11/26: How IS Systems Change the Organization, Systems-Building Systems as planned organizational change Systems development Influences on & challenges to implementation Systems development approaches Systems building methodologies

Systems: organizational change Linking to the business plan The plan Establishing organizational info requirements Enterprise analysis vs. Strategic analysis Systems development & organizational change Automation, rationalization, reengineering, paradigm shift

Systems as planned organizational change “One cannot install new technology without considering the people who must work with it.” Systems can be technical successes yet be organizational failures if the political process fails. The IS plan must be linked to the business plan, supporting overall business goals & integrated into top-level planning.

The Information Systems Plan Serves as a road map to describe: The purpose of the plan Strategic business plan: current situation Current IS systems Management strategy Implementation plan Budget requirements

2 Ways to Find the IS Requirements Enterprise Analysis: “looking at the whole” Central approach: ask large number of managers: How they use information, where they get it What their environments are like What their objectives are How they make decisions What their data needs are Create logical application groups: Groups of data elements that support related sets of organizational processes. Tends to automate whatever exists, no fundamental change.

2 Ways to Find the IS Requirements Strategic Analysis, or CSF: Critical Success Factors CSFs shaped by industry, environment, and manager Central approach: 3-4 personal interviews with top management, identify goals and the CSFs. Advantages smaller data set to analyze. Takes into account the environment & industry. Disadvantages: it’s an art form opinions may differ on what the CSFs are Biased toward top management

Systems development & org. change paradigm shift RISK reengineering rationalization automation RETURN

Systems development & org. change Automation Using the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks

Systems development & org. change Rationalization Involves streamlining of standard operating procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks, so that automation makes operating procedures more efficient.

Systems development & org. change Reengineering Radical redesign of business processes, combining & eliminating steps to reduce waste and repetition, to improve cost, quality, and service. Management must understand & measure current design to assess improvements with new design.

Systems development & org. change Paradigm shift Rethinking the nature of the business and the nature of the organization itself.

Systems Development All activities that produce an IS solution to an organizational problem or opportunity. A structured kind of problem-solving with six distinct activities: Systems analysis Systems design Programming Testing Conversion Production & Maintenance

Systems Analysis Defining the problem Identifying its causes Specifying the solution Identifying the information requirements needed.

Systems Analysis Includes a feasibility study Technical feasibility Is the proposed solution technically achievable? Is it possible? Economic feasibility Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Operational feasibility Will it work in the organizational & managerial framework? Do an organizational impact analysis: How a new IS will affect org. structure, attitudes, decision-making, and operations.

S.A.: Information Requirements Basically: who needs what information, when, where, and how? Incredibly important!

Systems Design Detailed how a systems will met the information requirements as determined by the systems analysis. Like a blueprint of a house Logical design Lays out IS components and their relationships as they would appear TO USERS. Shows what the proposed IS is supposed to DO. Physical design Specs out the hardware, sofware, databases, etc.

Programming & Testing Programming: System specifications created in the design phase are translated into program code. Testing: vital step, often shortchanged. Unit testing: seeking errors in particular programs System testing: does the whole thing work together? Acceptance testing: evaluation by real users, review by management.

Conversion Putting the new IS into production Parallel strategy: run both old & new simultaneously. Direct cutover: Old completely replaced by new on spec. day. Pilot study: Limited implementation by small group of users. Phased approach: Parts of new IS are introduced separately.

Production & Maintenance New IS is up and running: in production. At this point, changes in the IS are called “maintenance”. Changes made are usually to improve efficiency.

Influences on & Challenges to Systems Implementation User involvement & influence Management support Level of complexity & risk Management of implementation

Systems Development Approaches Traditional systems lifecycle Prototyping Application software packages End-user development Outsourcing

Traditional Systems Lifecycle Variation of systems development cycle Oldest method for building ISes, necessary for large, complex projects. Steps: Project definition systems study Design Programming Installation Postimplementation

Systems Lifecycle: Steps 1 & 2 Project definition: Is there a problem? Can it be solved with a project? System study Analyze problems in existing systems Define objectives Evaluate alternatives

Systems Lifecycle: Steps 3 & 4 Design: Logical & physical specifications for systems solution Programming: Develop software code

Systems Lifecycle: Steps 5 & 6 Installation: Construct, test, train, Convert to new system Postinstallation: On-going evaluation, Modifications for improvement to meet new requirements

Other Approaches: Prototyping Create an experimental system rapidly and inexpensively for end-users Steps: Identify the user’s basic requirements. Develop an initial prototype. Use the prototype. Revise & enhance the prototype. Iterative approach: repeat the process. Especially good for end-user interfaces.

Other Approaches: Application Software Packages Buying a premade, prepackaged application software package. Prewritten code can often fulfill most requirements of an proposed IS. Customization Can be modified to meet needs better with optional add-ons.

Application Software Packages: Examples Accounts receivable; Bond & stock management; Computer-aided design (CAD) ; document imaging; E- mail; Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP); Groupware; Health care; Hotel Management; Internet telephone; Inventory control; Job costing; Library systems; Life insurance; Mailing labels; Mathematical / statistical modeling; Order processing; Payroll; Process control;Tax accounting; Web browser; Word processing

Other Approaches: End-User Development End-users develop information system with little help from technical specialists using 4th Generation tools. Advantages: Increased user satisfaction Improved requirements determination Reduced applications backlog for IS dept. Disadvantages: Relatively inefficient, rarely scalable May hamper updating systems & requirements

Other Approaches: Outsourcing Contracting Computer center operations Telecommunications networks Application development to external vendors

Systems-Building Methodologies Structured methodologies Structured analysis Structured design Structured programming

Structured Methodologies Techniques are step-by-step, each step building on the last one. Structured analysis Structured design Structured programming

Structured Analysis Widely used to define inputs, processes, and outputs. Logical, graphical model of information flow Primary tool: Data Flow Diagram (DFD) Process specifications describe the transformation occurring within the lowest level of the data flow diagram. They express the logic for each process.

Symbols for Data Flow Diagrams PROCESS SOURCE OR SINK FILE

Data Flow Diagram (DFD) GENERATE BALANCE GENERATE BILL CUSTOMER FILE PAYMENT FILE GENERATE REPORT CUSTOMER  MANAGER

Structured Design A set of design rules and techniques that promotes program clarify & simplicity. Reduces effort of coding, debugging, etc. Documented in a structure chart: Top-down chart, showing each level of design & its relationship to other levels. Payroll Get valid inputs Calc. pay Write outputs Get inputs Validate inputs Calc. Gross pay Calc. Net pay Update master Write checks

Structured Programming Extends the principles of structured design to writing of programs to make software programs easy to understand and modify. 3 constructs: Sequence control (do this, then do that) Selection control (do this IF that, else do other) Iteration control (do this WHILE that is true)