Tuesday 11 October 2016

Chapter 12 Exploring Information System Development
October 10,2016. Monday

What is System Development? 
System is a set of components that interact to achieve a common
 goal.
Information system is a collection of hardware, software, data, people  and procedures that work together to produce information.

System development activities are grouped into phases, sometimes is  called the system development life cycle (SDLC).


•System development should follow three general guidelines:
-Group activities or tasks into phases
-Involve users 
-Define standards 

      System development should involve representatives from each  department in which the proposed system will be used 

•Project management is the process of planning, scheduling, and then  controlling the activities during system development. 
•To plan and schedule a project efficiently, the project leader identifies:
-Project scope 
-Required activities 
-Time estimates for each activity
-Cost estimates for each activity
-Order of activities 
-Activities that can take place at the same time 

 A popular tool used to plan and schedule the time relationships  among project activities is a Gantt chart 

      A PERT chart also can be used for planning and scheduling time 

•Feasibility is a measure of how suitable the development of a system  will be to the organization:
 -Operational feasibility 
 -Schedule feasibility 
 -Technical feasibility
 -Economic feasibility

 Documentation is the collection and summarization of data and  information
 -A project notebook contains all documentation for a single project

 Users and IT professionals refer to existing documentation when  working with and modifying current systems 

•During system development, members of the project team gather  data and information using several techniques
-Review documentation
-Observe
-Survey
-Interview
-JAD Sessions 
-Research

Who Initiates a System Development Project?
A user may request a new or modified system

Organizations may want to improve hardware, software, or other  technology

Situations beyond an organization’s control might require a change

Management might mandate a change

A user may request a new or modified information system using a  request for system services or a project request 


Planning Phase 
•The planning phase for a project begins when the steering commitee  receives a project request
•Four major activities are performed:
-Review and approve the project requests
-Prioritize the project requests
-Allocate resources
-Form a project development team

Analysis Phase
•The analysis phase consists of two major activities:
  1.Conduct a preliminary investigation
     -Determines and defines the exact nature of the problem or               improvement
     -Interview the user who submitted the request 
   2.Perform detailed analysis 
     -Study how the current system works 
     -Determine the user' wants, needs, and requirements 
     -Recommend a solution

•Process modeling (structured analysis and design) is an analysis and  design technique that describes processes that transform inputs into  outputs
  -Entity-relationship diagrams 
  -Data flow diagrams 
  -Project dictionary

 An entity-relationship diagram (ERD) is a tool that graphically  shows the connections among entities in a system

 Entities are objects in the system that have data 

 A data flow diagram (DFD) is a tool that graphically shows the flow  of data in a system
    -Data flows
    -Processes
    -Data stores
    -Sources 

 The project dictionary contains all the documentation and  deliverables of a project

 Structured English is a style of writing that describes the steps in a  process 

•A decision table is a table that lists a variety of conditions and the  actions that correspond to each condition
•A decision tree also shows conditions and actions, but it shows them  graphically

 The data dictionary stores the data item’s name, description, and  other details about each data item 

•Objectmodeling combines the data with the processes that act on that  data into a single unit, called an object. 
•UML(Unified Modeling Language)has been adopted as a standard notation for object modeling and development
-UML includes 13 different diagrams
-Two diagrams include:
   -Use case diagram
   -Class diagram
 A use case diagram graphically shows how actors (users) interact  with the information system

 Diagrams are considered easy to understand 

 A class diagram graphically shows classes and subclasses in a system
 Each class can have one or more subclasses
 Subclasses use inheritance to inherit methods and attributes of  higher levels 

•The system proposal assesses the feasibility of each alternative solution
•The steering committee discusses the system proposal and decides  which alternative to pursue
  -Packaged software
  -Custom software 
  -Outsourcing

Design Phase 
•The design phase consists of two major activities:
 -Acquire hardware and software
 -Develop all of the details of the new or modified information system

      To acquire the necessary hardware and software: 

•The next step is to develop detailed design specifications
  -Sometimes called a physical design:
      -database design
      -Input and output design
      -Program design

 Systems analysts typically develop two types of designs for each  input and output 

 A prototype (proof of concept) is a working model of the proposed  system
  -Prototypes have inadequate or missing documentation
  -Users tend to embrace the prototype as a final system
  -Should not eliminate or replace activities 

•Computer-aided software engineering(CASE)tools are designed to support one or more activities of system development
•CASE tools sometimes contain the following tools:
 -Project repository
 -Graphics
 -Prototyping 
 -Quality assurance
 -Code generator
 -Housekeeping 

 Many people should review the detailed design specifications
 An inspection is a formal review of any system development  deliverable
   –     A team examines the deliverables to identify errors 

Implementation Phase
•The purpose of the implementation phase is to construct the new or  modified system and then deliver it 
 -Develop programs
 -Install and test the new system
 -Train users
 -Convert to the new system
•The program development life cycle follows these steps:
  -Analyze the requirements 
  -Design the solution 
  -Validate the design 
  -Implement the design 
  -Test the solution
  -Document the solution 
•Various tests should be performed on the new system
 1.Unit test 
   -Verifies that each individual program or object works by itself 
 2.Systems test 
   -Verifies that all programs in an application work together properly
 3.Integration test 
   -Verifies that an application works with other applications 
 4.Acceptance test 
    -Checks the new system to ensure that it works with actual data 
 Training involves showing users exactly how they will use the new  hardware and software in the system
   –     One-on-one sessions
   –     Classroom-style lectures
   –     Web-based training 

 One or more of four conversion strategies can be used to change  from the old system to the new system 

Operation, Support, and Security Phase
•The purpose of the operation, support, and security phase is to  provide ongoing assistance for an information system and its users  after the system is implemented
  -Perform maintenance activities > Monitor system performance >         Assess system security
•A computer security plan should do the following:
 -Identify all information assets of an organization 
 -Identify all security risks that may cause an information asset loss
 -For each risk, identify the safeguards that exist to detect, prevent,     and recover from a loss. 

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