Chapter 5 - Initiating and Planning Systems Development Projects

Technical Feasibility

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

Economic Feasibility

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

Discount Rate

The rate of return used to compute the present value of future cash flows.

Baseline project Plan

What is the term that describes the best estimate of a project's scope, benefits, cost, and resources? Management procedure Baseline project plan Project charter Resource plan

Team configuration and management part of the management issues plan

Where do you identify the types of people needed for a project? Team configuration and management part of the management issues plan Project standards and procedures of the management issues plan In the work breakdown structure of the management issues plan In the communications part of the management issues plan

Baseline Project Plan (BPP)

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

tangible benefits

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

Intangible Benefit

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

tangible costs

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 items of dollars or with certainty.

One-time Cost

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

Recurring Cost

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

Project Scope Statement (PSS)

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.

Walk-through

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

Operational feasibility

Which feasibility is concerned with the project attaining its desired objectives? Schedule feasibility Technical feasibility Operational feasibility Legal feasibility

A 45-hour work week

Which of the following is NOT a factor in determining schedule feasibility? A 45-hour work week Government imposed deadline Vacation Business cycles

Who is going to pay for PIP?

Which of the following is NOT a question asked to determine if project initiation and planning has ended and analysis has begun? Why is PIP so challenging? Who is responsible for performing PIP? What kind of effort should be expended on PIP? Who is going to pay for PIP?

Customer's commitment to system

Which of the following is NOT an example of a project risk assessment factor? Customer's commitment to system Familiarity with other systems Project duration time Organizational personnel changes resulting from system

System conversion

Which of the following is NOT an example of a recurring cost? Data storage expenses System conversion Software maintenance Hardware leases

Organizational disruptions

Which of the following is an example of a procurement IS cost? System maintenance Organizational disruptions Personal recruiting User training

Error reduction in data entry

Which of the following is an example of a tangible benefit? Positive impacts on society Improvement of employee morale Faster decision making Error reduction in data entry

break-even analysis

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

Scope

All of the following are categories of feasibility except Technical Scope Political Scheduling

Time Value of Money (TVM)

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

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The cost of owning and operating a system, including the total cost of acquisition, as well as a all costs associated with its ongoing use and maintenance.

Present Value

The current value of a future cash flow.

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.

Legal and Contractual Feasibility

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

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 deadline and constraints for affecting change.

political feasibility

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