INFS1602 Study Guide - Final Guide: Software Development Process, Test Plan, Analysis Paralysis
Chapter XII: Information Systems Development
Part 1: Systems Development
Systems Development: Process of creating and maintaining information systems; requires
coordination of specialists and no specialists with business knowledge.
Major Challenges:
• The difficulty of determining requirements: Features? Security? Eliminate missing
features
• Changes in requirements: Rebuild? Leave it? Modify?
• Difficulties involving scheduling and budgeting:
• Changing technology: Switch? Continue?
• Diseconomies of scale: As develop team increases, average contribution per work
decreases (Brooke’s Law) – adding more people makes the project later.
Part 2: Software Development Life Cycle
SDLC: The most common/traditional process for systems development.
STAGE 1: System Definition
• Define System Goals and Scope: Facilitate organization’s competitive strategy.
• Assess Feasibility: (Cost, Schedule, Technical, Organizational)
• Form Project Team: Managers, Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, Programmers,
Software testers, and users.
• Plan Project.
STAGE 2: Requirements Analysis
• Determine Requirements: What is produced, how frequent, Volume (Determine new
forms/reports/queries, new application features and functions, security, create data
model)– Interview, evaluate existing systems
• Approve Requirements
• Role of a Prototype: Assess usability, remember forgotten features, access feasibility,
estimate costs
STAGE 3: Component Design
• Determine Hardware specifications
• Determine Software specifications
• Design the Database
• Design Procedures (Normal Processing, Backup, Recovery)
• Create job definitions (Users, Operation personnel)