Lesson 2.4 Systems Planning and Selection Flashcards
2.4 Questions
(Moded from notes) What are the 3 primary activities of project identification and selection? Who can be assigned to this process? What criteria goes into the evaluation and selection of potential projects? ____________________________________________________________________ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _unfinished _______
Project identification and selection consists of three primary activities: identifying potential development projects، classifying and ranking projects، and selecting projects for development.
A variety of organizational members or units can be assigned to perform this process، including top management، a diverse steering committee، business units and functional managers، the development group، or the most senior IS executive.
Potential projects can be evaluated and selected using a broad range of criteria such as value chain analysis، alignment with business strategy، potential benefits، resource availability and requirements، and risks. Project initiation and planning is a critical activity in the life of a project.
At this point، projects are accepted for development، rejected as infeasible، or redirected. The objective of this process is to transform a vague system request into a tangible system description، clearly outlining the objectives، feasibility issues، benefits، costs، and time schedules for the project. Project initiation includes forming the project initiation team، establishing customer relationships، developing a plan to get the project started، setting project management procedures، and creating an overall project management environment. After project initiation، project planning focuses on assessing numerous feasibility issues associated with the project in order to create a clear baseline project plan.
Explain the need for and the contents of a project scope statement and a baseline project plan.
A project scope statement and a baseline project plan are created during project initiationand planning. The project scope statement is a short document prepared for the customer that describes what the project will deliver and outlines all work required to complete the project; it ensures that both you and your customer gain a common understanding of the project. The baseline project plan contains an introduction، a high-level description of the proposed system or system change، an outline of the various feasibilities، and an overview of management issues specific to the project. Before the development of an information system can begin، the users، management، and development group must review and agree on this specification.
List and describe various methods for assessing project feasibility.
Assessing project feasibility can include an examination of economic، operational، technical، schedule، legal and contractual، and political aspects of the project. This assessment is influenced by the project size، the type of system proposed، and the collective experience of the development group and potential customers of the system. High project costs and risks are not necessarily bad; rather it is more important that the organization understands the costs and risks associated with a project and with the portfolio of active projects before proceeding
Describe the differences between tangible and intangible benefits and costs، and the differences between one-time and recurring costs.
Tangible benefits can be easily measured in dollars and with certainty. Intangible benefits cannot be easily measured in dollars or with certainty. Tangible costs can be easily measured in dollars and with certainty. Intangible costs cannot be easily measured in terms of dollars or with certainty. One-time costs are associated with project start-up and development. Recurring costs result
from the ongoing evolution and use of a system.
Describe what it means to perform cost-benefit analysis
Describe what is meant by the:
time value of money،
present value،
discount rate،
net present value،
return on investment،
and break-even analysis.
The time value of money refers to comparing present cash outlays to future expected returns. Thus، the present value represents the current value of a future cash flow. The discount rate refers to the rate of return used to compute the present value of future cash flows. The net present value uses a discount rate to gain the present value of a project’s overall benefits and costs. The return on investment is the ratio of the cash benefits of a project divided by the cash costs; trade-off analysis can be made among projects by comparing their representative ROI ratios. Break-even analysis finds the amount of time required for the cumulative incoming cash flow (the benefits) from a project to equal its initial and ongoing investment (the costs).
Describe the activities and participant roles within a structured walkthrough.
A walkthrough assesses the merits of the project and ensures that the project، if accepted for development، conforms to organizational standards and goals. An objective of this process is also to make sure that all relevant parties understand and agree with the information contained in the baseline project plan before subsequent development activities begin. Several individuals participate in a walkthrough، including the coordinator، presenter، user، secretary، standards bearer، and maintenance oracle. Each plays a specific role to make sure that the walkthrough is a success. Walkthroughs are used to assess all types of project deliverables، including system specifications، logical and physical designs، code and program segments، test procedures and results، and manuals and documentation.
The highest-costing projects generally originate from which source in an organization?
Top management
When selecting a project for development، how many decision outcomes are available?
Seven
True or False? The baseline project plan is one of the major deliverables from project initiation and planning.
.True
Increased employee morale is considered a(n) ___ benefit.
Intangible
The first section of a baseline project plan to follow the introduction is the ___.
System description
