Information Systems System Analysis 421Class Two

Class Project• Project start up

– Initial project information gathering worksheet– Client alignment form

• Executive Summary• Team alignment• Project description• Current situation• Business objective• Project scope• Risk analysis• Cost benefits• Project duration and milestones

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives Describe the project identification and

selection process Describe the corporate strategic planning

and information systems planning process

Explain the relationship between corporate strategic planning and information systems planning

5.3

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives Describe how information systems planning can be

used to assist in identifying and selecting systems development projects

Analyze information systems planning matrices to determine affinity between information systems and IS projects and to forecast the impact of IS projects on business objectives

Describe the three classes of Internet electronic commerce applications: Internet, Intranets and Extranets

5.4

Project Selection Top Management

strategic larger project size and duration

Steering Committee (Approval committee) cross functional greater organizational change larger in size

User Department narrow, non strategic focus faster development fewer users, management levels and business functions

System Initiation Pieces

Performance Throughput – the amount of work performed over some period of time. Response time – the average delay between a transaction or request and a

response to that transaction or request Information

Lack of any information Lack of necessary information Lack of relevant information

Economics• Costs are unknown• Costs are untraceable to source• Costs are too high• N Profits Hew markets can be explored

System Initiations• Controls

– Too little security or control– Decision making errors are occurring– Processing errors are occurring

• Efficiency– Effort is manual or excessive– Duplication

• Service– Inaccurate results– Inflexible to business changes– Not coordinated with other systems– Difficult to use

Project SelectionProject Selection

Perceived and real need

List of potentialand ongoing

project

Current OrganizationalEnvironment

Existing andAvailableResources

EvaluationCriteria

ProjectSelectionDecision

Decision OutcomeAcceptRejectDelay

RefocusProof of Concept

System Request

• Most system requests include four elements:– Project sponsor– Business Need– Functionality– Expected value

Identifying and Selecting IS Development Identifying and Selecting IS Development ProjectsProjects

• Sources of projects– Management and business units– Managers who want to make a system more efficient

or less costly– Formal planning groups

• Projects are identified by– Top management– Steering committee– User departments– Development group or senior IS staff

5.10

The Process of Identifying and The Process of Identifying and Selecting IS Development ProjectsSelecting IS Development Projects

• Top-Down Identification– Senior management or steering committee– Focus is on global needs of organization

• Bottom-up Identification– Business unit or IS group– Don’t reflect overall goals of the organization

5.11

Identifying and Selecting IS Development Identifying and Selecting IS Development ProjectsProjects

• Classifying and Ranking IS Development Projects– Performed by top management, steering

committee, business units of IS development group

– Value chain analysis is often used• Method to analyze an organization’s activities

to determine where value is added and costs are incurred

5.12

Identifying and Selecting IS Development Identifying and Selecting IS Development ProjectsProjects

• Selecting IS Development Projects– Process of considering short and long-term

projects– Projects most likely to achieve business objectives

are selected– Decision requires consideration of:

• Perceived and real needs• Potential and ongoing projects• Current organizational environment• Existing and available resources• Evaluation criteria

5.13

Identifying and Selecting IS Identifying and Selecting IS Development ProjectsDevelopment Projects

• Selecting IS Development Projects– Outcomes

• Project Acceptance• Project Rejection• Delay• Refocus• End-User Development• Proof of Concept

5.14

Identifying and Selecting IS Development Identifying and Selecting IS Development ProjectsProjects

• Deliverables and Outcomes– Primary Deliverable

• Schedule of specific IS development projects– Outcomes

• Assurance that careful consideration was given to project selection

• Clear understanding of project’s relation to organizational objectives

5.15

Identifying and Selecting IS Identifying and Selecting IS Development ProjectsDevelopment Projects

• Knowledge of overall organizational business strategy– Improves project selection and identification

process– Provides sound guidance throughout the

systems development life cycle

5.16

Corporate and Information Systems PlanningCorporate and Information Systems Planning

• Traditional Project Identification and Selection

– Solves isolated problems

– Focuses on business processes

– Does not easily allow for organizational change

• Planning-Based Approach to Project Identification and Selection– Focuses on present and

future information needs

– Information needs change slower than business processes

5.17

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Need for planning– Improperly planned projects result in systems that cannot be

shared across an organization– As business processes change, lack of integration will

hamper strategy and business process changes

• Corporate Strategic Planning– Process of developing and refining models of the current and

future enterprise as well as a transition strategy– Planning results in several outcomes

• Mission Statement• Objective Statement• Competitive Strategy

5.18

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Corporate Strategic Planning– Mission Statement

• A statement that makes it clear what business a company is in– Objective Statement

• A series of statements that express an organization’s qualitative and quantitative goals for reaching a desired future position

• Objectives are critical success factors

• Corporate Strategic Planning– Competitive Strategy

• The method by which an organization attempts to achieve its mission and objectives

5.19

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Information Systems Planning (ISP)– An orderly means of assessing the information

needs of an organization and defining the systems, databases and technologies that will best satisfy those needs

– Three key activities:• Describe the Current Situation• Describe the Target (or Future) Situation• Develop a Transition Plan and Strategy

5.20

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Information Systems Planning1. Describing the Current Situation

– Top-down Planning• Generic methodology that attempts to gain a broad

understanding of the information system needs of the entire organization

– Bottom-up Planning• Generic methodology that identifies and defines IS

development projects based upon solving operational business problems or taking advantage of some business opportunities

5.21

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Information Systems Planning1. Describing the Current Situation (Continued)– Planning team is chartered to model existing

situation– Identification of Organizational:

• Locations• Units• Functions• Processes• Data• Information Systems

5.22

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Information Systems Planning1. Describing the Current Situation (Continued)– Matrices are developed to cross-reference units

• Location-to-Function• Location-to-Unit• Unit-to-Function• Function-to-Objective• Function-to-Process• Function-to-Data Entity• Process-to-Data Entity• Process-to-Information System• Data Entity-to-Information System• Information System-to-Objective

5.23

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Information Systems Planning2. Describing the Target Situation– Update list of organizational locations,

functions, etc. to reflect desired locations, functions, etc.

– Matrices are updated to reflect future states– Planners focus on differences between current

lists and matrices and future lists and matrices

5.24

Corporate and Information Systems Corporate and Information Systems PlanningPlanning

• Information Systems Planning3. Developing a Transition Strategy and Plans– Broad, comprehensive document that looks at

both short and long-term organizational development needs

– Consists of a series of projects

5.25

Electronic Commerce ApplicationsElectronic Commerce Applications

• Development process for Internet projects is no different than other projects

• Special issues need to be taken into account

• Electronic Commerce (EC)– Internet based communication designed to

support business activities

5.26

Internet DevelopmentInternet Development• Internet

– Worldwide network of networks used for electronic commerce

• Intranet– Internet-based communication to support business

activities within a single organization

• Extranet– Internet-based communication to support

business-to-business activities

5.27

Internet DevelopmentInternet Development• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

– The use of telecommunications technologies to transfer business documents directly between organizations

• Internet vs. Intranet/Extranet Apps– Intranet/Extranet – Developer knows how

application will be run and used– Internet – Developer faces various unknowns

5.28

SummarySummary

• Project Identification and Selection– Identifying Potential Development Projects– Classifying and Ranking Projects– Selecting Projects for Development

• Top-down and Bottom-up identification process• Corporate strategic planning

– Process of identifying the mission, objectives and strategies of an organization

5.29

SummarySummary• Information Systems Planning

– Orderly means for assessing the information needs of an organization and defining the systems and databases that will best satisfy those needs

– Top-down process• Electronic Commerce

– Internet– Intranets– Extranets– Electronic Data Interchange

5.30

System Initiations• Requests for a system study can come from a variety of

sources:– External consulting team– Internal client community– Internal but external to the area (Top management,Internal Auditors,

Information Systems) Government– Within Systems department

Why are Systems project originate– Solve a business problem– Capitalize on an opportunity– Comply with Government regulations– Address complaints

Project Selection Criteria's • Management backing• Appropriate timing• Appropriate resource exists• Cost benefit analysis• Priority meetings - top ==> down

– Enterprise Priorities - Top projects– Functional top projects– Department top projects

• Must do projects• Support projects• Discretionary projects

Justify Systems as Capital Investments• Information systems are capital investments.• When considering a capital investment, two issues

must be addressed:– for any problem, there are likely to be several possible

solutions– after identifying alternative solutions, the systems analyst

should evaluate each possible solution for feasibility, especially for cost-effectiveness.

– Cost-benefit analysis is an important skill to be mastered.

Don’t Be Afraid to Cancel or Revise Scope• A significant advantage of the phased approach

to systems development is that it provides several opportunities to reevaluate feasibility.

• In the long run, canceled projects are less costly than implemented disasters!

• Most analysts fail to adjust estimated costs and schedules as scope increases. As a result, the analyst frequently and needlessly accepts responsibility for cost and schedule overruns.

Don’t Be Afraid to Cancel or Revise Scope• The creeping commitment approach:

– Build multiple feasibility checkpoints.– At each checkpoint, all costs are considered sunk

(meaning irrecoverable) and irrelevant to the decision.– reevaluate at each checkpoint to determine if the

project is still feasible.– At each checkpoint, the analyst should consider:

• cancellation of the project if it is no longer feasible• reevaluation of costs and schedule if project scope is to be

increased• reduction of scope if the project budget and schedule are

frozen, but not sufficient to cover all project objectives.

Divide and Conquer• All systems are part of larger systems (called

super-systems).• Virtually all systems contain smaller systems

(called subsystems). • We divide a system into its subsystems in order

to more easily conquer the problem and build the larger system.– By dividing a larger problem (system) into more easily

managed pieces (subsystems), the analyst can simplify the problem-solving process.

– Know the bounds and scope of your system!

Design Systems for Growth and Change• Many systems analysts have fallen into the trap of

developing systems to meet only today's user requirements.– When the cost of maintenance exceeds the costs of

starting over – the system has become obsolete.

• Systems designed to meet only current requirements are difficult to modify in response to new requirements.– Flexibility and adaptability do not happen by accident –

they must be built into a system.