ISD VL1
ISD VL1
ISD VL1
Information System
• Information systems (IS) are used within organizations to support human task solving, automating some of this work where possible.
• IS are socio-technical systems (also called "man – machine – task" systems)
--> software and human beings which proceed information within the company
• Many definitions exist
An information system (IS) is a computer-based system that processes inputted information or data, stores information, retrieves information, and produces new information to solve some task automatically or to support human beings in the operation, control and decision making of an organization. (older definition)
-Information systems are considered as systems composed of software elements that are developed by and operate within organizations.
-Information system = software system?
Noowadays: information software are defined as interaction between information system and human beings within organizations; interacts between organization and systems;
1. step requirement specification (purpose of system)
2. step planning and implementing
IS includes software, hardware and interfaces within organization
Why are Information Systems so Important Today?
-Some industries would not exist without information systems
-Most industries would not be able to operate effectively and efficiently without their information systems
Core Business IS
ERP: most important one within the organization; process transactional data, every business event is within ERP sysem; achievement if it is constructed properly: it provides consistent data model--> make it possible to synchronize all business activities/processes
CRM and SCM supportive
Technical IS, manufacturing automation and control: usually for certain industries (e.g. automotive industry); for industry and engineering processes
Distribution & Networking
Typical Scenario
• Information systems are accessed by many users at the same time.
• Processing is distributed to various computers connected by a network.
• IS functionality must be available on a network.
Application Server
• A server providing access to information systems functionality
• Examples: IBM WebSphere Application Server, Borland AppServer, BEA WebLogic
• Open-source application servers: Apache Geronimo and JBoss
--> IS development today means developing around the core systems and under a given IT infrastructure
SAP ERP Application Domains & Modules
Supply-Chain Process
Aim: Lean management; JIT production--> aim: closer relationship to supplier (because close relation to own production): need to supply goods in a diffrent way; disturbacnce-free flow of goods
-just includes the logistic part even though of customer (rest in CRM)
ERP - SCM Relationships
SC Planning: SCM systems
SC Control: ERP systems
Sources and Uses of Customer Information (CRM)
CRM supports relationship to the cutomer in a diffreent level--> marketing and magt level
--> need of building long-term relationships to the customer
Database Management
RDBMS Vendors
Oracle (Oracle Database)
IBM (DB2)
Microsoft (SQL Server)
Sybase (Adaptive Server Enterprise)
Open source (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
Microsoft (Access)
Interfacing with a DBMS
ODBC (open database connectivity)
JDBC (Java database connectivity)
Java EE/EJB (Java enterprise edition/enterprise Java beans)
XML (eXtensible markup language) enabling
Implications of E-business for ISD
Web technology is different from conventional IS technology!
• Web-based information systems
- Web-based front-ends for core back-office systems
• Redundancy between ERP, CRM etc. and e-commerce systems
• Data are increasingly transferred and stored in XML format
• Enterprise portals
• E-commerce/e-business information systems need a web server
• Functionalities of web and application servers overlap
• Mobile commerce, mobile business, heterogeneous end devices
• ...
Technological Infrastructure
major challenge: integration of all systems into one IT infratsructure
Shift of Focus in ISD
• The "nothing is there" hypothesis ...
• "Everything is there"?
Large-scale standard software and individual software are still being developed!
Missing parts in standard software packages need to be filled
Types of Organizations
Software organizations – organizations whose core business IS software
• Professional software firms (software vendors)
• IT departments, software development groups and subsidiaries of large organizations that produce and maintain software for their parent organizations
User organizations – organizations whose core business IS NOT software
• Manufacturing, retail, financial, service companies etc.
• Administrations, public agencies etc.
Scenarios for User Organizations - Scenario 1: Patchwork and Niches
• Licencing, customizing and extending standard software
• Building new/additional solutions "around" the standard software
• Restrictions and requirements are set by the organization's existing systems, technology, and IS architecture
• "Bridge programming"
Scenarios for User Organizations - Scenario 2: Personal Information Management
• (Almost) everybody has a PCs and Office programs
• Development by end-users through visual tools and easy-to-use
IDEs (e.g. Excel, Access, VBA; Visual Studio)
• Example: end-user systems for data analysis (e.g. an Excel-based information system to analyze back-office data and create charts)
Scenarios for Software Organizations - Scenario 3: Large-scale Development
• Development of standard software rarely starts from scratch
• A predecessor system or some modules are likely to exist (and to survive)
• Building on existing systems limits the degree of freedom
• Interfaces for industry-standard systems in adjacent areas have to be
provided
Scenarios for Software Organizations - Scenario 4: Custom Information Systems
• Substantial extensions to standard software
• Fill gaps not covered by standard software
• Often contracted to professional software organizations
Non-conventional Scenarios - Scenario 5: Open-source Development
Open-source software (OSS)
• Software that is available as source code to the public free of charge
• Types of OSS: operating systems, database management systems, web servers, office programs; business information systems such as ERP and CRM systems
Sources of OSS
• OSS is typically developed around a nucleus
• Many developers revise the code and contribute additional code
Creators of OSS
• Hobbyist programmers, software anarchists, ...
• Professional organizations
Non-conventional Scenarios - Scenario 6: Global Software Development
tbd later
Management of ISD - Senior Management Decisions
Initially:
-Start a project or not?
-Overall framework: budget, resource allocation, staffing, time limits etc.
Later:
-Allocate more resources?
-Continue with the project, redefine it, or cancel it?
Industry Surveys:
≈ 32 % of ISD projects are successful
≈ 24 % are failures
≈ 44 % are challenged
Management of ISD - Operational Management Decisions
Project Managers:
– Project planning
– Allocating and assigning personnel
– Scheduling project activities using appropriate techniques
(e.g. network planning, Gantt charts)
– Controlling costs and time
Project Initiation
Creating the Idea
• Marketing: company is reacting too slowly to changing customer demands.
• A business process in the organization is not flowing smoothly.
• New strategic opportunities open up with the emergence of new
technologies.
• Target groups demand new product or service features.
• Business software vendors create, or jump onto a new trend.
• Industry associations propose new approaches, solutions or information systems.
New technologies may also trigger new IS!
Levels of Project Approval
Senior Management Decisions - Setting up a Project
• Project proposal: objectives, expected benefits, costs, risks, and time frame of the project
• Evaluating the proposal against business goals (business strategy, critical success factors etc.)
• Methods:
»Business systems planning (BSP) – an approach to specify the enterprise's information systems landscape
»Information strategy planning (ISP) – a part of information engineering developed by James Martin; covers top management goals, critical success factors, and how technology can be used to create new opportunities or
competitive advantages
• "Make or buy" decision
Senior Management Decisions - Project Portfolio
Project Portfolio Identifying, assessing, selecting and managing a collection of projects
Senior Management Decisions - Scoring Models
A scoring model allows the decision makers to allocate importance to a criteria list by assigning weights to the criteria.
Specifications and Documents - Project Proposal
Purpose
Provide senior management with a comprehensive evaluation of the project.
Questions
– What needs to be done?
– Why, when, and how it should be done?
– Who is responsible and who is going to do the work?
– How much will it cost?
– What are the benefits?
– What are alternatives?
– What are the risks?
Specifications and Documents - Structure of a Project Proposal
• Needs statement – a concise overview of the needs addressed with the project
• Goals and objectives – business goals and critical success factors to be supported by the new IS, specific goals of the project, tangible outcomes
• Approach and timetable – proposal / evaluation regarding "make or buy"; milestone plan
• Cost-benefit analysis – costs; short-term, long-term, quantitative, qualitative benefits
• Project budget – project personnel, software costs, additional hardware requirements and other equipment, travelling, meetings, training future users, overhead costs etc.
• Project risks – risks originating from the task, project management, project team, IT infrastructure, implementation process, senior management etc.
• Project controlling and evaluation – how will the progress be measured and the evaluation be done?
• Future costs – financial and human resources needed in the operation of the IS
Specifications and Documents - Requirements Specification
- "Requirements document", "(software) requirements specification (SRS)"
- Result of the analysis stage (requirements engineering)
- Serves as a reference for:
» Requests for quotations, evaluation of quotations received
» Agreement with an external contractor
» Inhouse system-development group
» Validation testing
» Support and maintenance personnel
-->"IEEE recommended practice for software requirements specifications" (IEEE standard 830-1998)
A Requirements Specification
Milestones
Distinct points in a project where a project activity or a work package ends.
Deliverables
• Intermediate or final project results that are handed over to the customer or the management
• Typical deliverables: documents produced at the end of a project stage or work package; a system prototype; a test report etc.
• Milestones and deliverables are related but not identical.
Build, Buy or Rent? - Management Options
1. Developing inhouse
2. Developing with external partners
>>domestic
>> global (offshoring)
3. Ordering an individual turnkey solution
4. Buying, customizing and extending standard software
5. Employing an application service provider (ASP)
Application Service Providing
Application Service Provider (ASP)
- Makes computer-based services available for other companies
- Services are wide ranging:
>> Specialized functions (e.g. invoicing, tax calculations)
>> All-in-one IS coverage of an industry or profession (e.g. lawyers)
>> Large-scale IS for SMEs (e.g. financial management, ERP, CRM)
- Marketplace: ASPstreet.com (web portal) lists 4,100 ASPs
- IBM, SAP, Microsoft etc. act as ASPs
- Salesforce.com: customer relationship management
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Flashcards
Information System
• Information systems (IS) are used within organizations to support human task solving, automating some of this work where possible.
• IS are socio-technical systems (also called "man – machine – task" systems)
--> software and human beings which proceed information within the company
• Many definitions exist
An information system (IS) is a computer-based system that processes inputted information or data, stores information, retrieves information, and produces new information to solve some task automatically or to support human beings in the operation, control and decision making of an organization. (older definition)
-Information systems are considered as systems composed of software elements that are developed by and operate within organizations.
-Information system = software system?
Noowadays: information software are defined as interaction between information system and human beings within organizations; interacts between organization and systems;
1. step requirement specification (purpose of system)
2. step planning and implementing
IS includes software, hardware and interfaces within organization
Why are Information Systems so Important Today?
-Some industries would not exist without information systems
-Most industries would not be able to operate effectively and efficiently without their information systems
Core Business IS
ERP: most important one within the organization; process transactional data, every business event is within ERP sysem; achievement if it is constructed properly: it provides consistent data model--> make it possible to synchronize all business activities/processes
CRM and SCM supportive
Technical IS, manufacturing automation and control: usually for certain industries (e.g. automotive industry); for industry and engineering processes
Distribution & Networking
Typical Scenario
• Information systems are accessed by many users at the same time.
• Processing is distributed to various computers connected by a network.
• IS functionality must be available on a network.
Application Server
• A server providing access to information systems functionality
• Examples: IBM WebSphere Application Server, Borland AppServer, BEA WebLogic
• Open-source application servers: Apache Geronimo and JBoss
--> IS development today means developing around the core systems and under a given IT infrastructure
SAP ERP Application Domains & Modules
Supply-Chain Process
Aim: Lean management; JIT production--> aim: closer relationship to supplier (because close relation to own production): need to supply goods in a diffrent way; disturbacnce-free flow of goods
-just includes the logistic part even though of customer (rest in CRM)
ERP - SCM Relationships
SC Planning: SCM systems
SC Control: ERP systems
Sources and Uses of Customer Information (CRM)
CRM supports relationship to the cutomer in a diffreent level--> marketing and magt level
--> need of building long-term relationships to the customer
Database Management
RDBMS Vendors
Oracle (Oracle Database)
IBM (DB2)
Microsoft (SQL Server)
Sybase (Adaptive Server Enterprise)
Open source (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
Microsoft (Access)
Interfacing with a DBMS
ODBC (open database connectivity)
JDBC (Java database connectivity)
Java EE/EJB (Java enterprise edition/enterprise Java beans)
XML (eXtensible markup language) enabling
Implications of E-business for ISD
Web technology is different from conventional IS technology!
• Web-based information systems
- Web-based front-ends for core back-office systems
• Redundancy between ERP, CRM etc. and e-commerce systems
• Data are increasingly transferred and stored in XML format
• Enterprise portals
• E-commerce/e-business information systems need a web server
• Functionalities of web and application servers overlap
• Mobile commerce, mobile business, heterogeneous end devices
• ...
Technological Infrastructure
major challenge: integration of all systems into one IT infratsructure
Shift of Focus in ISD
• The "nothing is there" hypothesis ...
• "Everything is there"?
Large-scale standard software and individual software are still being developed!
Missing parts in standard software packages need to be filled
Types of Organizations
Software organizations – organizations whose core business IS software
• Professional software firms (software vendors)
• IT departments, software development groups and subsidiaries of large organizations that produce and maintain software for their parent organizations
User organizations – organizations whose core business IS NOT software
• Manufacturing, retail, financial, service companies etc.
• Administrations, public agencies etc.
Scenarios for User Organizations - Scenario 1: Patchwork and Niches
• Licencing, customizing and extending standard software
• Building new/additional solutions "around" the standard software
• Restrictions and requirements are set by the organization's existing systems, technology, and IS architecture
• "Bridge programming"
Scenarios for User Organizations - Scenario 2: Personal Information Management
• (Almost) everybody has a PCs and Office programs
• Development by end-users through visual tools and easy-to-use
IDEs (e.g. Excel, Access, VBA; Visual Studio)
• Example: end-user systems for data analysis (e.g. an Excel-based information system to analyze back-office data and create charts)
Scenarios for Software Organizations - Scenario 3: Large-scale Development
• Development of standard software rarely starts from scratch
• A predecessor system or some modules are likely to exist (and to survive)
• Building on existing systems limits the degree of freedom
• Interfaces for industry-standard systems in adjacent areas have to be
provided
Scenarios for Software Organizations - Scenario 4: Custom Information Systems
• Substantial extensions to standard software
• Fill gaps not covered by standard software
• Often contracted to professional software organizations
Non-conventional Scenarios - Scenario 5: Open-source Development
Open-source software (OSS)
• Software that is available as source code to the public free of charge
• Types of OSS: operating systems, database management systems, web servers, office programs; business information systems such as ERP and CRM systems
Sources of OSS
• OSS is typically developed around a nucleus
• Many developers revise the code and contribute additional code
Creators of OSS
• Hobbyist programmers, software anarchists, ...
• Professional organizations
Non-conventional Scenarios - Scenario 6: Global Software Development
tbd later
Management of ISD - Senior Management Decisions
Initially:
-Start a project or not?
-Overall framework: budget, resource allocation, staffing, time limits etc.
Later:
-Allocate more resources?
-Continue with the project, redefine it, or cancel it?
Industry Surveys:
≈ 32 % of ISD projects are successful
≈ 24 % are failures
≈ 44 % are challenged
Management of ISD - Operational Management Decisions
Project Managers:
– Project planning
– Allocating and assigning personnel
– Scheduling project activities using appropriate techniques
(e.g. network planning, Gantt charts)
– Controlling costs and time
Project Initiation
Creating the Idea
• Marketing: company is reacting too slowly to changing customer demands.
• A business process in the organization is not flowing smoothly.
• New strategic opportunities open up with the emergence of new
technologies.
• Target groups demand new product or service features.
• Business software vendors create, or jump onto a new trend.
• Industry associations propose new approaches, solutions or information systems.
New technologies may also trigger new IS!
Levels of Project Approval
Senior Management Decisions - Setting up a Project
• Project proposal: objectives, expected benefits, costs, risks, and time frame of the project
• Evaluating the proposal against business goals (business strategy, critical success factors etc.)
• Methods:
»Business systems planning (BSP) – an approach to specify the enterprise's information systems landscape
»Information strategy planning (ISP) – a part of information engineering developed by James Martin; covers top management goals, critical success factors, and how technology can be used to create new opportunities or
competitive advantages
• "Make or buy" decision
Senior Management Decisions - Project Portfolio
Project Portfolio Identifying, assessing, selecting and managing a collection of projects
Senior Management Decisions - Scoring Models
A scoring model allows the decision makers to allocate importance to a criteria list by assigning weights to the criteria.
Specifications and Documents - Project Proposal
Purpose
Provide senior management with a comprehensive evaluation of the project.
Questions
– What needs to be done?
– Why, when, and how it should be done?
– Who is responsible and who is going to do the work?
– How much will it cost?
– What are the benefits?
– What are alternatives?
– What are the risks?
Specifications and Documents - Structure of a Project Proposal
• Needs statement – a concise overview of the needs addressed with the project
• Goals and objectives – business goals and critical success factors to be supported by the new IS, specific goals of the project, tangible outcomes
• Approach and timetable – proposal / evaluation regarding "make or buy"; milestone plan
• Cost-benefit analysis – costs; short-term, long-term, quantitative, qualitative benefits
• Project budget – project personnel, software costs, additional hardware requirements and other equipment, travelling, meetings, training future users, overhead costs etc.
• Project risks – risks originating from the task, project management, project team, IT infrastructure, implementation process, senior management etc.
• Project controlling and evaluation – how will the progress be measured and the evaluation be done?
• Future costs – financial and human resources needed in the operation of the IS
Specifications and Documents - Requirements Specification
- "Requirements document", "(software) requirements specification (SRS)"
- Result of the analysis stage (requirements engineering)
- Serves as a reference for:
» Requests for quotations, evaluation of quotations received
» Agreement with an external contractor
» Inhouse system-development group
» Validation testing
» Support and maintenance personnel
-->"IEEE recommended practice for software requirements specifications" (IEEE standard 830-1998)
A Requirements Specification
Milestones
Distinct points in a project where a project activity or a work package ends.
Deliverables
• Intermediate or final project results that are handed over to the customer or the management
• Typical deliverables: documents produced at the end of a project stage or work package; a system prototype; a test report etc.
• Milestones and deliverables are related but not identical.
Build, Buy or Rent? - Management Options
1. Developing inhouse
2. Developing with external partners
>>domestic
>> global (offshoring)
3. Ordering an individual turnkey solution
4. Buying, customizing and extending standard software
5. Employing an application service provider (ASP)
Application Service Providing
Application Service Provider (ASP)
- Makes computer-based services available for other companies
- Services are wide ranging:
>> Specialized functions (e.g. invoicing, tax calculations)
>> All-in-one IS coverage of an industry or profession (e.g. lawyers)
>> Large-scale IS for SMEs (e.g. financial management, ERP, CRM)
- Marketplace: ASPstreet.com (web portal) lists 4,100 ASPs
- IBM, SAP, Microsoft etc. act as ASPs
- Salesforce.com: customer relationship management
