Asper School of Business University of Manitoba Systems
Asper School of Business University of Manitoba Systems Analysis & Design Instructor: Bob Travica Systems maintenance & adoption Updated: November 2013
Outline Maintenance concept n Maintenance types n Maintenance costs n System adoption n Counter-Adoption methods n Management of Counter-Adoption n 2 of 9
System Operation n Systems operation (production stage) – period after deployment (cutover, rollout, going live) in which a system is used in daily work n Technical activities : Fine-tuning & upgrading of the system - maintenance activities n Management activities: Promoting system adoption 3 of 9
System Maintenance n Usually, more human resources are involved in maintaining systems than in developing new systems. n Upgrades can accumulate over time to the extent that a resulting system is significantly different from the initial system - hard to differentiate between maintenance and development. 4 of 9
Maintenance types n Corrective maintenance - Fixing software bugs (70% of all maintenance) n Responsive maintenance - Respond to business needs (add a function, user interface fix, add storage, etc. ) n Preventive maintenance – Anticipate business needs (examples as for responsive maintenance)
Maintenance Cost Factors n Number of clients (users) of the system n Quality of code & overall design n Quality of system documentation n Quality of maintenance personnel n Availability of automated tools $ $ No. of clients Code quality, Documentation quality, Personnel quality, Automated tools 6 of 9
System Adoption • Process of making a system part of routine work. Includes motivating end-users. Management issue involving higher IS managers and biz managers. • Speed of adoption: End-users Early Adopters Resistors Later Adopters 7 of 9
Counter-Adoption Methods • Not-Invented Here Syndrome (“system developers don’t really understand our needs”) vs. actually expert/vendor-imposed solution • System is hard to use (Ease of Use is the key cause to system adoption in Technology Acceptance Model) • Money is tight (cutting funds for software, hardware, labor to halt system development vs. a real need for savings) • Withholding resources needed for adoption (end user support, time for learning, money/time for training for upgrades) vs. legitimate prioritizing 8 of 9
Managing Counter-Adoption • Involve end-users in system development • Promote change agents (get managers aboard, give incentives, train users motivated to educate others) • Educate end-users and managers on benefits from the system. Note that each group may have different benefits. • Deal with costs: • End-users (learning new skills; loss of old skills) • Managers (e. g. , power loss issues) • Organizational costs (manage time, plan temporary efficiency loss, manage moral ) 9 of 9
- Slides: 9