Chapter 10-- Managing Development

Systems development- is the process of creating and maintaining information systems.
Brooke's Law- adding more people to a late project make the project later.
Systems development life cycle(SDLC)- is the classic process used to develop information systems
Phases: 1. System definition 2. Requirements analysis 3. Component design 4. Implementation 5. System Maintenance
Feasibility has four dimensions:cost,schedule,technical,and organizational feasibility.
Systems analysts are IS professionals who understand both business and technology.
A test plan consists of sequences of actions that users will take when using the new system
Product quality assurance-construct the test plan with the advice and assistance of users.
Beta testing-process of allowing future system users to try out the new system on their own.
System conversion converting business activity from the old system to the new.
Pilot installation- organization implements the entire system on a limited portion of the business.
Phased installation-new system is installed in phases across the organization.
Parallel installation-new system runs in parallel with the old one until the new system is tested and fully operational.
Plunge installation- organization shuts off the old system and starts the new system.
Projects that spend so much time documenting requirements are sometimes said to be in analysis paralysis.
Trade-offs are balancing of three critical drivers,requirements,cost,and time.
Diseconomies of scale-situation that occurs when adding more resources creates inefficiencies,such as those that occur when adding more people to a late project.
Work-breakdown structure- is a hierarchy of the tasks required to complete a project.
Critical path is the sequence of activities that determine the earliest date by which the project can be completed.
Critical path analysis- is the process by which project managers compress the schedule by moving resources,typically people,from noncritical path tasks onto critical path tasks.
A function point is simply a feature or function of the new program.
The challenges of managing IS development projects arise from four different factors. 1. coordination2. diseconomies of scale 3. configuration control 4. unexpected events
Configuration control refers to a set of management policies,practices,and tools that developers uses to maintain control over the project's resources.
Requirements creep- the process by which users agree to one set of requirements,then add a bit more,then add a bit more,and so forth.