3.10ITSystemsInOrganizations

=3.10 IT systems in organizations= This topic builds on the concepts introduced in “Introduction to project management” and provides students with a more in-depth understanding of the development of IT systems. Most organizations, at some stage in their development, require the introduction of a new IT system as well as the maintenance and eventual retirement of their current systems. The ability of the organization to manage this change can determine the future viability of the organization. Students should consider the interrelationship between stakeholders, IT systems, data, processes and policies, which provides the framework for the different project management approaches needed in order to accomplish the specified task. For example, students should research real examples of the role of IT professionals who maintain legacy or develop new IT systems, to reinforce the theoretical concepts addressed in this topic. Students may take the development of their internal assessment as a starting point for the application of the theoretical and practical aspects of this topic. This may take the form of producing a Gantt chart to indicate the stages in the development of the solution, on the agreed date, or how differing methodologies may lead to variations in the completion of tasks. Other scenarios may include a city government that wishes to introduce an improved IT system to provide a more secure and effective method of record keeping in its public libraries. This would include the replacement of the storage area network (SAN) to accommodate the increased amount of data requiring archiving, along with the need to provide a disaster recovery system. __Information systems, people and teams__ • The role and need for IT in organizations • Organizational IT policies • IT personnel and organizational structure: for example, information system (IS) managers, support staff, network manager, database administrator • Development personnel: for example, manager, programmer, analyst, project manager __The system development life cycle (SDLC)__ • Analysis of current situation • Organizational requirements • Methods of data collection: questionnaires, interviews, observation, literature searches • Feasibility study • Identification of possible IT solutions • Requirements specification • Justification of preferred IT solution • Project plan (who, why, what, when and how part of the project) • Project goals, scope and constraints, such as financial, time, technical, human-resource-related, risks, communication, procurement, quality • Project initiation document • Design considerations • Inputs, data structure, processes, outputs, user interface • Prototyping • Development of the IT solution • Initial testing, alpha testing • Quality assurance and quality control • Implementation • Training and support of staff, documentation to support the new IT system • Changeover methods: direct, phased and parallel running • Beta testing • Maintenance • Phase out __Project management issues__ • Need for project management • Development methodologies: agile development and waterfall development • Project management methodologies: for example, PRINCE2 (projects in controlled environments 2), SSADM (structured systems analysis and design method), PMBoK (project management body of knowledge), CMMI (capability maturity model integration) • Iteration • Time constraints, tasks, resources and milestones; Gantt and Pert charts • Modelling systems: for example, entities, entity relationship diagrams (ERD), data flow diagrams • Maintenance of legacy systems • System support: for example, internal support, maintenance contract • Incident management and escalation
 * Introduction**
 * Possible scenarios**
 * IT concepts to address in this topic**