Conversion-the process of transferring information from a legacy system to a new system Legacy system-an old system that is fast approaching or beyond the end of its useful life within an organization Off the shelf application software-supports general business processes and does not require any specific software customization to meet the organization’s needs Software customization-modifies software to meet specific user or business requirements Systems development life cycle (SDLC)-the overall process for developing information systems, from planning and analysis through implementation and maintenance. The foundation for all systems development methods, and hundreds of activities are associated with each phase. These activities typically include determining budgets, gathering system requirements, and writing detailed user documentation Planning phase-establishes a high level plan of the intended project and determines project goals. The first and most critical phase of any systems development effort, regardless or whether the effort is to develop a system that allows customers to order products online, determine the best logistical structure for warehouses around the world, or develop a strategic information alliance with another organization Change agent-a person or event that is the catalyst for implementing major changes for a system to emet business changes Brainstorming-a technique for generating ideas by encouraging participants to offer as many ideas as possible in a short period without any analysis until all the ideas have been exhausted. Many times, new business opportunities are found as the result of a brainstorming session Project-a temporary activity a company undertakes to create a unique product, service, or result Project management-the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements Project manager-an individual who is an expert in project planning and management, defines and develops the project plan, and tracks the plan to ensure that the project is completed on time and on budget. The person who is responsible for executing the entire project and defining the project scope that links the project to the organizations overall business goals Project scope-describes the business need (the problem the project will solve) and the justification, requirements, and current boundaries for the project Analysis phase-the firm analyzes its end user business requirements and refines project goals into defines functions and operations of th eintended system Business requirements-the specific business requests the system must meed to be successful, so the analysis phase is critical because ______ drive the entire systems development effort Joint application development (JAD)-seession where employees meet, sometimes for several days, to define or review the business requirements for the system Requirements management-the process of managing changes to the business requirements throughout the project. Projects are typically dynamic in nature, and change should be expected and anticipated for successful project completion. Requirements definition document-prioritizes all of the business requirements by order of importance to the company Sign off-the users actual signtatures, indicating they approve all of the business requirements Process modeling-involves graphically representing the processes that capture, manipulate, store and distribute information between a system and its environment. One of the most common diagrams used is the data flow diagram Data flow diagram (DFD)-illustrates the movement of information between external entities and the processes and data stores within the system Computer aided software engineering (CASE)-tools are software suites that automate systems, analysis, design and development Design phase-establishes descriptions of the desired features and operations of the system, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, pseudocode, and other documentation Pseudocode (fake code)-an information description of how the computer program should work. Intended for human reading rather than machine reading Development phase-transofmrs all the detailed design documents from design phase into the actual phase. In this phase, the project transitions from preliminary designs to actual physical implementation Software engineering-a disciplined approach for constructing information systems through the use of common methods, techniques, or tools. Use computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools, which provide automated support for the development of the system Control objects for information and related technology (COBIT)-a set of best practices that helps an organization mximize the benefits of an information system, at the same time establishing appropriate controls to ensure minimum errors Programming language-refers to a unique set of keywords (words that is understands) along with a special syntax for organizing program instructions that execute computer commands Scripting language-programming method that provides for interactive modules to a website Object oriented languages-group data and corresponding process into objects Fourth generation languages (4GLs)-programming languages that look similar to human languages Testing phase-brings all the project pieces together into a special testing environment to eliminate errors and bugs and verify that the system meets all the business requirements defined in the analysis phase Bugs-defects in the code of an information system Test conditions-detail the steps the system must perform along with the expected result of each step Implementation stage-the organization places the system into production so users can begin to perform actual business operations with it Methodology-set of policies, procedures, standards, processes, practices, tools, techniques, and tasks that people apply to technical and management challenges Iterative development-consits of a series of tiny projects Tangiblle benefits-easy to quantify and typically measured to determine the success or failure of a project ● ● ● ● Unclear or missing business requirements Skipped SDLC phases Changing technology The cost of finding errors displayed the relationship among the three primary and interdependent variables in any project-time, cost and scope. All projects are limited in some way bby these three constraints. The project management institute calls the framework for evaluating these competing demands the triple constraint Project charter-a concise written description of the project’s intended work. The charter may contain the name of the sponsor, the project’s benefits to the organization, a description nof the objectives, the expected time frame, and a budget Manager-need to monitor projects continuously to measure their success. If a project is failing, the manager must cancel the project and save the company any further project costs PERT (Program Evaluation and Revoew technique) chart-a graphical network model that depicts a project’s tasks and the relationships between them Critical path-a project is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed Gantt Chart-a simple bar chart that lists project tsks vertically against the project’s time frame, listed horizontally Scope Creep-the tendency to permit changes that exceed a project’s scope and may wreak havoc on the schedule, work quality, and budget In sourcing (in house development)-uses the professional expertise within an organization to develop and maintain its information technology systems