Different Methodologies

1. Systems Development Life Cycle

The traditional methodology used to develop,
maintain, and replace information systems.
The evolution of process that is followed in
implementing a computer-based information system
subsystem. [MCLE93]
Also known as Systems Life Cycle, Systems
Deve-lopment Methodology, Project Life Cycle,
Methodology.
Participants
Their participation depends on the strategic value of
the project
Systems Analyst
Database Administrator
Network Specialist
Programmer
Operations Personnel
Executives
MIS/IS Steering Committee
Establishes policies, provides fiscal control,
resolves conflict
Project Team
Headed by a Team Leader
Purpose
to define the activities to be carried out in a
Systems development project
to introduce consistency among many systems
Development projects in the same organization

to provide checkpoints for management

Control for go/no-go decisions
SDLC Phases

Planning
Requirements Determination
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Maintenance

A. Planning Phases
Steps:
1. Recognize the problem
What is a problem?
When is a problem advantageous?
2. Define the problem
Is it the correct problem?
3. Set system objectives
How will you solve the problem?
4. Identify system constraints
5. What are the boundaries/limitations of the
system?
Elements of Project Planning
Describing project scope, alternatives and
feasibility
Dividing project into manageable tasks
Estimating resources and creating resource plan
Developing a preliminary schedule
Developing a communication plan
Determining project standards and procedures

Identifying and Assessing Risk

Creating Preliminary Budget
Developing a Statement of Work
Setting a Baseline Project Plan
B. Requirements Determination
Formal process of using research, interview,
questionnaires, sampling and other techniques
to collect information about system, requirements
and preferences
SA team collects information on what the system
should do from as many sources as possible: from
users of the current system, from observing users
and from existing reports, forms and procedures
information gathering, data collection, data
Gathering
C. Analysis phase
the study of the existing system for the
purpose of designing a new or improved system
Steps:
Announce the systems study
what is the reason of the study?
what benefits will the employees and
the organization get from the study?
Organize the project team
who does what?
define the information needs
what kind of information will be
needed?
what tools should be used to get
the information effectively?

 define the system performance criteria

prepare the design proposal
Activities
Identify and describe complete problem
specification
Studies and documents the current system - in
terms of its problems, requirements and processes
Prepares a list of requirements for the new
system
Diagrams the functions of the existing system
necessary for the development of the new system
D. Design Phase
the determination of the processes and data
that are required by a new system
Steps:
Prepare the detailed systems design
Identify alternative system configurations
Evaluate alternative system configurations
Select the best configuration
Prepare the implementation proposal
Approve or reject the proposal
E. Implementation Phase
the acquisition and integration of the physical
and conceptual resources that produce a
working system
steps:
Plan the implementation
Announce the implementation

Obtain the hardware resources

Obtain the software resources
Prepare the database
Prepare the physical facilities
Educate the participants and users
Cut over to the new system
Conversion Methods:
Immediate/Direct
outright conversion from old system to new
system
applicable to small firms/systems
Phased
the new system put into use one part at a time
popular to large-scale systems
Parallel
old system is implemented simultaneously
with the new one
greatest assurance against failure but most
Expensive
F. Maintenance Phase
Steps:
Use the system
Audit the system
conduct a post implementation review
Maintain the system
correct the errors
keep the system current
improve the system
2. Classical Project Life Cycle

Features:
uses bottom-up implementation
also known as the waterfall life cycle
has a number of difficulties:
nothings done until its all done
most trivial bugs are found at the
beginning of the testing period, and most
serious bugs are found last
debugging tends to be extremely difficult
during the final stages of system testing
requirement for computer test time usually
rises exponentially at the final stages of
testing
phases progress sequentially
relies on outdated techniques
3. Semi-Structured Life Cycle
Features:
uses top-down implementation
uses structured design
Terminators:
Users
Managers
Operations Personnel
Activities:
Survey
identification of users & development of
initial system scope
identification of current deficiencies in the
users environment
establishment of goals/objectives for a
new system

determination of feasibility to automate

preparation of project charter
4. Structured life Cycle
Analysis
transformation of user policy & project charter
into a structured specification
development of system models
(environmental, behavioral, essential)
preparation of budgets & cost-benefit
calculations
Design
allocation of essential model to appropriate
processors & tasks
transformation of ER data models into a
database design
development of user implementation model
Implementation
coding & integration of modules
Acceptance Test Generation
generation of acceptance test cases from
the structured specification
Quality Assurance
final or acceptance testing
Procedure Description
generation of a users manual
Database Conversion
Installation
5. Prototyping Project Life Cycle

an iterative process of systems development in

which requirements are converted to a working
system that is continually revised through close
work between an analyst and users
Tools
Fourth-Generation Languages (4GLs)
Database Management System
Computer-Aided Software Engineering
(CASE) Tools
Advantages of Prototyping
involves the user in analysis and design to a
large extent
captures requirements in concrete, rather
than verbal or abstract form
Cont. of advantages
changing the system early in its development
scrapping undesirable systems
designing a system for users needs and
expectations
Disadvantages of Prototyping
managing the project
adopting an incomplete system as complete
Guidelines for Developing a Prototype
work in manageable modules
build the prototype rapidly
modify the prototype in successive iterations
stress the user interface
Candidates for Prototyping
user is unable/unwilling to examine abstract
paper models
user does not know what he wants but can
recognize it when he sees it

system is intended to be on-line with full

screen terminals
system does not require massive details
Kinds of Information Sought During
Prototyping
initial user reactions
user suggestions
innovations
revision plans
Kinds of Prototype
Patched-up
an inefficient and inelegant working
system that is patched together
Non-operational
a non-working scale model for the purpose
of testing certain aspects of the design
First of a Series
creating a pilot with the aim of
implementing it in a series of other
locations
Selected Feature
building an operational model that includes
some but not all of the features that the
final system will have
Information Engineering Project Life Cycle
Phases
Planning
provides general direction & strategic
plans to explain why the enterprise exists
Analysis

determines what must be accomplished to

satisfy strategic plans
Design
transforms the results into implementable
information system & determines how the
systems operate in the enterprise
Construction
builds & maintains the information system
6. Joint application Design(JAD)
Sponsor
takes care of the expenses incurred during
the JAD
attends usually only at the very beginning
or the end
Systems Analysts
has a limited participation and are there to
learn from users and managers
Scribe
takes notes during the JAD sessions
IS Staf
programmers, database analysts, IS
planners, and data center personnel
learns from the discussions and contribute
their ideas on the technical aspects of the
project
Rapid Applications Development (RAD)
a systems development methodology created
to radically decrease the time needed to
design and implement information systems
relies on heavy user involvement, JAD sessions,

prototyping, integrated CASE tools, and code

generators.
Components
Tools
People
Methodology
Management
Advantages
has shorter development cycle
involves smaller development teams
increases system quality
Disadvantages
only works well for systems that have to be
developed quickly
overlooks important software engineering
concepts, such as interface consistency,
programming standards,
module reuse, scalability, and systems
Administration