Chapter 13-15

• Angostura Builds a Mobile Sales System

  – Angostura Limited, based in Latenville, Trinidad, is a leading rum producer and a major manufacturer of bitters for cocktails.
• The introduction of a new information system involves much more than new hardware and software. It also includes changes in jobs, skills, management, and organization.
• AUTOMATION – It is the most common form of IT-enabled organizational change. The first stage with the lowest risk and return which involves using technology to perform tasks that were previously done manually.

  RATIONALIZATION – The next stage where processes are streamlined to improve efficiency, leading to a moderate increase in risk and return.
• REDESIGN – A more advanced stage that involves changing the way work is done, resulting in higher risk and return.

  PARADIGM SHIFTS – The final and most transformative stage, characterized by the highest risk but also the highest potential return. It involves rethinking the nature of the business and the nature of the organization.
• ü  Total quality management (TQM) – makes achieving quality an end in itself and the responsibility of all people and functions within an organization.

  ü  Six sigma – a specific measure of quality, representing 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
• Business Process Redesign – reorganizes workflows, combining steps to cut waste and eliminate repetitive, paper-intensive tasks.
• Business process management (BPM) – provides a variety of tools and methodologies to analyze existing processes, design new processes, and optimize those processes.
• 1.      IDENTIFY PROCESSES FOR CHANGE – One of the most important strategic decisions that a firm can make is not deciding how to use computers to improve business processes but understanding what business processes need improvement

  2.      ANALYZE EXISTING PROCESSES – Existing business processes should be modeled and documented, noting inputs, outputs, resources, and the sequence of activities.

  3.      DESIGN THE NEW PROCESS – Once the existing process is mapped and measured in terms of time and cost, the process design team will try to improve the process by designing a new one.
• IMPLEMENT THE NEW PROCESS – Once the new process has been thoroughly modeled and analyzed, it must be translated into a new set of procedures and work rules.

  CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT – Once a process has been implemented and optimized, it needs to be continually measured.
• Systems development – The activities that go into producing an information system solution to an organizational problem or opportunity. This is a structured kind of problem solved with distinct activities. These activities consist of systems analysis, systems design, programming, testing, conversion, and production and maintenance.
• Ø  SYSTEMS ANALYSIS – the analysis of a problem that a firm tries to solve with an information system. It consists of defining the problem, identifying its causes, specifying the solution, and identifying the information requirements that must be met by a system solution.

  ü  Systems design – shows how the system will fulfill this objective
• ·        ROLE OF SYSTEMS ANALYST – The analyst creates a roadmap of the existing organization and systems, identifies the primary data owners and users, and details the problems of existing systems.

  ·        SOLUTION – Often, the solution involves building a new information system or improving an existing one.

  ·        FEASIBILITY STUDY – This study determines whether the proposed solution is feasible from financial, technical, and organizational standpoints.
• ·        ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS – The systems analysis process typically identifies several alternative solutions. A written systems proposal report describes the costs, benefits, advantages, and disadvantages of each alternative.

  ü  Information requirements of a new system – involve identifying who needs what information, where, when, and how

  ü  Systems analysis – describes what a system should do to meet information requirements, and systems design shows how the system will fulfill this objective.
• ·    Programming – During the programming stage, system specifications that were prepared during the design stage are translated into software program code.

  · Testing – Exhaustive and thorough testing must be conducted to ascertain whether the system produces the right results.
• a.      Unit testing / program testing – consists of testing each program separately in the system.

  b.      System testing – tests the functioning of the information system. It tries to determine whether discrete modules will function together as planned and whether discrepancies exist between the way the system works and the way it was conceived.

  c.      Acceptance testing – provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production setting.

  ü  Test plan – includes all the preparations for the series of tests we have just described.
• Conversion

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

  a.      Parallel Strategy – Both old and new systems run at the same time until everyone is sure the new one works correctly. It’s safe but can be expensive.

  b.      Direct Cutover Strategy – The old system is completely replaced by the new one on a specific day.
• a.      Pilot Study Strategy – The new system is introduced to a limited part of the organization first. Once it works well, it’s implemented throughout the rest of the organization.

  b.      Phased Approach Strategy – The new system is introduced in stages, either by functions or by organizational units.

  ü  Maintenance Stage – After the system has been fine-tuned, it must be maintained while it is in production to correct errors, meet requirements, or improve processing efficiency.
• PRODUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

  ·        Production – new system is installed, and conversion is complete. During this stage, the system will be reviewed by both users and technical specialists to determine how well it has met its original objectives and to decide whether any revisions or modifications are in order.

  ·        Maintenance – Changes in hardware, software, documentation, or procedures to a production system to correct errors, meet new requirements, or improve processing efficiency.
• ·        STRUCTURED – refers to the fact that the techniques are step by step, with each step building on the previous one.
• ·        DATA FLOW DIAGRAM (DFD) – The primary tool for representing a system’s component processes and the flow of data between them. This offers a logical graphic model of information flow, partitioning a system into modules that show manageable levels of detail.

  ü  Process specifications – describe the transformation occurring within the lowest level of the data flow diagrams.

  ü  Structure chart – a top-down chart, showing each level of design, its relationship to other levels, and its place in the overall design structure.
• OBJECT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

  ·        Uses the object as the basic unit of systems analysis and design.

  ü  An object combines data and the specific processes that operate on those data
• ·        Structured methods – useful for modeling processes but do not handle the modeling of data well.  

  ü  Data flow diagram – used for analysis

  ü  Structure chart – used for design

  ü  Class name – in the top compartment

  ü  Attributes – in the middle portion of each box

  ü  List of operations – in the bottom portion of each box.

  ü  Employee superclass – the features that are shared by all employees (ID, name, address, date hired, position, and pay) are stored in the

  Subclass – stores features that are specific to that particular type of employee
• CLASSES & INHERITANCE – Objects belong to classes and can inherit features from a more general class, adding unique attributes and behaviors.

  Ø  ITERATIVE PROCESS – OOD is iterative, focusing on functional requirements, interactions, object identification, behavior, and interaction during design, leading to implementation with reusable software objects and possibly an object-oriented database.
• Computer-aided software engineering (CASE)

  sometimes called computer-aided systems engineering —provides software tools to automate the methodologies to reduce the amount of repetitive work the developer needs to do. CASE tools also facilitate the creation of clear documentation and the coordination of team development efforts
• SUMMARY OF THE TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS LIFE CYCLE:

  ·        It is the oldest system building method, involving distinct stages in system development, with variations among experts but broadly aligning with development stages.

  ·        Maintains a clear separation between technical specialists (e.g., analysts, programmers) who handle analysis, design, and implementation and end users who are primarily responsible for providing information requirements and reviewing technical work.
• PROTOTYPING – consists of building an experimental system rapidly and inexpensively for end users to evaluate.

  ·        RAPID EXPERIMENTALS SYSTEMS – Prototyping is the process of quickly and cheaply building an experimental system for end-user evaluation, allowing users to better understand their information requirements.

  ·        USER-ENDORSED MODEL – Users interact with prototypes to select the preferred version, which serves as a template for the creation of the final system.
• ·        PROTOTYPE – a working or initial version of an information system or part of the system, but it is meant to be only a preliminary model.

  ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT – allowing repeated cycles of designing, testing, refining, and trying again
• STEPS IN PROTOTYPING:

  1.      Identify the user’s basic requirements. The systems designer (usually an information systems specialist) works with the user only long enough to capture the user’s basic information needs.

  2.      Develop an initial prototype. The systems designer creates a working prototype quickly, using tools for rapidly generating software.
• 1.      Use the prototype. The user is encouraged to work with the system to determine how well the prototype meets his or her needs and to make suggestions for improving the prototype.

  2.      Revise and enhance the prototype. The system builder notes all changes the user requests and refines the prototype accordingly.

  ü  End-user interface – the part of the system with which end users interact, such as online display and data entry screens, reports, or web pages.
• END-USER DEVELOPMENT:

  ·        Enables nontechnical users to independently create simple information systems using user-friendly tools such as query languages, reporting, website development, graphics, and PC software.

  ü  Query language – a software tool that provides immediate online answers to questions that are not predefined

  ·        Allows users to access data, generate reports, and develop basic applications without relying heavily on professional analysts or programmers.
• Ø  For example, Yellow Pages (YP) used Information Builders WebFOCUS to develop YP Analytics, a user-friendly analytics application that allows customers to measure advertising ROI and track campaign success.

   

  ·        Customization – allow a software package to be modified to meet an organization’s unique requirements without destroying the integrity of the packaged software.

  ·        Request for proposal (RFP) – detailed list of questions submitted to software vendors.
• OUTSOURCING

  ·        Domestic outsourcing – occurs when a company lacks certain skills, resources, or assets, forcing it to hire outside help.

  ·        Offshore outsourcing – primarily concerned with cost-effectiveness, leveraging skilled programmers from countries such as India or Russia who earn significantly less than their counterparts in the United States.
• ·        RAPID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT (RAD) – creating workable systems in a very short period of time with some flexibility to adapt as a project evolves.  It refers to creating functional systems swiftly, allowing flexibility for adaptations as projects progress.

  ·        JOINT APPLICATION DESIGN (JAD) – used to accelerate the generation of information requirements and to develop the initial systems design.
• ·        AGILE DEVELOPMENT – focuses on rapid delivery of working software by breaking a large project into a series of small subprojects that are completed in short periods of time using iteration and continuous feedback

  DevOps (development and operations) – builds on agile development principles as an organizational strategy to create a culture and environment that further promote rapid and agile development practices. It emphasizes close collaboration between the software developers who create applications and the IT operational staff who run and maintain the applications.
• CBD (COMPONENT-BASED DEVELOPMENT)

  ·        Assembles groups of objects to create software components for common functions such as graphical user interfaces and online ordering. Allows for the development of new systems by integrating existing software components

  ·        CBD is used to create e-commerce applications by combining commercially available components (e.g., shopping carts, user authentication, search engines)
• Web Services:

  Software components that are loosely coupled and reusable, utilizing Extensible Markup Language (XML) and open protocols
• ·        MOBILE WEBSITES – a version of a regular website that is scaled down in content and navigation for easy access and search on a small mobile screen.

  ·        MOBILE WEB APPS – an Internet-enabled app with specific functionality for mobile devices.

  ·        NATIVE APPS – standalone application designed to run on a specific platform and device.

  ü  Responsive web design – enables websites to change layouts automatically according to the visitor’s screen resolution, whether on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
• HTML5 in Mobile App Development

  ·        Finds extensive use in mobile app development due to its ability to support cross-platform applications

  ·        Enables the creation of applications that can function seamlessly across different mobile platforms, reducing the need for platform-specific development and enhancing compatibility.
• ·        Project – a planned series of related activities for achieving a specific business objective.

  ·        Project management – the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to achieve specific targets within specified budget and time constraints.
• Five Major Variables

  1.      SCOPE defines what work is or is not included in the project

  2.      TIME is the amount of time required to complete the project

  3.      COST is based on the time to complete a project multiplied by the cost of human resources required to complete the project. this also includes the cost of hardware software and workspace.

  4.      QUALITY is an indicator of how well the end result of the project satisfies the objectives specified by management

  5.      RISK refers to the potential problems that would threaten the success of a project.