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• Systems development


  The process of designing, building, and implementing information systems to meet an organization's business requirements
• Reasons for changing systems

  • Changes in user or business needs
  • Technological changes
  • Improved business processes
  • Competitive advantage
  • Productivity gains
  • Systems integration
  • Systems age and need to be replaced
• How the system project started

  1. Proposal

  2. System request

  3. Evaluation of system requirements

  4. Feasibility study

  5. Evaluating feasibility

  6. Setting priorities
• Systems analysis


  The first step in systems development where information needed to purchase, develop, or modify a system is gathered
• Conceptual design


  The phase where the company decides how to meet user needs
• Physical design


  The phase where the broad, user-oriented conceptual design requirements are translated into detailed specifications
• Implementation and conversion


  The phase where all the elements and activities of the system come together
• Operations and maintenance


  The phase where the new system is periodically reviewed and modifications are made as problems arise or as new needs become evident
• The players in systems development

  • Management
  • Users
  • Information systems steering committee
  • Project development team
  • Systems analysts and programmers
  • External players
• Roles of accountants in system development

  • Advise on control systems
  • Translate business rules and requirements
  • Know logical design
  • Provide valuable advice on assessing IT investment
• Systems planning


  The process of developing a comprehensive plan for an organization's information systems
• Advantages of systems planning

  • Enables system goals and objectives to correspond to the organization's strategic plan
  • Systems are more efficient and subsystems are coordinated
  • Provides a sound basis for selecting new applications
  • Keeps the company abreast of IT changes
  • Avoids duplication, wasted effort, cost and time overruns
  • System is less costly and easier to maintain
  • Prepares management for resource needs and employees for changes
• When development is poorly planned, a company must often return to a prior phase and correct errors and design flaws, which is costly and results in delays, frustration, and low morale
• Two systems development plans needed

  • Project development plan
  • Master plan
• Project development plan


  Contains a cost-benefit analysis, developmental and operational requirements, and a schedule of activities required to develop and operate the new application
• Master plan


  Specifies what the system will consist of, how it will be developed, who will develop it, how needed resources will be acquired, and where the AIS is headed
• Planning techniques


  • PERT
  • Gantt charts
• Development plans needed


  • Project development plan
  • Master plan
• Project development plan


  Contains a cost–benefit analysis, developmental and operational requirements, and a schedule of the activities required to develop and operate the new application
• The master plan describes the status of projects in process, prioritizes planned projects, describes the criteria used for prioritization, and provides development timetables
• Projects with the highest priority are developed first
• PERT and Gantt charts

  Techniques for scheduling and monitoring systems development activities
• PERT


  1. Identify all activities and the precedent and subsequent relationships among them

  2. Draw a PERT diagram

  3. Make completion time estimates

  4. Determine the critical path
• Critical path


  The path requiring the greatest amount of time, if any activity on it is delayed the whole project is delayed
• Gantt chart


  1. Project activities on the left-hand side and units of time across the top

  2. Draw a bar for each activity from the scheduled starting date to the ending date

  3. Fill in the bars as activities are completed
• Gantt chart


  • Ability to show graphically the entire schedule for a large, complex project, including progress to date and status
  • Does not show the relationships among project activities
• The feasibility study is prepared with input from management, accountants, systems personnel, and users
• At major decision points, the steering committee reassess feasibility to decide whether to terminate a project, proceed unconditionally, or proceed if specific problems are resolved
• Early go/no-go decisions are particularly important because each subsequent SDLC step requires more time and monetary commitments
• Five important aspects of a feasibility study

  • Economic feasibility
  • Technical feasibility
  • Legal feasibility
  • Scheduling feasibility
  • Operational feasibility
• Economic feasibility


  The projected benefits of the proposed system outweigh the estimated costs, usually considered the total cost of ownership (TCO)
• Costs to consider in economic feasibility


  • People, including IT staff and users
  • Hardware and equipment
  • Software, including in-house development and purchases from vendors
  • Formal and informal training, including peer-to-peer support
  • Licenses and fees
  • Consulting expenses
  • Facility costs
  • The estimated cost of not developing the system or postponing the project
• Technical feasibility


  The technical resources needed to develop, purchase, install, or operate the system
• Legal feasibility


  The system complies with all applicable federal and state laws, administrative agency regulations, and contractual obligations
• Scheduling feasibility

  The project can be implemented in an acceptable time frame
• Systems development


  The process of designing, building, and implementing information systems
• Reasons for changing systems

  • Changes in user or business needs
  • Technological changes
  • Improved business processes
  • Competitive advantage
  • Productivity gains
  • Systems integration
• How the system project started

  1. Proposal

  2. System request

  3. Evaluation of system requirements

  4. Feasibility study

  5. Evaluating feasibility

  6. Setting priorities
• Systems analysis


  The first step in systems development where information needed to purchase, develop, or modify a system is gathered
• Conceptual design


  1. Identify and evaluate design alternatives

  2. Develop detailed specifications