AIS development strategies ( topic 9) Flashcards
Ways to Obtain an AIS
Purchase the software - from vendor , often sold to many – less competive advantage
Outsource to an external organization- outsource developing
Develop software in-house – often creates competitive advantage , may not be available in the market
Point Scoring
to evaluate hardware/software/vendor
Purchasing Software
Off the Shelf (OTS) Canned:
• System capabilities for users with similar requirements. Eg – MYOB , not differentiation , need to make your own hardware consideration
Turnkey System:
• Hardware and software sold as a package.- > works best when they don’t have the expertise of making this choice
Application Service Provider (ASP) eg cloud computing:
• Driven by ‘pay-per-use model’; ‘metered’; ‘scalable’; ‘on-demand’. Only pay as you use ;
• Software is provided to user via the Internet.
– SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) (student email at AU is gmail; Citrix)
– IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), i.e. file-based storage, firewalls (e.g.
Amazon EC2; Windows Azure)
- drop box
– PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), i.e. platform to deploy software, including O/S, DBMS, programming and execution environment, web server (e.g. Google Apps Engine)
Purchasing Process
Select a vendor (from referrals, trade shows, etc.)
Publish a Request for proposal (RFP) that meets your needs
Evaluate proposals
• Short list vendors invited to give demonstrations on how their system will fit your needs
Make a final selection based upon your criteria
Methods that can be used to evaluate proposals
benchmark problem - Comparing systems by executing an input, processing, and output task on different computer systems and evaluating the results.
point scoring - Evaluating the overall merits of vendor proposals by assigning a weight to each evaluation criterion based on its importance.
requirements costing - Comparing systems based on the cost of all required features; when software does not meet all requirements, the cost of developing unavailable features is estimated and added to its cost.
Purchasing process
The best proposals are investigated to verify that company requirements can be met. Using an RFP is important because it:
- Saves time. The same information is provided to all vendors, eliminating repetitive inter- views and questions.
- Simplifies the decision-making process. All responses are in the same format and based on the same information.
- Reduces errors. The chances of overlooking important factors are reduced.
- Avoids potential for disagreement. Both parties possess the same expectations, and pertinent information is captured in writing.
request for proposal (RFP)
A request for vendors to bid on a system to meet a company’s specified needs.
Hardware, software and Vender Evaluation Criteria
( image document )
Outsourcing the system development
Advantage and Disadvantage
Advantages
- Allows companies to concentrate on core competencies
- Asset utilisation
- Access to greater expertise and better technology
- Lower costs by standardising user applications and splitting development and maintenance costs between projects
- Less development
- Elimination of peaks-and-valleys usage
- Facailitate downsizing
Disadvantage
- Inflexibility
- Loss of control
- Reduced competitive advantage
- Locked-in system
- Unfulfilled goals
- Poor service
- Increased risk
In-House System Development
Advantages and risks in-house development
Advantages:
• It can provide a significant competitive advantage.
Risks of in-house development: • Significant amounts of time required. • Complexity of the system. • Poor requirements defined. • Insufficient planning. • Inadequate communication and cooperation. • Lack of qualified staff. • Poor top management support.
Methods to Develop an AIS
Follow the formal System Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
- End User computing - end-user computing (EUC) - the hands-on development, use, and control of computer-based information systems by users.
- Business Process Management (BPM)
- Prototyping
Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Tools
End-User Computing
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
- Allows for end user to create, control and implement simple systems
- More likely to meet user needs
- saves time
- Frees up system resources
- Easy to use and understand
Disadvantages
- Lack of testing of application and possible calculation errors
- Inefficient systems
- Poorly controlled
- Poorly documented
- System incompatibilities
- Duplication of data
- Increase costs in later years with upgrades
MANAGING AND CONTROLLING END-USER COMPUTING
help desk - Analysts and technicians who answer employee questions with the purpose of encouraging, supporting, coordinating, and controlling end- user activity.
Business Process Management
Business process reengineering (BPR):
- Drastic, one-time-event approach to improving and automating business processes – clean slate approach, redevelop from scratch, success rate quite low, can not cherry pick what you wanst to keep
- -Low success rate BPR evolved into
Business Process Management (BPM):
– Systematic approach to continuously improving and optimising an organisation’s business processes. – identify problems and apply fixes
Important principles underlying BPM:
Business processes can produce competitive advantages. -> Innovative processes that help business respond to changing consumer, market, and regulatory demands faster than competitors create competitive advantages.
Business processes must be managed end-to-end.-> BPM views business processes as strategic organizational assets that should be understood, managed, and improved. Even if each part of a multifunctional business process functions well independently, the entire process may be suboptimal if there is inadequate communication and coordina- tion among functional units (sales, production, etc.).
Business processes should be agile. -> Organizations must continuously improve and adapt their business processes to compete. This requires flexibility and business process auto- mation technology that supports rapid modifications.
Business processes must be aligned with strategy and needs. -> To be effective and efficient, a company must align its business processes with its business strategy.
