Week 3: Systems Thinking and Managing Complexity MIS5001: Management Information Systems David S. McGettigan Adapted from material by Arnold Kurtz, David.

Week 3: Systems Thinking and Managing Complexity

MIS5001: Management Information SystemsDavid S. McGettigan

Adapted from material by Arnold Kurtz, David Schuff, and Paul Weinberg

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Agenda Prior Lecture Recap

Managing Complexity: Person: Role of the CIO Methodology: System Development Lifecycle Tool: Business Process Mapping (covered in last

week’s lecture and in this week’s reading)

Case study: STARS Air Ambulance: An Information Systems Challenge

Next Week

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Prior Lecture Recap Decision making

Structured vs. Non-structured decision Recurring vs. Nonrecurring

Types of Systems Transaction Processing Systems Management Information Systems Decision Support Systems

Business Process Management Definition Benefits Linkage to IS

Role of the CIO

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

Peter Drucker

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CIO Responsibilities Strategic Planning – Aligning the direction of IS with

that of the business

Operations – running the corporate information center

Project Management – responsibility for large scale and high cost technical initiatives

Discussion: what are the ideal characteristics of the CIO? Why can an effective CIO be difficult to find?

Source: Gray, Paul: Manager’s Guide to Making Decisions about Information Systems

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IT Governance Steering Committees – objectives are to link IT with

Corporate strategy, establish priorities, allocate resources, and facilitate communication. IT Steering Committee – provides guidance across the company

or divisions. Program Steering Committee – provides guidance within a

particular initiative.

Discussion: What IT committees are likely to be in place within a firm? How can a firm avoid all IT decisions going to committee while ensuring appropriate business buy-in?

Case Study: What governance was in place at STARS Air Ambulance?

Source: Gray, Paul: Manager’s Guide to Making Decisions about Information Systems

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State of the CIO Most Time Spent

Collaborating with CXOs Making Strategic Decisions Working on Strategic Business Planning

Obstacles to Success Overwhelming Project Backlog and Requests Ability to Execute Remains a Top Concern Focus on Cost Cutting

Opportunities Using IT to Enable / Standardize Business Processes Measuring Success and Proving Business Value

A Modern CIO Deputies Run Operations Focus on Strategy and Execution

Source: www.cio.com: “State of the CIO”

http://www.cio.com/

System Development Lifecycle

Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.

Lester R. Bittel, The Nine Master Keys of Management

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Introduction Systems development life cycle

(SDLC) - a structured step-by-step approach for developing information systems.

Management Information Systems for the Information Age

(Fourth Edition)

Copyright 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 1: Plan

Planning phase - involves determining a solid plan for developing your information system.

Critical success factor (CSF) - a factor simply critical to your organization’s success.


(Fourth Edition)


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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 1: Plan

Project scope – high-level system requirements.

Project scope document – written project scope definition.

Project plan – defines the what, when, and who questions.

Project milestones - key dates for deliverables.

Project manager - an expert in project planning.


(Fourth Edition)


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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 2: Analysis

Analysis phase - involves end users and IT specialists working together to gather, understand, and document the business requirements for the proposed system.

Business requirements - the detailed set of knowledge worker requests that the system must meet in order to be successful.


(Fourth Edition)


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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 2: Analysis

Joint application development (JAD) - knowledge workers and IT specialists meet, sometimes for several days, to define or review the business requirements for the system.

Requirements definition document – prioritizes the business requirements and places them in a formal comprehensive document.

Sign-off - the knowledge workers’ actual signatures indicating they approve all of the business requirements.


(Fourth Edition)


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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 3: Design

Design phase - build a technical blueprint of how the proposed system will work.

Technical architecture - defines the hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment required to run the system.


(Fourth Edition)


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Modeling - the activity of drawing a graphical representation of a design.

Graphical user interface (GUI) - the interface to an information system.

GUI screen design - the ability to model the information system screens for an entire system.


(Fourth Edition)


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(Fourth Edition)


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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 4: Development

Development phase - take all of your detailed design documents from the design phase and transform them into an actual system.


(Fourth Edition)


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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 5: Test

Testing phase - verifies that the system works and meets all of the business requirements defined in the analysis phase.

Test conditions - the detailed steps the system must perform along with the expected results of each step.


(Fourth Edition)


Pharma Computer Systems Testing /Qualification

KEY:

Formal – Under Change Control; QA signatures required; full documentation required

Controlled – No QA signatures required; full documentation required; must track problems

Informal – No QA signatures needed; full documentation required

Formal - Protocol, scripts,PQ SOP’s, training

UnitTesting

ApplicationPQ

Testing

IntegrationTesting

SystemTesting

ApplicationIQ

Testing

ApplicationOQ

Testing

Development TestingTESTING

Validation Testing

ApplicationSitePQ

Testing

Traceability to URS and FRS across all testingValidation Plan

Technical Documentation

Infrastructure Qualification

Informal - Protocol, scripts, static verification, Unit Test SOP’s, training

Informal - Protocol, scripts, Integration Testing SOP’s, training

Controlled - Protocol, scripts, System Test SOP’s, training

Formal - Protocol, scripts, IQ SOP’s, training

Formal - Protocol, scripts,OQ SOP’s, training

Formal - Protocol, scripts,PQ SOP’s, training

Cu

stom

ization

Testing

Cu

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ization

/Integ

ration

Testing

En

d to

En

d Testin

g; B

ou

nd

aryTestin

g; E

rror H

and

ling

H/W

; S/W

; O/S

; En

vir.Q

ualificatio

n

Subset ofSystemTesting;Test CriticalFunctionality

SubsetOf OQ

Connectivity, possiblymini-workflow

Formal - Protocol,scripts, SOP’straining

Stress/Load TestingDR Scheme & Exercise

Matrices

Val Plan Doc(s)

Sizing; Config; etc.

Protocol; Scripts; SOP’s

Plan; Scripts;Summaries

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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 6: Implement

Implementation phase - distribute the system to all of the knowledge workers for use.

User documentation - how to use the system.

Online training - runs over the Internet or off a CD-ROM.

Workshop training - is held in a classroom environment and lead by an instructor.


(Fourth Edition)


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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 6: Implement

Change Management – the “change curve”

Shock Denial Hostility Negotiation Depression Trial Acceptance

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Seven Phases in the SDLCPhase 7: Maintain

Maintenance phase - monitor and support the new system to ensure it continues to meet the business goals.

Help desk - a group of people who responds to knowledge workers’ questions.


(Fourth Edition)


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Why System Projects Fail 20% of systems are successful, 80% of systems

fail. Five primary reasons why systems fail include:

Unclear or missing requirements Skipping SDLC phases Failure to manage project scope

Scope creep – project scope increases Feature creep – developers add extra features

Failure to manage project plan Changing technology

Relate to Case Study: were projects at Stars Air Ambulance “failing”? Why or why not?


(Fourth Edition)


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Preventing Failure:Prototyping

Advantages: Encourages participation. Resolves discrepancies Gives a feel for the final system. Helps determine technical feasibility. Helps sell the idea of a proposed system.

Disadvantages: Leads to the belief that the final system will follow shortly. Gives no performance indication. Leads the team to skip testing and documentation.


(Fourth Edition)


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Advantages: Focus on unique core competencies. Exploit the intellect of another organization. Better predict future costs. Acquire leading-edge technology. Reduce costs. Improve performance accountability.

Disadvantages: Reduces technical know-how for future innovation. Reduces degree of control. Increases vulnerability of strategic information. Increases dependency on other organizations.


(Fourth Edition)


Preventing Failure:Outsourcing Experience

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The Role of Knowledge Workers Participation in the systems development process is

vitally important because they are … Business process expert Liaison to the customer Quality control analyst Manager of other people

User acceptance testing (UAT) – determines if the system satisfies the business requirements.


(Fourth Edition)


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Case Study: STARS Air Ambulance Discussion Questions:

Identify three or four of the most critical challenges facing the new CIO and make recommendations for how Khan can tackle each of these challenges.

What should Kahn’s objectives be for his upcoming meeting with the CEO and how can he prepare to best meet them?

What should Kahn do about departments contacting their “favorite IS staff member” when they need technical assistance? How can he change this practice and still gain the trust

and support of the CEO and other senior managers?

Next Week

Disruptive Technology and Organization Innovation

Week 3: Systems Thinking and Managing Complexity MIS5001: Management Information Systems David S. McGettigan Adapted from material by Arnold Kurtz, David.

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