Planning: Identifying and Selecting Projects PDF

IT2110 PLANNING: IDENTIFYING AND SELECTING PROJECTS user departments, in which either the head of the requesting unit or a committee from the requesting Identifyi...

IT2110 PLANNING: IDENTIFYING AND SELECTING PROJECTS user departments, in which either the head of the requesting unit or a committee from the requesting Identifying and Selecting Systems Development Projects department decides which projects to submit (often you, as a systems analyst, will help users prepare such requests); or the development group or a senior IS manager. The characteristics of each selection method are briefly summarized in Table 1. Figure 1. Systems development life cycle with project identification and selection highlighted The first phase of the SDLC is planning, consisting of project identification and selection, and project initiation and planning (see Figure 1). The Process of Identifying and Selecting IS Development Projects Table 1. Characteristics of Alternative Methods for Making IS Project identification and selection consists of three primary Identification and Selection Decisions activities: Projects identified by top management or by a diverse steering 1. Identifying potential development projects committee are therefore referred to as coming from a top-down 2. Classifying and ranking IS development projects source. 3. Selecting IS development projects Project initiatives stemming from managers, business units, or the Each of these steps is described below: development group are generally referred to as coming from a bottom-up source. 1. Identifying potential development projects. Organizations vary as to how they identify projects. This process can be performed by: 2. Classifying and ranking IS development projects. This focuses on a key member of top management, either the CEO of a small- assessing the relative merit of potential projects. This activity can or medium-sized organization or a senior executive in a larger be performed by top managers, a steering committee, business organization; units, or the IS development group. a steering committee, composed of a cross-section of Commonly used criteria for assessing projects are summarized managers with an interest in systems; in Table 2. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 5  IT2110 the decision-makers will all play a role in project selection decisions. Table 2. Possible Evaluation Criteria When Classifying and Ranking Figure 3. Project selection decisions must consider numerous factors Projects and can have numerous outcomes. An important project evaluation method that is widely used for assessing IS development projects is called value chain Deliverables and Outcomes analysis. This is the process of analyzing an organization’s activities for making products and/or services to determine The primary deliverable from the first part of the planning phase is where value is added and costs are incurred (see Figure 2). a schedule of specific IS development projects, coming from both top-down and bottom-up sources, to move into the next part of the planning phase—project initiation and planning (see Figure 4). Figure 2. Organizations can be thought of as a value chain, transforming raw materials into products for customers. 3. Selecting IS development projects. The final activity in the project identification and selection process is the actual selection of projects for further development. Project selection is a process of considering both short- and long-term projects and selecting those most likely to achieve business objectives. Figure 4. Information systems development projects Numerous factors must be considered when making project come from both top-down and bottom-up selection decisions. Figure 3 shows that a selection decision initiatives. requires that the perceived needs of the organization, existing systems and ongoing projects, resource availability, evaluation criteria, current business conditions, and the perspectives of 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 5  IT2110 Incremental commitment is a strategy in systems analysis and Corporate Strategic Planning design in which the project is reviewed after each phase and the Corporate strategic planning is the process of developing and continuation of the project is rejustified. refining models of the current and future enterprise as well as a Due to incremental commitment, a selected project does not transition strategy. necessarily result in a working system During this process, executives typically develop a mission statement, statements of future corporate objectives, and strategies Corporate and Information Systems Planning designed to help the organization reach its objectives. A prerequisite for making effective project selection decisions is to Planning-based approaches essentially ask the question: “What gain a clear idea of where an organization is, its vision of where it information (or data) requirements will satisfy the decision-making wants to be in the future, and how to make the transition to its needs or business processes of the enterprise today and well into desired future state. the future?” Corporate strategic planning is a three-step process. A major advantage of this approach is that an organization’s - The first step focuses on gaining an understanding of the informational needs are less likely to change (or will change more current enterprise. slowly) than its business processes. However, the procedures used - Next, top management must determine where it wants the to access and process the data may change many times during that enterprise to be in the future. period. - Finally, after gaining an understanding of the current and future The need for improved information systems project identification enterprise, a strategic plan can be developed to guide this and selection is readily apparent when we consider factors such transition. as the following: Mission statement – a statement that makes it clear what business 1. The cost of information systems has risen steadily in some a company is in. organizations. Objective statements – a series of statements that express an 2. Many systems cannot handle applications that cross organization’s qualitative and quantitative goals for reaching a organizational boundaries. desired future position. 3. Many systems often do not address the critical problems of the Competitive strategy – the method by which an organization business as a whole or support strategic applications. attempts to achieve its mission and objectives. 4. Data redundancy is often out of control, and users may have little confidence in the quality of data. 5. Systems maintenance costs are out of control as old, poorly planned systems must constantly be revised. 6. Application backlogs often extend for more years, and end- users are forced to create (or purchase) their systems, often creating redundant databases and incompatible systems in the process. Careful planning and selection of projects alone will certainly not Table 3. Generic Competitive Strategies solve all of these problems. A disciplined approach, driven by top management commitment, is a prerequisite for most effectively Michael Porter (1980) defined three generic strategies – low-cost applying information systems to reach organizational objectives. producer, product differentiation, and product focus or niche – for reaching corporate objectives (see Table 3). 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 5  IT2110 These three activities parallel those of corporate strategic From an information systems development perspective, by planning, and this relationship is shown in Figure 6. understanding which activities are most critical for achieving business objectives, an organization has a much greater chance to identify those activities that need to be supported by information systems. Information Systems Planning Information systems planning (ISP) is the second planning process that can play a significant role in the quality of project identification and selection decisions. ISP is an orderly means of assessing the information needs of an organization and defining the information systems, databases, and technologies that will satisfy those needs. ISP is a three-step process (See Figure 5). - The first step is to assess current IS-related assets – human resources, data, processes, and technologies. - Next, target blueprints of these resources are developed. These blueprints reflect the desired future state of resources needed by the organization to reach its objectives as defined Figure 6. Parallel activities of corporate strategic planning and during strategic planning. information systems planning - Finally, a series of scheduled projects are defined to help move The ISP plan is a very comprehensive document that looks at both the organization from its current to its future desired state. short- and long-term organizational development needs. These identified needs are expressed as a series of projects. Figure 5. Information systems planning is a three-step process Figure 7. Outline of an information systems plan 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 5  IT2110 References: Kendall, K and Kendall J. (2020). Systems analysis and design (10th ed.). Pearson Education Limited. Sajja, P. (2017). Essence of systems analysis and design: A workbook approach. Springer Nature. Satzinger, J. et.al. (2016). Systems analysis and design in a changing world (7th ed.). Cengage Learning. Valacich, J. & George, J. (2017). Modern systems analysis and design (8th ed.). Pearson Education Limited. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 5