Content

9 Explain

outsourcing
9 Describe different sources of software
9 Evaluate commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
software
9 Explain reuse and its role in software
development

Chapter 2
The Origins of Software

2011 by Prentice Hall: J.A.Hoffer et.al., Modern Systems Analysis & Design, 6th Edition

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1.Introduction

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2. Systems Acquisition

There

are various sources of software for

organizations (build & buy)
There are criteria to evaluate software
from different sources
The impact of reuse on software
development

Outsourcing:

turn over responsibility of

some or all of an organization's
information system (IS) applications and
operations to outside firms
Examples: a company that runs

payroll applications for clients

your applications at your site

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Reasons to outsource

2.1 Sources of Software *

Buy
Information technology (IT) services firm
Packaged software producers
Enterprise-wide solutions: ERP
Application service providers (ASPs): Cloud C.

Cost-effective
Take

advantage of economies of scale

Free up internal resources
Reduce time to market
Increase process efficiencies
System development is a non-core
activity for the organization

Build
Open source software
In-house developers

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b) Packaged Software Producers

a) Information Technology Services Firms

Help

companies develop custom

information systems for internal use
Develop, host, and run applications for
customers
Provide other services

Serve

many market segments

Ranges from broad-based packages (i.e.
general ledger) to niche packages (i.e.
day care management)
Runs on microcomputers to large
mainframes
Called off-the-shelf software
at
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best meets 70 % of organizations needs

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Packaged Software Producers (Cont.)

Off-the-shelf Software

Figure 2-2 Microsoft Project

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

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c) Enterprise Solutions Software

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Enterprise Solutions Software (Cont.)

Enterprise

Resource Planning (ERP)

systems that integrate individual traditional
business functions into modules enabling a
single seamless transaction to cut across
functional boundaries
E.g. SAP, Oracle e-Business Suite 60%
of ERP market
Figure 2-3 Functional areas supported by Oracles Business Suite
for small to medium businesses
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d) Application / Managed Service

Provider: Cloud Computing

e) Open Source Software

Freely

available including source code

Developed by a community of interested
people
Performs the same functions as
commercial software
Examples: Linux, MySQL, Firefox

The

provision of computing resources,

including applications, over the Internet,
so customers do not have to invest in the
computing infrastructure needed to run
and maintain the resources

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f) In-House Development

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Sources of Software *

If

sufficient system development

expertise with the chosen platform exists
in-house, then some or all of the systems
can be developed by the organizations
own staffs
Hybrid solutions involving some
purchased and some in-house
components are common
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2.2 Off-the-Shelf Software

Most common criteria for selecting COTS

Flexibility:

Most common criteria for selecting

Cost:

comparing the cost of developing the same in-house

system with the cost of purchasing or licensing the S/W
package
Functionality: refers to the tasks that the software can
perform and the mandatory, essential, and desired system
features
Vendor support: whether or how much support the vendor
can provide and at what cost
Viability of vendor: can the software adapt to change in
systems software and hardware

how easy it is to customize the software

Documentation:

is the users manual and technical

documentation understandable and up-to-date

Response

time: how long it takes the software

package to respond to the users requests in an
interactive session

Ease

of installation: a measure of the difficulty of

loading the software and making it operational

Cont.
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2.3 Validating Purchased Software

Information

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Request For Proposal

Use a variety of information sources

Collect

information from vendor

Vendors proposal

Software

documentation
Technical marketing literature

formal document: a single vendor that has been

determined as being able to supply that application
package and services

Articles in trade publications

Testing

Request For Proposal (RFP) is a document

provided to vendors to ask them to propose hardware
and system software that will meet the requirements
of a new system
Request For Quotation (RFQ)

& usage

Running software through a series of tests

Feedback from other users of the vendors product
Independent software testing services

Based on vendor bids, analyst selects best candidates

Use a variety of information sources

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3. Reuse *

Object-Oriented Development

The use of previously written software

resources, especially objects and components,
in new applications

Commonly applied to two different

development technologies
Object-oriented

Object

class encapsulates data and

behavior of common organizational
entities (e.g. employee)
Object-oriented development reuse is
using object classes in more than one
application (e.g. employee)

development

Component-based

development

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Component-based Development

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Costs and Benefits of Reuse

Components

can be as small as objects or

as large as pieces of software that handle
single business functions
Component-based development reuse is
the assembly of an application from many
different components at many different
levels of complexity and size (e.g.
currency conversion)
FIGURE 2-5
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Investments necessary to achieve reusable components

(Source: Royce, 1998, used by permission.)

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Approaches to Reuse

Approaches to Reuse (Cont.)

Ad-hoc: individuals are free to find or develop

reusable assets on their own

Facilitated: developers are encouraged to practice

reuse

Managed: the development, sharing, and adoption of

reusable assets is mandated

Designed: mandating assets be designed for reuse as

they are being designed for specific applications

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Summary

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Questions & Answers

9 Explain

outsourcing
9 Describe six different sources of
software
9 Discuss how to evaluate off-the-shelf
software
9 Explain reuse and its role in software
development
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Quiz

Exercise:

1 Hardware manufacturers, packaged software

producers, custom software producers, enterprise
wide solutions, application server providers, and
________________ are sources of software.
2 Using _______________________, a firm can
integrate all parts of a business process in a
unified information system.
3 ___________ refers to the tasks the software can
perform and the mandatory, essential, and desired
system features.
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1 Re-study SDLC in chapter 1

Explain

the aspect of buying the commercial offthe-shelf software in SDLC.

Ref: Whitten & et.al. Systems Analysis and Design

Method, 7th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2007: Chapter 3

2 Describe & compare the various sources of SW

3 Explain reuse, its advantages & disadvantages

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