Chapter 10: Acquiring Information Systems Through Projects Flashcards
Software development (or application development).
When an organization builds software
Five basic ways to acquire a software application:
Buy it and use it as is.
Buy it and customize it. (Most Common)
Rent or lease it.
Build it yourself.
Outsource it.
Project management body of knowledge (PMBOK)
Provides project managers, sponsors, and team leaders with a large array of accepted project management techniques and practices
Elements of a project
1) Begin with a set of goals or objectives
- from these, a scope for the project is developed, and project managers are given resources such as people, money, and work space
2) projects usually have a start and end date
IT projects
Projects of all shapes and sizes that renew and adapt IT infrastructure
Include: installation of a new email application, a CRM system, or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system
IT projects are rarely if ever exclusively about _______: They affect data, people, and processes.
technology
Information technology project management (ITPM)
The collection of techniques and methods that project managers use to plan, coordinate, and complete IT projects
Tools included in ITPM
- work breakdown structures;
- budgeting methods;
- graphical scheduling methods, such as PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique) and Gantt charts;
- risk management techniques;
- communication planning; and high-tech team development
The guide to the PMBOK suggests that there are five process groups in any project:
(1) initiating,
(2) planning,
(3) executing,
(4) controlling and monitoring, and
(5) closing
Don’t think of these as sperate entities, but as overlapping steps in the process
Nine project knowledge areas:
(1) integration management,
(2) scope management,
(3) time management,
(4) cost management,
(5) quality management,
(6) human resources management,
(7) communications management,
(8) risk management, and
(9) procurement management. Inside each of these knowledge areas are techniques that project managers use to manage their projects.
Project management professionals (PMPs)
Individuals certified by the Product Management Institute as having product management skills
The IT department is generally responsible for providing IT services to an organization and they provide two services
The first is maintaining the current IT infrastructure,
Second is renewing and adapting the infrastructure to keep IT working effectively in the future.
IT Operations or IT Services
Service maintenance, protection, and management of IT infrastructure
The distinction between operations and projects
One, operational work and project work tend to attract two different types of IT professionals.
IT people who prefer to work in operations often want to specialize in particular technologies such as Networking specialists, operating systems specialists, database administrators, and hardware technicians
Production systems
The entire set of systems that support operations
Keywords in IT operations
Stability, predictability, accountability, reliability, and security
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
Well-recognized collection of books providing a framework of best practice approaches to IT operations
ITIL provides a large set of management procedures that are designed to support businesses in achieving value from IT operations
IT project risk
Structural risk, volatility risk, and project process; performance, knowledge resources, organizational support, project management practices, and both process and product performance
Most important risks from IT projects
Recognize that the primary risks do not necessarily emerge from the technology
Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
Classic process used to develop information systems. These basic tasks of systems development are combined into the following phases: system definition, requirements analysis, component design, implementation, and system maintenance (fic or enhance)
Systems development
The process of creating and maintaining information systems. Sometimes called systems analysis and design
The number of phases in the SDLC varies by organization and author.
To keep it simple, we will look at a five-phase process:
System definition
Requirements analysis
Component design
Implementation
System maintenance
agile methods
Development methods, such as rapid application development (RAD) and object-oriented systems development (OOD), and extreme programming
Systems analysis
Process of creating and maintaining information systems, (aka systems development)
System definition phase
First phase in the SDLC, in which developers, with the help of eventual users, define the new system’s goals and scope, assess its feasibility, form a project team, amd plan the project
Feasibility has four dimensions:
1) cost feasibility,
2) schedule feasibility,
3) technical feasibility,
4) and organizational feasibility
Technical feasibility
refers to whether existing information technology is likely to be compatible with the needs of the new system
Organizational feasibility
concerns whether the new system fits within the organization’s customs, culture, charter, or legal requirements.
requirements analysis phase
Second phase in the SDLC, in which developers conduct user interviews, evaluate existing systems, determine new forms / reports/ queries, identify new features and functions, including security and create the data model
systems analysts
Information systems professional who understand both business and technology. They are active throughout the system development process and play a key role in moving the project from conception to conversion and ultimately maintenance. System, analysts integrate the work of the programmers, testers, and users
business analysts
Analysts who develop the business case for a newly proposed system and develop the requirements for the system
The easiest and cheapest time to alter the information system is in the _______
requirements phase
When these discrepancies are identified, the organization faces three choices
These choices are to (1) modify the software, (2) modify the organizational procedures and data, or (3) live with the problems.
commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)
Software that is purchased as-is and is not customized
Phase 3: Component Design
Each of the five components of an information system must be designed. Typically, the team designs each component by developing alternatives, evaluating each of the options against the requirements, and then selecting among those alternatives.
also involves developing job descriptions for both users and operations personnel
Phase 4: Implementation
Tasks in this phase include building, testing, and converting the users to the new system
test plan
Groups of sequences of actions that users will take when using the new system
product quality assurance (PQA)
Testing of a system. PQA personnel usually construct a test plan with the advice and assistance of users. PQA test engineers perform testing, and they also supervise user test activity
Beta testing
Process of allowing future system users to try out the new system on their own
Used to locate program failures just prior to program shipment
system conversion
Process of converting a business activity from the old system to the new
Organizations can implement a system conversion in one of four ways:
Figure 10-9
Pilot
Phased
Parallel
Plunge – typically avoid this
Pilot installation
organization implements the entire system in a limited portion of the business.
The advantage of pilot implementation is that if the system fails, the failure is contained within a limited boundary. This reduces the business’s exposure and also protects the new system from developing a negative reputation throughout the organization.
Phased installation
the new system is installed in phases across the organization. Once a given piece works, the organization then installs and tests another piece of the system, until the entire system has been installed
Parallel installation
new system runs in parallel with the old one until the new system is tested and fully operational. Parallel installation is expensive because the organization incurs the costs of running both systems. Users must work double time, if you will, to run both systems
the slowest and most expensive style of installation, but it does provide an easy fallback position if the new system fails.
Plunge installation (aka direct or cutover installation)
The organization shuts the old system down and starts the new system. If the new system fails, the organization is in trouble: Nothing can be done until either the new system is fixed or the old system is reinstalled
Maintenance phase
Last part of the SDLC, which starts the process over again
patch
Group of fixes for high-priority failures that can be applied to existing copies of a particular product.
Software vendors supply patches to fix security ad other critical problems
Service packs
Large group of fixes that solve low-priority software problems.
Users apply service packs in much the same way they apply patches, except service packs involve fixes to hundreds or thousands of problems
waterfall method
Sequence of nonrepetitive phases
Analysis paralysis
When too much time is spent documenting project requirements
Outsourcing
Is the process of hiring another organization to perform a service.
Offshoring
When the vendor is over seas
common reasons for choosing to outsource
First, outsourcing can be an easy way to gain expertise
Second, cost reduction
Third, reduce development risks
Risks of outsourcing
1) ensuing loss of control over the service
2) the outsource vendor may change its pricing strategy over time
3) organization can find itself paying for another organization’s mismanagement, with little recourse
4) ending the agreement
Application service providers (ASPs)
Special form of outsourcing in which an organization contracts with a vendor to rent applications from the vendor company on a free-for-service basis
