Building Information Systems Management Information Systems Managing the

Building Information Systems Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Chapter 13

Activities that go into producing an information system solution to an organizational problem or opportunity are called systems development. Example: Manual processing ticket processing vs Automated Steps in systems development § § § Systems analysis Systems design Programming Testing Conversion Production and maintenance Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon ticket Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Systems Development

1. Systems Analysis • Systems analysis § § § Defining the problem and identifying causes Specifying solutions ○ Systems proposal report identifies and examines alternative solutions (in-house, outsource, out of the boxe. g. Ticket Tailor, Purplepass Ticketing) Identifying information requirements such as passenger name, one way or round trip, source airport, destination airport, date etc. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Analysis of problem to be solved by new system

1. Systems Analysis § § Whether the new system is achievable from a financial, technical, and organization standpoint? Financial standpoint: Whether the investment for a new system is a good investment? Analyze company budget, financial statements, and forecast sales Technical standpoint: Whether the company have necessary IT infrastructure? Organization standpoint: Whether the workforces are able to adopt the change? Questionnaire survey can help to answer the question. Whether the processes have to be re-designed or not? Demonstration of available systems will help to answer the question. Establishing information requirements § § Who needs what information, where, when, and how Faulty requirements analysis is leading cause of systems failure and high systems development cost Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Feasibility study

The design of a system is the overall plan or model for the system. Like the blueprint of a building or house, it consists of all the specifications that give the system its form and structure. Role of end users § § § User information requirements drive system building Users must have sufficient control over design process to ensure system reflects their business priorities and information needs Insufficient user involvement in design effort is major cause of system failure Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. 2. Systems Design

Systems Design Specifications INPUT Origins Flow Data entry USER INTERFACE Simplicity Efficiency Logic Feedback Errors DATABASE DESIGN Logical data model Volume and speed requirements File organization and design Record specifications PROCESSING Computations Program modules Required reports Timing of outputs DOCUMENTATION Operations documentation Systems documents User documentation CONVERSION Transfer files Initiate new procedures Select testing method Cut over to new system MANUAL PROCEDURES What activities Who performs them When How Where CONTROLS Input controls (characters, limit, reasonableness) Processing controls (consistency, record counts) Output controls (totals, samples of output) Procedural controls (passwords, special forms) SECURITY Access controls Catastrophe plans Audit trails Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e TRAINING Select training techniques Develop training modules Identify training facilities ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES Task redesign Job redesign Process design Organization structure design Reporting relationships Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. OUTPUT Medium Content Timing

3. Systems Development • The steps in the systems development process translate the solution specifications established during systems analysis and design into a fully operational systems. System specifications from design stage are translated into software program code using Java, C++, C# etc. Step 2 - Testing Ensures system produces right results Unit testing: Tests each module in system separately System testing: Test functioning of system as a whole such as load testing, performance testing in peak hour etc. Acceptance testing: Makes sure system is ready to be used in production setting. Systems tests are evaluated by users and reviewed by management Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Step 1 - Programming:

3. Systems Development Step 3 - Conversion Process of changing from old system to new system § § Parallel strategy: old and new systems are run at the same time. It is the safest conversion strategy because in the event of error with the new system, the old system can be used as backup. Direct cutover: replaces the old system entirely. It is a risky strategy. Pilot study: new system is introduced at some part of the organization. Phased approach: introduces new systems in stages. Requires end-user training to use the new system Finalization of detailed documentation showing how system works from technical and end-user standpoint Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Four main strategies

3. Systems Development Step 4 - Production and maintenance In the production stage system is reviewed to determine if revisions needed. This may include post-implementation audit document. Maintenance § Changes in hardware, software, documentation, or procedures to a production system to correct errors, meet new requirements, or improve processing efficiency ○ 20% of time for debugging, emergency work ○ 20% changes to hardware, software, data, reporting ○ 60% of work: User enhancements, improving documentation, recoding for greater processing efficiency Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. After the new system is installed and conversion is complete, the system is said to be in production.

Systems Building Approaches Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Traditional systems life-cycle Prototyping Outsourcing Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon

Traditional Systems Lifecycle • Traditional systems lifecycle: Phased approach divides development into formal stages § Follows “waterfall” approach: Tasks in one stage finish before another stage begins Used for building large complex systems Can be costly, time-consuming, and inflexible Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Oldest method for building information systems

Prototyping Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. The process of developing a prototype can be broken down into four steps. Because a prototype can be developed quickly and inexpensively, systems builders can go through several iterations, repeating steps 3 and 4, to refine and enhance the prototype before arriving at the final operational one. Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon

Outsourcing § § Cloud computing and Saa. S providers ○ Subscribing companies use software and computer hardware provided by vendors External vendors ○ Hired to design, create software ○ Domestic outsourcing » Driven by firms need for additional skills, resources, assets ○ Offshore outsourcing » Driven by cost-savings Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12 e Authors: Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon Copyright © 2013 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Several types