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Systems Analysis & DesignSystem Proposal & Project Management

IS 431: Lecture 7

http://www.csun.edu/~dn58412/IS431/IS431_SP15.htm

CSUN Information Systems

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System Proposal & Project Management

Feasibility AnalysisAlternative (Candidate) System Solutions.Cost-benefit Analysis System Proposal ReportsProject Management

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Feasibility Analysis

• Feasibility is the measure of how beneficial or practical the development of an information system will be to an organization. • Creeping Commitment approach to feasibility proposes that feasibility should be measured throughout the life cycle.• Feasibility Analysis Checkpoints:

• Systems Analysis — Preliminary Investigation

• Systems Analysis — Problem Analysis

• Systems Design — Decision Analysis

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Feasibility Analysis …

Technical feasibility is a measure of the practicality of a specific technical solution and the availability of technical resources and expertise.

Operational feasibility is a measure of how well the solution will work in the organization. It is also a measure of how people feel about the system/project.

Economic feasibility is a measure of the cost-effectiveness of a project or solution.

Schedule feasibility is a measure of how reasonable the project timetable is.

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Cost-Benefit AnalysisCosts:Development costs are one time costs that will not recur

after the project has been completed.Operating costs are costs that tend to recur throughout the

lifetime of the system. Such costs can be classified as:– Fixed costs — occur at regular intervals but at relatively fixed rates.

– Variable costs — occur in proportion to some usage factor.

Benefits:Tangible benefits are those that can be easily quantified. Intangible benefits are those benefits believed to be

difficult or impossible to quantify.

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Costs for a Proposed Systems Solution

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Economic FeasibilityPayback Analysis

– Payback analysis is to determine if and when an investment will pay for itself.

– Payback period is the period of time that will lapse before accrued benefits overtake accrued and continuing costs.

Net Present Value– a dollar today is worth more than a dollar one year from

now– Discount rate – a percentage that the business earns on

investing money in other projects or investments: opportunity cost

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Economic Feasibility …

Return-on-Investment (ROI) Analysis – a technique that compares the lifetime profitability of alternative solutions.– ROI for a solution or project is a percentage rate that

measures the relationship between the amount the business gets back from an investment and the amount invested.

– Lifetime ROI = (estimated lifetime benefits – estimated lifetime costs) / estimated lifetime costs

– Annual ROI = lifetime ROI / lifetime of the system

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Payback Analysis

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Net Present Value (NPV) Analysis

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Candidate Systems Matrix Characteristics

Portion of System ComputerizedBrief description of that portion of the system that would be computerized in this candidate.

BenefitsBrief description of the business benefits that would be realized for this candidate.

Servers and WorkstationsA description of the servers and workstations needed to support this candidate.

Software Tools NeededSoftware tools needed to design and build the candidate (e.g., database management system, emulators, operating systems, languages, etc.). Not generally applicable if applications software packages are to be purchased.

Candidate 1

COTS package from Entertainment Software Solutions would be purchased and customized to satisfy required functionality.

This solution can be implemented quickly because it’s a purchased solution.

Technically architecture dictates Pentium III, MS Windows 2000 class servers and workstations (clients).

MS Visual C++ and MS Access for customization of package to provide report writing and integration.

Candidate 2

Member Services and warehouse operations in relation to order fulfillment.

Fully supports user required business processes for SoundStage Inc. Plus more efficient interaction with member accounts.

Same as candidate 1.

MS Visual Basic 5.0System Architect 2001Internet Explorer

Candidate 3

Same as candidate 2.

Same as candidate 2.

Same as candidate 1.

MS Visual Basic 5.0System Architect 2001Internet Explorer

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Candidate Systems Matrix …Characteristics

Application SoftwareA description of the software to be purchased, built, accessed, or some combination of these techniques.

Method of Data ProcessingGenerally some combination of: on-line, batch, deferred batch, remote batch, and real-time.

Output Devices and ImplicationsA description of output devices that would be used, special output requirements, (e.g., network, preprinted forms, etc.), and output considerations (e.g., timing constratints)

Candidate 1

Package solution

Client/Server

(2) HP4MV department laser printers(2) HP5SI LAN laser printers

Candidate 2

Custom solution

Same as candidate 1.

(2) HP4MV department laser printers.(2) HP5SI LAN laser printers(1) PRINTRONIX bar-code printer (includes software & drivers)

Web pages must be designed to VGA resolution. All internal screens will be designed for SVGA resolution.

Candidate 3

Same as candidate 2.

Same as candidate 1.

Same as candidate 2.

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Candidate Systems Matrix …Characteristics

Input devices and ImplicationsA description of input methods to be used, input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, etc.), special input requirements (e.g., new or revised forms from which data would be input), and input considerations (e.g., timing of actual inputs).

Storage Devices and ImplicationsBrief description of what data would be stored, what data would be accessed from existing stores, what storage media would be used, how much storage capacity would be needed, and how data would be organized.

Candidate 1

Keyboard & mouse.

MS SQL Server DBMS with 1000GB arrayed capability.

Candidate 2

Apple “Quick Take” digital camera and software(15) PSC Quickscan laser bar-code scanners(1) HP Scanjet 4C Flatbed ScannerKeyboard and mouse

Same as candidate 1.

Candidate 3

Same as candidate 2.

Same as candidate 1.

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Feasibility Matrix

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Requirements Statement

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Project vs. Process Management

Project Management is the process of scoping, planning, staffing, organizing, directing, and controlling the development of an acceptable system at a minimum cost within a specified time frame.

Process Management is an ongoing activity that documents, manages the use of, and improves an organization’s chosen methodology (the “process”) for system development. Process management is concerned with the activities, deliverables, and quality standards to be applied to all projects.

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Measures of Project Success

– The resulting information system is acceptable to the customer.

– The system was delivered “on time.”

– The system was delivered “within budget.”– The system development process had a

minimal impact on ongoing business operations.

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Poor Expectations Management

Scope Creep – the unexpected and gradual growth of requirements during an information systems project.

Feature Creep– the uncontrolled addition of technical features to a system.

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Causes of Project FailureFailure to establish upper-management commitment to the projectLack of organization’s commitment to the system development

methodologyTaking shortcuts through or around the system development

methodologyPoor expectations managementPremature commitment to a fixed budget and schedulePoor estimating techniquesOveroptimismThe mythical man-month (Brooks, 1975)Inadequate people management skillsFailure to adapt to business changeInsufficient resourcesFailure to “manage to the plan”

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Inter-task Dependencies

Finish-to-start (FS)—The finish of one task triggers the start of another task.

Start-to-start (SS)—The start of one task triggers the start of another task.

Finish-to-finish (FF)—Two tasks must finish at the same time.

Start-to-finish (SF)—The start of one task signifies the finish of another task.

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Task Splitting & DelayingCritical Path – the sequence of dependent tasks that

determines the earliest possible completion date of the project.

– Tasks that are on the critical path cannot be delayed without delaying the entire project schedule. To achieve resource leveling, critical tasks can only be split.

Slack Time – the amount of delay that can be tolerated between the starting time and completion time of a task without causing a delay in the completion date of the entire project.

– Tasks that have slack time can be delayed to achieve resource leveling

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PERT Chart

5-3-2001 5-12-2001

5-3-2001 5-11-2001

Preliminary Investigation

5-12-2001 6-12-2001

5-12-2001 6-14-2001

Problem Analysis

5-28-2001 7-15-2001

5-30-2001 7-18-2001

Requirements Analysis

6-13-2001 7-30-2001

6-13-2001 8-3-2001

Decision Analysis

9-10-2001 12-14-2001

TBD TBD

Implementation

7-19-2001 11-13-2001

7-20-2001 In Progress

Construction

7-3-2001 9-25-2001

7-5-2001 10-9-2001

Design

5-3-2001 N/A

5-3-2001 N/A

Project Initiation

ScheduledStart

ScheduledFinish

Actual Start ActualFinish

Task

ScheduledStart

ScheduledFinish

Actual Start ActualFinish

Task

intertaskdependency

Legend

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Microsoft Project PERT Chart

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Critical Path

The critical path is highlighted in red

TASK C

Fri 2/9/01 2 days

Fri 2/9/01 0 days

TASK D

Tue 2/20/01 7 days

Tue 2/20/01 0 days

TASK I

Tue 2/27/01 5 days

Tue 2/27/01 0 days

TASK E

Mon 2/19/01 6 days

Tue 2/20/01 1 day

TASK B

Wed 2/7/01 2 days

Wed 2/7/01 0 days

TASK A

Mon 2/5/01 3 days

Mon 2/5/01 0 days

TASK H

Thu 2/15/01 1 day

Tue 2/20/01 3 days

TASK F

Wed 2/14/01 3 days

Fri 2/16/01 2 days

TASK G

Fri 2/16/01 2 days

Tue 2/20/01 2 days

Duration

Slack Time

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Gantt Chart

Incomplete Task

Complete Task

Legend

ID

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Preliminary investigation

Problem analysis

Requirements analysis

Decision analysis

Design

Construction

Implementation

May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2001Task Name

Today

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Microsoft Project Gantt Chart

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Scheduling Strategies

Forward Scheduling – a project scheduling approach that establishes a project start date and then schedules forward from that date.

Reverse Scheduling – a project scheduling strategy that establishes a project deadline and then schedules backward from that date.