ML 3 – MIS

SYSTEMS ACQUISITION / DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

4. Systems Acquisition / Development Process

a) Approaches (Waterfall, spiral, interactive, prototyping)
b) Phases of SDLC (Investigation and feasibility study)
c) Requirements analysis and initial design
d) Detailed design specification/documentation
e) System installation / implementation & maintenance
f) Project Management
g) Project planning
h) Project control methods and standards

System Development
System analysis and design (SAD) is the development of information system in a systematic
method. This process of development was designed in early 1950s, since then many variations
of this have been introduced. However, all of them have basic steps in common. System SAD
may also be called:

 System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

 System Development
 IS Development
 MIS Development
 CIS Development
 Software Development
 Application Development
 Program Development
 Automation
 Computerization
 Reengineering

When we go for system development, there are three possible scenarios:

a. Developing a new system – the organization is without any computer information system
and going for computerization for the first time.
b. Replacing an existing/old (legacy) computer system – organization has an old information
system in use, which is outdated and now needs replacement.
c. Developing a part for existing system and integrating it – organization has some of its
functions computerized and now planning to develop system for other areas and integrate
with the existing system.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 1

 ML 3 – MIS

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

SDLC includes all the time period from inception till the time system is in use (till the time it is
discarded or replaced). Generally, people include only the development time, so be careful
SDLC continues till the time system is in use. Generally speaking, SDLC has following stages
and their outputs.

Stages Product/Output
1. Systems Investigation Terms of Reference
2. Feasibility Studies Feasibility Study Report
3. Systems Analysis System Requirement Report
4. Systems Design System Specification Report
5. Systems Implementation Operational System
6. Systems Maintenance/Review/ Improved System
7. Audit or Post Implementation

After implementation and during maintenance cycle, a one-off study is conducted, called Post
Implementation Review (PIR) and the output is called Post Implementation Review Report.
This PIR report is basis for updating the system or discontinuing the system.

1. Systems Investigation – Terms of Reference

It is the preliminary study to find what type of system is required. This is very important
step, as any misunderstanding here can lead to a system, which is less than the required
functionality, or very unusable system. There activities are:

a. Problem definition – output is Problem-requirement list.

b. IS Planning – output is modified Problem-requirement list and Terms of Reference
(TOR).

The details are as follows:

a. Problem definition
Problem understood is half solved, so problem definition is very important, as this is
basis for defining the requirements for the candidate system. We try to find answers
of these questions:

 Do we have a problem/opportunity? if yes

 What is causing that problem/opportunity?
 Would a new system solve/avail it?
 What is the feasible solution/system?
 Prepare a problem-requirement list, that may contain:

o Current organizational problems.

o Requirements (current and future) like; type of system (online / batch,
centralized / decentralized), response time, output quality, frequency of
output, volume of data to process and store, etc.

b. IS Planning
IS planning and business planning have become synonyms as every business plan is
now supported and implemented through some IS. This includes thinking strategically
to take competitive advantage and implement business strategies through system or

System Acquisition / Development Process – 2

 ML 3 – MIS

introducing new business options through IT. IS planning is done in organizational not
departmental context.

MIS steering committee or Steering committee or IS committee

This high-level committee provides a leadership to the IS department and the use of
IS in the organization. It receives, screens, evaluates, and approves IS development
project. It also monitors and controls the IS development project. Its members
include:

 All departmental heads including IT head.

 A person from board of directors (BOD) or board of governors (BOG) or board of
management (BOM) or board of trustees (BOT) as chairman of the committee.

After approving a project, steering committee does the following:

 Modifies problem-requirement list to include other departments’ concerns.

 Makes a feasibility study team (FST) to initiate the development process. Its
members generally include:
o Technical person(s) – like system analyst, from IS department or from outside
the organization.
o User(s) – from the user department(s).
o Senior person(s) of the organization to maintain the organizational context
during the development process.
 Prepares Terms of Reference (TOR), which is project scope or project charter. TOR
are given to the FST as their assignment.

TOR points
TOR vary from project to project, but it generally includes the following points:

i. To investigate and report on existing system, procedures, and cost.

ii. To define the system requirement.
iii. To establish whether the existing system meets it or not.
iv. To establish whether alternative system is required.
v. To specify performance criteria for the system.
vi. To recommend the most suitable system.
vii. To prepare a detailed cost budget of the existing system.
viii. To establish a detailed design, implementation, and operating budget of new
system.
ix. To compare a detailed budget with current system budget.
x. To prepare a draft plan for implementation.
xi. To establish whether the hoped-for benefits could be realized.
xii. To decide which operational manager to contact.
xiii. To set the date to report back.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 3

 ML 3 – MIS

2. Feasibility Studies – Feasibility study report

In feasibility study we establish what type of a system is feasibile to meet the information
needs by investigating information needs of the users, objectives, basic resource
requirements, cost benefit, and so on. Key areas of feasibility study/project selection are:

i. Technical feasibility
ii. Economic feasibility
iii. Social feasiblity
iv. Legal feasibility
v. Operational feasibility
vi. Organisational feasibility
vii. Schedule feasibility

Check the details of all feasibilities here:

i. Technical feasibility
This involves evaluating technical possibility of the system. System has to be
technically achievable in order to deliver the desired result. This ensures that
required hardware, software, network, DB, and other technical infrastructure is
available and it will continue to be supported by the manufacturers and suppliers.
The infrastructure should be capable of handling the current as well as the future
requirements, like:

 Volume of transactions
 Capacity to hold records
 Number of users
 Response time
 Growth

ii. Economic feasibility

System must also be economically feasible, which means the input in terms of
money and efforts should yield more output. Economic feasibility can be done using
cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and/or investment appraisal techniques.

Cost-benefit analysis
Cost benefit analysis is an easy and nontechnical method of doing the economic
feasibility. It involves calculating two things.

Calculate costs
 Explicit cost – it is open, unambiguous and includes; equipment cost, installation
cost, personnel cost, development cost, operating cost, and other costs.
 Implicit cost – this is generally hidden, and that is why not considered, e.g.
opportunity cost, training cost, conversion cost etc.

Assess benefits
 Direct/tangible benefits – easily quantifiable benefits, like; saving on staff,
space, operating cost, increased sales, better stock control, sale of equipment,
etc.
 Indirect/intangible benefits – difficult to quantify, like; better decision making,
improved customer service, improved morale, improved goodwill, etc.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 4

 ML 3 – MIS

Investment/Project appraisal techniques

Investment appraisal techniques are generally used for all projects of medium and
large size. This presents the financial viability based on one of the techniques chosen
by the organization.

 Payback period
 Average Rate of Return (ARR)
 Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)

Project Options Estimated Inflows

Year P Q PV of P PV of Q
0 (100,000) (100,000)
1 50,000 40,000 44,000 35,000
2 50,000 40,000 40,000 30,000
3 20,000 40,000 14,000 25,000
4 20,000 40,000 12,000 20,000
5 20,000 40,000 10,000 15,000
160,000 200,000 120,000 125,000

 Payback period
In payback period method, choose an option in which initial investment is
recovered more quickly. For example, select project P as per this criterion.

 Accounting/Average Rate of Return (ARR)

Here we choose an option in which we have maximum return. For example,
select project Q as per this criterion.

 Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)

In this we have two methods:

o Net Present Value (NPV) – calculate present value (PV) of all returns at
the time of investment, If NPV is positive; the option may be selected,
otherwise not.
o Internal Rate of Return (IRR) – it is a point where NPV is zero. Calculate
cost of capital and rate of return, select the option in which rate of return
is higher.

iii. Social feasibility

Before undertaking a major project, the management must assess its impact, if any,
on the following:

 Adherence to personnel policies.

 Redrawing of job specifications.
 Expected skills requirements.
 Impact on motivation of the employees.
 Threats to industrial relations.
 Ethical requirements.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 5

 ML 3 – MIS

iv. Legal feasibility

Every system has some legal implications. A system deals with some business
process and some regulator regulates the business. Organizations must consider
implications from federal, provincial, local, and regulatory agencies before
implementing a system.

The examples for legal feasibility considerations include:

 Companies Act 2017

 CDC Act 1997
 NADRA Ordinance 2000

v. Operational feasibility
Determine the willingness and ability of management, employees, customer, and
supplier to support, operate, and use the system. It should not conflict the way in
which business is conducted.

vi. Organizational feasibility

Determine the system will be able to perform designated functions, support
organization’s objectives, work in existing conditions and point out the probability
of success.

vii. Schedule feasibility

Estimate when the operational system is ready. Prepare details and schedule for all
the steps.

Contents of feasibility study report

a. Terms of reference (TOR)
b. Description of current system
c. System requirement
d. Details of proposed system
e. Cost-benefit analysis
f. Development and implementation plan – details given below
g. Recommendations

Development and implementation plan

It defines, priorities, and schedules required IS development project. It contains:

i. Types and sources of hardware and software.

ii. Construction of physical facilities.
iii. Hiring and training of personnel.
iv. Startup and operating procedures.
v. Implementation timetables.

Feasibility studies require use of some tools, which have been discussed in system
analysis.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 6

 ML 3 – MIS

3. Systems Analysis – Systems Requirements Report

System analysis is an exercise which should be done with great care and all neceesary
resources should be used to carry it out very comprehensively. Any short commings in
analysis will greatly effect the design and operation of the system. Here the basic question
is ‘What’ a system should do to meet information needs of users.

To carryout the analysis comprehensively we do three activities in three areas. Activities

are:

 Fact finding
 Fact recording
 Evaluation (strengths and weaknesses)

Three areas are:

a. Organizational environment
b. Present system
c. System requirement

Here are the details:

a. Analysis of the organizational environment

Look at the nature and sector of the business, business activities, know about
organization, management structure, people, the environment, policies, and current
IS. Understand specific users/group which will be affected.

b. Analysis of the present system

Analyse how hardware, software, and people resources convert data into information
also analyse how IS activities (input, process, output, storage, and control) are being
performed. This will help in specifying resources, products, and activities in new
system.

c. System requirement analysis

This is most difficult stage as current and future requirements of different levels of
management and in different departments need to be clearly determined.

This needs analysis helps us in determining information-processing capabilities

required for each IS activity.

Contents of system requirement report

All the findings in this stage are summed up in a document called system requirement
report. This report is basis of system design.

a. Organizational environment
b. Present system
c. System requirements

System Acquisition / Development Process – 7

 ML 3 – MIS

Investigation techniques / tools

To carryout system investigation and system analysis, we use a number of tools. These
tools are used in a synchronized way to collect and confirm information from all the
sources. All tools are not necessarily used always except some. These tools may also be
called tools for system analysis, fact-finding tool, or information gathering tools.

a. Organizational chart/Organogram – always used

b. Document review/review of literature and procedure forms – always used
c. Onsite observation – always used
d. Interview – always used
e. Group work session/user workshop – not always used
f. Protocol analysis – always used
g. Questionnaire – not always used
h. Existing computer system – not always used
i. Requirements creep – always used

Let us learn about these tools in more detail:

a. Organizational chart

Managing Director

Director Finance Director Marketing Director Admin & HR

Mgr Mgr Mgr Mgr Mgr Mgr Mgr Mgr Mgr

Advantages are:

 Reporting lines get clear.

 Information requirements get clear.
 Provides good understanding of the organizational structure.

b. Document review or Review of literature and procedure forms

This method involves reading the manual, introductory material, brochures, and
procedure forms to know about the system and its working.

Advantages are:

 Information collection without disturbing anyone.

 Document flow can be understood easily.

Disadvantages are:

 Reading takes lot of time.

 Many organizations have no manuals.
 Many organizations have no updated manuals.
 Many a times manuals are not followed.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 8

 ML 3 – MIS

c. Onsite observation
It is a useful way of collecting and crosschecking information collected through other
means. In this analyst goes and observes the working in the actual environment.

Advantages are:

 Observe everything going on there.

 Firsthand knowledge means better system requirement understanding.

Disadvantages are:

 Cannot observe everything, as some processes are not carried out frequently, e.g.
Zakat deduction in a bank, and accounts closing and dividend calculation in
organizations.
 Person under observation feels uncomfortable.
 Person under observation can mislead by doing things in a different manner.

The solution to the above problems is to go as a customer and/or inspect through

camera so that user is not disturbed.

d. Interview
This is the finest and the oldest but the most expensive method based on face-to-face
communication. Here few points must to be remembered:

 Take appointment before you go.

 Prepare for interview to make it more useful.
 Be relaxed and keep interviewee relaxed.
 Listen more.
 Differentiate between facts and opinions.
 Do not use recording devices as it leads to bad impression.
 End at a good note.

Advantages are:

 Face-to-face communication.
 Firsthand information collection.
 Verbal and nonverbal communication availability.
 Instant clarification, if any confusion arises.

Disadvantages are:

 It requires good explanation skills in user(s).

 Expensive as it requires time of analyst and the user(s).
 Contradictions may arise between the explanations given by different user(s).

e. Group work session or User workshop or Group interview

This method involves interviewing all relevant department people by a team of
systems analyst. For example, managers of finance, marketing, and production can be
interviewed in a group.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 9

 ML 3 – MIS

Advantages are:

 Information collected quickly as many people are interviewed together.

 It reduces contradictions among users and things get explained easily.

Disadvantages are:

 Difficult to arrange all managers at the same time.

 Lengthy sessions, required 4-8 hours.

f. Protocol analysis
It is a combination of observation and interview. The user carries out the operations
and explains whatever is done. This gives good understanding of the system to the
analyst.

It has advantages of both observation and interview.

Disadvantages are:

 Requires good explanation skill in users.

g. Questionnaire
Questionnaire on paper or electronic form can be used to collect information. There
are two types of questions:

i. Open-end – answer need to fabricated and elaborated.

ii. Close-end – answer exists, just tell, there are several type:
 Fill in the blanks
 Dichotomous (yes/no)
 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
 Ranking
 Rating

Types of questionnaire
i. Fixed format – this has only close-end questions.
ii. Free format – this has both open-end and close-end questions.

Advantages are:

 A good way to collect information from large and spread audience when
information requirements are well defined.
 Users can fill up questionnaire at their convenience.

Disadvantages are:

 Difficult to make a good questionnaire.

 People do not return questionnaires.
 Question cannot be reworded in case reader does not understand.
 People do not write their own views in answer.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 10

 ML 3 – MIS

h. Existing computer system

Existing computer system is a good guide for information collection regarding system
and its working as it is still serving the organization; look at it carefully to know:

 Inputs of the system.

 Processes carried out by the system.
 Outputs being produced and their use.
 Controls in the system to ensure the data and system integrity.
 Weaknesses in the system to overcome these in the new system.
 Strengths of the system to make sure these are kept in the new system.
 File storage capacity to understand the storage requirements of the new system.
 Errors of the system will make you alert to be careful in the new system.
 Crashes guide you to avoid wrong processing logics.

i. Requirements creep
Requirements keep creeping in during and even after system’s completion. It is a
continuous process. Incorporate the necessary and possible requirements to make
system more strong.

4. Systems Design – System Specification Report

The basic question is ‘How’ a system should meet information needs of users. Here the
focus is on designing of system and its working to satisfy user needs. The designing is done
in two phases:

a. Logical design phase

b. Physical design phase

Let us go through the details:

a. Logical Design phase

Logical designing involves thinking about many solutions to meet the user needs. Here
rough and general ideas of basic components and flow of IS are developed. General
specifications for the basic IS activities are also developed. The one which best suits
the user needs is selected, finalised, and refined. Physical desiging of the selected one
is done in physical design stage.

b. Physical Design phase

Detailed specifications for user interfaces, information products, database structures,
processing and control procedures are developed. Specify hardware, software, and
human resources required in the system. Physical designing includes:

i. User interface designing

ii. Data designing
iii. Process designing

Check the details here:

System Acquisition / Development Process – 11

 ML 3 – MIS

i. User interface designing

A good user interface (connection) makes user’s life very comfortable. Therefore,
here the focus is designing the interaction between machine and user,
input/output methods, conversion of data and information between human
readable and machine-readable forms. Detailed specifications are developed for
the products such as:

 Input screens or forms – to input the data in the system, e.g. students’ basic
data entry screen, students’ marks entry screen and so on.
 Display screens – output screens that will provide information to users, e.g.
viewing student details on screen.
 Forms – paper form which will be used to collect data for input, e.g. admission
forms.
 Documents – different documents that will be generated by the system, e.g.
college card, or any other statement etc.
 Reports – output on paper for internal and external consumption, e.g. No. of
admissions this month, fee collection reports and so on.
 Interactive computer user dialogue – the messages the system shows to the
user for further action.
 Audio responses – the system may have audio responses for guiding the user.

ii. Data designing

This very important aspect of designing focuses on logical structures of files and
databases. Detailed description of the following are developed:

 The entities – anything about which we want to store data is called an

entity. It can be people (A/c holders, customers, students), things
(products), places (branches – address telephone, email, fax), events
(transaction – when, what happened). For example, in a bank entities are
A/c holders, branches, employees, transactions, and so on.
 Relationship among the entities – there are four relationships possible
among entities; one to one, one to many, many to one, and many to many.
 Specific data elements – define fields, records, files, databases.
 Integrity rules – this must be defined to avoid any accidental/malicious
damage to IS.

iii. Process designing

To implement the user interfaces, data, and process and control the
functionality of the system, software is needed. Therefore, this focuses on
design of software resources needed by the IS, detailed program specifications
and procedures needed to meet user interfaces and data design are developed.
Control and performance requirements of the proposed IS are also developed.
Concentrate on developing or buying software:

 Make/Bespoke/Tailor-made/Custom-made
We can make our software, if there is development staff or we can find a
right software house to develop it for us. The options are called:
o In-house – developed inside the organization.
o Outsource – developed by some software house.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 12

 ML 3 – MIS

 Buy/Ready-made
Excellent software suppliers are offering readymade software as per
industry needs. Organization always has an option of buying from these
suppliers. The two options are:
o Off-the-shelf/standard software – buy, install, and run these.
o Customized versions of standard software – buy, customize, and run.

Advantages of Make AND Disadvantages of Buy

a. Suits organization’s needs.
b. Organization can take competitive advantage.
c. Organization owns it, so can sell it to similar organizations, e.g. AAL’s
SABRE system sold to many airlines.
d. Source code availability.
e. No or less dependence on suppliers.
f. Organizational secrecy is maintained as you make it.
g. More security as it is a customized application.

Advantages of Buy AND Disadvantages of Make

a. It is inexpensive.
b. Readily available.
c. Well tested and reliable.
d. Well documented.
e. High quality.
f. Updated continually.
g. After sales service.

User friendliness
Users want easy operations in all the hardware and software. This user friendliness is a
very important requirement of every system these days. This refers to easy to use, simple,
and quick interface providing efficient interaction of user with the machine and its
software. No matter you make or buy software, it has to be user friendly. User friendliness
includes:

a. Graphic User Interface (GUI) – should have WIMP (Windows Icons Mouse Pull-down
menus).
b. Ease of data entry for quick and accurate input:
i. Use same field titles as on manual forms.
ii. Use same sequence as on manual forms.
iii. Group data to separate different details.
iv. Use default entries, which are made automatically during input, e.g. date, city.
v. Use radio-buttons, which allow selection of one option from many.
vi. Use check-boxes incase multiple options selection is allowed for the user.
vii. Use drop-down list to help user to choose from predefined entries.
c. Multiple style working – must suit the working style of different user, e.g. working
through mouse, shortcut keys, menus, and wizards.
d. Escapability – user must be in control of the operations, e.g. user has an option to
cancel any operations’ execution, if it is to be aborted.
e. Customization – changes as per user’s convenience are allowed, e.g. in MS-Word you
can change menus and icons if you want.
f. On screen dialogue – conversational mode to guide user on system operations.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 13

 ML 3 – MIS

g. On screen prompt – to make user alert when he/she makes a mistake.

h. Online help – help should be context sensitive to provide help on the issue user is
facing and must have hyperlinks of the relevant topics.
i. Consistent design principle – same look and feel saves training time and cost.

Contents of system specification (design) report

a. User interface specification – includes contents, formats, and sequences of user
interfaces in the system.
b. Database specification – includes contents, structures, centralized/distributed,
access, response time, retention capabilities, and maintenance requirement.
c. Software specification – includes required software package or programming
specification of the proposed system including performance and control specification.
d. Hardware specification – performance characteristics of the equipment.
e. Personnel specification – job description of the personnel.
f. System documentation specification – specification for documentation of system
characteristics and operating procedures for end users and technical personnel
produced by manuals and built-in software help.

Tools of system designing

There are many tools for supporting the system designing. Here is the list of tools.

i. Layout forms
ii. Data Dictionary (DD)
iii. Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERD) or Logical Data Structure (LDS)
iv. Entity Life History (ELH) or Event model (EM)
v. Decision Tree
vi. Structured English/Text/Narratives or Pseudo code
vii. Decision Table
viii. Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
ix. Flow Charts (FC)

5. Systems Implementation – Operational System

System implementation brings the development team closer to end of the project. This
stage requires great care as a well designed system may fail if not implemented properly.
There are seven activities here, some of which may be carried out in parallel, these are:

a. Construction or renovation
b. Acquisition
c. Software development or Programming
d. Training
e. Testing
f. Documentation
g. Conversion or Changeover

Now details:

System Acquisition / Development Process – 14

 ML 3 – MIS

a. Construction or Renovation
Construct and/or renovate the site/data center as per security environment (chapter:
IS Security).

b. Acquisition
Acquisition is a sensitive process, as there will be an outflow of funds, so great care
has to be taken here. There should proper evaluation done for all the vendors and
their products. We accquire mainly three things:

i. Hardware acquisition
ii. Software acquisition
iii. Services acquisition

The acquistion process may be done in one of two ways given below, depending on
the size of acquisition:

 Quotations – in case of small projects, quotations from several vendors should be

taken and eveluated.
 Invitation To Tender (ITT) – for big project, tender may be given in newspaper(s).
Information in tender includes:

o General information regarding company, like: name, address, contact person,

closing/opening dates.
o Product/Service information should be mentioned in detail, so that the
vendor gives a competitive bid. Select the best one after thorough evaluation.

Evaluation process
Prepare evaluation forms mentioning the evaluation factors given. Use a scale from
one to ten and rank different vendors/products/services on different factors.
Summing up all the factors tells about the best one.

Format of the evaluation form is given here:

Factors Product / Vendor 1 Product / Vendor 2 Product / Vendor 3

Reliability 10 8 6
Efficiency 5 10 8
Cost 4 10 10
User friendliness 5 7 4
-
-
-
Total X X X

i. Hardware acquisition
Hardware is bought in any case as there will be no hardware development. Right
from a simple devices like mouse to high-end processors are bought after
evaluation. There options are:

 Renting hardware – with no investment at all, this option may be excercized.

 Used hardware – this option is not common today, but may be considered in
case of a good deal.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 15

 ML 3 – MIS

 New hardware – you can decide to purchase or get on lease (operating lease
or finance lease) the hardware.

Hardware evaluation factors

When we buy hardware, all the hardware options available are supposed to be
evaluated on the criteria mentioned below:

1. Performance – the hardware chosen should be meeting the following

requirement:
a. Speed
b. Capacity
c. Throughput
d. Response time – the time to respond to the user request can be of four
types:
o Starting/closing time – starting and shutdown time of the hardware.
o Conventional – the normal response time, the response time when
the system is not overlaoded.
o General – at computer convenience, when the system is overloaded.
o Immediate – time taken incase of an emergency operation execution.
2. Cost – choose the most economical one and consider all costs, including:
a. Purchase price
b. Lease price
c. Cost of operation and maintenance
3. Reliability – evaluate the trustworthiness of the hardware options by looking
at follwong points carefully:
a. Risk of malfunction
b. Maintenance requirement
c. Diagnostic features
d. Error control
4. Compatibility – for smooth operation the hardware compatiblity must be
ensured with existing:
a. Hardware
b. Software
c. Competing suppliers
5. Modularity – expansion and upgradation on modular basis is very much
needed.
6. Technology – make sure the hardware options evaluated must be checked for
technical obsolescence.
7. Ergonomics – must check the hardware is:
a. Human factor engineered
b. User friendly
c. Safe
d. Comfortable and easy to use
8. Connectivity – the evaluation must consider equipment’s connectivity with:
a. LAN
b. MAN
c. WAN
d. Computer
e. Peripherals

System Acquisition / Development Process – 16

 ML 3 – MIS

9. Environmental requirements – look at the requirement of the hardware for

its operation:
a. Electrical
b. Airconditioning
c. Others
10. Software – the hardware under conisideration must be able to give best
performacne with the existing software.
11. Availability – check when is this available, readily availbale or after some time.
12. Support – after sales service, repair, parts availability is important factor in
every hardware evaluation.

ii. Software acquisition

Software acuisition includes, buying operating system, antivirus, firewall, and
other aplication software. This may include buying our main application, if we
have decided to buy it. Consider evaluation factors in Buying or Making the
software.

Software evaluation factors

All software (operating system, network operation system, application software,
firewall, antivirus, and any other) should be evaluated strictly on the following
criteria:

1. Quality – must be bugfree.

2. Efficiency – the software must be running fast and for this it must be:
a. Well written – as per the best industry/programming practices.
b. Consuming least resources.
3. Flexibility – must be able to handle processing without major modifications.
4. Security – enough controls must be provided for:
a. Handling malfunction
b. Errors handling
c. Improper use
5. Language – should be in a common language, so that our people can easily
maintain that.
6. Documentation – must be well documented so that it provides helpful user
instructions for easy operations.
7. Hardware – must be able to make best use of our existing or newly purchase
hardware.
8. Other factors – all factors mentioned in hardware must be looked into the
software option being considered.

iii. Services acquisition

Different services may acquired depending on our needs. The most common
services include:

 Data entry
 Insurance
 Internet
 Satellite connectivity
 Disaster recovery

System Acquisition / Development Process – 17

 ML 3 – MIS

Services evaluation factors

Organization might be needing different services, like; internet, satellite
conectivity, insurance, disaster recovery and many other serives. The evaluation
of these sercices should be base on this critera:

1. Performance – the sercives should excellent functioning.

2. Reliability – service should be dependable to rely on for sensitive working.
3. Availability – should be available in the miminum time.
4. Coverage / Area of operation – what is included in the service as a package.
5. Variety of services – what supporting services are available with it.
6. Cost – the cost should be as per our budget.

Many other things are required so these should also be evaluated.

iv. Network acquisition

All the networking hardware and software should be evaluated strictly on the
following criteria.

Network evaluation factors

The network options available also require careful evaluation other wrong
selection will lead to connectivity issue in present or in future. The factors are:

1. Integribility – the setup should be able to provide for integrated delivery of

services that supports voice, video, and graphics transmission.
2. Connectibility – easy access and connection with other devices.
3. Sharebility – sharing resources should be done easily through the network.
4. Phaseability – the setup should be such that if developed in phases, high
degree of conectability and sharability is maintained.
5. Availability – hardware, software, and services should be available now and
in future without any interruption.
6. Reliability – business needs reliability to transmit data on time.
7. Security – security is necessary as organization will be doing EDI and EFT.
8. Cost – the cost of setup should be affordable.

v. Vendor evaluation
All the vendors providing quotations or responding to Request for Proposal (RFP)
should be evaluated.

Vendor evaluation factors

The vendors providing hardware, software, network, and service should be
evaluated on the criteria mentioned below:

1. Performance – past performance and market reputation of all the vendors

must be considered.
2. System development – the system developer vendors should be evaluated for
their quality and cost of staff.
3. Conversion – services during conversion by vendor in terms of hardware and
software.
4. Maintenance – check maintenance will be provided or not, if yes, quality and
cost.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 18

 ML 3 – MIS

5. Training – check training will be provided or not, if yes, quality and cost of
training.
6. Backup – do they have similar equipment for emergency.
7. Accessability – should be in close vicinity, so that service is provided quickly.
8. Business position – financial health must be considered.
9. Hardware – wide variety of hardware should be available with vendor.
10. Software – wide variety of software should be available with vendor.

c. Software development or Programming

This is going to be a very big activity in case of make decision and a small one in case
of buy decision to make the necessary adjustments. This includes two activities:

 Coding
Coding is writing instructions in a computer language. This exercise requires using
a computer lanuage commands to be input to program the computer. Different
programming approaches, like, modular, structured, object oriented, and event
dirven may be used depeding on the assignmnet and skill of the development
team.

 Debugging
During and after coding the process of removing errors is an important activity.
During coding different kinds of errors like, syntax, logical, and runtime are
detected and corrected to make program error free.

d. Training
Training is provided to develop competencies in users, as untrained or illtrained users
will destroy the sytem or may not be able to take full advantage of the system
features. It includes:

 Basic literacy training

This type of training includes, providing hands-on experience to users on basic
software, like, operating system, wordprocessor, spreadsheet, and presentation,
and other common packages. This is not required nowadays in most of the cases,
as users had studied computer basics during schooling or professional
qualification studies.

 Specific software training

The software developed or bought requires good deal of training for everyone
from top management to frontline staff. Training methods will be different for
every levels of staff, methods are:

o Top management – several methods can be used for this level, like; informal
training (a note or a brief written for their awareness), semiformal traininig
(arranging a demonstration to explain the working), formal training (handson
experience on that application).
o Middle and supervisory management – for this level we always go for formal
training session. They should be given enough handson experience, so that
they are able to use system comfortably.
o Frontline staff – they are supposed to be highly trained, as they face the
customers. They are given formal and rigorous training to meet the customers
queries quickly.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 19

 ML 3 – MIS

e. Testing
Testing of system is the most important requirement to build confidence in the
system’s functionality. Proper testing requires looking at these important aspects:

Purpose of testing
Why to do testing is an important question. Until testing is done, one cannot be sure
of its functionality and usability. To confirm its working as per requirement, we do:

 Performance testing – checking the performance of the system against

predefined criteria in the feasibility studies, systems analysis, system design, and
system implementation.
 Usability testing – checking user friendlliness of the system, to ensure user
comfort.

People involved
Testing should be done by many people, right from technical side to business side.
This will make testing more comprehensive and all aspects will be covered. Testing
should be carried by the following people:

 Programmer – is the the first person to test the system. Programmers will check
their codes/programs as they have written it and they know the logic. It is their
responsibility to make it error free.
 System Analyst/Desinger – this person is the next to test the system. Being the
designer, system analyst/designer must verify the functionality and usability of
the system.
 Quality Control – quality control people will make sure that the system complies
with all the industry standards and/or quality standards the organization has
adopted.
 Project Manager – being the incharge of the project, PM makes sure the product
is flawless and meeting the user needs, so that the job is done with utmost
satisfaction.
 Operations Manager – IT/IS Manager is the operations manager. OM is
responsible for systems running, once the development and implementation is
over. To ensure least problems in the operation, OM goes for testing.
 Users – the most important testing is performed by user, which is called User
Acceptance Testing (UAT). This person the ultimate user, so UAT has to be done
with users’ complete involvement and should be given enough time, to check all
areas of the system thoroughly. It is highly recommended in UAT to do Bulk
testing (put maximum load on the system). UAT is beneficial for the user as user
learns about:

o System – user gets trained automatically.

o Possible mistakes and their correction methods.
o System capacity to process and hold data.
o Runtime of the system.
o Manual-computer interaction.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 20

 ML 3 – MIS

Approaches
Approach refers to how to do testing, as any wrong or invalid approach can render
the whole process useless. Two powerful and popular approaches are used here to
ensure the comprehensiveness of the system:

 Static – this include checking design diagrams, interfaces, and source code
(listings) reviews to ensure the system’s adequacy for the use.
 Dynamic – here we run the system and do input, process, and output to check the
system from ‘cradle to grave’.

Stages
Testing is done in different stages, to make it more systematic and comprehensive.
Each stage provides assurance to go on with the next stage, at the end of last stage,
development team and user can be sure of what they have developed. Stages are:

 Module or Stub testing – this involves testing the sub-

programs/routines/modules. These small pieces are tested individually to ensure
the minutest level testing of the system to identify errors.
 Program or Unit testing – after module testing, the modules are put together to
construct the program. The programs will be tested to ensure the modules are
working properly when integrated.
 System testing – system testing follows the program testing to ensure the whole
system working as desinged. This is done twice, offline (before giving to the user,
done by technical people) and online (at users’ premises by users).

During system testing integration and load testings have to be done to ensure that
the system has all the components working seamlessly and system is capable of
handing extreme data processing load.

 Integration or Interface testing – although integration testing has been done in

the previous stages, but this is highly recommeded that now we specifically focus
checking that all modules are interfacing with each other properly.
 Load or Stress or Bulk testing – make sure during testing full load is put on the
system to ensure the full capacity of the system.

Data
Testing requires data and data has to be carefully selected to test all the functionaly
and usability of the system. Inadequate data is very dangerous, as it will not expose
system’s limitations. Two types of data is selected:

 Historical – this includes the past records, old data which is already processed.
Feed it, process, and produce output, comparion of new system result with old
reports will ensure system’s accuracy and completeness.
 Dummy or Test data – this is not actual or live data, it can be generated manually
or through some specialized software called Computer Assisted Software Testing
(CAST). This software can generate data based on business. Data should be of
following types:

o Invalid – it should not be accepted by the system, feed and see system’s
reaction.
o Valid – it should be accepted and this must include:

System Acquisition / Development Process – 21

 ML 3 – MIS

 Normal values – daily generated data, e.g. in a bank cheques of few

thousand rupees are common.
 Exceptional values – not generated daily, e.g. in a bank, once a
week/month a cheque of rupees 15 million comes in.
 Extremes values – the minimum and the maximum should also be
checked, e.g. in a bank check amounts from Rs. 5 to 100 million.
 Unusual but acceptable – values are normal, but nature is unusual, e.g.
payroll processed twice in a month.

Why test data? – the historical data may not have certain conditions, like,
invalid, exceptional, extreme, and unusual values.

f. Documentation
System documentation includes all working documents, reports, tools, and hardware
and software manuals. These documents are vital for system implementation,
operations, maintenance, updation, and upgradation. There are two types:

i. Internal
Internal documentation includes the working papers of programmers, which they
use for developing their logic and testing while programming. These are like
auditor’s working papers.

ii. External
External documentation is the one that is handed over to others to support their
working, there are two types:

 Technical documentation/guide/manual – contains technical details of the

system including design diagrams and the source code. It is used by technical
people for system implementation, maintenance, and improvements.
 User documentation/guide/manual – contains operating instructions and
samples of user interfaces. It is used by user for system operations.

g. Conversion/Changeover
Conversion is shifting to the new system. It is the conversion of the way everything is
done in the organization. It includes conversion of personnel, procedure, equipment,
I/O forms and database. Two points need to be considered at this stage:

 Coversion should be done at a slacktime, means when the business is slow.

Because conversion always has some issues which create problems for the
organizations, e.g. PIA did conversion after Hajj and before school vacations.
 Keep backdoor open, means keep the old system in place as fallback strategy.

In conversion we have two possibilities:

i. Existing system is computerised

This may be any easy and quick one or extremely lenghty and difficult one, as
there are two scenarios in this possibility:

 Old and new systems’ data formats are same – field names, types, and lengths
are same. In this case just copy files in the new system and conversion is done.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 22

 ML 3 – MIS

 Old and new systems’ data formats are not same – in this case, feed the
records, if there are few records. Incase of huge volume of data, write
conversion or translation program to convert old format data automatically
into new format.

ii. Existing system is manual

This is lengthy and difficult as data entry is involved. Do the following:

 Select files to be entered first, in a student management sysem, decide which

students files to be entered e.g. CA, CMA, ACCA, or CAT students.
 Make sure files are updated, so that computer has updated data.
 Set cutoff dates to decide upto which month files would be entered.
 Transcription includes putting data on special input documents, incase data
to be entered is scattered in the files or data is in some other language.
 Arrange extra hardware and people to enter data, e.g. NADRA employed
13,000 people for data entry in the beginning.
 Transcribing means data entry.
 Editing to correct errors in the data entered

Changeover
Changeover is switching to the new system. In this the existing system is discontinued
and user are shifted to the new system. There are four forms of changeover:

i. Parallel Small organisations

ii. Plunge
iii. Pilot Large organisations
iv. Phased

Let us go through detail:

i. Parallel
Parallel methods involves running the old and new systems simultaneously and
checking the outputs produced by both systems. This is expensive but the safest
and the most recommended method, as incase of failure of new system, we can
continue working with the old system. This has two options:

 Retrospective parallel running – the new system runs on data that has already
been processed by the old system. Existing results are available for cross
checking.
 Restricted data running – a complete logical part of the whole system file
being chosen and run as a unit on the new system. If this part is working well
the remaining parts are then transferred in piece meal fashion.

ii. Plunge or Direct cutover

Plunge is abrupt changeover, in this we switch to the new system and old system
is shutdown. This the cheapest but the most deadly method, as any problem in
the new system means, big disruption. It is never recommended except for non-
critical application where failure is not going to create a big problem, e.g. payroll
system.

iii. Pilot

System Acquisition / Development Process – 23

 ML 3 – MIS

Pilot conversion involves conversion on test basis. One or few branches or

departments are converted on test/experimental basis, further conversion
depends on the success earlier conversion.

iv. Phased
In very big setups, it is impossible to convert the whole organization at once, so
we do it in phases. Every phase, we convert some branches/departments and
move on to the last phase. For example, a bank has 1,000 branches, we can divide
this changeover into five phases:

 1st phase – big cities big and important branches.

 2nd phase – small cities big and important branches.
 3rd phase – big cities small branches.
 4th phase – small cities small branches.
 5th phase – remote areas branches.

In big organizations we use all four at different times.

6. Systems Maintenance/Audit/Review – Improved System

Everything requires maintenance, so is any inforamtion system. Maintenance guarantees
better, updated, and upgraded performance of the system. This includes monitoring,
evaluating, and modifying of IS operations for necessary and desirable improvements.

There are three types of maintenance:

Types of maintenance Reasons

Corrective maintenance – to fix bugs, e.g. calculation mistake in Errors
a report.
Adaptive maintenance – to align system with environmental Changes in the
changes, e.g. NIC no. length increased, so all organisations need environment
to adjust their systems.
Perfective maintenance – to remove the processing Improving system
inefficiencies, so that it takes less to do the desired operation. efficiency

Post Implementation Review – Post Implementation Review Report

Post implementation is onetime exercise, that aims to check that the system has been
implemented properly and it is delivering the results we wanted. PIR Objectives are:

i. Critical evaluation of system.

ii. Comparison between the actual and predicted performances.
iii. Establish targeted performance criteria met or not.
iv. If not, why not.
v. What should be done.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 24

 ML 3 – MIS

Factors considered during PIR are:

i. Throughput speed (workdone in unit time or time between I/O).

ii. Use of internal and external storage.
iii. Number of errors and queries.
iv. Types of errors and queries.
v. Cost of processing.

Contents of PIR Report

i. Summary of findings – unsatisfactory areas in the system are mentioned in it.
ii. Review of performance – runtimes and error rates found in the sytem.
iii. Cost benefit review – is system cost justifying the benefits.
iv. Recommendations for further use – whether to continue, discontinue, or improve the
system.

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES

1. Waterfall Apporoach
 First Process Model to be introduced
 Also referred to as a linear-sequential life cycle model
 Any phase in the development process begins only if the previous phase is complete
 Outcome of one phase acts as the input for the next phase sequentially.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 25

 ML 3 – MIS

2. Prototyping Approach
 Building software application prototypes which displays the functionality of the
product under development
 It enables to understand customer requirements at an early stage of development
 It helps get valuable feedback from the customer and helps software designers and
developers understand about what exactly is expected from the product under
development.

Prototype types:
a) Throwaway prototyping – Throwaway or Rapid Prototyping refers to the creation of a
model that will eventually be discarded rather than becoming part of the final
delivered software.
b) Evolutionary prototyping – The main goal when using Evolutionary Prototyping is to
build a very robust prototype in a structured manner and constantly refine it.
c) Incremental prototyping – The final product is built as separate prototypes. At the end
the separate prototypes are merged in an overall design.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 26

 ML 3 – MIS

3. Iterative Approach
 Process starts with a simple implementation of a small set of the software
requirements and iteratively enhances the evolving versions until the complete
system is implemented and ready to be deployed.
 An iterative life cycle model does not attempt to start with a full specification of
requirements. Instead, development begins by specifying and implementing just part
of the software, which is then reviewed to identify further requirements.
 At each iteration, design modifications are made and new functional capabilities are
added.
 This process is then repeated, producing a new version of the software at the end of
each iteration of the model.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 27

 ML 3 – MIS

4. Spiral Model
 This Spiral model is a combination of iterative development process model and
sequential linear development model i.e. the waterfall model with a very high
emphasis on risk analysis.
 It allows incremental releases of the product or incremental refinement through each
iteration around the spiral.

System Acquisition / Development Process – 28

 ML 3 – MIS

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project
An undertaking that has a beginning and an end is carried out to meet established goals within
cost, schedule, and quality objectives (Haynes, Project Management)

Project Management
Integration of all aspects of a project, ensuring that the proper knowledge and resources are
available when and where needed, and above all to ensure that the excepted outcome is
produced in a timely, cost-effective manner. The primary function of a project manager is to
manage the trade-offs between performance, timeliness, and cost.

Project Management Lifecycle

There are life stages in the cycle:

1. Initiating processes
 Defining and authorizing a project or project phase
 Define the business need for the project, sponsor, project manager

2. Planning processes
 Devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project address the
organization’s needs.
 Scope, time, cost, human resources, and other plans must be developed before any
work can be started.
 This requires completing project scope statement, work breakdown structure,
schedule, cost estimates, resources to procure.

3. Executing processes
 Executing processes include coordinating people and other resources to carry out the
plan and produce the product, services, or results.

4. Monitoring and controlling processes

 Monitoring and Controlling processes include regularly measuring and monitoring
progress to ensure that the project team meets the project objectives. Measure
progress against the plans. Common monitoring and controlling process is
performance reporting.

5. Closing processes
 Closing processes include formalizing acceptance of the project outcome and ending
it efficiently.
 Administrative activities are often involved in this process group:
o Archiving project files
o Closing out contracts
o Documenting lessons learned
o Receiving formal acceptance

System Acquisition / Development Process – 29

 ML 3 – MIS

Project control methods and standards

1. Management of scope
2. Management of resouces
3. Management of risk
a. Inventory risk
b. Assess risk
c. Mitigate risk
d. Transfer risk
e. Review and evaluate

System Acquisition / Development Process – 30