Management

Information Systems,
10/e
Raymond McLeod Jr. and George P. Schell

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Chapter 7
Systems Development

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Learning Objectives
► Recognize the systems approach as the
basic framework for solving problems of all
kinds.
► Know how to apply the systems approach to
solving systems problems.
► Understand that the systems development
life cycle (SDLC) is a methodology – a
recommended way to develop systems.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Learning Objectives (Cont’d)
► Be familiar with the main SDLC approaches – the
traditional waterfall cycle, prototyping, rapid
application development, phased development,
and business process redesign.
► Know the basics of modeling processes with data
flow diagrams and use cases.
► Understand how systems development projects
are managed in a top-down fashion.
► Be familiar with the basic processes of estimating
project cost.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 The Systems Approach
► John Dewey identified three series of judgments
involved in adequately resolving a controversy:
 Recognize the controversy.
 Weigh alternative claims.
 Form a judgment.
► During the late 1960s/early 1970s, interest in
systematic problem solving strengthened.
► Systems approach—a series of problem-solving
steps that ensure the problem is first understood,
alternative solutions are considered, and the
selected solution works.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Series of Steps
► Preparation effort prepares the problem solver
by providing a systems orientation.
 Business areas, level of management, resource flows
► Definition effort consists of identifying the
problem to be solved and then understanding it.
► Solution effort involves identifying alternative
solutions, evaluating them, selecting the one that
appears best, implementing that solution, and
following up to ensure that the problem is solved.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.1 Phases and Steps of
Systems Approach

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 Figure 7.2 Each Business Area Is a
System

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Definition Effort Terminology
► Problem trigger is a signal that things are
going better or worse than planned.
► Symptom is a condition that is produced
by the problem and is usually more obvious
than the root cause of the problem.
► Problem is a condition or event that is
harmful or potentially or beneficial or
potentially beneficial to the firm.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
Figure 7.3 Each Part of the System Is
Analyzed in Sequence

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Select the Best Solution
► Analysis–a systematic evaluation of
options.
► Judgment–the mental process of a single
manager.
► Bargaining–negotiations between several
managers.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Systems Development Life Cycle
► Methodology is a recommended way of doing
something.
► Systems development life cycle (SDLC) is an
application of the systems approach to the
development of an information system.
► Traditional SDLC stages are:
 Planning
 Analysis
 Design
 Implementation
 Use

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
Figure 7.4 The Circular Pattern of the
System Life Cycle

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Prototyping
► Prototype is a version of a potential
system that provides the developers and
future users with an idea of how the system
in its completed form will function.
► Prototyping is the process of producing a
prototype.
 Best suited for small systems–reflecting the
prototyping influence.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Evolutionary Prototype
► Evolutionary prototype is continually refined
until it contains all of the functionality that users
require of the new system. The steps involved are:
 Identify user needs.
 Develop prototype.
► Integrated application developer
► Prototyping toolkit

 Determine if the prototype is acceptable.

 Use the prototype.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.5 Development of an
Evolutionary Prototype

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Requirements Prototype
► Requirements prototype is developed as a way
to define the functional requirements of the new
system when users are unable to articulate exactly
what they want. Begin with the Evolutionary
Prototype steps, then the next steps are:
 Code the new system;
 Test the new system;
 Determine if the new system is acceptable;
 Put the new system into production.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.6 Development of a
Requirements Prototype

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Attraction of Prototyping
► Communications between the developer and user
are improved.
► The developer can do a better job of determining
the users’ needs.
► The user plays a more active role in system
development.
► The developers and the user spend less time and
effort developing the system.
► Implementation is much easier because the user
knows what to expect.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Potential Pitfalls of Prototyping
► The haste to deliver the prototype may produce
shortcuts in problem definition, alternative
evaluation, and documentation. The shortcut
produces a “quick & dirty” effort.
► The user may get overly excited about the
prototype, leading to unrealistic expectations
regarding the production system.
► Evolutionary prototypes may not be very efficient.
► The computer-human interface provided by certain
prototyping tools may not reflect good design
techniques.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Rapid Application Development
► Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a
term coined by James Martin. It refers to a
development life cycle intended to produce
systems quickly without sacrificing quality.
► Information engineering (IE) is the name that
Martin gives to his overall approach to system
development, which treats it as a firm-wide
activity.
► Enterprise is used to describe the entire firm.
 Essential to RAD is management, people,
methodologies, and tools.
 Best suited for large systems.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.7 Rapid Application Development Is
an Integral Part of Information Engineering

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Phased Development
► Phased development is an approach for
developing information systems that consists of six
stages:
 Preliminary investigation
 Analysis
 Design
 Preliminary construction
 Final construction
 System test
 Installation.
 Best suited for systems of all sizes.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.8 The Stages of the Phased
Development Methodology

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Module Phases
► System is subdivided into major modules
such as:
 Report writer;
 Database;
 Web interface.
► Number of modules varies with the system
from one to a dozen or so.
► Stages are performed separately for each
module.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.9 Analysis, Design, and Preliminary
Construction are Performed on Each System
Module

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Business Process Redesign
► Reengineering or Business process redesign
(BPR) is the process of reworking the systems.
 Systems include both those that process the firm’s data
and those that perform basic functions such as drilling
for oil.
► BPR affects the firm’s IT operations in two ways:
 Aids in the redesign of old information systems (legacy
systems);
 Applies to the redesign of information systems to
support major operations.
► Usually initiated at strategic management level
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.10 Top-Down Initiation of
BPR Projects

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Strategic Initiation of BPR
► Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing
an existing system to:
 Identify its elements and their interrelationships;
 Create documentation at a higher level of abstraction
than currently exists.
► Functionality is the job that it performs.
► Reengineering is the complete redesign of a
system with the objective of changing its
functionality.
► Forward engineering is given to the process of
following the SDLC in the normal manner while
engaging in BPR.
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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 BPR Components
► BPR components can be applied separately
or in combination.
► Functional quality is a measure of what
the system does.
► Technical quality is a measure of how
well it does it.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.11 BPR Component Selection Is
Based on Both Functional and Technical
Quality

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Methodologies in Perspective
► Traditional SDLC is an application of the
systems approach to the problem of system
development; contains all elements.
► Prototyping is an abbreviated form focusing on
the definition and satisfaction of user needs.
► RAD is an alternative approach to the design and
implementation phases of SDLC.
► Phased development uses traditional SDLC and
applies it in a modular fashion.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 System Development Tools
► Process modeling was first done with flowcharts.
 ISO standards
 Use of 20+ symbols
► Data flow diagrams (DFD) is a graphic
representation of a system that uses four symbol
shapes to illustrate how data flows through
interconnected processes.
► DFDs are excellent for modeling processes at a
summary level.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Data Flow Diagram Symbols
► Terminator describes an environmental element, such as
a person, organization, or another system.
 Environmental elements exist outside the boundary of the
system.
► Process is something than transforms input into output.
► Data flow consists of a group of logically related data
elements that travel from one point or process to another;
can diverge and converge.
► Data storage is a repository of data.
► Connector contains the number of the process that
provides the data flow.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.12 A DFD of a Sales
Commission System

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Leveled Data Flow Diagrams
► Leveled DFDs is used to describe the hierarchy of
diagrams, ranging from context to lowest-level n diagram.
► Figure 0 diagram identifies the major processes of a
system.
 Use additional DFDs to achieve documentation at both a more
summarized and a more detailed level.
► Context diagram is a diagram that documents the
system at a more summarized level.
 Positions the system in an environmental context.
► Figure n diagram is a diagram that provides more detail.
 n represents the # of processes on the next higher level.
 Documents a single process of a DFD in greater detail

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.13 A Context Diagram of a
Sales Commission System

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.14 A Figure 4 Diagram of a
Sales Commission System

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 Use Cases
► Use case is a narrative description in an outline
form of the dialog that occurs between a primary
and secondary system.
► Continuous narrative format with each action
numbered sequentially.
► Ping-pong format consists of two narratives and
the numbering indicates how the tasks alternate
between the primary and secondary systems.
► Alternative events are actions that are not
normally expected to occur; alphabetic letters are
appended to step numbers.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.15 A Use Case

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 Figure 7.16 Use Case Guidelines

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 Project Management
► Steering committee is a committee with the
purpose of providing ongoing guidance, direction,
and control of all systems projects.
► MIS steering committee purpose is directing
the use of the firm’s computing resources.
 It establishes policies.
 It provides fiscal control.
 It resolves conflict.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.17 Managers of a System
Life Cycle Arranged in a Hierarchy

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 Project Leadership
► Project team includes all of the persons
who participate in the development of an
information system.
► Team leader (project leader) provides
direction throughout the life of the project.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Project Management Mechanism
► Basis for project management is the project plan.
► Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that includes
a bar for each task to be performed; bars
arranged in time sequence.
► Network diagram (CPM diagram, PERT
chart) is a drawing that identifies activities and
links them with arrows to show the sequence in
which they are to be performed.
► Narrative reports are in the form of weekly written
reports by project leader, communicates project
information to MIS steering committee.

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell
 Figure 7.18 A Gantt Chart

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 Figure 7.19 A Network Diagram

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 Project Cost Estimating
► Cost-estimating inputs
 Work breakdown structure (WBS)
 Resource requirements, resource rates
 Activity duration estimates
 Historical information
► Cost-estimating tools and techniques
 Bottom-up estimating
 Computerized tools
 Mathematical models
► Cost-estimating outputs
 Supporting details
 Cost-management plan

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 Table 7.1 Components of Cost-
Estimating Process

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Table 7.2 Example of Project Cost

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Raymond McLeod and George Schell