lOMoARcPSD|23926180
SAD Chapter 2 - System Analysis and Design
System Analysis and Design (University of Gondar)
Scan to open on Studocu
Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
CHAPTER II
INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
2.1. Managing Information System Project
Project management is an important aspect of the development of information systems and a
critical skill for a systems analyst. The focus of project management is to ensure that system
development projects meet customer expectations and are delivered within budget and time
constraints.
The project manager is a systems analyst with a diverse set of skills—management, leadership,
technical, conflict management, and customer relationship—who is responsible for initiating,
planning, executing, and closing down a project. As a project manager, your environment is one
of continual change and problem solving.
Creating and implementing successful projects requires managing resources, activities, and tasks
needed to complete the information systems project. A project is a planned undertaking of a
series of related activities, having a beginning and an end, to reach an objective. The first
questions you might ask yourself are, where do projects come from? and, after considering all
the different things that you could be asked to work on within an organization, How do I know
which projects to work on? The ways in which each organization answers these questions vary.
In the rest of this section, we describe the process followed by Juanita Lopez and Chris Martin
during the development of Pine Valley Furniture’s Purchasing Fulfillment System. Juanita works
in the purchasing department, and Chris is a systems analyst.
Juanita observed problems with the way orders were processed and reported: sales growth had
increased the workload for the manufacturing department, and the current systems no longer
adequately supported the tracking of orders. It was becoming more difficult to track orders and
get the right furniture and invoice to the right customers. Juanita contacted Chris, and together
they developed a system that corrected these purchasing department problems.
The first deliverable, or end product, produced by Chris and Juanita was a system service
request (SSR), a standard form PVF uses for requesting systems development work. The form
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
includes the name and contact information of the person requesting the system, a statement of the
problem, and the name and contact information of the liaison and sponsor.
This request was then evaluated by the Systems Priority Board of PVF. The review board selects
those projects that best meet overall organizational goals. In the case of the Purchasing
Fulfillment System request, the board found merit in the request and approved a more detailed
feasibility study. The study takes place before the system is constructed.
In summary, systems development projects are undertaken for two primary reasons: to take
advantage of business opportunities and to solve business problems.
Once a potential project has been identified, an organization must determine the resources
required for its completion by analyzing the scope of the project and determining the probability
of successful completion. After getting this information, the organization can then determine
whether taking advantage of an opportunity or solving a particular problem is feasible within
time and resource constraints. If deemed feasible, a more detailed project analysis is then
conducted.
As you will see, determining the size, scope, and resource requirements for a project are just a
few of the many skills that a project manager must possess. A project manager is often referred
to as a juggler keeping aloft many balls, which reflect the various aspects of a project’s
development. Note that many of the skills are related to personnel or general management, not
simply technical skills.
2.2. Information Systems Project Phase
The remainder of this chapter will focus on the project management process, which involves
four phases:
1. Initiating the project
2. Planning the project
3. Executing the project
4. Closing down the project
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
Several activities must be performed during each of these four phases. Following this formal
project management process greatly increases the likelihood of project success.
During project initiation the project manager performs several activities that assess the size,
scope, and complexity of the project, and establishes procedures to support subsequent activities.
Depending on the project, some initiation activities may be unnecessary and some may be more
involved. The types of activities you will perform when initiating a project are;
1. Establishing the project initiation team. This activity involves organizing an initial core
of project team members to assist in accomplishing the project initiation activities.
2. Establishing a relationship with the customer. A thorough understanding of your
customer builds stronger partnerships and higher levels of trust.
3. Establishing the project initiation plan. This step defines the activities required to
organize the initiation team while it is working to define the scope of the project.
4. Establishing management procedures. Successful projects require the development of
effective management procedures.
5. Establishing the project management environment and project workbook. The focus of
this activity is to collect and organize the tools that you will use while managing the
project and to construct the project workbook. For example, most diagrams, charts, and
system descriptions provide much of the project workbook contents. Thus, the project
workbook serves as a repository for all project correspondence, inputs, outputs,
deliverables, procedures, and standards established by the project team. The project
workbook can be stored as an online electronic document, a Web site, or in a large three-
ring binder. The establishment and diligent recording of all project information in the
workbook are two of the most important activities you will perform as project manager
( see figure 3.2 ).
6. Developing the project charter. The project charter is a short (typically one page), high-
level document prepared for the customer that describes what the project will deliver and
outlines many of the key elements of the project. A project charter can vary in the amount
of detail it contains, but often includes the following elements:
Project title and date of authorization
3
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
Project manager name and contact information
Customer name and contact information
Projected start and completion dates
Project description and objectives
Key assumptions or approach
Key stakeholders, roles, responsibilities and signatures
The project charter ensures that both you and your customer gain a common understanding of the
project. It is also a useful communication tool; it helps to announce to the organization that a
particular project has been chosen for development.
Project initiation is complete once these six activities have been performed. Before moving on to
the next phase of the project, the work performed during project initiation is reviewed at a
meeting attended by management, customers, and project team members. An outcome of this
meeting is a decision to continue the project, modify it, or abandon it. In the case of the
Purchasing Fulfillment System project at Pine Valley Furniture, the board accepted the SSR and
selected a project steering committee to monitor project progress and to provide guidance to the
team members during subsequent activities. If the scope of the project is modified, it may be
necessary to return to project initiation activities and collect additional information. Once a
decision is made to continue the project, a much more detailed project plan is developed during
the project planning phase.
Project planning involves defining clear, discrete activities and the work needed to complete
each activity within a single project. It often requires you to make numerous assumptions about
the availability of resources such as hardware, software, and personnel.
1. Describing project scope, alternatives, and feasibility. The purpose of this activity is to
understand the content and complexity of the project.
2. Dividing the project into manageable tasks. Here, you must divide the entire project into
manageable tasks and then logically order them to ensure a smooth evolution between
tasks. The definition of tasks and their sequence is referred to as the work breakdown
structure (WBS).
4
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
3. Estimating resources and creating a resource plan. The goal of this activity is to estimate
resource requirements for each project activity and use this information to create a project
resource plan. The resource plan helps assemble and deploy resources in the most
effective manner.
4. Developing a preliminary schedule. During this activity, you use the information on
tasks and resource availability to assign time estimates to each activity in the work
breakdown structure. These time estimates will allow you to create target starting and
ending dates for the project. The schedule may be represented as a Gantt chart, or as a
Network diagram.
5. Developing a communication plan. The goal of this activity is to outline the
communication procedures among management, project team members, and the
customer.
6. Determining project standards and procedures. During this activity, you specify how
various deliverables are produced and tested by you and your project team.
7. Identifying and assessing risk. The goal of this activity is to identify sources of project
risk and to estimate the consequences of those risks.
8. Creating a preliminary budget. During this phase, you need to create a preliminary
budget that outlines the planned expenses and revenues associated with your project.
9. Developing a project scope statement. Developed primarily for the customer, this
document outlines work that will be done and clearly describes what the project will
deliver.
10. Setting a baseline project plan. This baseline plan provides an estimate of the
project’s tasks and resource requirements and is used to guide the next project phase—
execution. As new information is acquired during project execution, the baseline plan will
continue to be updated.
At the end of the project planning phase, a review of the baseline project plan is conducted to
double-check all the information in the plan. As with the project initiation phase, it may be
necessary to modify the plan, which means returning to prior project planning activities before
proceeding.
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
Project execution puts the baseline project plan into action. Within the context of the SDLC,
project execution occurs primarily during the analysis, design, and implementation phases.
During the development of the Purchasing Fulfillment System, Chris Martin was responsible for
five key activities during project execution.
1. Executing the baseline project plan.
2. Monitoring project progress against the baseline project plan.
3. Managing changes to the baseline project plan
4. Maintaining the project workbook
5. Communicating the project status.
This section outlined your role as the project manager during the execution of the baseline
project plan. The ease with which the project can be managed is significantly influenced by the
quality of prior project phases. If you develop a high-quality project plan, it is much more likely
that the project will be successfully executed.
The focus of project closedown is to bring the project to an end. Projects can conclude with a
natural or unnatural termination. Regardless of the project termination outcome, several activities
must be performed: closing down the project, conducting post project reviews, and closing the
customer contract. Within the context of the SDLC, project closedown occurs after the
implementation phase. The system maintenance phase typically represents an ongoing series of
projects, each needing to be individually managed.
2.3. Representing and Scheduling Project plans
A project manager has a wide variety of techniques available for depicting and documenting
project plans. These planning documents can take the form of graphical or textual reports,
although graphical reports have become most popular for depicting project plans. The most
commonly used methods are Gantt charts and Network diagrams.
Representing Project Plans
Project scheduling and management requires that time, costs, and resources be controlled.
Resources are any person, group of people, piece of equipment, or material used in
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
accomplishing an activity. Network diagramming is a critical path scheduling technique used
for controlling resources. A critical path refers to a sequence of task activities whose order and
durations directly affect the completion date of a project. A Network diagram is one of the most
widely used and best-known scheduling methods.
FIGURE 2-1 A Network diagram showing activities and sequence of those activities
(represented by arrows).
Calculating Expected Time Durations Using PERT
PERT (program evaluation review technique) is a technique that uses optimistic, pessimistic,
and realistic time estimates to calculate the expected time for a particular task. This technique
helps you obtain a better time estimate when you are uncertain as to how much time a task will
require to be completed. The optimistic (o) and pessimistic ( p) times reflect the minimum and
maximum possible periods of time for an activity to be completed. The realistic time (r), or most
likely time, reflects the project manager’s “best guess” of the amount of time the activity will
require for completion. Once each of these estimates is made for an activity, an expected
completion time (ET) can be calculated for that activity.
Where
ET = expected time for the completion for an activity
o =optimistic completion time for an activity
r = realistic completion time for an activity
p = pessimistic completion time for an activity
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])
lOMoARcPSD|23926180
2.4. Using Commercial project Management Software
A wide variety of automated project management tools are available to help you manage a
development project. New versions of these tools are continuously being developed and released
by software vendors. Most of the available tools have a common set of features that include the
ability to define and order tasks, assign resources to tasks, and easily modify tasks and resources.
Project management tools are available to run on Windows-compatible personal computers, the
Macintosh, and larger mainframe and workstation-based systems. Yet, a lot can be done with
systems like Microsoft Project as well as public domain and shareware systems.
We now illustrate the types of activities you would perform when using project management
software. Microsoft Project for Windows is a project management system that has earned
consistently high marks in computer publication reviews. When using this system to manage a
project, you need to perform at least the following activities:
Establish a project starting or ending date.
Enter tasks and assign task relationships.
Select a scheduling method to review project reports.
Downloaded by Abdumme Harar (abdumme@[Link])