Essentials of

Systems Analysis and Design

Second Edition
Joseph S. Valacich
Joey F. George
Jeffrey A. Hoffer

Chapter 10
Systems Implementation and
Operation

10.1
10.1 Copyright 2004 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
 Learning Objectives
 Describe the process of coding, testing and
converting an organizational information system
 Discuss four installation strategies
 Direct
 Parallel
 Single location
 Phased installation
 Describe the deliverables for documenting the system
and for training and supporting the users
 Compare the many modes available for
organizational system training, including self-training
and electronic performance support systems

10.2
10.2
 Learning Objectives
 Discuss the issues of providing support to
end users
 Discuss system implementation failure
 Explain four types of maintenance
 Describe several factors that influence the
cost of maintaining an information system

10.3
10.3
 System Implementation and
Maintenance
Seven major activities
 Coding
 Testing
 Installation
 Documentation
 Training
 Support
 Maintenance
Purpose
 To convert final physical system specifications into
working and reliable software
 To document work that has been done
 To provide help for current and future users

10.4
10.4
 The Process of Coding,
Testing and Installation
Coding
 Physical design specifications are turned into
working computer code
Testing
 Tests are performed using various strategies
 Testing can be performed in parallel with coding
Installation
 Process during which the current system is
replaced by the new system

10.5
10.5
 The Process of Coding,
Testing and Installation:
Deliverables

Action Deliverable
Coding Code
Program Documentation
Testing Test scenarios (test plan) and test data
Results of program and system testing
Installation User guides
User training plans
Installation and conversion plan

10.6
10.6
 The Process of Documenting the System,
Training Users and Supporting Users
Two audiences for documentation
 The information systems personnel who will
maintain the system throughout its productive
life
 The people who will use the system as part of
their daily lives

10.7
10.7
 The Process of Documenting the System,
Training Users and Supporting Users

Deliverables
 Documentation
 System documentation
 User documentation
 User training plan
 Classes
 Tutorials
 User training modules
 Training materials
 Computer-based training aids
 User support plan
 Help desk
 On-line help
 Bulletin boards and other support mechanisms

10.8
10.8
 The Process of Maintaining
Information Systems
Process of returning to the beginning of
the SDLC and repeating development
steps focusing on system change until
the change is implemented
Four major activities
1. Obtaining maintenance requests
2. Transforming requests into changes
3. Designing changes
4. Implementing changes

10.9
10.9
10.10
10.10
 The Process of Maintaining
Information Systems

Deliverables and Outcomes

 Development of a new version of the
software, new versions of all design
documents and training materials created
or modified during the maintenance effort

10.11
10.11
 Software Application Testing
A test plan is developed during the analysis
phase
During the design phase, a unit test plan and
a system test plan are developed
The actual testing is done during
implementation
Test plans provide improved communication
among all parties involved in testing
 Serve as checklists

10.12
10.12
 Software Application Testing:
Types of Testing
Inspection
 A testing technique in which participants examine
program code for predictable language-specific
errors
Walkthrough
 A peer group review of any product created during
the systems development process; also called a
structured walkthrough
Desk Checking
 A testing technique in which the program code is
sequentially executed manually by the reviewer

10.13
10.13
 Software Application Testing:
Types of Testing
Unit Testing
 Each module is tested alone in an attempt to
discover any errors in its code, also called module
testing
Integration Testing
 The process of bringing together all of the
modules that a program comprises for testing
purposes. Modules are typically integrated in a
top-down, incremental fashion

10.14
10.14
 Software Application Testing:
Types of Testing
System Testing
 The bringing together of all the programs that a
system comprises for testing purposes. Programs
are typically integrated in a top-down, incremental
fashion
Stub Testing
 A technique used in testing, especially where
modules are written and tested in a top-down
fashion, where a few lines of code are used to
substitute for subordinate modules

10.15
10.15
 Software Application Testing:
The Testing Process
1. The purpose of the testing is confirming that
the system satisfies requirements
2. Testing must be planned
Test Case
 A specific scenario of transactions, queries or
navigation paths that represent a typical, critical
or abnormal use of the system
 Test cases and results should be thoroughly
documented so they can be repeated for each
revision of an application

10.16
10.16
10.17
10.17
 Software Application Testing:
Acceptance Testing by Users
The process whereby actual users test a
completed information system, the end result
of which is the users’ acceptance of it

10.18
10.18
 Software Application Testing:
Acceptance Testing by Users
Alpha Testing
 User testing of a completed information system using
simulated data
 Recovery testing
 Forces the software (or environment) to fail in order to verify
that recovery is properly performed
 Security testing
 Verifies that protection mechanisms built into the system will
protect it from improper penetration
 Stress testing
 Tries to break the system
 Performance testing
 Determines how the system performs on the range of possible
environments in which it may be used

10.19
10.19
 Software Application Testing:
Acceptance Testing by Users
Beta Testing
 User testing of a completed information
system using real data in the real user
environment

10.20
10.20
 Installation
The organizational process of changing over
from the current information system to a new
one
Four approaches
 Direct Installation
 Changing over from the old information system to a new
one by turning off the old system when the new one is
turned on
 Parallel Installation
 Running the old information system and the new one at
the same time until management decides the old system
can be turned off

10.21
10.21
 Installation
 Single location installation
 Trying out an information system at one site
and using the experience to decide if and how
the new system should be deployed
throughout the organization
 Phased Installation
 Changing from the old information system to
the new one incrementally, starting with one
or a few functional components and then
gradually extending the installation to cover
the whole new system
10.22
10.22
10.23
10.23
 Planning Installation
Considerations
 Data conversion
 Error correction
 Loading from current system
 Planned system shutdown
 Business cycle of organization

10.24
10.24
 Documenting the System
System documentation
 Detailed information about a system’s design
specifications, its internal workings and its
functionality
 Internal documentation
 System documentation that is part of the program source
code or is generated at compile time
 External documentation
 System documentation that includes the outcome of
structured diagramming techniques such as data flow
and entity relationship diagrams

10.25
10.25
 Documenting the System
User Documentation
 Written or other visual information about an
application system, how it works, and how
to use it
Preparing user documentation
 Traditional source has been information
systems department
 Application-oriented documentation is now
often supplied by vendors and users
themselves
10.26
10.26
 Training Information System
Users

Potential training topics

 Use of the system
 General computer concepts
 Information system concepts
 Organizational concepts
 System management
 System installation

10.27
10.27
 Training Information System
Users
Training methods
 Resident expert
 Computer-aided instruction
 Formal courses
 Software help components
 Tutorials
 Interactive training manuals
 External sources, such as vendors

10.28
10.28
10.29
10.29
 Training Information System
Users

Electronic performance support system

(EPSS)
 Component of a software package or
application in which training and
educational information is embedded

10.30
10.30
 Supporting Information System
Users
Support is extremely important to users
 J.D. Power and Associates survey found
user support to be number one criterion
contributing to user satisfaction with
personal computing
Most organizations provide support by
two means
 Information center
 Help desk

10.31
10.31
 Supporting Information System Users:
Information Center
An organizational unit whose mission is to support
users in exploiting information technology
Staff might perform the following tasks
 Install new hardware or software and set up user accounts
 Consult with users writing programs in fourth-generation
languages
 Extract data from organizational databases onto personal
computers
 Answer basic on-demand questions
 Provide a demonstration site for viewing hardware and
software
 Work with users to submit system change requests

10.32
10.32
 Supporting Information System Users:
Help Desk
A single point of contact for all user inquiries
and problems about a particular information
system or for all users in a particular
department

10.33
10.33
 Why Implementation Sometimes
Fails
Two conditions necessary for a
successful implementation
 Management support of the system under
development
 Involvement of users in the development
process

10.34
10.34
 Why Implementation Sometimes
Fails
Insights about implementation process
 Risk
 Commitment to the project
 Commitment to change
 Extent of project definition and planning
 Realistic user expectations
Implementation success factors
 Extent to which system is used
 User’s satisfaction with system
10.35
10.35
 Project Close Down
Evaluate team
 Reassign members to other projects
Notify all affected parties that the
development project is ending and that
you are switching to operation and
maintenance mode
Conduct post-project reviews
Close out customer contract
 Formal signoff
10.36
10.36
 Conducting System Maintenance
Corrective maintenance
 Changes made to a system to repair flaws in its
design, coding, or implementation
Adaptive maintenance
 Changes made to a system to evolve its functionality
to changing business needs or technologies
Perfective maintenance
 Changes made to a system to add new features or to
improve performance
Preventive maintenance
 Changes made to a system to avoid possible future
problems

10.37
10.37
 Conducting System Maintenance:
The Cost of Maintenance
Many organizations allocate eighty percent
of information systems budget to
maintenance
Factors that influence system
maintainability
 Latent defects
 Number of customers for a given system
 Quality of system documentation
 Maintenance personnel
 Tools
 Well-structured programs
10.38
10.38
 Conducting System Maintenance:
Measures of Effectiveness
Number of failures
Time between each failure
Type of failure
Mean time between failures (MTBF)
 A measurement of error occurrences that
can be tracked over time to indicate the
quality of a system

10.39
10.39
 Controlling Maintenance
Requests
Determine type of request
 Error
 Adaptation
 Enhancement
Figure 10-9 shows a flowchart for a
request procedure

10.40
10.40
10.41
10.41
 Configuration Management
The process of assuring that only authorized
changes are made to the system
Baseline modules
 Software modules that have been tested, documented, and
approved to be included in the most recently created
version of a system
System librarian
 A person responsible for controlling the checking out and
checking in of baseline modules when a system is being
developed or maintained
Build routines
 Guidelines that list the instructions to construct an
executable system from the baseline source code

10.42
10.42
 Electronic Commerce Application:
Pine Valley Furniture

System implementation and operation of an Internet-

based electronic commerce project is no different than
other projects
Develop test cases
 Simple functionality
 Multiple functionality
 Function chains
 Elective function
 Emergency/crisis
Bug tracking and system evolution
Alpha and beta testing the WebStore
WebStore installation
10.43
10.43
 Summary
Process of coding, testing and
converting an organizational information
system
Four installation strategies
 Direct
 Parallel
 Single location
 Phased installation

10.44
10.44
 Summary
Documentation
 System
 User
User training
Providing support for end users
Systems implementation failures

10.45
10.45
 Summary
Maintenance
 Corrective
 Adaptive
 Perfective
 Preventive
Cost of maintenance
Measuring effectiveness of
maintenance
10.46
10.46
 Summary
Controlling maintenance requests
Configuration management
Internet development

10.47
10.47