Systems Development (MIS)

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01 August 2007

Systems Development (MIS 1 . Imagine that you are a senior manager of a functional area in which a mission-critical system is being developed . How can you safeguard this project from mushrooming out of control ? [If you have seen this in an enterprise which you are familiar with , how were the issues addressed ?]

A mission-critical software project requires operational resiliency . It has to have zero downtime , an acceptable quality of service even when thousands of simultaneous multiple transactions are

being completed , and a sustainable data handling system that prevents transaction data loss To ensure operational resiliency , these should be well managed : a ) scope of work / project coverage b ) seamless integration of the functional area with the enterprise c ) software configuration and management (Pressman d ) deliverables e ) quality of service in relation to transaction volumes , bandwidth pressures , network latency , or slow queries and most importantly , f ) good stakeholder relationships

Scope of work should be clearly prioritized with regards to available resources and skill sets , and timelines . Software modules / functions features should be broken down into small work packages , each with a definite timeline (Project Management Institute 10 . When development starts small with the easiest and most important features , the development team gains greater confidence and learns rapidly to address the complex features later on . Most importantly , the development team tests , debugs and stabilizes small programs easily . This ensures seamless integration of an automated functional area with the whole enterprise

In another light , software configuration and management or SCM is usually interdependent with scope management (Project Management Institute 7 . New functions or additional features are likely to cause downtime in operations (Pressman ) with these usual causes : a ) global and local variable mismatches b ) index mismatches c ) procedural mismatches and d ) transactional data mismatches . Together with good scope management on any additional user requirements , a keen awareness on the usual causes of downtime and rigorous testing can help remedy or contain any design flaws or deficiencies

Good scope management combined with well-communicated deliverables can minimize unfulfilled expectations among stakeholders (Project Management Institute 7-8 . When stakeholders are aware that certain outputs require specific inputs , project stakeholders are less likely to demand results without providing for the needed inputs . In the same sense , quality of service (QoS ) concerns are usually resolved with well-communicated inputs in terms of hardware , network , software , process , people and data considerations . When project stakeholders are willing to invest their time and resources for the acquisition of the inputs previously described , then outputs are likely to meet ideal QoS specifications

Most importantly , any senior manager should develop good stakeholder relationships through constant communication even beyond the project parameters . When problems escalate , good communications and warm personal relationships ensure that all project stakeholders have calm minds and cool , cooperative stances that enable everybody to act as a team and resolve any issues 2 . Four approaches were discussed to evaluate system acquisition alternatives . They are : Group Consensus , Cost /Benefit Analysis Benchmark Tests , and...