Chapter 3 Feasibility Analysis & Systems Project...
Transcript of Chapter 3 Feasibility Analysis & Systems Project...
Chapter 3Feasibility Analysis & Systems Project Management
Copyright 2004, Merrill Warkentin page 1
Determining Feasibility, Managing Analysis and
Design Activities
Professor Merrill WarkentinMississippi State University
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Overview
project initiation
determiningproject feasibility
project scheduling
managing project activities
managing systems analysisteam members
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Reasons for initiating projects
Problems that lend themselvesto systems solutionsOpportunities for improvement through
upgrading systemsaltering systemsinstalling new systems
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Improvement possibilities
speeding up a processstreamlining a processcombining processesreducing errorsin input
reducing redundant storagereducing redundant outputimproving system andsubsystem integration
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Managing Design Activities
teams and tension
develop common norms
enhance communication/team-building
agree on productivity goals
motivate team members
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Managing analysis & design
promote communication between members
utilize feedback to minimize tensioncreate explicit norms
set productivity goalsbased on member expertise,past performance,nature of the specific project
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Managing analysis & design
motivate project team membersaffiliation, control,independence, creativity
avoid project failurestake advantage of training,experience, project analysis
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Project selection criteria
backed by managementtimed appropriately forcommitment of resourcesmoves the business towardattainment of its goalspracticableimportant enough to be consideredover other projects
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Feasibility
feasibility study assesses the operational, technical, and economic merits of the proposed projectthree type
technical feasibilityeconomic feasibilityoperational feasibilityschedule, legal, ethical
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Technical Feasibility
Can we do it? - Is technology available?are current technical resources sufficient to build the new system? can resources be upgraded to provide the level of technology necessary for the new system?
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Economic Feasibility
Can we afford it? Will it pay for itself?whether the time and money are available to develop the systemincludes the purchase of
new equipmenthardwaresoftware
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Economic Feasibility AnalysisCosts
development costsoperating costs
Benefitstangible (quantifiable)intangible - important!
How do we decide?
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Operational feasibility
Should we do it? Can we make it work?determines if the human resources are available to operate the systemonce it has been installedusers that do not want a new system may prevent it from becoming operationally feasible
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Other Feasibility Factors
schedule feasibilitycan it be completed on time?
legal feasibilitydoes it violate any laws?
social and ethical feasibilityis it right?
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Feasibility Analysis
define project objectivesdetermine organizational objectivesverify that objectives are acceptable
determine resourcesjudge feasibility
decision is made by managementsystems analyst provides expert advice
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Feasibility Study
define problem, objectives, scope
identify constraints and limitations
develop alternative solutions
estimate costs & benefits
prepare feasibility report
system proposal for senior mgt.
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Feasibility Impact Grid (FIG)used to assess the impact of any improvements to the existing systemcan increase awareness of the impacts made on the achievement ofcorporate objectivescurrent or proposed systems on the leftobjectives listed on the topred arrows indicate a positive impactgreen arrows indicate implementation
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Activity planning
design team selection & assignment
estimate task time
schedule project / task
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Activity control
monitoring using feedback
expediting or rescheduling
motivating teams
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Activity planning & controlestimate time required
major phasesindividual taskstime for each task
schedulingGantt charts PERT diagrams
expeditingconstantly review schedules andcosts over life of project
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Scheduling tools
Gantt Charts PERT Diagrams
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Computer-based project schedulingbenefits
low costsimple, intuitive, GUIvariety of display options
programs Microsoft ProjectSymantec’s TimelineCA-Super Project
personal information managers (PIMS)ECCOOrganizer
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GANTT charts
project scheduling technique
each bar represents a task
length of bars = relative length of task
visual, simple
enhancescommunication
A
B
C
D
E
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PERT charts
nodes = events
establishes critical path(longest, no slack time)
portrays order of precedence
helps identify critical activitiesand slack time
10 5040
20
30
A,4 C,5
B,2 D,3
E,6
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PERT diagram advantages
easy identification of theorder of precedence
easy identification of the critical path and thus critical activitieseasy determination of slack time,the leeway to fall behind onnon-critical paths
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Team management
teams often have two leaders:one who leads members to accomplish tasksone concerned with social relationships
the systems analyst must manageteam memberstheir activitiestheir time, and resources
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Goal setting
set for tangible outputs and process activitiesmust be reasonablehelp to motivateteam members
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Copyright NoticeThis document may not, in whole or part,
be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, transmitted,
or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without explicit permission and written authorization
from Dr. Merrill Warkentin.
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