1. BUSINESS PLUG-IN B14
Systems Development

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES
Summarize the activities associated with the planning phase in the SDLC
Summarize the activities associated with the analysis phase in the SDLC
Summarize the activities associated with the design phase in the SDLC
Summarize the activities associated with the development phase in the SDLC
1. Summarize the activities associated with the planning phase in the SDLC
Primary planning activities include:
Identify and select the system for development
Assess project feasibility
Develop the project plan
2. Summarize the activities associated with the analysis phase in the SDLC
Primary analysis activities include:
Gather business requirements
Create process diagrams
Perform a buy vs. build analysis
3. Summarize the activities associated with the design phase in the SDLC
Primary design activities include:
Design the IT infrastructure
Design system models
4. Summarize the activities associated with the development phase in the SDLC
Primary development activities include:
Develop the IT infrastructure
Develop the database and programs

3. LEARNING OUTCOMES
Summarize the activities associated with the testing phase in the SDLC
Summarize the activities associated with the implementation phase in the SDLC
Summarize the activities associated with the maintenance phase in the SDLC

4. Introduction
Large, complex IT systems take teams of architects, analysts, developers, testers, and users many years to create
The systems development life cycle is the foundation for many systems development methodologies such as RAD and agile
Systems development life cycle – the overall process for developing information systems from planning and analysis through implementation and maintenance

5. Introduction

6. Systems Development Life Cycle - PHASE 1: PLANNING
Planning phase – involves establishing a high-level plan of the intended project and determining project goals
Primary planning activities include
Identify and select the system for development
Assess project feasibility
Develop the project plan

7. PLANNING 1: Identify and Select the System for Development
Organizations use different forms of evaluation criteria to determine which systems to develop
Critical success factor (CSF) – a factor that is critical to an organization’s success

8. PLANNING 1: Identify and Select the System for Development

9. PLANNING 2: Assess Project Feasibility
Feasibility study – determines if the proposed solution is feasible and achievable from a financial, technical, and organizational standpoint
Different types of feasibility studies
Economic feasibility study
Operational feasibility study
Technical feasibility study
Schedule feasibility study
Legal and contractual feasibility study

10. PLANNING 3: Develop the Project Plan
Developing the project plan is a difficult and important activity
The project plan is the guiding force behind on-time delivery of a complete and successful system
Continuous updating of the project plan must be performed during every subsequent phase during the SDLC

11. Systems Development Life Cycle – PHASE 2: ANALYSIS
Analysis phase – involves analyzing end-user business requirements and refining project goals into defined functions and operations of the intended system
Primary analysis activities include:
Gather business requirements
Create process diagrams
Perform a buy vs. build analysis

12. ANALYSIS 1: Gather Business Requirements
Business requirements – the detailed set of business requests that the system must meet in order to be successful
Different ways to gather business requirements
Joint application development (JAD) session – where employees meet to define or review the business requirements for the system
Interviews
Questionnaires
Observations
Review business documents

13. ANALYSIS 1: Gather Business Requirements
The system users review the requirements definition document and determine if they will sign-off on the business requirements
Requirements definition document – contains the final set of business requirements, prioritized in order of business importance
Sign-off – the system users’ actual signatures indicating they approve all of the business requirements

14. ANALYSIS 2: Create Process Diagrams
Process modeling – graphically representing the processes that capture, manipulate, store, and distribute information between a system and its environment
Common process modeling diagrams include
Data flow diagram (DFD) – illustrates the movement of information between external entities and the processes and data stores within the system
Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools –automate systems analysis, design, and development

15. ANALYSIS 2: Create Process Diagrams
Sample data flow diagram

16. ANALYSIS 3: Perform a Buy vs. Build Analysis
An organization faces two primary choices when deciding to develop an information system
Buy the information system from a vendor
Commercial off-the shelf (COTS) – software package or solution that is purchased to support one or more business functions and information systems
SCM, CRM, and ERP solutions are typically COTS
Build the information system itself

17. ANALYSIS 3: Perform a Buy vs. Build Analysis
Organizations must consider the following when making a buy vs. build decision:
Are there any currently available products that fit the needs?
Are there features that are not available and important enough to warrant the expense of in-house development?
Can the organization customize or modify an existing COTS to fit its needs?
Is there a justification to purchase or develop based on the acquisition cost?

18. ANALYSIS 3: Perform a Buy vs. Build Analysis
Three key factors an organization should also consider when contemplating the buy vs. build decision
Time to market
Availability of corporate resources
Corporate core competencies

19. Systems Development Life Cycle – PHASE 3: DESIGN
Design phase – involves describing the desired features and operations of the system including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, pseudo code, and other documentation
Primary design activities include:
Design the IT infrastructure
Design system models

20. DESIGN 1: Design the IT Infrastructure
Sample IT infrastructure

21. DESIGN 2: Design System Models
Modeling – the activity of drawing a graphical representation of a design
Different modeling types include:
Graphical user interface (GUI)
GUI screen design
Data model
Entity relationship diagram (ERD)

22. DESIGN 2: Design System Models
Sample entity relationship diagram (ERD)

23. Systems Development Life Cycle – PHASE 4: DEVELOPMENT
Development phase – involves taking all of the detailed design documents from the design phase and transforming them into the actual system
Primary development activities include:
Develop the IT infrastructure
Develop the database and programs

24. Systems Development Life Cycle – PHASE 5: TESTING
Testing phase – involves bringing all the project pieces together into a special testing environment to test for errors, bugs, and interoperability, in order to verify that the system meets all the business requirements defined in the analysis phase
Primary testing activities include:
Write the test conditions
Perform the system testing

25. TESTING 1: Write the Test Conditions
Test condition – the detailed steps the system must perform along with the expected results of each step

26. TESTING 2: Perform the System Testing
Different types of testing
Unit testing – tests each unit of code upon completion
Application (or system) testing – verifies that all units of code work together
Integration testing – exposes faults in the integration of software components or units
Backup and recovery testing – tests the ability of an application to be restarted after failure
Documentation testing – verifies instruction guides are helpful and accurate
User acceptance testing (UAT) – tests if a system satisfies its acceptance criteria

27. Systems Development Life Cycle – PHASE 6: IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation phase – involves placing the system into production so users can begin to perform actual business operations with the system
Primary implementation activities include:
Write detailed user documentation
Determine implementation method
Provide training for the system users

28. IMPLEMENTATION 1: Write Detailed User Documentation
System users require user documentation that highlights how to use the system
User documentation – highlights how to use the system

29. IMPLEMENTATION 2: Determine Implementation Method
Four primary implementation methods
Parallel implementation
Plunge implementation
Pilot implementation
Phased implementation

30. IMPLEMENTATION 3: Provide Training for the System Users
Organizations must provide training for system users
Two most popular types of training include:
Online training – runs over the Internet or off a CD-ROM
Workshop training – set in a classroom-type environment and led by an instructor

31. Systems Development Life Cycle – PHASE 7: MAINTENANCE
Maintenance phase – involves performing changes, corrections, additions, and upgrades to ensure the system continues to meet the business goals
Primary maintenance activities include:
Build a help desk to support the system users
Perform system maintenance
Provide an environment to support system changes

32. MAINTENANCE 1: Build a Help Desk to Support the System Users
Internal system users have a phone number for the help desk they call whenever they have issues or questions about the system
Help desk – a group of people who respond to internal system user questions
Providing a help desk is an excellent way to provide comprehensive support for new system users

33. MAINTENANCE 2: Perform System Maintenance
Maintenance – fixing or enhancing an information system
Different types of maintenance include:
Adaptive maintenance
Corrective maintenance
Perfective maintenance
Preventative maintenance

34. MAINTENANCE 3: PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENT TO SUPPORT SYSTEM CHANGES
An organization must modify its systems to support the business environment
It typically accomplishes this through change management systems and change control boards
Change management system – a collection of procedures to document a change request and define the steps necessary to consider the change based on the expected impact of the change
Change control board (CCB) – responsible for approving or rejecting all change requests

35. CLOSING CASE ONE Disaster at Denver International Airport
DIAs baggage system relied on 300 computers to route bags and 4,000 telecars to carry luggage across 21 miles of track
Due to baggage system failures, DIA delayed its opening for 16 months, costing taxpayers roughly $1 million per day, which totaled around $500 million

36. CLOSING CASE ONE QUESTIONS
One of the problems with DIA’s baggage system was inadequate testing. Describe the different types of tests DIA could have used to help ensure its baggage system’s success
Evaluate the different implementation approaches. Which one would have most significantly increased the chances of the project’s success?
Explain the cost of finding errors. How could more time spent in the analysis and design phase have saved Colorado taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars?
Why could BAE not take an existing IT infrastructure and simply increase its scale and expect it to work?

37. CLOSING CASE TWO Reducing Ambiguity in Business Requirements
The number one reason projects fail is bad business requirements
Business requirements are considered “bad” because of ambiguity or insufficient involvement of end users during analysis and design
A requirement is unambiguous if it has the same interpretation for all parties

38. CLOSING CASE TWO QUESTIONS
Why are ambiguous business requirements the leading cause of system development failures?
Why do the words “and” and “or” tend to lead to ambiguous requirements?
Research the web and determine other reasons for “bad” business requirements
What is wrong with the following business requirement: “The system must support employee birthdays since every employee always has a birthday every year”