Accounting Information Systems

Fifteenth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 23
AIS Development Strategies

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Learning Objectives
• Describe how organizations purchase application software,
vendor services, and hardware.
• Explain how information system departments develop
custom software.
• Explain why organizations outsource their information
systems, and evaluate the benefits and risks of this
strategy.
• Explain how business process management, prototyping,
agile development, and computer-aided software
engineering can help improve system development.

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How to Obtain an AIS
• Purchase
• Develop in-house
• Outsource to outside organization

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Purchasing
• Select a vendor (from referrals, trade shows, etc.)
• Request for proposal (RFP) that meets needs
• Evaluate proposals
– Top vendors invited to give demonstrations on how
their system will fit your needs
• Make a final selection based upon your criteria

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Develop Software In-House
• Advantages
– Provides a significant competitive advantage
• Risks
– Requires significant amounts of time
– Complexity of the system
– Poor requirements defined
– Insufficient planning
– Inadequate communication and cooperation
– Lack of qualified staff
– Poor top management support

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End-User Computing
Advantages
• Allows for end-users to
create, control, and
implement simple systems
• More likely to meet user
needs
• Saves time
• Frees up system resources
• Easy to use and
understand
Disadvantages
• Lack of testing of
application and possible
calculation errors
• Inefficient systems
• Poorly controlled
• Poorly documented
• System incompatibilities
• Duplication of data
• Increase costs in later
years with upgrades
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Outsourcing
Advantages Disadvantages
• Allows companies to • Inflexibility
concentrate on core • Loss of control
competencies
• Reduced competitive advantage
• Asset utilization
• Locked-in system
• Access to greater expertise and
• Unfulfilled goals
better technology
• Poor service
• Lower costs by standardizing
user applications and splitting • Increased risk
development and maintenance
costs between projects
• Less development time
• Elimination of peaks-and-valleys
usage
• Facilitates downsizing

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Business Process Management
Systems
• Automate and facilitate business process improvements
using:
– Process engine to model and execute applications and
business rules
– Business analytics to identify issues, trends, and
opportunities
– Collaboration tools to remove communication barriers
– Content manager to store electronic documents and
images

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Prototyping
Advantages Disadvantages
• Results in well-defined • Requires significant user
user needs time
• Higher user satisfaction • Resource efficiency may
and involvement not be achieved
• Faster development time • Inadequate testing and
• Fewer errors documentation
• Opportunities to suggest • Negative behavioral
changes reactions
• Less costly • Continuous development
of iterations leaves a
feeling of no project
completion

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Computer-Aided Software
(or Systems) Engineering (CASE)
Advantages Disadvantages
• Improved productivity • Incompatibility with other
• Improved program quality systems
• Unmet expectations
• Cost savings
• Improved control
procedures
• Simplified documentation

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Key Terms (1 of 2)
• Commercial software
• Turnkey systems
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
providers
• Request for proposal (RFP)
• Benchmark problem
• Point scoring
• Requirement costing
• Custom software
• End-user computing (EUC)
• Help desk
• Outsourcing
• Business process reengineering
(BPR)
• Business process management
(BPM)
• Business Process Management
System (BPMS)
• Prototyping
• Operational prototype
• Nonoperational (throwaway)
prototype
• Agile development
• Scrum methodology
• Scrum development
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Key Terms (2 of 2)
• Product owner • Executable architecture baseline
• User stories • Computer-aided software (or
systems) engineering (CASE)
• Product backlog
• Scrum team
• Sprint
• Scrum master
• Extreme programming (XP)
• Unit tests
• Acceptance tests
• Integration tests
• Unified process

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