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Chapter 13 Building Information Systems 549

2. What are the core activities in the systems development process?
The core activities in systems development are systems analysis, systems design, programming,
testing, conversion, production, and maintenance. Systems analysis is the study and analysis of
problems of existing systems and the identification of requirements for their solutions. Systems design
provides the specifications for an information system solution, showing how its technical and
organizational components fit together.

3. What are the principal methodologies for modeling and designing systems?
The two principal methodologies for modeling and designing information systems are structured
methodologies and object-oriented development. Structured methodologies focus on modeling
processes and data separately. The data flow diagram is the principal tool for structured analysis, and
the structure chart is the principal tool for representing structured software design. Object-oriented
development models a system as a collection of objects that combine processes and data. Object-
oriented modeling is based on the concepts of class and inheritance.

4. What are the alternative methods for building information systems?
The oldest method for building systems is the systems life cycle, which requires that information
systems be developed in formal stages. The stages must proceed sequentially and have defined outputs;
each requires formal approval before the next stage can commence. The systems life cycle is useful for
large projects that need formal specifications and tight management control over each stage of systems
building, but it is very rigid and costly.
Prototyping consists of building an experimental system rapidly and inexpensively for end users to
interact with and evaluate. Prototyping encourages end-user involvement in systems development and
iteration of design until specifications are captured accurately. The rapid creation of prototypes can
result in systems that have not been completely tested or documented or that are technically inadequate
for a production environment.
Using a software package reduces the amount of design, programming, testing, installation, and
maintenance work required to build a system. Application software packages are helpful if a firm does
not have the internal information systems staff or financial resources to custom develop a system. To
meet an organization’s unique requirements, packages may require extensive modifications that can
substantially raise development costs.
End-user development is the development of information systems by end users, either alone or with
minimal assistance from information systems specialists. End-user-developed systems can be created
rapidly and informally using fourth-generation software tools. However, end-user development may
create information systems that do not necessarily meet quality assurance standards and that are not
easily controlled by traditional means.
Outsourcing consists of using an external vendor to build (or operate) a firm’s information systems
instead of the organization’s internal information systems staff. Outsourcing can save application
development costs or enable firms to develop applications without an internal information systems
staff. However, firms risk losing control over their information systems and becoming too dependent
on external vendors. Outsourcing also entails hidden costs, especially when the work is sent offshore.

5. What are new approaches for system building in the digital firm era?
Companies are turning to rapid application design (RAD), joint application design (JAD), agile
development, and reusable software components to accelerate the systems development process. RAD
uses object-oriented software, visual programming, prototyping, and fourth-generation tools for very
rapid creation of systems. Agile development breaks a large project into a series of small subprojects
that are completed in short periods of time using iteration and continuous feedback. Component-based
development expedites application development by grouping objects into suites of software compo-
nents that can be combined to create large-scale business applications. Web services provide a common
set of standards that enable organizations to link their systems regardless of their technology platform
through standard plug- and-play architecture. Mobile application development must pay attention to
simplicity, usability, and the need to optimize tasks for tiny screens.

MIS_13_Ch_13 global.indd 549 1/17/2013 2:31:25 PM