Models+for+acquiring+IS+capabilities

**Models for Acquiring IS Capabilities - Build, Buy, or Rent?**
Sunday October 16, 2011 <>

Topic overview:
Now that you have decided on a set of business requirements for your company's new information system, you need to figure out how you are going to build or otherwise acquire the capabilities you have specified to make the system a reality. In class today we will look at the Design and Implementation SDLC stages and the specific tasks that need to be done within them. We will then consider three fundamental alternatives that most IS teams will need to evaluate when deciding how they will acquiring their new IS system - building it, buying it, renting it, or some combination of the three.

By the end of today's class you should:
 * Be able to list and explain the primary tasks of the design and implementation stages of the SDLC, as well as the primary inputs to, and outputs of, each of these stages
 * Be able to explain why the 'buy vs. build' question is better expressed as 'what to buy, what to build?'.
 * Understand the advantages and disadvantages of:
 * Building a heavily customized, homegrown information system
 * Hosting and owning your own IT infrastructure, but buying/licensing standard hardware and software wherever possible
 * The 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) and 'Utility Computing' models

**Preparation for class:** Prior to class on Monday you need to read and review the selected pages on reserve from chapter 12 of the book:
 * [OM08] James A. O'Brien and George M. Marakas, Management Information Systems, 8th Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, ISBN: 978-0-07-351154-2.

These pages are available on through digital reserve on [|Blackboard] in the 'Course Documents' section.

**Reference materials:**
Slides:

Example of a Functional Specification document (thanks to getacoder.com):
 * @http://www.getacoder.com/data/projects/78047/specification.pdf

Example of user interface design mock-ups:
 * MockFlow.com samples main page: @http://www.mockflow.com/samples/
 * Mockflow.com YouTube mockup
 * Mockflow.com Print dialog box


 * Denim prototyping tool(courtesy James Landay's research group at the University of Washington)
 * Mock-up built with Denim -- @http://dub.washington.edu:2007/denim/denim_daily_files/page149.html


 * iPhone mockup tool:
 * @http://iphonemockup.lkmc.ch/

Pre-class exercise:
Write down one question that today's readings have raised for you. This could be something that you don't understand from the readings, or a question regarding how the processes presented in the O'Brien and Marakas SDLC relate to the SDLC steps that we have discussed previously in class. [Sara Al-Mannai]: does the size of the organization play a role in the process of implementing a new business system? and what are the obstacles that could slow down or speed up the implementation? [Nahan Arif]: How vital is the choice of type of conversion to a new system (i.e. phased, pilot, parallel, direct) play a role in the success of the project? [Maryam Al-Thani]: What is the best method of conversion (phased, pilot, parallel, direct)? What criteria should a business use when deciding to implement a new system? [Nijat Ibrahimov] How do decision makers of the organization think which method to use when switching to the new system (i.e phased, pilot, parallel, direct)? What variables do they need to take into the account (i.e the size of the organization, the differences in new and old systems and etc.)? [Najla Al-Madhadi]: When choosing the best conversion strategy, how important it is for the organization to set the desired levels of both effectiveness and efficiency it looks to achieve? [Orkhan Rustamzade]: When manager is between two options; either giving the task to local programmers or offshoring it, which one is more reliable? As offshoring lowers the costs however, the delivered program might not be of the best quality program.

[Mohammed Hadi Takiddin]: The conversation strategy, its importance, effectiveness on an organization's performance, and the best ways to implement it on the company? [Haya Al-Mannai] The modern project management approach contains five phases in the process. What are they and why implementing each one of them is important?

[Fatima Al-Khayat]: Dose the size of the new business system plays an important role in influencing the choice of system conversion? If it does, then how does it influence it exactly?

[Jevika Shetty]: Among the project management phases we have an execution phase and a controlling phase, even though some organizations believe that controlling phase is pretty much a part of execution phase. In that case, wouldn't it result in excessive use of resources and time if we separate controlling phase from execution when they both can be performed alongside each other?

[Maryam Al-Subaie]: If a company decides to build and develop their software internally, which stage/phase of the project should it put greater or less emphasis on? How does that compare to companies who acquire their system from an external vendor?

[Al-Jawhra Al-Mana]: why most of the organization set preventive maintenance as a low priority, although it adds a high value?

[Fatima Abdulla]: Is it crucial for an organization to use all of these four categories of maintenance to fully maintain their new system? [Mohammed Kamal]: Is there one right way of implementing a new system? or does it depend on the company? what other factors that count? [Dua'a Althabatah] What is the consequences of converting to a new system? How good/bad this conversion will affect the performance of the company's employees?

[Khadeejah Al-Husseiny] How long should the different processes take? (testing, data conversion, documentation, etc) Are there any consequences if any of them should take longer than plannedt?

[Abdullrahman Al-Muftah]: Are the costs of maintenance higher than the cost of implementing the new system? what are some of these costs?

[Mughees Ahmed]: Other than efficiency being a factor, what and when is the right time for an organization to develop and implement a conversion to a newer improved system?

[Layal Al-Alami]: who are the people involved in the different stages? Are they preferred to be business heads or system developers? And how much decision making is up to them?

[Jim Briggs] Which system conversion strategy would suit extreme cases/circumstances and which one one is more flexible and easy to integrate to other conversion processes once it fails?

[Amal Osman] should organizations go through all the project managements phases in-order to manage their project? if yes do they need to follow the same sequence suggested?

[M Hammad Abbasi] The reading suggests great principles and tasks for a very structured SDLC such as a waterfall method. Is this suitable for Agile methods?

[Ahmad Al-Sarraf] If a company decides to use the parallel conversion approach to implement a new system, should the company use **single cutover** or **phased cutover**? Which one is more effective in general? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two ways ?

[Walied El Hag Ali]: How difficult could it be for a company to undertake a conversion strategy? Also, how severe can the consequences be should the company choose the wrong SDLC?

[Mohammed Al-Rawahi]: Is there a criteria or a test that enables a company to choose which conversion type to use, or companies are free to choose one type that they "think" will have the greatest benefit to their system?

[Fatima Fikree]: Which stage of the implementation process has the greatest importance and impact on the project?

[Anas Ali Chaudry]: Depending on the size of the firm, how can a firm choose between the conversion system depending on the efficiency and the cost effectiveness of the systems?

[Firas Bata]: How should a business allocate it's resources when implementing a new information system? Without good planning, a system is unlikely to succeed, and without good implementation, the efforts spent planning are lost, so which stage is more important?

[Hamsa M Al-Massri]: Does competitiveness among organizations depend on whether the applications were innovative or developed for the first time?

[Meshail Al Misnad]: Do the possible advantages of converting to a new system outweigh the consequences that a company might have to deal with?

[Hussain Hejji]: which one of the stages has has more impact or effictivity in starting a new information system? and who is involved in making the decicions in these?

[Dalia Saleh Hassan]: What are the best ways to implement the conversation strategy or any other new strategies?

[Patrick Steinhagen]: How come the cost of generating code differs so greatly between coding languages?

[Nasser Al-Khori] What impacts can choosing the wrong SLDC have on the company?

[Noor Al-Mohannadi]: Is there a criteria organizations can follow when choosing a form of system conversion? [ [Ayah Abujarbou]: What makes the Defining phase different from the Planning phase? aren't defining the objectives and the critical path similar? isnt defining the critcal path part of your main objectives usually.

[Mohammed Al Ahmadani]: can this implementing process be used for other SDLC's like agile?

[ognjen popovic]: Can the size of the company affect what kind of implementation strategy is used?