Information Systems Week 3

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Information Systems Week 3

• Last week Approaches to System Building
• Including Steve Bullas on offshore outsourcing
• This week Managing the Information Systems
  Project Based on a guest lecture by Stephen
  Burgess
• Stephen is a practising project managerIve
  posted his original slides on the Learning
  Network
• Reading Laudon Laudon Chapter 13 (7th Ed Ch
  11)

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System Development Process

• Dont Forget
• Goal of IS is solution to a specific business
  challenges
• IS is result of a series of activities known as
  the systems development process
• or more accurately, the system development life
  cycle
• Stages are
• Systems Analysis and Specification
• System Design (High and Low Level)
• Programming
• Testing
• Deployment
• Production, maintenance and enhancement

Will never be perfect first time
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Building an Information System
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Building an Information System
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Building an Information System
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Building an Information System
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Building an Information System
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Building an Information System
User Requirement
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Building an Information System
User Requirement
Feasibility Study
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Building an Information System
Design Specification
User Requirement
Feasibility Study
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Traditional Project Approach Sequential
Dependencies
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Building an Information System
Design Specification
Test Plan
User Requirement
Feasibility Study
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Building an Information System
Design Specification
Test Plan
User Requirement
Feasibility Study
Deployment Approaches
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Building an Information System
Design Specification
Test Plan
User Requirement
Feasibility Study
In-Service Management
Deployment Approaches
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Alternative Project Approach
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Alternative Project Approach RAD
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IS Project Test Planning
Needs a full Test Plan Who What Where - Why
- When etc
Test Plan and Quality Plan need to be related
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Two Golden Rules
Never implement before designing
Testing/quality plans must be integrated
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Project Components
To avoid function creep
CLEAR SCOPE
START
PERFORMANCE
BUDGET RESOURCES
FINISH
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Project Components Terms
(OBJECTIVES)
CLEAR SCOPE
START
PERFORMANCE
(RISK MANAGEMENT)
(QUALITY)
BUDGET RESOURCES
FINISH
(CONTROL (Progress Costs))
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Information System Project Terminology
Design Specification
Test Plan
User Requirement
Feasibility Study
Deployment Approaches
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IS Project Deployment Concepts
Such Projects usually FAIL! Do not use for Big
Bang Projects
Better approaches
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IS Project Concept of Pilot
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The Golden Rules

• Never implement before designing
• Testing/quality plans must be integrated

Always "Pilot" any new development
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IS Project Risk Management

• Project Issue Problem has happened needs to
  be managed
• Project Risk Measured problem that might
  happenManage by
• Prevention/Avoidance Action (for high
  probability/high impact matters)
• Reduce Risk/Minimise Impact
• Tolerate/Ignore wait to happen (for low
  probability/low impact matters)
• Project Uncertainty e.g. hit by asteroid or
  war might start

Unfortunately it can happen!
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IS Project Dynamics
Cost factors
Product factors
Risk/Issue Management
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The Golden Rules

• Never implement before designing
• Testing/quality plans must be integrated
• Always pilot any new development

Time, Resources and Product Quality are "trade
offs"
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Projects in the Real World
Daily Telegraph 13 Feb 07
Feb 2009 Royal Free Hospital reports 10M cost
of using new system Added administration costs
included 40 extra staff to handle additional
workload. A further 6m lost because of fewer
patients, and inability to bill other parts of
NHS for work done. Outpatient bookings taking
four times as long as before
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Projects in the Real World

• 50 of all organisational tasks are project based
• 33 projects are cancelled
• 50 projects have targets changed
• 17 projects meet original targets
• IS/IT projects are notorious for failing to
  deliver on time, within cost and meeting the
  customer requirement (mostly all three)
• Royal Free Hospital seeking compensation for
• 4M cost to get the system working added
  administration costs included 40 extra staff to
  handle additional workload
• 6m more lost because of fewer patients, and
  inability to bill other parts of NHS for work
  done
• Outpatient bookings are taking four times as long
  as before

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Why do projects go wrong?
Lack of Leadership Planning Organisation Cont
rol Co-ordination
Though problems of NPfIT probably stem from
dictatorial leadership with lack of respect for
professionals input
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Why do projects go wrong?
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The Golden Rules

• Never implement before designing
• Testing/quality plans must be integrated
• Always pilot any new development
• Time, Resources ( ), Objectives and Product
  Quality are trade offs

Get highest level of management support possible
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Definition of a Project

• A project is a one time multitask job that has
• a specific scope of work,
• a specified level of performance to be achieved,
• clearly defined start and finish,
• a budget and resource allocation

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Project Considerations

• Because information systems have enormous
  strategic value to the organization commissioning
  them, the wrong information system or a poor
  implementation can be absolutely disastrous.
  Often this is because the system was developed,
  procured or implemented in a vacuum. Active
  involvement from the organizations management
  and the users was missing, so that the final
  system pursues the wrong objectives. The benefits
  were not delivered and the system ends up as
  another overhead to be set against the company
  profits.
• Therefore, projects should be structured so as to
  allow
• The setting of clearly defined objectives (Clear
  project scope). Involvement of management and
  users in defining the objectives
• Clear definition of expectations as to the level
  of performance to be achieved.
• Accurate assessment of the projects
  economics/costs/resource requirements required to
  complete each stage of the project.
• A finite and defined life (Start and Finish).
• Systems development has to be part of business
  strategy and must serve the business goals, be
  consistent with the business plan and match any
  planned organizational change.

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A Successful IS Project
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Building an Information System

• Systems development has to be part of business
  strategy
• Must serve the business goals
• Be consistent with the business plan
• And match any planned organizational change
• TQM and Enterprise Analysis
• Look at processes and organization wide goals
• Focus on managers rather than general users
• System development has to consider all its users
• Erics view
• Big Bang developments usually fail
• Managers need to minimize number of sources of
  risk