Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 1 Chapter 1: The Systems Analyst and Information Systems Development Answer to Your Turn 1 - 1: Being an Analyst Student answers will vary, depending on their preferences regarding being a : 1) systems analyst, 2) business analyst, 3) requirements analyst, 4) infrastructure analyst, or 5) change management analyst. Verify that the student has correctly associated the skills needed with the type of analyst for which they aspire and that the student has created a plan to acquire those skills. The roles and the names used to describe them may vary from organization to organization. Answer to Your Turn 1 - 2: Implementing a Satellite Data Network While answers may vary, answers might include the following: 1. A Cost - Benefit analysis, along with other financial processes (ROI, etc.) would certainly reveal that a just - in - time (JIT) inventory can reduce inventory costs and increase revenue. A standard communication line, encrypted or not , would not be able to handle the high bandwidth needed for data, voice and video transmissions. 2. A competitor would be able to narrow the gap by adopting the JIT type of inventory management. Voice and video are not necessary to keep the inventory up to date on a timely basis, data transmissions alone would work well. Answer to Your Turn 1 - 3: Too Much Paper, Part 1 System Request Sponsor : Document Manager. Business Need : Increase efficiency in storing, updating, and retrieving information on employee injury claims. Business Requirements : Automated system which allows for electronic submission of reports via a secure web site. Business Value : Reduce response time for employee inquiries, increase effectiveness of storing, updating, and retrieving employee injury claims. Reduce storage costs of paper files. Special Issues : Must have someone who understands how to create and maintain a secure web site. Must have resources to migrate paper files to data storage. Must Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 2 work within HIPAA guidelines to ensure that medical documents are treated according to regulations. Answer to Your Turn 1 - 4 : Too Much Paper, Part 2 1. Issues arising from digital signatures and electronic documents typically focus on establishing validity for signatures and originators. As these issues can be overcome using certificates and encryption, they don’t necessarily affect the project feasibility. However , they do need to be addressed. 2. Answers will vary. The project champion, organizational management, and perhaps most importantly a subset of the stakeholders must believe in and show support for the project. One solution would be to plan and provide for sufficient training that demonstrates how their jobs might be easier to accomplish with the automated system. Answer to Your Turn 1 - 5 : Discovering Visible Analyst - Lesson 1 Student answers and experiences will vary based on the adoption of the software package, Visible Analyst. It is highly recommended that a CASE tool be used for modeling throughout this course. Answer to Concepts in Action 1 - A: Managerial Causes of IT Failures Qantas provides for an “ice - breaker” discussion topic for the first class. Perhaps group the students and have them discuss this company and then provide for class discussion about the importance of IT project success. Answer to Concepts in Action 1 - B: BPI on the Farm Efficiency gains are mentioned in this Concept in Action. What are the drawbacks to this scenario? Is it as easy as it seems? Issues such as Wi - Fi coverage on a farm, perhaps even cellular coverage can come into play as can weather, dust, and other issues inherent with a farming enterprise. Answer to Concepts in Action 1 - C: Interview with Don Hallacy, President, Technology Services, Sprint Corporation This is an opportune time to identify the responsibilities of the differing roles that an analyst serves. Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 3 Answer to Concepts in Action 1 - D : Carlson Hospitality Carlson Hospitality can use the information from the survey to determine whether the one - point increase in market share revenue ($20 million per point) will offset costs associated with increasing the level of services to high - quality customers which would result in a 10% increase in customer satisfaction. Answer to Concepts in Action 1 - E : Return on Investment 1. One method for determining a return on investment is to complete a Cost - Benefit Analysis using the Present Value Method. Many of the costs for server virtualization are associated with the initial construction: physical manipulation of the servers and software licensing. The ongoing costs of labor in updating and accessing tables would be relatively small. Using this type of analysis would allow the project sponsors to show how the benefits of the virtualization would be realized on a long term basis. 2. Implementing a major change to a system should certainly include a systems analyst. Systems analysts typically have a broad view of the system, and would be able to ascertain how virtualizing the servers will affect the whole system. Answers to End of Chapter Questions 1. List and describe the six general skills all project team members should have? [1] Technical skills (knowledge of how to employ technology in development system solutions). [2] Business skills (knowledge of how to apply IT to business problems to achieve a valuable solution). [3] Analytical skills (ability to solve complex problems). [4] Interpersonal skills (oral and written communication skills with both technical and non - technical audiences). [5] Management skills (ability to manage others and cope with an uncertain environment). [6] Ethical skills (ability to deal with others honestly and ethically). 2. What are the major roles on a project team? Business analyst – emphasis on the business issues addressed by the system: value of new system; identification of problems and opportunities; revision of business processes and policies. Systems analyst – emphasis on IS issues of the system: how IT can be used to support business processes; design of new business process and IS; and enforcement of IS standards. Infrastructure analyst – technical issues associated with integrating new system components to existing technical infrastructure . Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 4 Requirements analyst – eliciting the requirements of the new system from all stakeholders. They understand the business well, are excellent communicators, and are highly skilled in obtaining system requirements. Change management analyst – emphasis on facilitating organizational adaptation to new system. Helping to identify and overcome resistance to change and assuring adequate training and documentation of new system. Project manager – ensuring that progress is made on the project; time schedules and budgets are met; supervision of project team; and manage relations with project sponsor and users. 3. Compare and contrast the role of a systems analyst, business analyst, and infrastructure analyst. These three roles emphasize different perspectives on the system. The business analyst represents the sponsor/users interests, while the systems analyst knows how to apply IS to support business needs. Together, the systems analyst and the business analyst can design a system that conforms to the IS standards while adding value to the business. The infrastructure analyst has more technical knowledge and provides the team with technical constraints, or identifies infrastructure changes that the new system will require. 4. Compare and contrast the role of requirements analyst, change management analyst, and project manager . These three roles also emphasize different perspectives on the system. The requirements analyst focuses on eliciting the requirements from the system stakeholders. The change management analyst focuses on people and managing issues surrounding the installation of the system. The project manager ensures that the project is completed on time and within budget and that the system delivers the expected value to the organization. 5. Describe the major phases in the systems development life cycle (SDLC). The planning phase focuses on determining if there is justification to build an information system and developing a plan to accomplish the development project. The analysis phase is focused on understanding the existing situation and determining the needs and requirements expected from the new system. The design phase refines the system requirements (from analysis) and develops specifications for how the new system will fulfill those requirements. The implementation phase involves constructing (or installing) the new system, testing, converting, training, and providing support for the new system. 6. Describe the principal steps in the planning phase. What are some major deliverables? Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 5 Step 1 – Project Initiation: the project sponsor works with the IS department to develop a preliminary assessment of the project’s feasibility. It is important to make an initial evaluation of the project’s value (is it worth doing; is it technically possible for us; will it be used?). The system request and the results of the feasibility analysis are usually presented to management for approval. If the project is accepted, we move to: Step 2 – Project Management: the project work plan is created, project staffing is determined, and project management controls and procedures are established. These elements comprise the project plan. The deliverables in the planning phase include the feasibility analysis and the project plan. 7. Describe the principal steps in the analysis phase. What are some major deliverables? Step 1 – Analysis Strategy: based on the nature of the project, the project team will formulate the approach that will be used to develop the requirements for the new system. The strategy usually includes the following steps: Step 2 – Analyze the current system: gather information from the project sponsor and users of the current system regarding its strengths and weaknesses. Use the problems identified to formulate objectives for the new system. Step 3 – Create new system concept: based on the gathered information, develop a general concept of the new system, including functions and capabilities it will have. Step 4 – Modeling activities: express ideas for the new system’s processing and data requirements with process models and data models. Step 5: Prepare and present system proposal: assemble the analysis results, system concept, process model and data model into a proposal for the new system. Project sponsor and/or approval committee will determine if system has enough merit to continue development. The primary deliverable for the analysis phase is the system proposal, which combines the information generated during this phase into a document that expresses the initial conceptual design for the new system and the basis for the design decisions. 8. Describe the principal steps in the design phase. What are some major deliverables? Step 1 – Design Strategy: based on the nature of the project, the project team will determine the appropriate means of developing the system (in - house custom development, purchase of pre - written software, or outsourcing development to a 3rd Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 6 party. Following this, the steps below outline the various design tasks that must be performed: Step 2 – Design the system architecture: describe the basic hardware, software, and networking that will be used in the new system. Step 3 – Design the user interface: the overall structure of the system, the user’s navigation through the system; the inputs and outputs of the system, and the appearance of the screens are designed. Step 4 – Design the database and/or files: develop specifications for the data storage structures that will be implemented for the new system. Step 5: Design the programs: develop plans and outlines for each program that will be written to implement the functions and capabilities of the new system. The primary deliverable for the design phase is the system specification, which combines all the design specifications mentioned above. The system specification is the basis for the construction work that will be performed by the programmers. 9. Describe the principal steps in the implementation phase. What are some major deliverables? Step 1 – Build the system: programs are written and tested, and various infrastructure components are installed. Testing is conducted to verify system performance. Step 2 – Train the users: develop and conduct training programs so that end users are thoroughly familiar with the new system’s functions and work procedures. Step 3 – Convert to the new system: transition from the old system and procedures to the new system and procedures. Step 4 – Support the new system: evaluate the development process for lessons learned from this project, and establish methods for identifying and implementing change to the new system as needed. The primary deliverables for the Implementation phase includes the completed and documented programs, users manuals and procedures manuals, training materials, and plans for system support. 10. Which phase in the SDLC is most important? While each phase is important to the overall systems analysis, special attention must be given to the planning and analysis phase. The planning phase is intended to determine the feasibility of a project and to create a project plan. If the feasibility analysis is poorly done or misunderstood or the project is ill - planned, then the chance Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 7 of success is extremely low. Similarly, if the analysis phase is shortened or omitted altogether, then the requirements of the system will not be fully defined and may result in either a system that does not address business needs or one that does not get completed due to continuous rework. 11. What does gradual refinement mean in the context of SDLC? Generally, the clarity of understanding and the depth of detail of the new system are gradually refined during the phases of the SDLC. Initially, the requirements are only vaguely understood. This understanding is improved during the Analysis phase. Further detail is developed during Design, and then is fully expressed during Implementation. 12. Describe the four steps of business process management (BPM) . Why do companies adopt BPM as a management strategy? BPM is a methodology used by organizations to continuously improve end - to - end business processes. It follows a cycle of systematically creating, assessing, and altering said processes. The four steps of BPM are: Step 1: defining and mapping the steps in a business process, Step 2: creating ways to improve on steps in the process that add value, Step 3: finding ways to eliminate or consolidate steps in the process that don’t add value, and Step 4: creating or adjusting electronic workflows to match the improved process maps. By studying and improving their underlying business processes, organizations can achieve several important benefits, including: enhanced process agility, improved process alignment, and increased process efficiencies. 13. Compare and contrast BPA, BPI, and BPR. Which is most risky? Which has the greatest potential value ? The three techniques applied within BPM for business processes are that of Automation (BPA), Improvement (BPI), and Reengineering (BPR). It is entirely possible that all three of these techniques could be used on the same project depending on the scope and impact the planned change will have on the steps of BPM. As a rule, when technology is applied to a process to enhance agility and provide more ability for change the project would be a BPA. When a process incorporates industry “best practices” or perhaps finds ways to eliminate or consolidate steps in the Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 8 process it would be termed BPI. The BPR technique changes the fundamental way in which the organization operates. In effect, BPR makes major changes to take advantage of new ideas and new technology. BPR is considered to contain the most amount of risk of the three techniques due to the significant organizational and operational changes that result. The answers can certainly vary with regard to greatest potential. In many cases it will be a “hybrid” blend of all three that could hold the most potential for the organization. 1 4 . Give three examples of business needs for a system.  To maintain or improve the competitive position.  To perform a business function more efficiently.  To take advantage of a new business opportunity. 1 5 . Describe the roles of the project sponsor and the approval committee. The project sponsor is the individual or department responsible for initiating a systems request. Typically during the Planning phase the project sponsor works with the IT department to conduct a feasibility analysis. The approval committee (or steering committee) then evaluates the systems request along with the results of the feasibility study to determine whether or not to approve the request. 1 6 . What is the purpose of an approval committee? Who is usually on this committee? The approval committee generally serves as the decision making body regarding investments in information systems projects. This committee generally has a broad organizational representation and therefore can avoid allocating resources that will serve only narrow organizational interests. The approval committee commonly has project oversight responsibilities as well; monitoring project performance after the project has been accepted. The composition of the approval committee will vary from organization to organization, but generally consists of high - level managers from throughout the organization. The committee is often chaired by the CIO. 1 7 . Why should the system request be created by a businessperson as opposed to an IS professional? Usually, the system request originates with a businessperson because the need for the system or system improvement is recognized in the business unit. It is unlikely the IS professionals in the organization will be able to recognize all the business needs and opportunities for systems and improvements in the business units since they are not involved directly in those areas. Also, the businessperson will have a much better idea of the value of the proposed system or improvement, and therefore is in a better position to create a meaningful system request. Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 9 1 8 . What is the difference between intangible value and tangible value? Give three examples of each. Tangible value represents the system benefits that are quantifiable and measurable. Intangible value represents benefits that are real, but are difficult to quantify and measure. Examples of tangible benefits might be increased sales, reduced operating costs, and reduced interest costs. Examples of intangible value might include increased customer satisfaction, improved decision making, improved problem recognition. 1 9 . What are the purposes of the system request and the feasibility analysis? How are they used in the project selection process? The purpose of the system request is to initiate a systems project. The system request pulls together preliminary ideas on the reason for the system and its expected value to the organization. The feasibility analysis represents a more detailed investigation into the proposed system outlined in the system request. The system analyst and the project sponsor work together to more fully develop the objectives of the system and to understand its potential costs and benefits to the organization. The system request and the feasibility analysis are the key inputs used by the approval committee in determining if the proposed system has enough merit to move into the analysis phase. 20 . Describe two special issues that may be important to list on a system request. Any special circumstances that could affect the outcome of the project must be clearly identified. Examples of special issues that may be important to include are: environmental factors that should be considered (e.g., new governmental reporting requirements); competitive factors (e.g., IS - enabled systems introduced or anticipated by competitors); externally imposed deadlines that cannot be altered (e.g., completion by the start of the next fiscal year); mandated technologies. 2 1. Describe the three dimension s o f feasibility analysis. Technical feasibility looks at the capability of the organization to successfully develop the proposed system. Included in this assessment are the project size, the types of technologies to be used in the project, and the amount of prior experience with that technology and the business application. Economic feasibility addresses the economic justification of the project. Here, we attempt to determine if the value of the project’s benefits justifies investing in the project’s estimated costs. Organizational feasibility evaluates whether the system is likely to be accepted and used by the organization. Included in this assessment will be the strength of the sponsor’s and management’s support for the project and the enthusiasm or resistance of the users for the project. 2 2 . What factors are used to determine project size? Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 10 Some factors that can be used to determine project size include: the number of people on the project team, the expected time to complete the project, the breadth/scope of the project, the number of distinct features to be included in the system, the degree of integration required between the system and existing systems. 2 3 . Describe a “risky” project in terms of technical feasibility. Describe a project that would NOT be considered “risky.” A project that would be technically risky would be one that is large in scale, utilizes technology that we have little or no experience with, and is for a business area that is new and unfamiliar to the organization. A project that would not be considered technically risky would be one that is small in scale, uses technology that is well - understood, and is for a business area that is very familiar to the users and developers. 2 4 . What are the steps for assessing economic feasibility? Describe each step. To assess economic feasibility, one should: 1. Identify costs and benefits of the proposed system. List tangible costs and benefits, including one - time and recurring costs. 2. Assign values to the costs and benefits. Work with business users and IT professionals to quantify each of the costs and benefits. Try to estimate intangible costs and benefits as well. 3. Determine the cash flow of the project over the analysis period. Project the costs and benefit annually over the analysis period, usually 3 - 5 years. 4. Determine the project’s net present value. Calculate the present value of each year's costs and benefits, using the appropriate required rate of return for the project. Subtract the cumulative PV of costs from the cumulative PV of benefits to determine the project's net present value. If it is a positive number, the project is considered acceptable. 5. Determine the project’s return on investment. Use the ROI formula to calculate the return the organization will get on its investment in the project. ROI = (Total benefits - Total costs) / Total costs. 6. Calculate break - even point. Determine the point in time when the project has generated enough cash flow to recapture its cost. 7. Graph break - even point. Plot the yearly costs and benefits on a line graph. The point of intersection is the break - even point. 2 5 . List two intangible benefits. Describe how these benefits can be quantified. One example of an intangible benefit is reduced response time to address customer requests. Estimating the increase in the number of customers that could be served and the average revenue gained per customer could approximate the value of this benefit. So, if we currently have 1000 customers, the average revenue per customer is $100, and by reducing our response time we can increase the number of customers served by 30%, then our benefit will be $30,000 (300 add’l customers @ $100). Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 11 A second example of an intangible benefit is improved customer satisfaction. Determining how much repeat business we lose from dissatisfied customers could approximate the value of this benefit. The amount of repeat business lost could be determined through customer satisfaction surveys or marketing research. Assume we currently have 1000 customers, each customer brings in average revenue of $100, and we currently lose the repeat business of 10% of our customers due to dissatisfaction. If an improvement in customer satisfaction resulted in losing only 5% of repeat business, then the value of that benefit would be $5,000 (50 customers retained @$100). 2 6 . List two tangible benefits and two operational costs for a system. How would you determine the values that should be assigned to each item? Two tangible benefits are: an increase in sales and a decrease in uncollectible accounts receivable. The best way to measure these benefits is to go to the business people who understand these areas and ask them for reasonable estimates. The sales and marketing managers and the accounts receivable managers will be in the best position to determine these values. Operational costs are the ongoing costs associated with the new system, and are fairly easy to determine objectively. One common operational cost is that of maintenance agreements for new hardware, which can be determined by contacting hardware vendors about the costs of their maintenance contracts. Another common operations cost is that of new employees that will be needed to run the new system. Salaries and benefits for new employees can be determined by checking local and regional salary and wage surveys for the type of employee needed. 2 7 . Explain how an expected value can be calculated for a cost or benefit. When would this be done? An expected value consists of a combining set of possible outcomes along with the associated probability of each outcome. For example, the Production department may estimate possible increases in costs for parts based on economic indicators. They estimate that there is a 40% chance the costs will increase to $300,000, a 25% chance the costs will increase to $400,000 and a 35% chance the costs will increase to $350,000. Overall the expected value of the rise in costs would be estimated to be $342,500 = ($300,000 * .40) + ($400,000 * .25) + ($350,000 * .35). Estimating the expected value of a cost or benefit would be done when assigning costs and benefits when determining economic feasibility. 2 8 . Explain the net present value and return on investment for a cost - benefit analysis. Why would these calculations be used? The net present value (NPV) method compares the present values of the project’s cash inflows and outflows. If the present value of the benefits (inflows) is equal to or Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 12 greater than the present value of the costs (outflows), then the project is considered economically justifiable. NPV has the advantage of including a required rate of return in the calculation, so the NPV figure captures the costs associated with tying up money in the project. NPV also explicitly considers the timing of the cash flows throughout the system life. The return on investment (ROI) method simply compares the total net cash flows from the project with the total outflows in aggregate. While this ROI number gives some sense of how much money the project generates in comparison to its total cost, it omits any consideration of the timing of the cash flows and the time value of money. The ROI method, while simple to compute, is flawed in many ways and should not be used as the only economic indicator of a project’s merit. 2 9 . What is the break - even point for the project? How is it calculated? The break - even point is the point in time when the project has generated enough cash flow to recapture its cost. The year in which the project breaks even is the first year in which the cumulative NPV is a positive number. The exact point during that year at which break even occurs is calculated by: (Yearly NPV (for first positive year) - Cumulative NPV at that year) / Yearly NPV (for the first positive year) 30 . What is stakeholder analysis? Discuss three stakeholders that would be relevant for most projects. Stakeholder analysis is a systematic process that identifies all parties that will be affected by a new information system, and attempts to estimate the consequences of the project for each stakeholder group. A major goal of stakeholder analysis is to ensure that the consequences of a new system are considered for all parties that will be affected by the system. The most common stakeholders to consider for most systems projects are the system champion, the system users, and the organization’s management. The system champion is the person or group who initiates the project and provides support for it. The users are the individuals who will work with the system once it is implemented. The organization management commits resources to the project and has an interest in seeing those resources be used to improve the functioning of the organization. Solutions to End of Chapter Exercises A. Go to www.bls.gov and perform a search for “systems analyst.” What is the employment outlook for this career? Compare and contrast the skills listed with the skills that were presented in this chapter. Student answers will vary. The search returned more than 8,500 responses from the bls website. This is an eye opening exercise for all students to complete. These skills are consistent with those presented in this chapter. Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 13 B. Think about your ideal analyst position. Write a job posting to hire someone for that position. What requirements would the job have? What skills and experience would be required? How would the applicants demonstrate that they have the appropriate skills and experience? Student answers will vary, depending on their preferences regarding being a systems analyst, business analyst, infrastructure analyst, or change management analyst. Try to verify that the student has correctly associated the skills needed with the type of analyst position for which they aspire. Demonstration of skills and experience should come from prior actual positions held, responsibilities and accomplishments in those positions, and references. C. Locate a news article in an IT trade web site (e.g., Computerworld .com, I nformation W eek.com ) about an organization that is implementing a new computer system. Describe the tangible and intangible value that the organization seeks from the new system. Students' answers will vary. Verify that the tangible examples are easy to quantify and measure. Verify that the intangible value examples represent those benefits that are more difficult to quantify (e.g., customer goodwill or repeat business). D. Car dealers have realized how profitable it can be to sell automobiles by using the Web. Pretend that you work for a local car dealership that is part of a large chain such as CarMax. Create a system request you might use to develop a Web - based sales system. Remember to list special issues that are relevant to the project. System Request Sponsor : Sales Manager. Business Need : Increase sales, increase market share, broaden geographic reach to potential customers. Business Requirements : Web - based access to vehicle inventory including pictures. Search capabilities. Ability to process requests for more information about a vehicle. Business Value : Increase sales by 4%; increase market share by 1.5%; broaden reach to customers within 250 mile radius of dealership. Special Issues : Must have someone who will keep Web - site content up to date constantly. Who will handle customer inquiries? How will this person be compensated? Will the compensation of our current sales force be affected? How will the sales force feel about this new system? Will having our own Web - based sales system affect our participation in the CarMax chain? E. Think about your own university or college and choose an idea that could improve student satisfaction with the course enrollment process. Currently, can students enroll for classes from anywhere? How long does it take? Are directions simple to follow? In online help available? Next, think about how technology can help support Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 14 your idea. Would you need completely new technology? Can the current system be changed? Create a system request that you could give to the administration that explains the sponsor, business need, business requirements, and potential value of the project. Include any constraints or issues that should be considered. On most campuses this is a “hot topic” which would make this an excellent exercise to complete on the classroom whiteboard as a way of introducing the system request form and how to complete it. F. Think about the idea that you developed in Exercise E to improve your university or college course enrollment process. List three things that influence the technical feasibility of the system, the economic feasibility of the system, and the organizational feasibility of the system. How can you learn more about the issues that affect the three kinds of feasibility? Technical Feasibility – Student responses will vary Economic Feasibility – The cost associated with such a system will be a large unknown for the students. They might not realize that the existing system is probably a part of a much larger and very expensive enterprise system. Organizational Feasibility – Understanding the organizational makeup is paramount. Is the current system free standing within the college or university, or is it a part of a system - wide (multi - campus operation?) G. Amazon.com was very successful when it decided to extend its offerings beyond books to many other products. Amazon.com was unable to compete successfully with eBay.com’s auction site, however, and eventually abandoned its own auction site. What feasibility factors probably had the most significance in this failure? Explain . Most certainly it was Economic. The company lost vast sums of money annually. Technically it was not a challenge to compete, Organizationally , Amazon did not want to lose, but finally Economically it had to be abandoned. H. Interview someone who works in a large organization and ask him or her to describe the approval process that exists for approving new development projects. What do they think about the process? What are the problems? What are the benefits? Students' answers will vary. I. Reread the “Your Turn 1 - 2” box (Implementing a Satellite Data Network). Create a list of the stakeholders that should be considered in a stakeholder analysis of this project. Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 15 A list of stakeholders would include the project sponsor (also known as project champion), managers in the organization (particularly inventory), and users at the regional and national headquarters. Answers to Textbook Minicases 1. The purpose of this minicase is to encourage students to recognize the value of the structure of the four phases of the SDLC to smaller projects, even end - user computing projects such as this. This minicase provides an opportunity for the class to be divided into small groups, each responsible for one of the main sections of the minicase, and then have the small groups present and discuss their answers. A. Planning: i. What is the purpose of the Planning Phase for a project such as this? In a smaller, end - user computing situation, the Planning phase ensures that the project scope is understood prior to “diving in” to the project work. A system request may not be formally prepared, but the business purpose of the project and the value to the business should be articulated. Feasibility should be considered for any project. Technical feasibility evaluation should encourage the developer to identify places where he/she might need assistance from the IS professionals. Economic issues and organizational feasibility concerns should help determine if the project has enough value to justify the time and costs, and organizational feasibility assessment should help alert the developer to organizational acceptance issues. While a formal project plan may not be required, it is important to organize the project and lay out the timetable for work on the project. If additional help will be needed, the individuals who can provide that help must be lined up at the appropriate time. ii. What are the typical outcomes of the Planning Phase? Typically, the Planning phase produces a System Request, preliminary Feasibility Assessment, and Project Plan, including workplan and staffing plan. The main point of the planning phase is to more thoroughly understand the project, verify that it has value and is worth doing, and be prepared to tackle the project. iii. How did not doing this step affect Megan’s project outcome? Megan did not adequately appreciate the scale of the project she was taking on. Her approach, “…set up the basics for the system and then tweak it around until I got what I wanted…” demonstrates that a haphazard attitude toward such a project results in a poor outcome. She also did not adequately understand the interests and reactions of her assistant and the members of her sales staff. B. Analysis: i. What is the purpose of the Analysis Phase? The purpose of the Analysis Phase is to develop a thorough understand of the functional requirements of the new system. In other words, we should clearly know what things the new system needs to provide to its users. ii. What is the key outcome produced during the Analysis Phase? The Analysis Phase produces the System Proposal, which is documents the functional requirements of the system in clear, unambiguous terms. iii. In what ways do you think this project was hurt by not going through a typical Analysis Phase? Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 16 Megan had a list of things she thought would be useful in the new system, but she did not take the time and effort to understand the details of the features she had identified. She also did not apparently talk to any of the ultimate users of the system: her assistant and the members of her sales staff. If she had taken the time to involve these individuals, she could have gotten a much better grasp of the features and functions that they really need, and they would have had the benefit of contributing their ideas to the system’s requirements. C. Design: i. What is the purpose of the Design Phase? The Design Phase allows the developer a chance to consider options for implementing the system. The make versus buy decision is considered along with a detailed assessment of the alternatives. If any custom development is undertaken, the work that will be done is carefully laid out using various design tools. ii. How do you think this project could have been improved by going through a typical Design Phase? Megan was given some advice on the development environment to use (WordPress). This may or may not have been good advice. If a more careful Design process had been followed, Megan could have done an assessment of all her options. For example, there may be a software product that she could have purchased that would have been suitable for her purposes that would have been far easier for her, rather than the setup involved with a WordPress site. If she chose to move ahead with the WordPress platform, she could have been better prepared if she had worked on the design of each of the site features prior to implementation in Word Press. iii. Do you think Megan’s assistant and sales force members could have helped at all during the design phase? If so, how? At the very least, Megan could have met with her assistant and sales force members and discussed the design for the main system features. Their ideas and reactions probably would have led to a much better outcome for the project. D. Implementation: i. What type of work is done in the Implementation Phase for a project like this? Implementation involves the construction of the system, testing of the system, training of the users, developing documentation, putting the system into production, and maintaining the system. ii. What is usually done during the Implementation Phase to ensure that the users of the system are satisfied with it? Training and final testing are activities that enable the users to be able to use the system and to be satisfied that the system performs as it should. iii. Megan’s approach to “construction” was to throw something together and “tweak it around.” How do you think that approach contributed to the problems she is now experiencing with her project? As the answers to the previous sections make clear, Megan’s haphazard approach to the project was a significant factor in the poor outcome of this project. Even projects that seem simple and small in scope benefit from an orderly, well - thought - out approach. Many end - user computing projects like this end up wasting a lot of time and resources. Knowing and following an orderly development project that is based on the SDLC should greatly enhance the chances of a successful project that provides value to the business and provides useful features for the users. 2. Student answers may vary; A sample answer is provided below: Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 17  What is your specific objective for this Internet system? (There is a big difference between a web site that advertises and promotes products versus one that enables order entry).  What specific things do you want customers to be able to do via the web site? (Review products; see store locations; search for products; place orders; process credit card payments; track order status; track shipment).  How were the revenue estimates you gave developed? How accurate do you feel your estimates are?  What budget are you considering for this project?  What outside help will we be able to utilize in this project?  Do you foresee an adverse response by the store owners, perhaps a feeling that this will take sales away from them?  Are there any other adverse consequences we should anticipate from this system? 3. Students’ spreadsheets may differ; the following sample suggests an appropriate format: Decker Company Revenue Estimates New Response Time Service Calls per Truck per 'Week Increase in Service Calls Average Revenue per Call Revenue Increase per Truck per Week Annual Revenue Increase Likelihood Estimate Expected Annual Revenue 2 hours 20 8 150 1200 600,000 20% 120,000 3 hours 18 6 150 900 450,000 30% 135,000 4 hours 16 4 150 600 300,000 50% 150,000 Total Expected Value: 405,000 4. As the numbers indicate, this would not be an economically feasible project for a number of reasons. It would take more than the projected 4 - year life span to breakeven on the initial investment, the return on investment is a very low number ( - 1), and the net present value is currently projected as a number less than zero. Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 18 Supplemental Minicase 1. Refer to Minicase 2 in C hapter 1 of the textbook. Harry has met with Bill and determined that Bill would like a system that allows customers to browse through products on - line, find store locations nearest them, and also place orders for products with credit card payments. Based on this scope, Harry is preparing an assessment of the feasibility of this system to present to the Board of Directors. He is working on the technical feasibility issues currently. Prepare a summary of the technical risks that appear to be associated with this proposed system. Answer:  This business application is new to the organization. No one has experience or understands Internet - based commerce. Many businesses are doing this, so we are not breaking new ground; we just don’t have any in - house expertise in this type of business venture.  We do not have any in - house experience with the technologies associated with Internet - based commerce. No one on staff has done anything like this before. Given the short time frame, it will be difficult for the existing staff to get up to speed on the needed technology and determine how to use it effectively for this project. Client Server System 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total Benefits Increased Sales 30,000 33,000 36,300 39,930 Reduced Inventory 15,000 15,000 15,000 15,000 Total Benefits 45,000 48,000 51,300 54,930 199,230 Present Value Total Benefits 41,284 40,401 39,613 38,914 160,212 Development Costs Systems Analysts 40,000 Programmer Analysts 35,000 GUI Designer 8,000 Telecommunications Specialist 2,500 System Architect 5,000 Database Specialist 675 System Librarian 3,750 Development Training 14,000 Hardware 18,700 Software 15,650 Total Development Costs 143,275 Operational Costs Labor: Programmer Analysts 8,750 9,100 9,643 9,843 Labor: System Librarian 300 312 325 337 Hardware Maintenance 995 995 995 995 Software Maintenance 525 525 525 525 Preprinted Forms 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,300 Total Operational Costs 13,870 14,232 14,788 15,000 57,890 Total Costs 143,275 13,870 14,232 14,788 15,000 201,165 Total Benefits - Total Costs (143,275) 31,130 33,768 36,512 39,930 (1,935) Cumulative Cash Flow (143,275) (112,145) (78,377) (41,865) (1,935) Present Value Total Costs 143,275 12,725 11,979 11,419 10,626 190,024 NPV (PV Total Benefits - PV Total Costs (29,812) ROI - 1% ( - 1,935/201,165) Breakeven Point = not realized within this schedule Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 19  We have a very small IS staff who are currently kept busy maintaining our existing systems. Given this small staff, this is a sizeable project for us to undertake. This project represents a very high technical risk for this IS department. Point out that this is an ideal situation to outsource or hire consultants to do. Technically, our current staff is probably incapable of developing this system in a timely manner. 2. Jay Martin, the director of Marketing at Pier Systems, Inc., requested a new system be developed to assist his sales staff in more effectively managing their customer contacts. As a side benefit of this system, Jay will receive detailed information about each salesperson’s daily productivity, including number of customer contacts, time spent per contact, orders placed per contact, and revenues generated per contact. This detailed information about sales staff productivity has not been previously available to Jay. Jay has been a strong and vocal advocate of this new system, although he has heard some grumbling in the sales staff ranks about it. The sales staff has enjoyed considerable autonomy in the way they conduct their work day, and this system will provide a much clearer picture of how each salesperson spends his/her time. Other top managers have expressed interest in the system, although much managerial attention has been focused recently on the implementation of a major new computer - based manufacturing and production system, which has been far behind schedule and plagued with problems. Based on his discussions with his IS contact, Jay feels certain this system is technically and economically viable. How would you assess the Organizational Feasibility of this system? Answer: The project has an enthusiastic and committed project champion. Organizational management is supportive, but their attention is on another project that has not gone well. It does not seem likely that organizational management will provide more that modest support and enthusiasm for this project, as their energy is diverted toward the other implementation under way. The end user support is very questionable. The material provided does not really reveal the benefits that the sales staff will gain directly. The end users will have to be handled very carefully to gain their support and diminish their fears about this new system. All in all, the organizational feasibility risk of this system seems quite high at this time. Experiential Exercises 1. Purpose: To help students gain an appreciation of the terms phase, step, technique, and deliverable, and how those terms relate to understanding a process of significant length and complexity. Divide class into groups of 3. Each group will address the same task. The task is to discuss the experience of being a student at your institution, from pre - admission to graduation, in terms of phases, steps, techniques, and deliverables. Precede the group work with a general discussion of these terms. Although answers will vary, phases may include pre - admission to the institution, enrollment as student, pre - professional study, admission to professional program, professional study, and graduation. Steps may be courses of study to follow, course Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 20 sequences and prerequisites, general education requirements, professional program requirements, etc. Techniques may include such things as study habits, research methods, speed reading classes, study groups, etc. Deliverables will be course requirements (papers, projects, exams), course grades, transcripts, certificates, and diplomas. After each group has developed its ideas, class discussion should focus on comparing results and clarifying the meaning of each term through the examples presented. 2. Purpose: To help students understand and appreciate the role of the project sponsor in an IS development project. Assign students to identify a person in an organization who has initiated and sponsored the development of an information system application. This person will generally be a business - oriented manager rather than an IS staff member. Either singly or with a partner, the students should arrange an interview with this person to discuss their experiences as a project sponsor. [As an alternative, the instructor may arrange for a person who has served as a project sponsor to visit a class session and be interviewed by the entire class about his/her experiences in the project sponsor role.] It may be helpful to ‘force’ students to develop a list of interview topics before undertaking the interview. Have the students prepare an interview agenda for your approval prior to the interview. Questions should be targeted toward understanding the project, the circumstances that motivated the project, and the involvement the sponsor had throughout the development process. Students should prepare a written summary of their interview, and/or make a class presentation of their interview results. If class presentations are made, class discussion should focus on identifying common themes or similarities between the interviewees, and also identifying significant areas of difference. 3. Purpose: to help students understand the difference between tangible and intangible values. The following 2 exercises come from CIO Magazine. The purpose is to show that everything can be measured - even intangibles. Exercise 1: Is it logical to say that more X (an intangible) is better than less, but it is in no way different or observable? Then in what way is X "better?" If you believe X is a good thing, then you must also believe that it is somehow different from not having X. And if it is different in a way that is relevant, then it must be observable. So ask what the observable consequence is. Once you have identified an observable consequence, thinking of a way to measure it is pretty easy. Exercise 2: Create a thought experiment in which you imagine you have cloned an entire organization into twin organizations, A and B. The two are identical in every way except for one thing: Organization A has more of intangible X than organization B. Now, Chapter 1 The Systems Analyst and IS Development 1 - 21 imagine that you are an objective observer standing outside these organizations looking in. What do you imagine you observe to be different between A and B? If X is such a desirable thing, then there has to be some difference. What is it? Are certain things getting done cheaper or faster? Are the customers of A likely to come back for more business than the customers of B? Is employee turnover lower? Are mistakes of some type less frequent? Just think it through - and be specific. 4. Purpose: to help students understand the different roles played on a systems development project team. Have students undertake a Web search for job descriptions similar to Business Analyst, Systems Analyst, Project Manager, Technical Specialist (equivalent to Infrastructure Analyst). Have students develop a summary list of job responsibilities, qualifications, and experience required for each job category. Class discussion focuses on developing a “master list” for each job category, and comparing and contrasting the positions. Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 1 Chapter 2: Project Selection and Management Answer to Your Turn 2 - 1: To Select or Not to Select Student answers will vary based on knowledge and experience. The response will more than likely describe a project that, though it would seem to be a perfect choice, did not fit into the organizational portfolio of projects. This is an appropriate time to discuss the topic of budgets which organizations must live within. Answer to Your Turn 2 - 2 : Selecting a Methodology Throwaway prototyping would be a good choice for this scenario for a number of reasons. First, this is a brand new idea, so there may be some ambiguity or confusion as to the functionality of the system. Second, there are technical issues associated with integrating existing hardware and software due to the diversity at different locations around the world. Third, the time frame to delivery is one year. The time frame would allow for an in - depth analysis to gather information and develop ideas for the system before the design phase. Once the initial requirements were documented, a series of design prototypes can be created, distributed and tested to determine whether issues dealing with functionality or technical problems have been addressed. Once the issues have been resolved, the project can move into design and implementation. Direct students to FIGURE 2 - 9 as it allows students to compare and contrast the methodologies with the selection criteria discussed in the chapter. Answer to Your Turn 2 - 3 : Communication Complexity 1. For a six member team, there are 15 communication channels. Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 2 For an eight member team, there are 28 channels. A good formula for figuring out how many channels there are is: [N * (N - 1)] / 2, where N is the number of team members. 2. Answers will vary, but the larger the team the larger number of communication channels and the more complex communications will be. Answer to Your Turn 2 - 4 : CASE Tool Analysis Student responses will vary based on the CASE tool selected. As a rule, CASE tools used during the analysis phase for creating integrated diagrams of the system and to store information regarding system components are referred to as upper CASE , whereas CASE tools used during the design phase to create diagrams and associated code for system functionality and databases are referred to as lower CASE . Answer to Concepts in Action 2 - A: Project Portfolio Management Just a note that it is an excellent idea to discuss the sheer size of the number of proposals and funded projects that a large organization fields on an annual basis. This stresses the importance of quality work with the System Request Form and that analysts must be adequately prepared in such a competitive area. Answer to Concepts in Action 2 - B, 2 - C: Interview with CIO Having your university or college CIO be a guest in class to answer questions from the students would be a great idea. Putting a name and a face on this very important position is an excellent thing to do. Answer to Concepts in Action 2 - D : Agile Development at Travelers 1. The projects certainly could be done with JAD sessions or with having the users review the project on a weekly basis. However, the success of an agile development depends upon the cohesiveness of the team, typically accomplished by having users meet and devote all their time to the project so that they are able to communicate ideas, comments, suggestions, and providing feedback immediately. 2. In order to work on an agile development project, an analyst needs to be highly motivated, dedicated to the project, able to communicate effectively, and work well in a high - paced team environment. Answer to Concepts in Action 2 - E: Where Agile Works and Does Not Work Chances are the agile methodology discussion is growing rapidly on your university or college. You may already have curriculum dedicated to Agile. Changing corporate culture of system development is difficult. This would be an opportune time to discuss how these changes will affect the development teams. Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 3 Answer to Concepts in Action 2 - F : Trade - Offs 1. In considering the trade - offs among the factors of functionality, time and money, it’s important to realize that a change in one of these factors affects the other two. Increasing functionality will most certainly increase the time and money needed to complete the project. Decreasing time or money will most certainly affect either the level or quality of the functionality in the finished project. 2. The project was considered successful from a ‘product’ standpoint, in that it met the business needs for which it was meant. However, once the time frame had been established, the project manager might have gone back to the clients and reworked the requirements, or the scope of the project. This would have provided the development team with realistic goals and perhaps would have produced a product that could have been used more than once. Answer to Concepts in Action 2 - G : Poor Naming Standards Student answers will vary depending up on their programming experience, syntax language, and code comments. This is a great time to reinforce the concept of standards. Solutions to End of Chapter Questions 1. Describe how projects are selected in organizations. An organization will base the selection of a project on an evaluation not only of the project’s costs and expected benefits, but also the technical and organizational risks that have been identified for the project. Both the systems request and feasibility analysis can provide that type of information. 2. Describe how project portfolio management is used by IT departments. Portfolio management is the process of determining the mix of project types that will maximize benefit to the organization, while minimizing risks and costs to the organization. Included in portfolio management is the process by which an organization assesses how potential projects fit into the existing projects currently underway. Ideally, the organizational project portfolio consists of both high and low risk projects, large and small projects, etc. 3. Describe the major elements and issues with waterfall development. Waterfall development follows the phases of the life cycle in sequence (planning, analysis, design, and implementation). Each phase is thoroughly documented and approval is required before proceeding to the subsequent phase. It is difficult, though not impossible, to go backwards in the SDLC under waterfall development. Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 4 Waterfall development methodologies have several advantages: requirements are identified long before programming begins, and requirement changes are limited as the project progresses. The key disadvantages are that the design must be completely specified before programming begins, a long time elapses between the completion of the system proposal in the analysis phase and the delivery of system, and testing may be treated almost as an afterthought in the implementation phase. In addition, the deliverables are often a poor communication mechanism, so important requirements may be overlooked in the volumes of documentation. If the project team misses an important requirement, expensive post - implementation programming may be needed. Users may forget the original purpose of the system, since so much time has elapsed between the original idea and actual implementation. 4. Describe the major elements and issues with parallel development. Parallel development modifies the SDLC by altering the design and implementation phases. In parallel development, general design of the whole system is created ; then, the project is divided into subprojects, each of which is designed in detail and implemented. Work on the subprojects occurs simultaneously in an effort to reduce the time between analysis and delivery of the system. After all subprojects are complete, the pieces are integrated into the final delivered system. The total time to deliver the system can be reduced using parallel development as compared to waterfall development. However, there can be significant challenges in integrating the subprojects since design decisions made in one subproject may affect other subprojects if they are not completely independent. 5. Describe the major elements and issues with the V - model. The V - Model of development follows a waterfall approach in that each phase is completed before the next is begun. The V - Model differs in that during each phase of development not only are requirements specified and components designed, but the testing of those components is also defined. This allows for a well - defined testing plan which can improve the overall quality of the system. As with waterfall development, the V - Model of development is rigid, and may not be a good choice for a project that is dynamic in nature. 6. Describe the major elements and issues with iterative development. Iterative development is characterized by multiple versions of the overall project. The initial version contains the most important and fundamental requirements. This version can be accomplished with a mini - waterfall process. Once the version is complete, feedback is solicited as to the appropriateness of the system. The project then goes into the next version of the project, incorporating feedback that was received. The benefit to this is that an abbreviated version is quickly available for review. Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 5 The chief disadvantage of iterative development is that users begin to work with a system that is intentionally incomplete. Users must accept that only the most critical requirements of the system will be available in the early versions and must be patient with the repeated introduction of new system versions. . 7. Describe the major elements and issues with system prototyping. Prototyping performs analysis, design, and implementation into one phase, and this phase is cycled through several times until the system meets user needs. A “ quick and dirty ” version of the system is developed early and rapidly, and user feedback is solicited. Based on user comments, the system is modified and refined repeatedly. Ultimately, the system will be refined to the point where the users accept it and it can be put into production. Prototyping does provide rapid delivery of a system to the users . A disadvantage, however, is the lack of careful, methodical analysis before making designs and implementation decisions. System prototypes may have some fundamental design limitations that are a direct result of an inadequate understanding of the system’s true requirements early in the project. . 8. Describe the major elements and issues with throwaway prototyping. Throwaway prototyping includes the development of prototypes, but uses the prototypes primarily to explore design alternatives rather than as the actual new system . Once complete, any ambiguous features or challenging design issues may be addressed using a design prototype. A design prototype is created to enable users to understand the issues under consideration. Many design prototypes may be built to minimize the risk associated with the system by confirming that important issues are understood before the actual system is built. Throwaway prototyping can result in a longer time frame to delivery due to the fact that the prototypes are not necessarily used for the final design. However, this methodology creates an opportunity to address and resolve key issues that arise before getting to the development stage. 9. Describe the major elements and issues with agile development. Agile development is a methodology in which the SDLC is streamlined. Much of the modeling and documentation is eliminated and the emphasis is placed on simple, iterative development in which each iteration is a small project on its own, complete with planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, testing , and documentation . Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 6 Agile development is dependent upon a team that is highly motivated, cohesive, stable, and experienced. This type of development works best with small projects. If the project is not small, or the teams do not work well, then the likelihood of success is reduced. 10. Compare and contrast structured design methodologies in general to rapid application design (RAD) methodologies in general. Structured design methodologies are usually fairly formal, step - by - step approaches to systems development. The project moves through the phases in a systematic way. The emphasis in most of these methodologies is development of specifications for the new system prior to implementation. RAD methodologies, on the other hand, ncorporates special techniques and computer tools to speed up the analysis, design, and implementation phases in order to get some portion of the system developed quickly and into the hands of the users for evaluation and feedback. 11. Compare and contrast extreme programming and throwaway prototyping. Extreme programming uses continuous testing, simple coding performed by teams of developers, and close interactions with end users. System functionality grows over time iteratively after a very superficial planning phase. Code is thoroughly tested as it is added to the system. By practicing discipline and keeping the development team small and focused, extreme programming can create good results very quickly. Throwaway prototyping focuses more on experimentation during the design phase. The prototypes are intended to clarify technical issues before the 'real' system is built. The prototypes will be discarded and do not become the final system. 12. What are the key factors in selecting a methodology? How well are user requirements understood? How familiar are the systems developers with the technology being employed? How complex is the system? How essential is system reliability? How demanding is the time frame/project schedule? How visible is the project schedule? (see FIGURE 2 - 9) 13. Why do many projects end up having unreasonable deadlines? How should a project manager react to unreasonable demands? Although training and software are available to help project managers, unreasonable demands set by project sponsors and business managers can make project management very difficult. Too often, the approach of the holiday season, the chance at winning a proposal with a low bid, or a funding opportunity pressures project managers to promise systems long before they are realistically able to deliver them. Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 7 Th ese overly optimistic timetables are thought to be one of the biggest problems that projects face; instead of pushing a project forward faster, they result in delays. Thus, a critical success factor for project management is to start with a realistic assessment of the work that needs to be accomplished and then manage the project according to the plan. This can be accomplished by carefully following the basic steps of project management as outlined in this chapter. 14. Name two ways to identify the tasks that need to be accomplished over the course of a project. One way to identify tasks is to follow a top - down approach, defining high level tasks first, and then breaking those tasks down into subtasks. A second way is to follow a methodology, which will provide a standard list of tasks for the SDLC. This standard task list can be modified as needed for the specific project. 15. What is the difference between a methodology and a work plan? How are the two terms related? A methodology provides a standard, formalized list of steps and deliverables for the SDLC. Work plans include the specific steps, tasks, and deliverables that will be needed for a specific project. To create a work plan, the project manager identifies the tasks that need to be accomplished and determines how long each one will take. Then the tasks are organized within a work breakdown structure. 16. Some companies hire consulting firms to develop the initial project plans and manage the project, but use their own analysts and programmers to develop the system. Why do you think some companies do this? It is possible that a company does not have skilled project managers available on its in - house staff. Project management requires a unique set of skill s, and consulting firms may develop project management capabilities because of the many projects undertaken In some cases, methodologies are obtained from consulting firms for their clients to follow; provided by the vendor of the software to be installed; or mandated as a part of projects involving government agencies. 17. Describe the differences between a technical lead and a functional lead? How are they similar? Typically, a project will have one project manager who oversees the overall progress of the development effort, with the core of the team composed of the various types of analysts. A functional lead usually is assigned to manage a group of analysts, and a Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 8 technical lead oversees the progress of a group of programmers and more technical staff members. 18. Describe three technical skills and three interpersonal skills that would be very important to have on any project. Specific answers will vary. Desirable technical skills might include programming experience in the chosen programming language, experience in configuring the hardware and communications technology platform correctly, and experience in utilizing the file/database environment effectively. There are many interpersonal and communication skills needed on a project. A number of d esirable interpersonal skills might be listed by the student, includ ing interviewing skills, negotiation skills, and conflict resolution skills. 19. What are the best ways to motivate a team? What are the worst ways? Research has shown that technically - oriented people are motivated by recognition, achievement, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and the chance to learn new skills. The worst ways to motivate technical staff include setting unrealistic deadlines, failing to recognize good effort, accepting low quality output, rewarding all team members monetarily regardless of work quality, failing to include team members in important project decisions, and providing poor working conditions. 20. List three techniques to reduce conflict. Clearly define the roles on the project, hold team members accountable for their assigned tasks, develop detailed operating procedures and make sure the team members understand them, have each team member commit to the project charter. 21. What is the difference between upper CASE and lower CASE? Some CASE software packages are primarily used during the analysis phase to create integrated diagrams of the system and to store information regarding the system components (often called upper CASE ), whereas others are design - phase tools that create the diagrams and then generate code for database tables and system functionality (often called lower CASE ). 22. Describe three types of standards, and provide examples of each. Coding standards include a header that lists the programmer, last date of update, and a short description of the purpose of the code. An example might be that all programs are to be written following structured programming outlines. Procedural standards define processes that are to be followed by all team members. An example would be that a ll changes to a requirements document must be approved by the project manager. . User interface design standards create a common understanding of the Chapter 2 Project Selection and Management 2 - 9 appearance and functioning of the screens the end users see. An example would be to create a standard group of icons that are used consistently on all screens. 23. What belongs in the electronic project binder? How is the electronic project binder organized? All project deliverables, all internal communication, and all project documentation should be placed in the electronic project binder (binder) . A simple way to set up your documentation is to create a folder hierarchy and use subfolders to separate content according to the major phases of the project. 24. What are the trade - offs that project managers must manage? The project manager must trade off system size, development time, and project cost. A larger project will require more time and money; while a short time frame may require more money or reduced project size. Since most projects have time and/or money constraints, the project manager must strike a balance between size, time, and cost in order to define an achievable project. 25. What is scope creep, and how can it be managed? The most common reason for schedule and cost overruns occurs after the project is underway is scope creep. Scope creep happens when new requirements are added to the project after the original project scope was defined. It can happen for many reasons. The project manager must actively work to keep the project tight and focused. The key is to identify the requirements as well as possible in the beginning of the project and to apply analysis techniques effectively. 26. What is timeboxing , and why is it used? Timeboxing is a technique that is used to organize a project when time is a critical issue. With timeboxing, a fixed deadline is established, and the project team prioritizes the functionality of the system so that the essential features are delivered within the set deadline. If some features must be omitted given that time frame, they are postponed to a later version of the system. With this technique, the users are assured of getting a system with essential functionality by the project deadline, and other, less essential features and refinements are added in later system versions. 27. Create a list of potential risks that could affect the outcome of a project. Weak personnel, scope creep, poor design decisions, overly optimistic project estimates. 28. Describe the factors a project manager must evaluate when a project falls behind schedule. Typically a project falls behind schedule when one of the risk factors listed above are realized. At that point the manger should determine which of those risk factors, or