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Class Notes MIS 310 Systems Analysis and Design, 5th Ed

Introductions

Note: These class notes will be revised throughout the semester to be updated to the 5th Ed of the Textbook. Chapters 1 thru 4 need little revision. Chapter 5 is a major change from the 4th Ed. Later chapters have been rearranged but the content is substantially up-to-date.

a) Instructor: This is a key course for those of you who really want to be a successful analyst. It is about processes and databases. The name of the course, Systems Analysis and Design, implies processes and design. i) What to call me and other instructors. Mrs Culler for me. Call instructors with PhDs

by the title “Doctor” but not me.ii) Your ISLABS user account username is the same as for your university email. I

strongly recommend you use the same password also. You may have to change your email password because Windows 2003 (the ISLABS server) requires higher security. ISLABS passwords must be at least 7 characters containing at least one upper case and at least one lower case letter plus at least one number.

iii) Email messages: my policy is to use only your High Point University email address to communicate with you; even when responding to your email. This is to encourage you to regularly use the university account so that we all can benefit fully from Blackboard and other university resources.

iv) Email: preferred method for turning in Project. I will respond to your email except for complaints about grades. You have to come to see me to review an assignment grade or end of semester grade. (1) Read my syllabus: I reserve the right to lower a grade if I re-grade a whole

assignment or the semester. If you have a question about one problem or one answer, I will re-grade only that question. I do round up and give the benefit of doubt when grading assignments. Often, little gifts in the grades assigned. Might disappear if I review a complete assignment. Check my math.

b) Textbook: Shelly Cashman – this is a very good text. One of the best. I strongly recommend against selling this textbook at the end of the semester if you are an MIS or CIS major.

c) Syllabus: see www.highpoint.edu/~culleev8d) Class policies:

i) Pop quizzes on reading assignments and vocabularyii) Assignments only accepted on time. iii) Class attendance:

(1) Arrive in time, tardy same as absent because …(2) You must attend class regularly to pass this course, it is designed that way, not a

policy.e) Grade scale: 70 is passing, 69 is not. See my syllabus.f) ADA: see my syllabusg) Web site: page on turning in assignmentsh) Class notes: web sitei) Projects:

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i) Individual: ii) Group:

The notes that follow were developed for my use in lecturing in MIS 310 based on the Shelly – Cashman textbook. Many of the notes are brief and intended to help me draw from my own professional expertise and experience in systems development. They are offered here only as a starting point for your study notes.

Please note that just below each chapter heading I have added the website URL that supports your textbook.

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Chapter 1Introduction to Systems Analysis

http://www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Terms

Preamble: You are embarking on a new adventure. The adventure is that you are about to develop an understanding of the concept of systems analysis. It may be the opportunity of your lifetime. You may be starting a chain of reactions or opportunities to develop a career as a project manager. Opportunities come when you least expect them and you can take advantage of the opportunities only if you understand the language. Make sure you learn the terms and concepts. It is my job to give this opportunity to learn and grow.

If you seriously want to be a successful analyst, this is a key course for you. You are about to learn what an analyst does. The course is all about processes and databases. The name of the course implies processes and database design. I will make my case for the importance of database design … define an enterprise, what do enterprises require? Databases. Who designs databases for enterprises? YOU.

This course focuses on the processes necessary to develop a software/hardware application for a business. We will be covering the total system of processes, a sampling of modern tools, procedures and practices. In the real world, these tasks would be shared or performed by a team. We will focus on the project manager’s role because it is he or she who must understand all processes and procedures to get the job done.

As discussed earlier, your first project is an individual project designed to ensure that you get focused quickly. The second project is designed to give you the opportunity to put all the skills of the project development team to work; not just the project manager skills.

Let’s get to work. Make sure you understand everything we cover.

1) What is IT, Information Technology?

2) What is a business rule?

3) What is a policy?

4) What is a procedure?

5) What is a practice?

6) What is Systems Analysis and Design?

7) Business Process Modeling: represents operations and IT needs

8) What is a model?

9) What is analysis? What is an analyst?

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10) What is systems analysis?

a) Many definitions, in this case, someone dedicated to studying business IT needs, business

rules or processes, designs a system satisfy the needs.

11) What is a system?

12) What is a process?

13) What is a project manager?

14) Types of computing systems

a) Enterprise

b) Transaction processing

c) Business support

d) Knowledge management

e) User Productivity

f) Integrated

g) Decision support

h) Data warehousing

15) Organizational structures

a) Executive

b) Middle management

c) Lower management

d) Operational

16) Systems development Techniques and tools

a) Data gathering

b) Modeling

c) Prototyping

d) CASE engineering

17) Methodologies

a) Structured analysis

b) Object-oriented (new and experimental)

c) JAD and RAD

d) Other

i) UML, Unified Modeling Language

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ii) MSF, Microsoft Solutions Framework

iii) IBM solutions

18) SDLC, Systems Development Life Cycle

a) Planning,

i) If, what, why, how much, who, when, and HOW.

b) Analysis

c) Design

d) Implementation

e) Operation and Support

19) Putting it in motion

a) In-house

b) Consultants

c) IT departments

20) Career Opportunities

a) Analysts

b) Project manager, opportunity of a lifetime.

c) Certifications,

21) Terms

22) Chapter Review (Page 1.30)

New Century Health Clinic Case Study

1. Prepare an Organization chart of New Century Health Clinic’s office staff. Use the Organizational Chart function in Word, Excel or PowerPoint to draw the chart. 2. Identify at least three business processes that New Century performs, and explain who is responsible for the specific tasks. 3. Explain how New Century might use a transaction processing system, a business support system, and a user productivity system. For each type of system, provide a specific example, and explain how the system would benefit the clinic. 4. During the systems development process, should New Century consider any of the following; EDI, vertical and horizontal systems packages, or the Internet? Explain your answers.

What you really need to know:A. The phases of SDLCB. Differentiate between business rules, policy, procedure and practice.C. Know what systems analysis is.D. Know what a project manager does.

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E. Know what a model and modeling are.

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Chapter 2Analyzing the Business Case

Systems Planning, Phase 1www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Terms

1. Whose idea is it anyway? Proposals to build a system come from:a. Reasons:

i. Improved serviceii. Performance

iii. Government demand if you are providing a service wholly or partially tax funded

iv. Supplier/customer demand: i.e. Sears and Walmart will only use suppliers with online order/billing

v. Costs, to remain competitivevi. Better controls, more effectiveness to stay competitive.

b. Driving force:i. User requests, if your enterprise is large enough to have a system in place

ii. Management directive, the bossiii. Legacy out of dateiv. IT department, to stay currentv. Economic demands

vi. Competitionvii. Customer demand

viii. Suppliers2. Decision to do a project.

a) Projects do not just happen.i) Project to decide to do a project.

(1) Decide if to do, (2) what to do,

(a) SWOT analysis(i) Draw a cross on a clean piece of paper dissecting the sheet exactly in the

middle. Label each quadrant: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

(ii) Brainstorm identifying as many items for each category as you can. Brainstorming is often a group session arranged so there are NO interruptions.

(iii) When the list is complete, rearrange each list is order of significance.

(iv)Assign a weight to each item with values from 1 to 10 with Strengths carrying plus (+) signs and Weaknesses minus (-) signs; Opportunities plus and Threats minus. Total the values. You have now quantified your problem.

(v) Another method is to assign each quadrant a 100% total value with each item a decimal weight based on importance. The total values in each quadrant cannot be more than 100% but they do not have to total 100%.

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Total all values. You can now draw an inference regarding chances for success.

(3) when to do. (4) The approach. We will go on to discuss how this decision gets made.

ii) Build or buy decision . (1) Build, only if you have the resources in house.(2) Buy, turn-key(3) Out-source to a contractor, consultant.

2) Define these entities as a basis for understanding the processes.a) Board of Directorsb) CEO, CIO, CFO, COO, etc.c) Starts with need recognition

i) Based on Business Plan (which many companies lack)ii) Goals and objectivesiii) Mission statementiv) Risks or threatsv) Opportunitiesvi) Plan of Action and Milestonesvii)Periodic assessment

3) The Charter process: Your textbook does not define or discuss a charter. Other textbooks do. I would insist on a charter, a letter of authority, of some description if only as a measure of self, career and legal preservation. Much of this course will be about professional survival.

Whether it is a project to decide to do a development project or a development project itself, there should be a charter. It should contain these:

a) Why a charter?i) Defines what you are going to do. NOT how you will do it.ii) Sets limits.iii) Defines authority.iv) Set time limits.v) Protects the project manager.

(1) Provides a vehicle for the supreme authority, CEO, to “buy into it”.(a) If he has not bought into it, it is doomed.(b) If he has not bought into it, the project manager may be doomed.(c) Garners support from all stakeholders.

b) Charter or contracti) Goal

(1) Objectives are steps for attaining the goal ii) Recommended Course of Action

(1) Defines what, not how. iii) Scope, defines

(1) Boundaries(2) Configuration management

iv) Plan of Actions and Milestones (1) Top down approach(2) Bottom up approach

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(3) Start and end times(4) Identifiable objectives(5) Critical paths (6) Gant or PERT charts (see TK 3.8)(7) Schedule manager

v) Roles and Responsibilities (1) Names who is in-charge.

(a) Defines his authority. His source of power.(b) Defines his limits.

(2) Names stakeholders.(a) Defines their responsibility.

(3) Managers(4) Support groups(5) Staff

vi) Critical success factors (x-factors) provides a way to decide when success as been achieved, when to quit. Another name may be “specifications” document.

vii)Signatures, indicates ownership, support for the program.

Systems Development Life CycleImportant to understand that the SDLC is defined as having four to seven phases depending on whose textbook or philosophy of systems development you are using. Five phases are generally accepted as defined by the textbook. Also understand, there is seldom, if ever, a clear departure from one phase into the next. The phases may evolve and overlap. Some components of a project may transition to another phase before other components depending on the size, complexity and type of project.

4) Phase 1: Preliminary InvestigationSteps in the Preliminary Investigation

a) Understand the Problem or Opportunityi) Where to start: Mission statement - will the project goal support the mission

b) Define the scope and constraints: Set the boundariesi) What, where, who, when

c) Perform fact- finding: i) Performed by analystsii) Skills requirediii) Access requirediv) Documentation

d) Determine feasibility: Analysis/feasibility methodsi) Technical feasibility Study

(1) In house, out source(2) Has it been invented yet?(3) Technology search.(4) Is your staff capable or will you have to hire new, fire old?(5) Go, no go.

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ii) Physical feasibility Study(1) Will it fit?(2) What other decisions will it drive?

(a) Will you have to move the facility, build more facilities(3) Go, no go.

iii) Economic or Financial feasibility Study(1) Can you afford it?(2) Can you afford not to do it? UPS decision(3) Cost-Benefit Analysis (see TK 2.4)

(a) Break even point, when does it occur?(b) How to compute.

(4) Go, no go.iv) Time feasibility Study,

(1) Can it be done it time? (2) Will be cost effective by the time you can do it?(3) Go, no go.

v) Summary of study results. Find a method of analyzing the cumulative results of go, no go studies.

e) Estimate time and costi) Performed by the expertsii) RFP – request for proposaliii) IT department estimatesiv) Contractor provided

f) Present results and recommendations to management, suggested format:i) Introduction: summary of needii) Systems request summary: executive summary styleiii) Recommendations: iv) Time and cost estimates: Based on expert input such as contractor, lawyer,

accounting, RFP responses, etc.v) Expected benefitsvi) Appendix: documentation, reports, analyses

5) If the project is to decide on a project, present it and wait for a decision.6) If the project is a go, then a contract will kick-off the project and Phase I will start for real.

The project itself will require a contract or charter that would follow the same general guidelines.


1. Dr. Jones arranges an introductory meeting between the associates of New Century and you to determine if mutual interest exists in pursing the project. What should the associates try to learn about you? What should you try to learn in this meeting?2. What kind of questions would you ask to assess the initial feasibility of this project? Based on the information above, does the project seem feasible? 3. New Century management decided to contract for your services to perform a preliminary investigation. What would be your plan for action?

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4. You begin the preliminary investigation. What information is needed? From whom would you obtain it? What techniques would you use in your fact finding?

What you really need to know:A. The types of studies that should be undertaken before starting a project.B. Where to start the study.C. Why a charter is necessary.D. The components of a charter. E. The SDLC phasesF. SWOT, its components and how to quantify the dataG. Types of feasibility studies: economic, cost, skills, operational, technical, etc.

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Chapter 3Requirements ModelingSystems Analysis Phase 2

www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Terms

1) Methods, each is a variation of SDLC:

a) JAD , Joint Application Development. An organizational method of in-house systems

development that draws on the resources, interests, skills and knowledgebase of multiple

work centers within an enterprise. (Page 3.3)

b) RAD , Rapid Application Development. (See TK 4.2). An organizational or abbreviated

method for developing a system within a short timeframe. “Short” is a relative term that

may compress years into months or months into weeks depending on the enterprise’s

willingness to accept risks.

c) SCRUM , (the term is derived from the pack in Rugby football) it is really a variation of

sashimi which is a form of RAD.

d) MSF , Microsoft Solutions Framework.

2) Tools for systems analysis

a) UML, unified modeling language. A method of graphing and communicating ideas.

Addressed in more detail in chapter 5.

b) CASE, computer assisted system design such as VISIO 2002. To be introduced to the

class as a drawing tool

c) Presentation graphics, PowerPoint is an example.

d) Project Management software such as MS Project.

e) Word processors: complete with templates, forms and formats

f) Spreadsheets: Lotus, Excel

g) PDAs

h) Databases:

Introduce MS Project at this point.

3) Processes and techniques

a) Sequence diagrams: Function / Use matrix (similar to Event/Location matrix)

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b) FDD, functional decomposition diagrams, similar to organizational charting and may

include organizational charts. Defines or is a method of drawing how functions relate.

See Fig. 3-9

c) Checklist of requirements: pg 3.7

i) Outputs

ii) Inputs

iii) Processes

iv) Performance

v) Controls

d) Evaluate scalability

e) Assessing Total Cost of Ownership, TCO.

i) Formula: cost of design, cost of implementation, cost of editing, cost to replace

Plus number of users x days in year used x years before replaced x salary x extra time used per

day. Plus lost customer good will, plus lost business. The cost could be in $millions.

f) Costs and Benefits:

i) Tangible costs: factors to which one can assign real dollar values. Nearly always

traceable in budget and expenditure terms. Includes: salaries, consumables, purchases

and other goods and services.

ii) Intangible costs: factors associated with opportunities lost, impressions of

stakeholders, good will, lost effectiveness, etc.

iii) Direct costs: salaries of team members, hardware purchased as a deliverable, etc.

iv) Indirect costs: items not directly chargeable to the project such as purchase of test

equipment that will be used on other projects, services of supervisors and executives

and there staffs not working directly with the project but in a tangential way such as

management reviews of multiple projects.

v) Fixed costs: development costs once expended, contract costs, is a relative factor,

rentals, fuels, telephone fees, salaries: items that are budgeted for in blocks of time as

major costs categories and disbursed over a given budget period then renegotiated or

estimated at a fixed rate.

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vi) Variable costs: items with a shelf life that may cost more to replace as consumed, fuel

costs driven by weather and the environment, consulting fees that are negotiated or

renegotiated.

vii)Overhead costs: executive salaries, staff salaries, vacation time salaries, benefits, cost

of operating offices, maintenance and depreciation. Portions of profit.

viii) Development costs: costs incurred only once at the time the system was

developed.

ix) Operational costs: recurring costs such as operator salaries, maintenance,

environmental costs, heating, cooling, cleaning , repairs, improvements and

enhancements, fees for consulting, training, assessments and evaluations etc.

x) Profit centers: organizational units that account for their operational costs through

fees, charges to a customer, or write-offs. Technical assistance at Microsoft is paid for

by a license or direct customer charge. If an organization such as IT tracks the man-

hours required for services and then accounted for in the accounting office by

charging the served department’s operating budget for the service, it becomes a profit

center.

xi) Cost centers: organizational units such as the IT department that provide one or more

services for which they do not collect fees, track or chargeback costs of their service.

xii)Chargeback methods:

(1) No charge: write-off charges for repairs, replacements due to breakage, warranty,

good will.

(2) Variable: utility charges for gas and electric may be distributed across the

organization and all budgets based on end of period accounting or rates that

change as they occur.

(3) Budgeted rates: unit for unit cost charged based on budget planning rates.

(4) Volume rates: user-oriented charge methods assigned at the end of a budget year

or period based on rates of consumption of the period. May be tracked based on

direct costs or charges as the vary with consumption.

Cost Benefit analysis: Return on Investment: ROI = (see page 548)

g) ROI =

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Benefit – costs = ratio %Total costs


h) Net Present value analysis – can be done in current year dollars or estimated inflated

dollars. Must be consistent and must be known based on assumptions about economy.

Based on major assumptions about the company, the market, competition and the

competitive environment.

i) NPV = total present value of benefits – total present value of costs factored for

inflation

(1) Cost avoidance: risk oriented, if we did not, do not do this it will costs

(2) Methodology: costs - benefits = if balance is a plus, good decision

(a) Acquisition costs, including direct and development

(b) Operating costs x life cycle

(c) Maintenance costs x life cycle

(d) Intangible costs x life cycle

(e) Replacement costs

i) Fact-finding

i) Who, what, when, where and how.

ii) Interviews, steps:

(1) Who to interview

(2) Develop Objectives for interview

(3) Develop Interview questions

(a) Open-ended questions, interviewee must focus and come up with the

response.

(b) Closed-ended questions, yes, no or short answers that lead the responder.

(c) Range-of-response: multiple choice type

(4) Preparing for the interview

(5) Conducting the interview

(6) Documenting the interview

(7) Evaluating the interview

iii) Observations:

iv) Questionnaires and surveys:

v) Sampling:

vi) Collection of input/output forms. See case study.

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1. Review the office organization chart you prepared in Chapter1 for New Century. Should there be any changes? Provide a new chart with changes you see necessary if any.

2. List the individuals you would like to interview during the analysis phase.3. Prepare a list of objectives for each of the interviews you will conduct. The objectives will

indicate why you think it is necessary to interview this person.4. Prepare a list of specific questions for each individual you will interview. These may be both

open-ended and closed-ended but should be designed to reveal the information you need.5. Conduct the interviews. Record the interviewee’s responses to your questions in number 4.

You may work with another student who is equally prepared for this chapter as you and record the results for both responses.

6. Prepare a written summary of the information gained from each of the interviews.7. You decided to send a questionnaire to a sample of New Century patients to find out if they

are satisfied with current insurance and scheduling procedures. a. Design a questionnaire that follows the suggestions in this chapter. Remember the

questions should seek the right information and therefore must be targeted to the issue. Can you use open-ended questions in a questionnaire?

b. Describe what sample of patients should receive it and why you selected that group.

What you really need to know:A. What JAD, RAD, SCRUM are.B. What happens during the first phase of SDLCC. What the required skills are for a project manager and an analyst.D. Identify processes and tools for data collection.E. Open-ended and closed-ended questions.F. How to initiate data collection and interviews.G. Be able to identify tools for data collection.

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Chapter 4Enterprise Modeling

Systems Analysis Phase 2www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Terms

1) What is a model or the process of modeling?

a) A method of representing a concept or idea. Ex: a model of a store purchase is a receipt.

2) Data flow symbols: the symbols below are based on the “Gane and Sarson” convention.

There are others such as “Yourdon” shown at page 4.2 of your textbook. Also see figure 4-

24. Both these conventions can be drawn using Microsoft Word. Visio can also be used. For

this class there is only one rule, be consistent. Select a convention and stick with it.

3) Components: Data is simply raw numbers and words, characters, symbols without context or

format. Information is data that has been processed. Processing gives the data format, context

and therefore making it meaningful or useful to the consumer, an external entity.

a) Data flow: a path representing an action that copies or moves data from one location to

another location in a system for the purpose of storing, processing, inputting or

outputting. Is documented in a data dictionary.

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0

Process

External Entity System

Data store Data flow



b) Data store: a logical location where data is stored, a table or group of tables.

i) A data store is documented in a data dictionary.

4) Context model: the top level of a system diagram. It should show the system

a) Must fit on one page.

b) Sets boundaries on the system. (page 4.8)

c) Used to control system growth

d) Represented by a system circle and all external entities that have a digital connect

(input/output) to the system.

e) Every message flow should/must be included.

f) Every flow and every entity must be identified and labeled.

g) All components must be connected.

h) Use professional composition/writing standards.

5) Data flow model (DFD): (page 4.3) the “path for data to move from one part of the

information system to another”.

a) The DFD is equivalent to an expanded or exploded view of the context model.

i) May require multiple levels based on the complexity and size of the system.

ii) Multiple levels dictate numbering to indicate the level, 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1, 2.2, etc.

with each new subset of numbers representing a subsystem such as payroll.

iii) Every process must be included, each process numbered and listed in the data

dictionary.

b) Every entity must be included and labeled. DFD must be balanced with the context

model, include every entity shown in the context model must be included in the DFD and

no entities will be shown in the DFD that are not shown in the context model.

c) Rules for diagramming a DFD . See table on page 4.7 and conventions at the bottom of

page 4.9.

i) Flow lines will not cross.

ii) Stubs will be shown for each flow that must be continued on a second page for

printing or that flows to another level.

iii) Every data store must have an input and an output.

(1) No output means it is a black hole.

(2) No input means it spontaneously generates data, not possible.

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iv) Two entities cannot be connected without a process in the flow.

v) Arrows for flows can point in only one direction.

vi) Entities and processes may appear only once unless clearly labeled as a duplicate for

purposes of clarity.

vii)Data flowing out of a process or data store must be consistent with the input. (page

4.4) Ex: a process cannot produce paycheck output by processing customer address

data.

viii) Two data stores cannot be connected without a process in the flow.

ix) An entity cannot be connected to a data store without a process.

x) Each segment of a flow (entity 1-----process1-----data store 1----process2---entity2) is

a different message and must be given a different name and identifying number.

Example: data for a process that computes the value of a paycheck may flow from 2

or more data stores, are processes, transformed, and sent to a print generator as a

information or a paycheck. Each segment, element or component much be clearly

identified.

d) Functional primitive: DFD may be broken into functional primitives or process showing a

single function. The functional primitive must be clearly labeled and numbered consistent

with the numbered labels in the data flow diagram.

e) Data Flow Diagramming errors to avoid:

i) Failure to balance the DFD with the context model.

ii) Flow lines (arrows) that do not connect to something.

iii) Flow lines with arrows pointing in two directions.

iv) Flow lines and objects without a label.

v) Violations of the margins.

vi) Diagrams without captions to indicate what they represent.

vii)Duplicates of any type unless clearly identified as a duplicate for purposes of clarity

and properly connected.

viii) Inclusion of any object not contained in the data dictionary.

ix) Crossing data flow lines. This rule is sometimes violated unnecessarily and is nearly

always an indication minimal effort from a lazy designer.

6) Data dictionary: see page 4.20 and figures 4-25 and 4-27.

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a) A data repository of metadata or data about data and data flows.

b) Figure 4-25 is a partial listing or example of manually documenting metadata.

c) CASE and DBMS software are tools that assist the developer in compiling data

dictionaries. Demo: see Visio and Access.

7) ER model: It is a methodology for designing and diagramming a database showing all tables

and fields and the relationships between tables. ER modeling will be defined in chapter 8. It

is the “blue print” for building a database.

8) Process: software such as a query or body of code that transforms data.

i) Documented:

ii) Models

(1) decision tree (fig. 4-41)

(2) structured English (fig. 4-36)

(3) Decision tables (fig.4-38)


1. Prepare a context diagram for the New Century information system. Use Visio and place a hyperlink to your document here.

2. Prepare a diagram 0 DFD for New Century. Be sure to show subsystems for handling appointment processing, payment and insurance processing, report processing, and records maintenance. Use Visio and place a hyperlink to your document here.

3. Prepare a lower-level DFD for the appointment processing subsystem. Use Visio and place a hyperlink to your document here.

4. Prepare a list of data stores and data flows needed for the system. Under each data store list the data elements (attributes) required. Use a table format for your response.

5. Using a table format, prepare a data dictionary entry and process description for one of system’s functional primitives. Note: you must know what a functional primitive is before you can proceed with this problem.

What you really need to know:A. What is the Gane and Sarson convention?B. Know the symbols for modeling.C. Know the rules of process modeling.D. Know what a context model does.E. Know what an O level model is.F. What it means to balance a model, flatten or explode an O level model.

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Chapter 5Development Strategies

Systems Analysis Phase 2www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Terms

1) Systems development has essentially split into two configurationsTraditional Development Web-based development

Legacy issues of compatibility Web considered the platformLocal and wide area networksWeb issues are considered enhancementsScalability issues Easily scaleable

Can be acquired as a service (packaged systems)Requires middleware to talk to legacy systems

2) Application service provider: ASP3) IBS or internet business service (systems): web-based service, full services4) Outsourcing fee:

a) Fixed fee: defined service implementationb) Subscription fee: often based on usage or modulesc) ISSUES:

i) Must be cost attractiveii) Must be reliable and long termiii) Day to day service can expose proprietary information and present risks, exposure

5) This chapter addresses the type of task you are most likely to engage in as entry level analysts. Specifically, assisting with build or buy decisions. Read this chapter with this in mind.

1) Build or buya) Why buy?

i) Cheaperii) Fasteriii) Less turbulenceiv) Proven reliabilityv) Less technical staff demandvi) Take advantage of vender developments and other company resources and

developmentsb) Why build?

i) To satisfy unique business requirementii) Minimize changes in business procedures, rules necessary to make the software

function and serve a purpose.iii) Meet constraints of legacy systems.iv) Meet constraints of legacy technologyv) To develop internal resources and capabilities, otherwise at the mercy of the

community.2) Considerations:

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a) Costb) Timec) Skills availabled) Technology availablee) Knowledge base

BuildAdvantages DisadvantagesCan be tailored to the business rules Limited knowledge baseDevelopment schedule to fit need Manpower/time investmentCan keep it private or proprietary, data and functions

Discovery/inventing based lack of experience

May be cheaper than out source Platform resources / parallel systems

3) Buy considerations:a) Horizontal: general application that could be applied to many types of enterprises as long

as one can accept that many features will not totally satisfy specific requirements. Certain types of reports or specific queries might not be available without major modifications to the software. Money, PeachCalc, Quicken are samples of a horizontal application.

b) Vertical: industry specific such as software written for doctor’s offices or any other specific type of enterprise. Vertical applications are much more costly than horizontal, in part, because of the limited market but also because they are usually much better engineered and more fully developed. Many, perhaps most, vertical applications are modified by consultants for their customers.

c) Four step process:i) Evaluate the requirements

(1) Identify key desired features(2) Estimate volume and growth(3) Hardware constraints(4) RFP or quotation

ii) Identify vendors(1) Licensed(2) Qualified vendors(3) Vendors who can customize

iii) Evaluate software alternatives(1) Existing user satisfaction(2) Testing

(a) Trial copy(b) Send employees to site(c) Benchmarking

iv) Decision(1) Make sure all stakeholders are represented(2) Presentation(3) Summary of advantages and disadvantages(4) Risks(5) Assessment factors

(a) Time to install, bring on line

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(b) How functional it will be(c) How much modification will be required(d) How much training required(e) Staffing

v) Make the Purchase(1) License

vi) Install(1) Evaluation(2)

23


BuyAdvantages DisadvantagesTurn key May be limited, proprietary limitationsQuicker, maybe Cost vs value may be in doubtBroader experience base across industry Legacy problemsParallel operations Data format problemsIndustry standards Specialized functions

Middle men and uncertainty

4) Out-sourcea) Build from nothingb) Modify a legacy or purchased package.c) VAR, value-added reseller, customize pre-built applications

5) Vertical application, application package designed for a specific TYPE of business. Example, McKenzie Paint Company. $10K in 1992. Perhaps $20K today.

Advantages DisadvantagesMore specifically tailored to the industry May not address all business needsCheaper than custom built Need contractor to modifyTurn-key operation May need maintenance contractProven technology May need upgrading frequently

6) Horizontal application a software package that can be used by many types of enterprises. Peach Tree Accounting is an example.

Advantages DisadvantagesVery cheap Limited functionalityReady to go when installed May require changing business rulesProven technology Hard to customize, no access to source code.Cheap to upgrade Upgrades may be modest and not error free.

May not work with legacy data or systems

7) Prototypinga) Storyboardb) Fly-awayc) Something in between: mockup nonfunctional

i) Tools: Word, PowerPoint, Access, VB d) Limitations

i) How can you best sell an idea?What you really need to know:A. Decision process for making build or buyB. Vertical and horizontal applications, what they are and why would you choose.C. Considerations for the decisions: build/buy/outsourceD. Steps in deciding what to buy or outsource

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E. Prototyping typesa) Risk decisions in prototyping

F. Considerations for code design

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Tables Relation EntityRecord Tuple Rowfield Attribute column


Chapter 6Data Design

Systems Design, Phase 3www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Terms Definitions Rules

Concept: the structure of a database system must represent or mirror the enterprise business rules. Business rules are the collection of practices that describe how an enterprise really functions. Written policy and the boss’s understanding may not be a business rule if it is not also a “practice.” This chapter is not intended to cover database design in the depth and detail addressed by CIS 241. As an analyst, you should take CIS 241 as an elective. You will not be able to take full advantage of career opportunities as an analyst without having a full knowledgebase of database design. You will never be a successful analyst without database design knowledge and skills.

1) Data structures: a) DBMSb) Table Filesc) Master filesd) Transaction filese) Work filesf) Security filesg) History files

2) Structures Query Language, SQL, sometimes known as Sequel.a) Data definition language: DDLb) Data manipulation language: DMLc) Query by example: QBE

3) Physical data repository:4) Data warehousing: 5) Data mining:6) Database structures: see Database definitions

a) File – container for the database. b) Table: see figure at right. c) Primary keys: an attribute that uniquely

identifies a record.i) The character of the data may require

more than one field be used as the primary key. Such a primary key is also known as a combination, compound or concatenated key. Serving together they comprise the primary key; taken separately any single field may also serve as a foreign or secondary key.

d) Candidate keys: any key that has the potential to serve as a primary key is a candidate key. Any field that does not have this potential is a ‘non-key’ field.

e) Foreign keys: an attribute that links or relates the record in one table to a record in another table. When referential integrity is being enforced, an error condition will result when data exists in a foreign key before exiting in its primary key relation. Likewise, data

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must be deleted first from a foreign key before it can be deleted from its primary key relation.

f) Surrogate key: a constructed PK, often an autonumber created simply for the purpose of having a primary key.

g) Secondary keys: fields used to select, access or retrieve data.h) Referential integrity: for every foreign key, a primary key must exist. Referential

integrity demands that data in a foreign key must first exist in its corresponding primary key. Example: a pay record cannot exist in a payroll table for an employee that does not exist.

i) Bridge or associative table: a constructed table that is often the result of decomposing a many to many relationship between two tables. Your textbook uses the term ‘associative’. See page 8.15.

7) Steps to building a database a) Understand business rules

i) List all business rulesb) Define major processesc) Define information componentsd) Define or assign all data elements to the entities (tables)e) Develop ER model

i) Steps in designing an ERD(1) Identify the entities(2) Determine all significant events that occur between two or more entities(3) Analyze the nature of the interaction(4) Draw the ERD.

f) Define and annotate cardinalityg) Define keys (Primary and Foreign)

i) Foreign keys are assumed not defined in Accessii) Foreign keys must be declared in more scalable database such as Oracle. Declaring

the foreign keys turns of enforcement of referential integrity in Oracle.h) Identity all dependencies (full or functional, partial and transitive)i) Normalize the entities (tables)

8) IMPORTANT: building a database is an iterative process even for experienced designers. Normalizing a database may require creating additional tables, deleting and moving attributes, creating new attributes and modifying the ER model.

9) Entity Relationship Diagramming or Modeling:a) Diagramming conventions

i) Chenii) Crow’s Footiii) Others; included in Visio and SmartDraw.

b) Cardinalityi) Cardinality annotations in Chenii) Cardinality in Crow’s Foot convention

c) The ERDd) Database rules e) Relations or relationships:

i) Characterized as 1:1 or one to one, 1:M or one to many, and M:M or many to many.

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ii) Most databases will contain 1:1 relationshipsiii) All databases will contain 1:M relationshipsiv) No databases should contain M:M relationships. Associative or bridge tables would

be used to decompose the situation and handle the relationship. f) Dependencies

i) Full (functional) dependency – an attribute is fully dependent on the primary key for its existence.

ii) Transitive dependency – attribute is indirectly dependent on its existence from a secondary source.

iii) Partial dependency – the attribute is part of a compound or combination keyg) Relationships – a verb that correctly characterizes the relationship of one table to another

through the primary-foreign key.h) Normalization

i) Normal forms: see definitions for MIS 231 and CIS 241(1) First Normal Form - a table is in first normal form if it does not contain repeating

groups(2) Second Normal Form - a table is in second normal form if it is in first normal

form and no nonkey attribute is dependent on only a portion of the primary key(3) Third Normal Form - a table is in third normal form if it is in second normal form

and it contains no transitive(4) Boyce-Codd Normal Form - Boyce-Codd Normal Form, a special case of the 3rd

Normal form. A table is BCNF if it is in 3rd NF and there are no transitive dependencies and if the only determinant it contains is a candidate key. See transitive dependency, first, second and third normal form definitions to fully understand BCNF.

ii) Three Step Process to Normalize(1) List table columns and Identify functional, transitive and partial dependencies(2) Eliminate partial dependencies(3) Eliminate transitive dependencies(4) Voila: 3rd normal form

Note: review the normalization example starting at page 8.24 of the Shelly-Cashman text. Follow the example carefully through page 8.27. This example follows precisely the three step process described in sub-paragraph ii above. Please notice the textbook does not define partial and transitive dependencies but does identify fields that are dependent on other fields. The process is the same as we follow in class.Example:

Dependencies: o A dependency is established when the existence of the data in one attribute is dependent

on the existence of another attribute. Value of X determines the value of Y. Example: If you know customer number you will also know customer name. Likewise, product_name is dependent on product_number.

o ZIP code as dependent on City or State is debatable. Yes, ZIPs are related to cities but not the city name. Problem: (a) multiple cities

have the same name, (b) some cities have only one ZIP code, (c) new ZIP codes can be created

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o Partial dependency : a dependency based on only part of the primary key.

a) Transitive dependency : a dependency based on an attribute that is not part of the primary key.

10)

INV_NUM PROD_CODELINE_NUM PROD_TITLELINE_UNITS

CUS_NUM

1

M

(1,N) (1,1)(1,1)

CustomerGenerates

Product

LineInvoice1 M 1 M

(O,N)

(1,1)

(O,N)

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What you really need to know: My notes from CIS241A. Chen or Crow’s Foot modeling notationsB. ER modeling conceptC. Definitions of the various types of keys (primary, foreign, candidate, secondary, and surrogate)D. First, second and third normal forms.E. Definitions of dependenciesF. Three step process for normalization.G. CardinalityH. Definitions of relations

Define referential integrity

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Chapter 7User Interface, Input, and Output Design

Systems Design, Phase 3www.scsite.com/sad5e/ GUI Standards Terms

1) Prototyping: developed as a tool for first look interaction with stakeholders/users.a) The walk-thru: demo to the customer what is being built. Opportunity for confirmation

that system will satisfy requirement. The customer is getting what he expects.i) Story board

(1) Advantages: cheap, quick, low risk, easy to start over(2) Disadvantages:

(a) limited ability to demonstrate planned capabilities(b) promotes very limited feedback from the client(c) little to no value added (d) few errors will be found

ii) Static Model(1) Advantages:

(a) cheaper than a functional model(b) provides a starting point for talking to the issues(c) little lost value if have to change direction or cancel the project

(2) Disadvantages:(a) Promoted limited feedback(b) Promoted limited innovations

iii) Functional Model(1) Advantages:

(a) promoted the best possible feedback(b) promotes innovations

(2) Disadvantages:(a) High risk(b) High cost(c) Hard to change direction because of the required re-engineering

2) Total Cost of Ownership, TCO, a concept that requires a decision maker to consider all costs related to an action, practice, object, rule, function, purchase or any other business component over the life expectancy of the component. Includes:a) Cost of building or buyingb) Cost to replacec) Cost to maintaind) Cost to operatee) Cost to customer good willf) Cost to stakeholder satisfactiong) Lost opportunity costsTCO should be evaluated as a comparison to the same cost factors for other options or alternative actions, even an option to do nothing.

3) GUI Design consideration4) Event Modeling

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a) An event is an action that occurs in the environment to which the system must respond. The event is not part of the system but requires the system to accept input or respond with output.

b) Examples of events:i) Receive orderii) A saleiii) Completion of manufacturingiv) End of work weekv) Hire new employeevi) Fire an employee

c) Types: functional event model, event function model, event location modeli) Functional event model - see figure 5-27 on page 5.16

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ii) Event function model –

iii) Event location model – this model would be used for a system with multiple locations. Both model are needed when multiple sites or locations are involved. Replace user with site listings to develop the model. The model is simply a method of recording where functionality of the system will be accessible and by whom.

What you really need to know:A. Define the three levels of prototypingB. Define advantages and disadvantages of the various prototyping types.C. Understand the concept of TCO.D. Be able to discuss major issues of GUI design.E. Understand the TCO implications of GUI design.F. Define an event.

Sample Event Function Model

Events

Users

Doctors

Payroll clerk

Receptionist

Drug

custodian

Purchasing M

anager

Laboratory Technician

Log on X X X X X XPay employees XLog off X X X X X XMake Medical appointment XReceive new inventory X X

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Chapter 8Application ArchitectureSystems Design, Phase 3

www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Terms

1) Go, no go decisions have been made. What to build has been decided. Buy or build decision has been made. Now final decisions on the approach or HOW. Considerations:

2) Initial cost3) Total cost of ownership:4) Scalability5) Integration with web6) Legacy interface7) Security

a) Accessb) Recoveryc) Deniald) Configuration controls

8) Processing methods:a) Batchb) On-line

9) Physical or network models:a) LAN, WANb) Client/server

i) Fat or thinc) Distributedd)

10) Middleware decisions11) Platform decisions12)What you really need to know:A. That, security planning starts with your event matrix.B. That, a network model defines the physical network, servers, network cables, routers, switches,

workstations, modems, firewalls, printers etc.C. Define middlewareD. Define a three tiered client/server system and a web-based database system.E. Define the difference between on-line and batch processing.F. TCOG. Define scalability.

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Chapter 9 Systems Implementation

www.scsite.com/sad5e/ Termswww.iso.ch/

1) Software Quality Assurance Quality Assurance – what does it mean to an analyst?a) Visit the ISO web site see: About ISO, and ISO 9000, Quality Management Principlesb) It means getting it as right as you can, the first time.c) The proper approachd) The proper design and testing principlese) The proper documentation

2) Quality Assurance vs Quality Controla) Assurance – to assure that the system is built to specification

i) Correct documentation – format, detail and contentii) Correct testing – testing design, timing, detail, results, recording, correcting and

retestingb) Control – the word implies a method or methods of monitoring. In IT development it

means the followingi) Monitoring testing, third party observersii) Custody of test recordsiii) Overview and controls of testing methodsiv) Custody of baselinesv) Cohort direct access to management for alerting to procedural problems and POF,

plain old firing of employees.That the Project manager must have a cohort trained in Quality Assurance and Control technology and Quality Management. Very seldom, if ever, do Project managers have all the skills necessary to do the job, therefore cohorts are necessary.

1) Application Development Coding documentationa) Models – Context, DFD, ERD, Event, network, prototypesb) Structured English or pseudo-codec) Embedded comments: Comment outd) Configuration management documentation

2) Configuration Managementa) Baselinesb) Current baselines with documentation: cite Y2K issuesc) Backup copies

i) NEVER use 3.5 diskettes except as transportation copiesd) Security

i) Multiple placesii) Secure conditions and environmentsiii) Procedures

3) Coding4) Testing the System Testing

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a) Bench testing – the term comes from hardware testing in which a component may be taken to a workbench and tested with oscilloscopes or other metering devices before assembly into a larger component or unit. This also applies to software – could include using a commercial application such as Excel to build a database to validate a formula before it the formula is coded into a programming statement for a database.

b) Unit testing – the word ‘unit’ can be interpreted in many ways but the concept is that a developer find or develop ways to test all components before they are compiled into modules or modular units.

c) Modular – larger unit tests before integrationd) Integration – the term itself implies that the process is iterative. The word integration

comes from integrate which means to bring together as one unit. That is to combine all components in such a way that all components function together. It certainly means testing before and after each component is added and perhaps disassembly, redesign, remanufacture or recoding and reassembly and testing.

e) System – system is fully assembled and tested in the manufacturing environment using real or simulated real data.

f) Acceptance – testing either before or after delivery but demonstrated to and for the customer before they agree to write you a check. Depending on the charter or contract the operators could be your analysts or the customer’s employees.

5) Documentation6) Management Approval7) System Installation and Evaluation8) Operational and Test Environments Operational and Test environment

a) Includes four phases: testing – implementation – training - evaluation9) Testing – we talked about testing stages last class.

a) Bench, unit, module, integration, system, and acceptanceb) There are several types of testing within each mode. Among them

i) Functionalii) Loadiii) Enduranceiv) Baseline

c) Your charter or contract should specify the stages and types of testing to be performed.d) You, the project manager, will develop the tests and test procedures. They should be

reviewed and approved by customer representatives and your own quality assurance people. It is not unusual that test procedures will not be approved until immediately before testing begins. Perhaps not even then.

e) Procedures should be detailed and contain the followingi) Set up description.ii) List performance standardsiii) List specification references.iv) Define or have test data attached.v) Identify the operator, who will be present to observe, who is allowed to be in the

room during the test, who has the authority to start and stop the test.(1) It can be very costly to fail to start a test on time or stop a test early or without

justification if you are paying for use of the test facilities and equipment and paying the people observing and participating in a test.

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(a) I can cite you an example from just last month in which a truck drive was allowed to stop an engineering event even though there were customers, engineers and contractors on the site at the time. Now there is a $10,000 legal dispute over a 24 hours delay because no one knew who was in charge.

vi) List step by step procedures, leaving nothing to the operator to decide. As soon as the operator starts making decisions you have lost control of the test environment.

vii)Pass / fail criteria and identify who will make this decision.viii) Documentation procedures or instructions.ix) Evaluation procedures.

10) Training Traininga) Can be provided in-house, by vendor or off-siteb) Decide which is best.c) Who gets the training

i) Everyone who is a stakeholder.(1) Users – OJT is EXPENSIVE. Tell the story of Lucy, E-Systems bought her a PC

with Word processing, spreadsheets, etc. After 3 months of OJT, it took her a month to produce a 30 page document. The engineer who wrote it had to redo it to make it useful. She was a $10 hour employee, the engineer a $50 hour employ. Off site training would have been much cheaper.

(2) Managers – cannot properly manage and evaluate system and people performance if you do not understand what the people can do with the system.

(3) Vendors – how can they sell, provide, find what you need if they do not understand they system.

(4) Support personnel – IT people cannot help you maintain and correct problems if they do not understand how it is supposed to operate.

(5) Executives – does not need to be able to operate it but he MUST KNOW what it can do for his company.

11) Data Conversion12) System Changeover Implementation

a) Methods are driven by the degree of RISK TOLERANCE you can allow.i) Cold turkey switch over, VERY RISKYii) Phased switching after extensive testing.

(1) Site selective, not possible if it is a distributed database.(2) Function selective, depends on the integration of the live data.

iii) Pilot operations: go live at a small, less demanding site with all functions.iv) Parallel operations – dual operations with old and new system in concurrent operation

until the customer is confident that all problems have been identified and corrected.

13) Post-implementation Tasks3) Documentation – document, document, document

1) Post-implementationa) The charter or contract should specify the type and extent of post implementation

documentation and assessment.b) Who pays for it, is a big question.

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c) As a contractor or IT department manager, you will be interested in measuring your success. If not, you may be going out of business and just not be aware that it is happening to you.

d) Things the post-implementation assessment should document:i) Was the project completed on timeii) What did it cost?iii) How well did it perform compared to how well it was expected to perform?iv) How accurate, secure, and reliable was the system?v) Is the system maintainable?vi) How did it measure up in terms of Quality factors?vii)Cost-benefitsviii) Lessons learned

(1) What were the skill shortfalls?(2) Were there any equipment or materiel shortfalls?(3) Were there unknown or unrecognized risks?

ix) What improvements must be made before you do it again?x) Were there any training or education mismatches?xi) What were the user or customer satisfaction scores?xii) In short, how could we have done it better?

What you really need to know:A. Types and stages of testing.B. Content of a good test plan.C. Methods of implementationA. What is ISO and ISO standards.B. Difference between quality assurance and quality controlC. Aspects of Quality Assurance and ControlD. Testing levels and standardsE. Levels and types of documentation

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Chapter 10Systems Operation and Support, Phase 5

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1) This chapter will describe your first week, perhaps your first month, on your new job upon graduating from High Point University.

2) User support:a) Training: who needs the training

i) Users: fully so they can be effective, efficient and provide full serviceii) Managers: fully so that they can properly supervise, evaluate, design tasks, improve

system and employee performanceiii) IT department: fully trained so that they can understand when and why something is

not working as designediv) Executives: to the extent they know what the system can and cannot do for them and

their businessv) Vendors: to the extent they know what your system can do and how they can help

you. 3) Maintenance types

a) Correctivei) Hardware: Required by wear and tear, obsolescence of components, incompatibility

of replacement parts.ii) Software: replacing or installing software patches for modules that are not working

correctly. Can be caused by mishandling, incorrectly closing files that create orphaned files or file fragments, voltage spikes, unauthorized access by a user, dust, read errors and many other causes.

b) Adaptivei) Adds new capabilities or enhancements. May be driven by changes in business

practices or innovations in technology.c) Perfective

i) Minor changes to the body of software, may include:(1) Changes to fonts, views, on-screen tools, etc.(2) Changes to operating procedures or processes to avoid reductions in speed or

functionality.(3) Changes to reflect changes in organizational structure, access privileges, etc.(4) Re-engineering to improve the system based on new technology, lessons learned

during design or process changes.d) Preventive

i) Corrections to prevent errors or system failure that can be attributed to wear and tear in hardware due to time and use. May include adding memory or storage capacity or crash recovery such as RAID 5. In software the changes may anticipate limits to file size, read or write sequences that can eventually cause problems.

4) Managing Systems Operation and Supporta) Maintenance: software and hardware

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b) Priorities: under the control of the configuration control board, set priorities for changes, down time, improvements

c) Configuration Control: establish a board of users to evaluate change with procedures for handling every complaint or recommendation.i) Maintain baselinesii) Document changes to the baselinesiii) Provide crash or disaster recovery and backupiv) Version Control: under the control of configuration management

5) Who pays for it?a) It depends on the contract. If the system is out sourced, obviously a maintenance or

change contract must be written. If the project was an in house development, company accounting procedures will dictate who funds the maintenance phase.

What you really need to know:A. General concepts of the maintenance phase of the SDLC.B. General concepts of why and how configuration management is necessary.C. General idea of why everyone must receive some degree of training depending on their role in the

enterprise.

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Configuration Management

Despite the best efforts of everyone, changes to the requirements, functions, services, schedules and cost baselines will be required. A baseline is the total configuration of a module, assembly or system at a given point in time. All the baselines are inter-related and a change in one usually generates changes in the others. Baselines will be created at regular intervals and whenever a change has been implemented. Project baselines can occur when the user, sponsor or developer adds a feature that was not included in the original requirements or the previous baseline.

Resource constraints, technological innovation and political considerations may all force a change to the original requirements structure. Changes can also occur if the developer is unable to meet the threshold or performance specification prescribed for a function.

Design changes that can be accommodated within the current build (such as, alternative approaches to the same conclusion) and before a new baseline is declared are much less significant in the Program Management context. The Project Manager has the authority to approve or disapprove them as long as the changes can be accomplished within confines of the projects performance specifications and the build being developed.

A build is an iterative stage of development between declared and documented baselines. Developers will maintain multiple copies of each build between baselines to guard against the risk that a complete fallback to a baseline will be necessary.

Significant changes are those that affect the baseline cost, schedule or scope and exceed the Project Manager's discretionary authority. These must receive approval of the CCB before work can begin toward their implementation.

Given that changes are likely to occur, a method for identifying, documenting, approving and implementing required changes must be established and adhered to in order to reduce the associated risks. The change control process ensures that the change is identified, assessed, approved and controlled. It also provides a defined, repeatable mechanism to improve the timeliness of the decision process and a methodology for controlling scope creep.

The CCB, Configuration Control Board, has been established to review and approve or disapproved all proposed changes to configuration. The CCB will be composed of CIO, Program Manager, Project Manager, Systems Design Director, Chief Systems Engineer, Network Design Manager, Software Engineering Director, and Quality Assurance Director. The CCB will meet at regular intervals or when convened by the CIO.

The attached Change Request Form shall be used to request all changes to configuration and may be submitted via the administration organizational authority by any stakeholder. A stakeholder is defined as any customer, manager, client, developer, designer or user having a functional interest in the related system by virtue of their work, a contract or operational use.

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CHANGE REQUEST FORM

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Request Type Requirements (Scope) Schedule Cost (Budget/Resource)Change Description

WBS CodeBenefits of ChangeSystems Affected

Projects AffectedResources RequiredEstimated Impact on Project ScheduleCost and Hours Estimates Estimated Labor Hours

Estimated Labor CostsEstimated ExpensesTotal Estimated Cost

Originator Name: Signature:

Print Name: Date:Verification Section

Review Conducted PM Signature: Date:Approval Level Required Project Manager

Project Sponsor Program Sponsor Portfolio Owner

Decision SectionTitle: Approved

Disapproved Deferred

Signature:

Date: Reason for decision:

Completion SectionDate Incorporated in ScheduleDeferral Review Date

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Requested changes will be documented using a Change Request (CR) form and entered into the Change Request Register. CRs will be maintained as a historical audit trail of changes and will be associated with the baseline in which they were incorporated. The CR Register will serve as a record of all proposed changes, those that are implemented, rejected and deferred and will record the status of proposals.

The following indicates the minimum content of a Change Request Register.

CR# Date In Short Title Originator Status Date Decision

Courses of Action

The Project or Program Manager, with the help of the originator and other team members, will review each change request to ensure all information necessary for a CCB decision is complete, accurate and fully supported by technical data, cost estimates, references and implementation recommendations. The CCB is a decision group and will make final decisions to accept, defer or reject change requests on their merit with these considerations:

A clear statement of need A positive cost vs. benefit analysis Timeliness Technical feasibility Support by stakeholders

Impact AnalysisEach change request will contain an impact analysis as follows:

Estimate of related costs Description of benefits Assessment of how the system will be changed Contract implications if appropriate Customer/user assessments Assessment of a decision not to implement

Change Request Process

The CR can have the following dispositions:

Rejected: This decision should not be interpreted to mean the proposal does not have merit. Rejected change proposals will be retained for record and may be considered if a sufficient justification is found at a future time. Rejection will simply mean the CCB was not persuaded the proposal’s utility justified the cost. A rejection decision will not preclude the proposal’s sponsors from placing it in consideration when conditions have changed.

Deferred: This decision will mean the proposal has merit, is feasible but does not warrant

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implementation until conditions recognized by the CCB have changed. The proposal will be retained for active consideration at a future time.

Returned: The CCB will return proposals that do not appear to be sufficiently developed or documented or that the originator and sponsors have decided to delay action for further consideration.

Approved: The CCB reserves the right to approve change proposals outright or will modifications. f the Project Team has provided a proper analysis, the CCB may have more choices than simply adopting the recommendation. They may select one of the other alternatives or some combination of alternatives.

Change OrdersIf the CR is approved, a change order is issued. This is actually the completed copy of the CR cover page including all the necessary signatures. It also includes the specific text of what the decision-maker approved.

Implement Change OrderImplementing the change order includes:

Notify all affected parties Revise the project requirements, schedule and budget, and re-baseline Revise all affected configuration items, especially documents Revise all affected contracts Obtain revised budget authorities as needed Continue to work under the new guidance

Verify: ImplementationSubsequent to issuance of the Change Order, the PM must ensure it is implemented. Many of these actions will be revealed in status reports against the revised project plan. The configuration manager will also have a major role in carrying out document audits to ensure that revisions have been made.

Closeout the Change RequestA rejected CR is closed out at the completion of the CCB. An approved and implemented CR will be closed out after all appropriate documentation is completed.

Note: Thanks to Russell Grove, Class of 2002

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