ISYS Chapter 9 – Flashcards
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legacy system
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an old system that is fast approaching or beyond the end of its useful life within an organization
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conversion
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the process of transferring information from a legacy system to a new system
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software customization
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modifies software to meet specific user or business requirements
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off-the-shelf application software
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supports general business processes and does not require any specific software customization to meet the organization's needs
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systems development life cycle (SDLC)
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overall process for developing information systems, from planning and analysis through implementation and maintenance; hundred of different activities are associated with each phase
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planning phase
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establishes a high-level plan of the intended project and determines project goals
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change agent
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a person or event that is the catalyst for implementing major changes for a system to meet business changes
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brainstorming
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a technique for generating ideas by encouraging participants to offer as many ideas as possible in a short period without any analysis until all the ideas have been exhausted
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project
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temporary activity a company undertakes to create a unique product, service, or result
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project management
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the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
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project manager
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an individual who is an expert in project planning and management, defines and develops the project plan, and tracks the plan to ensure the project is completed on time and on budget
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project scope
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describes the business need (the problem the project will solve) and the justification, requirements, and current boundaries for the project
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project plan
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a formal, approved document that manages and controls the entire project
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analysis phase
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the firm analyzes its end-user business requirements and refines project goals into defined functions and operations of the intended system
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business requirements
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specific business requests the system must meet to be successful, so the analysis phase is critical because these drive the entire systems development effort
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planning
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- brainstorm issues and identify opportunities for the organization - prioritize and choose projects for development - set the project scope - develop the project plan
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analysis
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- gather the business requirement for the system - define any constraints associated with the system
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design
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- design the technical architecture required to support the system - design the system models
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development
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- build the technical architecture - build the database - build the applications
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testing
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- write the test conditions - perform the system testing
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implementation
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- write detailed user documentation - provide training for the system users
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maintenance
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- build a help desk to support the system users - provide an environment to support system changes
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requirements management
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the process of managing changes to the business requirements throughout the project
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requirements definition document
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prioritizes all of the business requirements by order of importance to the company
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sign-off
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the users' actual signatures indicating they approve of all the business requirements
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design phase
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establishes descriptions of the desired features and operations of the system, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, pseudo code, and other documentation
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developmental phase
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takes all the detailed design documents from the design phase and transforms them into the actual system
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software engineering
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a disciplined approach for constructing information systems through the use of common methods, techniques, or tools
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computer-aided software engineering (CASE)
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tools that provide automated support for the development of the system
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control objects for information and related technology (COBIT)
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a set of best practices that helps an organization to maximize the benefits of an information system, while at the same time establishing appropriate controls to ensure minimum errors
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scripting language
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a programming method that provides for interactive modules to a website
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object-oriented languages
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group data and corresponding processes into objects
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fourth-generation languages (4GL)
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programming languages that look similar to human languages
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testing phase
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brings all the project pieces together into a special testing environment to eliminate errors and bugs and verify that the system meets all the business requirements defined in the analysis phase
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bugs
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defects in the code of an information system
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test conditions
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detail the steps the system must perform along with expected result of each step
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implementation phase
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the organization places the system into production so users can begin to perform actual business operations with it
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user documentation
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highlights how to use the system and how to troubleshoot issues or problems
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online training
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runs over the Internet or on a CD or DVD, and employees complete the training on their own time at their own pace
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workshop training
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training held in a classroom environment and led by an instructor
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help desk
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group of people who respond to users' questions
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alpha testing
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assess if the entire system meets the design requirements of the users
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development testing
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test the system to ensure it is bug-free
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integration testing
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verify that separate systems can work together, passing data back and forth correctly
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systems testing
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verify that the units or pieces of code function correctly when integrated
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user acceptance testing (UAT)
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determine if the system satisfies the user and business requirements
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unit testing
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test individual units or pieces of code for a system
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maintenance phase
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the organization performs changes, corrections, additions, and upgrades to ensure the system continues to meet business goals
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corrective maintenance
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makes system changes to repair design flaws, coding errors, or implementation issues
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preventative maintenance
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makes system changes to reduce the chance of future system failure
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parallel implementation
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uses both the legacy system and new system until all users verify that the new system functions correctly
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plunge implementation
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discards the legacy system and immediately migrates all users to the new system
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pilot implementation
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assigns a small group of people to use the new system until it is verified that it works correctly
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phased implementation
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installs the new system in phases (for example, by department) until it is verified that it works correctly
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methodology
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a set of policies, procedures, standards, processes, practices, tools, techniques, and tasks that people apply to technical and management challenges
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waterfall methodology
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a sequence of phases in which the output of each phase becomes the input for the next
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prototyping
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a modern design approach where the designers and system users use an iterative approach to building the system
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discovery prototyping
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builds a small-scale representation or working model of the system to ensure it meets the se and business requirements
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iterative development
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consists of a series of tiny projects
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agile methodology
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aims for customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of useful software components developed by an iterative process using the bare minimum requirements
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rapid application development (RAD)
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emphasizes extensive user involvement in the rapid and evolutionary construction of working prototypes of a system, to accelerate the systems development process
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extreme programming (XP) methodology
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breaks a project into four phases, and developer cannot continue to the next phase until the previous phase is complete
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rational unified process methodology (RUP)
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owned by IBM, provides a framework for breaking down the development of software into four "gates"
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gate one: inception
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this phase ensures all stakeholders have shared understanding of the proposed system and what it will do
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gate two: elaboration
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this phase expands on the agree-upon details of the system, including the ability to provide an architecture to support and build it
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gate three: construction
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this phase includes building and developing the product
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gate four: transition
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primary questions answered in this phase address ownership of the system and training of key personnel
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scrum methodology
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uses small teams to produce small pieces of software using a series of "sprints," or 30-day intervals, to achieve and appointed goal
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tangible benefits
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easy to quantify and typically measured to determine the success or failure of a project
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intangible benefits
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difficult to quantify or measure
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feasibility
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the measure of the tangible and intangible benefits of an information system
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economic feasibility
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measures the cost-effectiveness of a project
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operational feasibility
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measures how well a solution meets the identified system requirements to solve the problems and take advantage of opportunities
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schedule feasibility
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measures the project time frame to ensure it can be completed on time
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technical feasibility
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measures the practicality of a technical solution and the availability of technical resources and expertise
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political feasibility
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measures how well the solution will be accepted in a given organization
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legal feasibility
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measures how well a solution can be implemented within existing legal and contractual obligation
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the triple constraint
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time, cost, and scope
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kill switch
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a trigger that enables a project manager to close the project before completion
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PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) chart
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a graphical network model that depicts a project's tasks and the relationships between them
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dependency
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a logical relationship that exists between the project tasks, or between a project task and a milestone
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critical path
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estimates the shortest path through the project ensuring all critical tasks are completed start to finish
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Gantt chart
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a simple bar chart that lists project tasks vertically against the project's time frame, listed horizontally
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in-sourcing
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uses the professional expertise within an organization to develop and maintain its information technology systems
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outsourcing
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an arrangement by which one organization provides a service or services for another organization that chooses not to perform them in-house; reasons companies do this include: core competencies, financial savings, rapid growth, and the Internet and globalization
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onshore outsourcing
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engaging another company within the same country for services
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nearshore outsourcing
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contracting an outsourcing arrangement with a company in a nearby country
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offshore outsourcing
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using organizations from developing countries to write code and develop systems
