming, testing, conversion, production and maintenance which are formalized stages. It emphasizes formal specs and paperwork so documents are generated during the course of a systems project building process. Describe its advantage for systems building - it is used for building large complex systems that require a rigorous and formal requirements analysis predefined specs and tight controls over the system Describe its disadvantages for systems building - the approach can be costly time consuming and ultimately inflexible - the tasks in one stage have to be completed before work in the next stage begins - if requirements and specs need to be revised then new documents must be generated for the specs this approach is not suitable for many small desktop systems
Define rapid application development, agile development and DevOps and explain how they can speed up a system building
Rapid application development refers to the process of creating workable systems in a very short period of time with some flexibility to adapt as the project evolves. It uses visual programming and other tools for building graphical user interfaces, iterative prototyping of key system elements, automation of program code generation, and close teamwork among end users an information systems specialist . Agile development focuses on rapid delivery of working software by breaking a large project into a series of smaller projects these are completed in short periods of time using iteration,s continuous feedback, and continual user involvement. - Testing occurs early and often throughout the entire development process. - It emphasizes face to face communication. - Encourages people to collaborate and make decisions quickly and effectively DevOps builds on agile development principles to create a culture an environment to promote further rapid and agile development practices DevOps stands for development and operations. - It also emphasizes close collaboration between software developers an IT operational staff who run and maintain the applications after they've been developed,. - It creates a type of organizational change along with agile techniques standardized processes an powerful automated software creation and testing tools so that it's possible to build test and release applications more rapidly and frequently
Describe the traditional structured approaches for modeling and designing systems.
Structured approach: Refers to the fact that the techniques are step by step with each step building on the previous one, These are top down methods that progress from the highest most abstract level to the lowest level of detail, Structured development methods are process oriented focusing primarily on modeling the processes or actions that capture store manipulate and distribute data as the data flows through the system. The primary tool for representing the systems component processes in flow of data between them is the data flow diagram this offers a logical graphic model of information flow partitioning a system into modules and showing a manageable level of detail. Another tool for structured analysis is the data dictionary which contains information about individual pieces of data and data groupings within the system. It defines the contents of data flows and data stores so the system builders understand exactly what pieces of data they contain. Process specifications describes the transformation occurring within the lowest level of the data flow diagrams. The structure chart is a hierarchical chart top down showing each level of design its relation to ship to other levels an its place in the overall design structure. Structured methods are useful for modeling processes but don't handle data modeling well. They treat data and processes as logically separate entities while different modeling conventions are used for analysis the data flow diagram and for design the structure chart.
Distinguish between systems analysis and systems design. Describe the activities for each.
Systems analysis the analysis of a problem that a firm tries to solve with an information system. It consists of: 1) Defining the problem 2) Identifying its causes 3) Specifying the solution 4) Identifying the information requirements that must be met by a system solution A systems analyst will 1) Create a road map of the existing organization and systems 2) Identifies primary owners and users of the data 3) Identify hardware and software detail the problems of the existing systems by examining documents, work papers and procedures. 4) Observing system operations and interviewing key users of the system. 5) Identify objectives a solution would achieve A feasibility study is done to determine whether the solution is feasible or achievable from financial, technical and organizational standpoint. While systems analysis describes what a system should do to meet information requirements, the system design shows how the system will fulfilled this objective. The design of an information system is the overall plan an model for that system similar to a blueprint of a building or a house. The systems designer details the system specifications that deliver the functions identified during the systems analysis. The specs should address all of the managerial, organizational, and technological components of the system solution.
Explain why the testing state of systems development is so important. Name and describe the 3 stages of testing for an information system.
Testing is conducted to determine whether the system produces the correct results and it answers the question will the system produce the desired results under known conditions. Unit testing consist of testing each program within the system. This testing should be viewed as a means of locating errors within the program so that they can be corrected. System testing test the functioning of the information system as a whole. It tries to determine if the discrete modules will function together as it was planned and if there are discrepancies between the way the system actually works and the way it is supposed to work. It looks at performance, time capacity, file storage, load testing, recovery and restore capabilities . acceptance testing is the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production system. system tests are evaluated by users and by management and when all the parties are satisfied that the new system meets at their standards it can formally be accepted for installation.
Explain the advantages to application software package.
The company can save time and money by using prewritten predesigned pretested software programs from a software vendor SaaS vendors supply much of the ongoing maintenance and support for the system including enhancements. they can include capabilities for customization which are features that allow a commercial software package or cloud based software to be modified to meet the unique requirements without destroying the integrity the software
