Building and Maintaining

Information Systems

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 Opening Case: Yahoo! Store
• Allows small businesses to create their own
online store
– No programming needed
• The standardized store structure allows
Yahoo! to provide store management
information

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Phases of an Information System

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 Initiation
• The process of defining the need to change an
existing work system, who should be involved,
and describing in general terms the features of
the new system
• Understand the proposed system purposes and
goals
• Some projects never go beyond this phase

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 Development
• The process of building or acquiring and
configuring the needed resources
• Must make sure that the system features
really solve the user needs
– Problem with inconsistencies and ambiguities
in user requirements

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 Implementation
• The process of making the new system
operational
• Activities include:
– Planning
– User training
– Conversion to the new system
– Follow-up to make sure that the system is
operating effectively

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 Operation and Maintenance
• The ongoing operation of the system +
efforts to enhance the system and correct
bugs
• The importance of this phase is often
overlooked

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Overview of Alternative Approaches for
Building Information Systems
• The traditional life cycle uses a prescribed
sequence of steps and deliverables
– The capability maturity model (CMM)

tracks the extent to which an IT organization uses

this type of life cycle in its development work
• A prototype IS is a working model built to
learn about the true requirements of the system

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• An application package consists of
commercially available software that
addresses a specific type of business
application
– Installed and operated by the IS department
• End-user development is the development
of ISs by work system participants

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Traditional System Life Cycle

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• Goal: keep the project under control and assure
that the IS produces satisfies well-formulated
requirements
• Divides the project into a number of steps,
steps each
with distinct deliverables

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 Initiation
• Feasibility study – a user-oriented view of
the proposed system’s purpose
– Economic feasibility
– Technical feasibility
– Organizational feasibility
• If the IS appears to be feasible, functional
specifications are produced
– Must be approved by both users and IS personnel
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 Development
• Creates the programs and the installed
hardware necessary for the data processing
specified in the functional specifications
• Detailed requirement analysis
– Results in a document called external
specification – shows the data input screens and
major reports, and explains the calculations that
will be automated
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• Internal system design
– Produces the internal specification – the
computer environment for the IS, the database
content, and the inputs and outputs for all
programs and subsystems
• Hardware acquisition and installation
• Programming
– Unit testing – treats the programs in isolation
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• Documentation
– User and technical documentation
• System testing (or integration testing)
– Testing plan – a precise statement of how
exactly the IS is going to be tested

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Implementation

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• Implementation planning
– Creating plans for training, conversion, and
acceptance testing
• Training
• Conversion
– Turn on the new system at a chosen date
– Phased approach
– Running in parallel
– Pilot implementation
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• Acceptance testing
– Testing of the IS by the users as it goes into
operation
• Post-implementation audit
– Determine whether the project has met its
objectives + make recommendations for the
future

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 Operation & Maintenance
• Ongoing operation and support
– Ensuring that the technical system components
continue to operate correctly, and that the users
use the system effectively
• Maintenance
– The process of modifying the IS over time

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• Pros and cons of the traditional life cycle:
– Adherence to fixed deliverables improves
control but also guarantees a lengthy process
– Having specific deliverables makes it easier to
monitor the work and take corrective actions
early
• The traditional life cycle is the standard
against which other approaches are
compared
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 Prototypes
A working model built to learn how
an improved work system could
operate if it included an improved IS

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• Throwaway prototype – designed to be
discarded
– Useful for comparing alternatives
• Evolutionary prototype – designed to be
adapted for permanent use
– Should be built using the system tools that will
be used for the final IS

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Phases

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• Initiation
– The problem is not well understood and/or the
users are unable to say exactly what they want
• Development
– Emphasizes speed and rapid feedback

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• Implementation
– Part of the implementation is done in parallel
with development
• Operation and maintenance

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 Advantages & Disadvantages
• Advantages:
– Users have a tangible IS to work with during
development
– Early user involvement may reduce skepticism
– Building prototypes is becoming easier

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• Disadvantages:
– Too much user involvement
– Many changes
– Frequent deadlines are stressful

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Application Packages

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 Phases
• Initiation
• Development
– Benchmarking – running a test application
similar to the final application
– Request for proposal (RFP) – converts the ideas
in the functional specifications into a checklist
of required features

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• Implementation
– Deciding how the package will be set up and
used
– The system documentation may have to be
extended with a training manual
• Operation and maintenance
– Release – an upgraded version of the software
– License agreements
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 Advantages and Disadvantages
• Advantages:
– Benefits accrue sooner
– Risks are reduced
• Disadvantages:
– The features may not fit the business process
– No control over the term direction of the software
– Rarely provide sustainable competitive advantage

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End–User Development
End-user Computing (EUC)

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• Applies when:
– Requirements are not stringent
– The project is limited to a department and is not
on a critical path for other projects
– Proven technology is used

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 Phases
• Initiation
• Development
– IS staff to support the user development
• Implementation
– No training
• Operation and maintenance
– The responsibility of the end users

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 Supporting the Users
• Site license – blanket contracts covering
the use of a particular software product at
the site by a certain number of users
• Data availability issues

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 Advantages and Disadvantages
• Advantages:
– Reduces the need for programmers
– Minimizes training
– Eliminates delays and political negotiations
• Disadvantages:
– Applies only in a limited number of situations
– The systems are often less well designed and
constructed, and more prone to bugs
– Long-term maintenance often a problem
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 Deciding Which Combination of
Methods to Use
• Comparing advantages & disadvantages
• Combining system development approaches
– Some alternatives:
• Use a prototype as part of the traditional life cycle
• Use a small application package as a prototype
• Adopt aspect of a traditional life cycle to purchasing an
application package
• Add a user development component to the traditional
life cycle
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