Ch 13: Developing Information Systems

Total Quality Management

A concept that makes quality control a responsibility to be shared by all people in an organization.

Request for Proposal

A detailed list of questions submitted to vendors of software or other services to determine how well the vendor's product can meet the organization's specific requirements.

Information Requirements

A detailed statement of the information needs that a new system must satisfy; identifies who needs what information, and when, where, and how the information is needed.

Iterative

A process of repeating over and over again the steps to develop a system.

Fourth-Generation Languages

A programming language that can be employed directly by end users or less-skilled programmers to develop computer applications more rapidly than conventional programming languages.

Direct Cutover Strategy

A risky conversion approach where the new system completely replaces the old one on an appointed day.

Parallel Strategy

A safe and conservative conversion approach where both the old system and its potential replacement are run together for a time until everyone is assured that the new one functions correctly.

Six Sigma

A specific measure of quality, representing 3.4 defects per million opportunities; used to designate a set of methodologies and techniques for improving quality and reducing costs.

Pilot Study Strategy

A strategy to introduce a new system to a limited area of the organization until it is proven to be fully functional; only then can the conversion to the new system across the entire organization take place.

Systems Life Cycle

A traditional methodology for developing an information system that partitions the systems development process into formal stages that must be completed sequentially with a very formal division of labour between end users and information systems specialists.

Responsive Web Design

Ability of a Web site to automatically change screen resolution and image size as a user switches to devices of different sizes, such as a laptop, tablet computer, or smart phone. Eliminates the need for separate design and development work for each new device.

Business Process Management

An approach to business that aims to continuously improve and manage business processes.

Object-Oriented Development

Approach to systems development that uses the object as the basic unit of systems analysis and design. The system is modelled as a collection of objects and the relationship between them.

Feasibility Study

As part of the systems analysis process, the way to determine whether the solution is achievable, given the organization's resources and constraints.

Computer-Aided Software Engineering

Automation of step- by-step methodologies for software and systems development to reduce the amounts of repetitive work the developer needs to do.

Component-Based Development

Building large software systems by combining pre-existing software components.

Maintenance

Changes in hardware, software, documentation, or procedures to a production system to correct errors, meet new requirements, or improve processing efficiency.

Process Specifications

Describe the logic of the processes occurring within the lowest levels of a data flow diagram.

Documentation

Description of how an information system works from either a technical or end-user standpoint.

Systems Design

Details how a system will meet the information requirements as determined by the systems analysis.

Postimplementation Audit

Formal review process conducted after a system has been placed in production to determine how well the system has met its original objectives.

Customization

In e-commerce, changing a delivered product or service based on a user's preferences or prior behaviour.

Phased Approach Strategy

Introduces a new system in stages either by functions or by organizational units.

Offshore Sourcing

Outsourcing systems development work or maintenance of existing systems to external vendors in another country.

Test Plan

Prepared by the development team in conjunction with users; includes all of the preparations for the series of tests to be performed on the system.

Data Flow Diagram

Primary tool for structured analysis that graphically illustrates a system's component process and the flow of data between them.

Rapid Application Development

Process for developing systems in a very short time period by using prototyping, fourth- generation tools, and close teamwork among users and systems specialists.

Joint Application Design

Process to accelerate the generation of information requirements by having end users and information systems specialists work together in intensive interactive design sessions.

Acceptance Testing

Provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production setting.

Paradigm Shift

Radical reconceptualization of the nature of the business and the nature of the organization.

Agile Development

Rapid delivery of working software by breaking a large project into a series of small sub-projects that are completed in short periods of time using iteration and continuous feedback.

Structured Methodology

Refers to the fact that techniques are carefully drawn up, step by step, with each step building on a previous one.

Object

Software building block that combines data and the procedures that use the data.

Query Languages

Software tool that provides immediate online answers to requests for information that are not predefined.

Structure Chart

System documentation showing each level of design, the relationship among the levels, and the overall place in the design structure; can document one program, one system, or part of one program.

Systems Testing

Tests the functioning of the information system as a whole in order to determine if discrete modules will function together as planned.

Systems Development

The activities that go into producing an information systems solution to an organizational problem or opportunity.

Systems Analysis

The analysis of a problem that the organization will try to solve with an information system.

Testing

The exhaustive and thorough process that determines whether the system produces the desired results under known conditions.

End-User Interface

The part of an information system through which the end user interacts with the system, such as on-line screens and commands.

Prototype

The preliminary working version of an information system for demonstration and evaluation purposes.

Conversion

The process of changing from the old system to the new system.

Unit Testing

The process of testing each program separately in the system; sometimes called program testing.

Programming

The process of translating the system specifications prepared during the design stage into program code.

Production

The stage after the new system is installed and the conversion is complete; during this time, the system is reviewed by users and technical specialists to determine how well it has met its original goals.

Rationalization of Procedures

The streamlining of standard operating procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks, so that automation makes operating procedures more efficient.

Business Process Redesign

Type of organizational change in which business processes are analyzed, simplified, and redesigned.

Automation

Using the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks.

End-User Development

he development of information systems by end users with little or no formal assistance from technical specialists.

Prototyping

he process of building an experimental system quickly and inexpensively for demonstration and evaluation so that users can better determine information requirements.