Info systems exam

· Motivated by recognition of software development as fluid, unpredictable, and dynamic. · Three key principles o Adaptive rather than predictive o Emphasize people rather than roles. Self-adaptive processes

Agile Methodology

System requirements are studied and structured.

Analysis (Phase 2 in SDLC):

• Interactions between objects • Layouts of user interfaces • Nature of commands/data passed between sub-systems.

Anything that is platform independent:

· Ad-hoc: individuals are free to find or develop reusable assets on their own. · Facilitated: developers are encouraged to practice reuse. · Managed: the development, sharing, and adoption of reusable assets is mandated. · Designed: assets mandated for reuse as they are being designed for specific applications.

Approaches to Reuse

• Economic • Technical • Operational • Scheduling • Legal and contractual • Political

Assessing Project Feasibility

• System description section outlines possible alternative solutions. • Feasibility assessment section outlines issues related to project costs and benefits, technical difficulties, and other such concerns. • Management issues section outlines a number of managerial concerns related to the project.

Building the Baseline Project Plan

• Justification for an information system • Presented in terms of the tangible and intangible economic benefits and costs. • The technical and organizational feasibility of the proposed system

Business Case

The provision of computing resources, including, applications, over the internet, so customers do not have to invest in the computing infrastructure needed to run and maintain the resources.

Cloud Computing

· the method by which an organization attempts to achieve its mission and objectives.

Competitive strategy:

· A list of all activities required to complete the project (typically categorized within a work breakdown structure) · The time (duration) that each activity will take to complete, the dependencies between the activities and · Logical end points such as milestones or deliverable items

Critical Path Methodology (CPM)

The shortest time in which a project can be completed; what you need to complete the project.

Critical path

• Describe project scope, alternatives, feasibility. • Divide project into tasks. • Estimate resource requirements and create resource plan. • Develop preliminary schedule. • Develop communication plan. • Determine standards and procedures. • Identify and assess risk. • Create preliminary budget. • Develop a statement of work. • Set baseline project plan.

Elements of Project Planning

Systems integrate individual traditional business functions into modules enabling a single seamless transaction eto cut across functional boundaries.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

o Entering project start date. o Establishing tasks and task dependencies. o Viewing project information as Gantt or Network diagrams.

Example: Microsoft Project can help with

• Loss of customer goodwill, • Employee morale, or • Operational inefficiency

Examples of intangible costs:

• Cost reduction (hardware, software, operations, etc.) • Error reduction • Increased flexibility • Increased speed of activity • Improvement of management planning and control • Opening new markets and increasing sales opportunities • Higher profit margins.

Examples of tangible costs:

Internet-based communication to support business-to-business activities through a secure site

Extranet

• Organizational units affected by new system. • Current systems that will interact with or change because of new system. • People who are affected by new system. • Range of potential system capabilities

Factors in Determining Scope

· Breaking high-level abstract information into smaller units for more detailed planning

Functional Decomposition:

· chart in which a series of horizontal lines shows the amount of work done or production completed in certain periods of time in relation to the amount planned for those periods. · showing project tasks, duration times for those tasks, and predecessors.

Gantt charts

o Project workbook o Status reports o Specification documents o Meeting minutes

High formality (communication method)

The information system is coded, tested, installed, and supported in the organization.

Implementation (phase 4 SDLC)

· Project management may be the most important aspect of systems development. · Effective PM helps to ensure. o The meeting of customer expectations. o The satisfying of budget and time constraints. PM skills are difficult and important to learn

Importance of Project Manager

· If sufficient system development expertise with the chosen platform exists in-house, then some or all of the system can be developed by the organization's own staff. · Hybrid solutions involving some purchased and some in-house components are common.

In-house Development

a strategy in systems analysis and design in which the project is reviewed after each phase and continuation of the project is re-justified

Incremental commitment:

· Help companies develop custom information systems for internal use. · Develop, host, and run applications for customers.

Information Technology (IT) Services Firms (aka outsourcing)

• are benefits derived from the creation of an information system that cannot be easily measured in dollars or with certainty. • May have direct organizational benefits, such as the improvement of employee morale. • May have broader societal implications, such as the reduction of waste creation or resource consumption.

Intangible benefits

Intranet:

Internet-based communication to support business activities within a single organization

Defined the functions and features of the system and the relationships among its components independently of any computer platform.

Local Design

o Internal blogs o Instant message (Slack, Symphony, etc.) o Lunch & Learn sessions. o 'Hallway' discussions

Low formality (communication method)

· a company that can provide goods or services at a low cost.

Low-cost producer

An information system is systematically repaired and improved.

Maintenance (phase 5 SDLC)

o Meetings o Seminars and workshops o Email

Medium Formality (communication method)

· in project management is useful for planning and tracking the project from beginning to finish. It represents a project's critical path as well as the scope for the project.

Network diagrams

· Freely available including source code. · Developed by a community of interested people. · Performs the same functions as commercial software.

Open-Source Software

· program evaluation review technique o A method to analyze the involved tasks in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and to identify the minimum time needed to complete the total project.

PERT charts

· Define clear, discrete activities and the work needed to complete each activity. · Tasks o Define project scope, alternatives, feasibility. o Divide project into tasks. o Estimate resource requirements. o Develop preliminary schedule. o Develop communication plan. o Determine standards and procedures. o Identify and assess risk. o Create preliminary budget. o Develop a statement of work. o Set baseline project plan.

PM Phase 2: Project Planning

· Plans created in prior phases are put into action. · Actions o Execute baseline project plan. o Monitor progress against baseline plan o Manage changes in baseline plan. o Maintain project workbook. Communicate project status

PM Phase 3: Project Execution

· Bring the project to an end. · Actions o Close down the project. o Conduct post-project reviews (aka 'Lesson Learned Meetings'). o Close the customer contract.

PM Phase 4: Project Close Down

· Assess size, scope and complexity, and establish procedures. · Establish: o Initiation team o Relationship with customer o Project initiation plan o Management procedures o Project management environment o Project workbook

PM phase 1: project initiation

· is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that it is intended to target.

Product focus or niche:

A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a beginning and an end

Project

- leadership -team building -motivation -communication -influencing -decision making -political and cultural awareness -negotiation -trust building -conflict management -coaching

Project Managers Soft Skills

is a document provided to vendors to ask them to propose hardware and system software that will meet the requirements of a new system; possibly no clear details/requirements.

Request for Proposal (RFP)

is a standard business process to invite suppliers into a bidding process; the goal is to bid on the RFP; usually clearly defined

Request for Quote (RFQ)

· The use of previously written software resources, especially objects and components, in new applications · Commonly applied to two different development technologies: o Object-oriented development o Component-based development

Reuse

§ Project Management Software § Gantt chart § PERT Diagram § Network diagram § Critical Path Scheduling

Scheduling Diagrams

Is the user's manual and technical documentation understandable and up to date.

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: Documentation:

Measure of the difficulty of loading the software and making it operational.

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: Ease of installation:

How easy it is to customize the software

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: Flexibility

The tasks that the software can perform and the mandatory, essential, and desired system features

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: Functionality:

How long it takes the software package to respond to the user's requests in an interactive session

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: Response time

Whether or how much support the vendor can provide and at what cost.

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: Vendor Support:

Can the software adapt to changes in systems software and hardware.

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: Viability of vendor

comparing the cost of developing the same system in-house with the cost of purchasing or licensing the software package

Selecting Off-the-Shelf Software: cost:

o Identification from a stakeholder group o Each stakeholder group brings their own perspective and motivation to the IS decision.

Stakeholder group

"Contract" between the IS staff and the customer regarding deliverables and time estimates for a system development project

Statement of Work (SOW)

A peer-group review of any product created during the system development process.

Structured Walkthroughs

o A standard form for requesting or proposing systems development work within an organization.

Systems Service Request (SSR)

refer to items that can be measured in dollars and with certainty.

Tangible benefits

Contains estimates of scope, benefits, schedules, costs, risks, and resource requirements.

The Baseline Project Plan (BPP)

• Establishing the Project Initiation Team. • Establishing a Relationship with the Customer. • Establishing the Project Initiation Plan. • Establishing Management Procedures. • Establishing the Project Management • Environment and Project Workbook. • Developing the Project Charter.

The Process of Initiating and Planning IS Development Projects

the development of the project charter.

The key activity of project initiation is

The process of defining clear, discrete activities and the work needed to complete each activity within a single project.

The key activity of project planning is

· planning identify projects by top management or by a diverse steering committee. · attempts to gain a broad understanding of information system needs of the entire organization and offers: o Broader perspective. o Improved integration. o Improved management support. o Better understanding.

Top-down

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Traditional methodology used to develop, maintain, and replace information systems.

o the process of analyzing an organization's activities for making products and/or services to determine where value is added and costs are incurred

Value chain analysis:

· If your project involves: o Unpredictable or dynamic requirements o Responsible and motivated developers o Customers who understand the process and will get involved

When to use agile methodologies

Division of project into manageable and logically ordered tasks and sub-tasks

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Internet:

a large worldwide network of networks that use a common protocol to communicate with each other; all public sites

Tool is a software package that provides support for the design and implementation of information systems. It can document a database design and provide invaluable help in maintaining the consistency of a design. · Diagramming tools enable graphical representation. · Computer displays and report generators help prototype how systems "look and feel".

computer-aided software engineering (CASE)

Coordinator, presenter, user, secretary, standard-bearer, maintenance oracle

roles

• Problem statement • Project objectives • Project description • Business benefits • Deliverables • Expected duration.

sections of Project Scope Statement (PSS)

the time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project

slack time

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

A standard process followed in an organization to conduct all the steps necessary to analyze, design, implement, and maintain information systems.

Feasibility Study

A study that determines whether a requested system makes economic and operational sense for an organization.

• Project title and date of authorization • Project manager name and contact information. • Customer name and contact information. • Projected start and completion dates • Key stakeholders, project role, and responsibilities • Project objectives and description • Key assumptions or approach • Signature section for key stakeholders

A project charter typically contains

-are project initiatives stemming from managers, business units, or the development group. · identifies IS development projects based on solving specific operational business problems or taking advantage of specific opportunities. o Can be faster and less costly, so may be beneficial in certain circumstances.

Bottom up planning

· System requirements "locked in" after being determined (can't change) · Limited user involvement (only in requirements phase) · Too much focus on milestone deadlines of SDLC phases to the detriment of sound development practices

Problems with waterfall approach:

• Guide for the project team • A major outcome and deliverable from the PIP phase • Contains the best estimate of a project's scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements. example: introduction, system description, feasibility assessments, management issues

Baseline Project Plan (BPP)

· is the process of distinguishing a product or service from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market.

Product differentiation:

The end product of an SDLC phase

Deliverable

A description of the recommended solution is converted into logical and then physical systems specifications.

Design (phase 3 in SDLC)

· Calculate the earliest possible completion time for each activity by summing the activity times in the longest path to the activity. This gives total expected project time. · Calculate the latest possible completion time for each activity by subtracting the activity times in the path following the activity from the total expected time. This gives slack time for activities. · Critical path - contains no activities with slack time.

Determining the critical path

· CASE tools · Rapid Application Development (RAD) · Agile Methodologies

Different approaches to improving development.

• a process of identifying the financial benefits and costs associated with a development project. -Often referred to as a cost-benefit analysis -Project is reviewed after each SDLC phase in order to decide whether to continue, redirect, or kill a project. -Also known as Go/No Go Decision

Economic feasibility

Internet-based communication to support business-to-consumer transactions (buy/sell)

Electronic Commerce (EC):

· the use of telecommunications technologies to directly transfer business documents between organizations.

Electronic data interchange (EDI):

o Financial o Compliance o Marketing/client relationship

Pff the shelf products serve many market segments:

o Planning o Analysis o Design o Implementation o Maintenance

Phases in SDLC:

· Phase 1: initiation · Phase 2: planning · Phase 3: execution · Phase 4: close down

Phases of project management process

The logical specifications of the system from logical design are transformed into the technology-specific details from which all programming and system construction can be accomplished.

Physical design

An organizations total information system needs are identified, analyzed, periodized, and arranged.

Planning (Phase 1 in SDLC):

Cost-benefit analysis outlining planned expenses and revenues.

Preliminary Budget

• A document prepared for the customer. • Describes what the project will deliver. • Outlines at a high level all work required to complete the project.

Project Scope Statement (PSS)

A controlled and process of initialing, planning, executing, and closing down a project.

Project management

Systems analyst with management and leadership skills responsible for leading project initiation, planning, execution, and close down

Project manager

-Agile teams are democratic, RAD individuals work in silos. -Agile engineering practices are stringent and thorough, ensuring that problems in the design or the code base are highlighted and fixed, None of these concepts were used in RAD projects. -Agile teams focus on team and RAD teams work as individuals -agile teams are disciplined, RAD lack discipline -Agile teams are inclusive of testers and analysts, RAD did not include non-technical team members.

RAD vs AGILE

Uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. · Unlike the Waterfall method, RAD emphasizes the use of software and user feedback over strict planning and requirements documentation. · Methodology to decrease design and implementation time. · Involves: extensive user involvement, prototyping, integrated CASE tools, and code generators

Rapid Application Development (RAD)

o Cost-effective o Take advantage of economies of scale o Free up internal resources o Increase process efficiencies. System development is a non-core activity for the organization

Reasons to outsource