4.

PROPOSITION FOR A NEW IS

4.1Planning of Information Systems

4.1.1 Development of Long Range Plans of the MIS

Many organizations have purchased computers for data processing and for meeting the statutory
requirements of filing the returns and reports to the Government. Computers are used mainly for
computing and accounting the business transactions and have not been considered as a tool for
information processing. The organizations have invested on computers and expanded its use by
adding more or bigger computers to take care of the numerous transactions in the business. In
this approach, the information processing function of the computers in the organization never got
its due regard as an important asset to the organization. In fact, this function is misinterpreted as
data processing for expeditious generation of reports and returns, and not as information
processing for management actions and decisions. However, the scene has been changing since
late eighties when the computers became more versatile, in the function of Storage,
Communications, Intelligence and Language. The computer technology is so advanced that the
barriers of storage, distance understanding of language and speed are broken.
The computers have become user-friendly. They can communicate to any distance and hare data,
information and physical resources of other computers. Computers can now be used as a tool for
information processing and communication. It can be used for storing large database or
knowledgebase. It can be used for knowing the current status of any aspect of the business due
to its online real time processing capability. With the advancement of computer technology more
popularly known as information technology, it is now possible to recognize information as a
valuable resource like money and capacity. It is necessary to link its acquisition, storage, use, and
disposal as per the business needs for meeting the business objectives. Such a broad based
activity can be executed only when it is conceived as a system. This system should deal with
management information and not with data processing alone. It should provide support for
management planning, decision making and action. It should support the needs of the lower
management as well as that of the top management. It should satisfy the needs of different people
in the organization at different levels having varying managerial capabilities. It should provide
support to the changing needs of business management. In short, we need a Management
Information System flexible enough to deal with the changing information needs of the
organization. It should be conceived as an open system continuously interacting with the
business environment with a built-in mechanism to provide the desired information as per the
new requirements of the management. The designing of such an open system is a complex task.
It can be achieved only if the MIS is planned, keeping in view, the plan of the business
management of the organization. The plan of MIS is consistent to the business plan of the
organization. The information needs for the implementation of the business plan should find
place in the MIS. To ensure such an alignment possibility, it is necessary that the business plan
strategic or otherwise, states the information needs. The information needs are then traced to the
source data and the systems in the organization which generate such a data. The plan of
development of the MIS is linked with the steps of the implementation in a business
 development plan. The system of information generation is so planned that strategic information
is provided for the strategic planning, control information is provided for a short term planning
and execution. The details of information are provided to the operations management to assess
the status of an activity and to find ways to make up, if necessary. Once the management needs
are translated into information needs, it is left to the designer to evolve a plan of MIS
development and implementation.

4.1.2 Contents of the MIS Plan

A long range MIS plan provides direction for the development of the systems, and provides a
basis for achieving the specific targets or tasks against a time frame. The plan would have
contents which will be dealt by the designer under a support from the top management.

4.1.3 MIS Goals and Objectives

It is necessary to develop the goals and objectives for the MIS which will support the business
goals. The MIS goals and objectives will consider management philosophy, policy constraints,
business risks, internal and external environment of the organization and the business. The goals
and the objectives of the MIS would be so stated that they can be measured. The typical
statements of the goals are as under:
o It should provide online information on the stock, markets and the accounts balances.
o The query processing should not exceed more than three seconds.
o The focus of the system will be on the end user computing and access facilities.
Such statements of the goals and objectives enable the designer to set the direction and design
implementation strategies for the MIS Plan.

4.2 Strategy for the Plan Achievement

The designer has to take a number of strategic decisions for the achievement of the MIS goals
and objectives. They are:

a) Development strategy: An online, a batch, a real time technology platform.

b) System development strategy: Any approach to the system development Operational vs.
Functional Accounting vs. Analysis Database vs. Conventional approach Distributed vs.
Decentralized processing One Database vs. multiple databases SSAD vs. OOT

c) Resources for system development: In house vs. external, customized development vs. the use
of packages.

d) Manpower composition: Analyst, programmer skills and knowhow.

4.2.1The Architecture of the MIS

The architecture of the MIS plan provides a system structure and their input, output and linkages.
It also provides a way to handle the systems or subsystems by way of simplification, coupling
 and decoupling of subsystems. It spells out in detail the subsystems from the data entry to
processing, analysis to modeling, and storage to printing.

4.2.2 The System Development Schedule

A schedule is made for the development of the system. While preparing the schedule due
consideration is given to the importance of the system in the overall information requirement.
Due regard is also given to logical system development. For example, it is necessary to develop
the accounting system first and then the analysis. Further, unless the systems are fully developed
their integration is not possible. This development schedule is to be weighed against the time
scale for achieving certain information requirement linked to a business plan. If these are not
fully met, it is necessary to revise the time schedule and also the development schedule,
whenever necessary.

4.2.3 Hardware and Software Plan

Giving due regard to the technical and operational feasibility, the economics of investment is
worked out. Then the plan of procurement is made after selecting the hardware and software.
One can take the phased approach of investment starting from the lower configuration of
hardware going over to higher as development takes place. The process is to match the technical
decisions with the financial decisions. The system development schedule is linked with the
information requirements which in turn, are linked with the goals and objectives of the business.
The selection of the architecture, the approach to the information system development and the
choice of hardware and software are the strategic decisions in the design and development of the
MIS in the organization. The organizations which do not care to take proper decisions in these
areas suffer from overinvestment, underutilization and are not able to meet the critical
information requirements. It is important to note the following points:
1. The organizations strategic plan should be the basis for the MIS strategic plan.
2. The information system development schedule should match with the implementation
schedule of the business plan.
3. The choice of information technology is a strategic business decision and not a financial
decision.

4.3 Development of Information Systems

a) Development and Implementation of the MIS
Once the plan of MIS is made, the development of the MIS calls for determining the strategy of
development is discussed earlier, the plan consists of various systems and subsystems. The
development strategy determines where to begin and in what sequence the development can take
place with the sole objective of assuring the information support. The choice of the system or the
subsystem depends on its position in the total MIS plan, the size of the system, the user's
understanding of the systems and the complexity and its interface with other systems. The
designer first develops systems independently and starts integrating them with other systems,
enlarging the system scope and meeting the varying information needs. Determining the position
of the system in the MIS is easy. The real problem is the degree of structure, and formalization in
the system and procedures which determine the timing and duration of development of the
system. Higher the degree of structured and formalization, greater is the stabilization of the rules,
the procedures, decision-making and the understanding of the overall business activity. Here, it is
observed that the user's and the designer's interaction is smooth, and their needs are clearly
understood and respected mutually. The development becomes a method of approach with
certainty in input process and outputs.
4.3.1 Prototype Approach
When the system is complex, the development strategy is Prototyping of the System. Prototyping
is a process of progressively ascertaining the information needs, developing methodology, trying
it out on a smaller scale with respect to the data and the complexity, ensuring that it satisfies the
needs of the users, and assess the problems of development and implementation.
This process, therefore, identifies the problem areas, inadequacies in the prototype visa is
fulfillment of the information needs. The designer then takes steps to remove the inadequacies.
This may call upon changing the prototype of the system, questioning the information needs,
streamlining the operational systems and procedures and move user interaction.
In the prototyping approach, the designer's task becomes difficult, when there are multiple users
of the same system and the inputs they use are used by some other users as well. For example, a
lot of input data comes from the purchase department, which is used in accounts and inventory
management.
The attitudes of various users and their role as the originators of the data need to be developed
with a high degree of positivism. It requires, of all personnel, to appreciate that the information is
a corporate resource, and all have to contribute as per the designated role by the designer to
fulfill the corporate information needs. When it comes to information the functional, the
departmental, the personal boundaries do not exist. This call upon each individual to comply
with the design needs and provide without fail the necessary data inputs whenever required as
per the specification discussed and finalized by the designer.
Bringing the multiple users on the same platform and changing their attitudes toward
information, as a corporate resource, is the managerial task of the system designer. The
qualification, experience, knowledge, of the state of art, and an understanding of the corporate
business, helps considerably, in overcoming the problem of changing the attitudes of the multiple
users and the originators of the data.

4.3.2 Life Cycle Approach

There are many systems or subsystems in the MIS which have a life cycle, that is, they have birth
and death. Their emergence may be sudden or may be a part of the business need, and they are
very much structured and rule based. They have 100% clarity of inputs and their sources, a
definite set of outputs in terms of the contents and formats. These details more or less remain
static from the day the system emerges and remains in that static mode for a long time. Minor
modifications or changes do occur but they are not significant in terms of handling either by the
designer or the user of the system. Such systems, therefore, have a life and they can be developed
in a systematic manner, and can be reviewed after a year or two, for significant modification, if
any.
Examples of such systems are pay roll, share accounting, basic financial accounting, finished
goods accounting and dispatching, order processing, and so on. These systems have a fairly long
duration of survival and they contribute in a big way as sources of data to the Corporate MIS.
Therefore, their role is important and needs to be designed from the viewpoint as an interface to
the Corporate MIS.

4.4 Implementation of the Management Information System

The implementation of the system is a management process. It brings about organizational

change It affects people and changes their work style. The process evokes a behavior response
which could be either favorable or unfavorable depending upon the strategy of system
implementation.
In the process of implementation, the system designer acts as a change agent or a catalyst. For a
successful implementation he has to handle the human factors carefully. The user of the system
has a certain fear complex when a certain cultural work change is occurring. The first and the
foremost fear are about the security to the person if the changeover from the old to new is not a
smooth one. Care has to be taken to assure the user that such fears are baseless and the
responsibility, therefore, rests with the designer. The second fear is about the role played by the
person in the organization and how the change affects him. On many occasions, the new role
may reduce his importance in the organization, the work design may make the new job
impersonal, and a fear complex may get reinforced that the career prospects may be affected.
There are certain guidelines for the systems designer for successful implementation of the
system. The system designer should not question beyond a limit the information need of the user.
1. Not to forget that his role is to offer a service and not to demand terms.

2. Remember that the system design is for the use of the user and it is not the designer's
prerogative to dictate the design features. In short, the designer should respect the demands of
the user.

3. Not to mix up technical needs with the information needs. He should try to develop suitable
design with appropriate technology to meet the information needs. The designer should not
recommend modifications of the needs, unless technically infeasible.

4. Impress upon the user the global nature of the system design which is required to meet the
current and prospective information need.

5. Not to challenge the application of the information in decision-making. It is the sole right of
the user to use the information the way he thinks proper.

6. Impress upon the user that the quality of information depends on the quality of input.

7. Impress upon the user that you are one of the users in the organization and that the information
is a corporate resource and he is expected to contribute to the development of the MIS.

8. Ensure that the user makes commitment to all the requirements of the system design
specifications. Ensure that he appreciates that his commitments contribute largely to the quality
of the information and successful implementation of the system.

9. Ensure that the overall system effort has the management's acceptance.

10. Enlist the user's participation from time to time, so that he is emotionally involved in the
process of development.

11. Realize that through serving the user, he is his best guide on the complex path of
development.

12. Not to expect perfect understanding and knowledge from the user as he may be the user of a
non-computerized system. Hence, the designer should be prepared to change the system
specifications or even the design during the course of development.

13. Impress upon the user that the change, which is easily possible in manual system, is not as
easy in the computer system as it calls for changes in the programs at cost.

14. Impress upon the user that perfect information is nonexistent His role therefore still has an
importance in the organization.

15. Ensure that the other organization problems are resolved first before the MIS is taken for
development.
16. Conduct periodical user meetings on systems where you get the opportunity to know the
ongoing difficulties of the users.

17. Train the user in computer appreciation and systems analysis as his perception of the
computerized information system will fall short of the designer's expectation. Implementation of
the MIS in an organization is a process where organizational transformation takes place. This
change can occur in a number of ways. The Lewin's model suggests three steps in this process.
The first step is unfreezing the organization to make the people more receptive and interested in
the change. The second step is choosing a course of action where the process begins and reaches
the desired level of stability, and the third step is Refreezing, where the change is consolidated
and equilibrium is reinforced. Many a times, this process is implemented through an external
change agent, such as a consultant playing the role of a catalyst.

The significant problem in this task is the resistance to change. The resistance can occur due to
three reasons, viz., the factors internal to the users of information, the factors inherent in the
design of the system and the factors arising out of the interaction between the system and its
users. The problem of resistance can be handled through education, persuasion, and participation.
This can be achieved by improving the human actors, and providing incentives to the users, and
eliminating the organizational problems before implementing the system.

4.5 Systems Analysis

4.5.1 Introduction to Systems Analysis

System analysis is the survey and planning of the project, the study and analysis of the existing
business and information system and the definition of business requirements. System analysis
involves two phases: study phase and definition phase.
 4.5.2 Survey phase The purpose of the survey phase is to determine the worthiness of the project
and to create a plan to complete those projects, deemed worthy. To accomplish the survey phase
objectives, the system analyst will work with the system owner, system users, IS manager and IS
staff to:
o Survey problems, opportunities and solutions
o Negotiate project scope
o Plan the project
Present the project

4.6 SDLC
System development cycle stages are sometimes known as system study. System concepts which
are important in developing business information systems expedite problem solving and improve
the quality of decision-making.
The system analyst has to do a lot in this connection. They are confronted with the challenging
task of creating new systems and planning major changes in the organization. The system analyst
gives a system development project, meaning and direction. The typical breakdown of an
information systems life cycle includes a feasibility study, requirements, collection and analysis,
design, prototyping, implementation, validation, testing and operation. It may be represented in
the form of a block diagram as shown below:
4.6.1 Feasibility study It is concerned with determining the cost effectiveness of various alternatives
in the designs of the information system and the priorities among the various system
components.

b) Requirements, collection and analysis It is concerned with understanding the mission of the
information systems, that is, the application areas of the system within the enterprise and the
problems that the system should solve.

c) Design It is concerned with the specification of the information systems structure. There are
two types of design: database design and application design. The database design is the design of
the database design and the application design is the design of the application programs.

d) Prototyping A prototype is a simplified implementation that is produced in order to verify in

practice that the previous phases of the design were well conducted.

e) Implementation It is concerned with the programming of the final operational version of the
information system. Implementation alternatives are carefully verifies and compared.

f) Validation and testing it is the process of assuring that each phase of the development process
is of acceptable quality and is an accurate transformation from the previous phase.

4.7 Roles of Systems Analyst

System analysts are the facilitators of the study of the problem and needs of a business to
determine how the business systems and information technology can best solve the problem and
accomplish improvements for the business. The system analyst is responsible for examining the
total flow of data throughout the organization.
Various aspects of an organization like personnel interactions and procedures for handling
problems of the computer are studied by him. The person involved in the system development is
known as system analyst. His main role is as consultant, supporting and maintenance expert, he
should work with a cross section of people and should have the experience of working with
computers. He is a problem solver and takes problem as a challenge and enjoys meeting
challenges. He knows how to use the right tools, techniques and experience at the right time.

4.8 Feasibility of Systems

Feasibility is a measure of how beneficial the development of an information system would be to

an organization. Feasibility analysis is the activity by which the feasibility is measured.
Feasibility study is a preliminary study which investigates the information needs of prospective
users and determines the resource requirements, costs, benefits and feasibility of a proposed
project. The data is first collected for the feasibility study. Later on, the findings of the study are
formalized in a written report that includes preliminary specifications and a development plan for
the proposed system. If the management approves these recommendations of the report the
development process can continue.
Types of feasibility
The goal of feasibility study is to evaluate alternative systems and to propose the most feasible
and desirable system for development. The feasibility of a proposed system can be evaluated in
four major categories:

a) Technical feasibility: It is a measure of a technologys suitability to the application being

designed or the technologys ability to work with other technologies. It measures the practicality
of a specified technical solution.

b) Economic feasibility: It is the measure of the cost effectiveness of a project. It is also known
as cost benefit analysis.

c) Operational feasibility: It is a measure of how comfortable the management and users are
with the technology.

d) Schedule feasibility: It is a measure of how reasonable the project schedule is.

4.9 DFD

Data flow diagrams represent the logical flow of data within the system. DFD do not explain
how the processes convert the input data into output. They do not explain how the processing
takes place.
DFD uses few symbols like circles and rectangles connected by arrows to represent data flows.
DFD can easily illustrate relationships among data, flows, external entities and stores. DFD can
also be drawn in increasing levels of detail, starting with a summary high level view and
proceeding o more detailed lower level views.
 number of guidelines should be used in constructing DFD.
Choose meaningful names for the symbols on the diagram.
Number the processes consistently. The numbers do not imply the sequence.
Avoid over complex DFD.
Make sure the diagrams are balanced

4.10 Data Dictionary

The data dictionary is used to create and store definitions of data, location, format for storage and
other characteristics. The data dictionary can be used to retrieve the definition of data that has
already been used in an application. The data dictionary also stores some of the description of
data structures, such as entities, attributes and relationships. It can also have software to update
itself and to produce reports on its contents and to answer some of the queries.

4.10.1 Systems Design

Introduction to SD
The business application system demands designing of systems suitable to the application in
project. The major steps involved in the design are the following:

Input Design Input design is defined as the input requirement specification as per a format
required. Input design begins long before the data arrives at the device. The analyst will have to
design source documents, input screens and methods and procedures for getting the data into the
computer.
Output Design The design of the output is based on the requirement of the user manager,
customer etc. The output formats have to very friendly to the user. Therefore the designer has to
ensure the appropriateness of the output format.

Development When the design and its methodology are approved, the system is developed
using appropriate business models. The development has to be in accordance to a given standard.
The norms have to be strictly adhered to.

Testing Exhaustive and thorough testing must be conducted to ascertain whether the system
produces the right results. Testing is time consuming: Test data must be carefully prepared,
results reviewed and corrections made in the system. In some instances, parts of the system may
have to be redesigned. Testing an information system can be broken down into three types of
activities: unit testing, system testing and acceptance test. Unit testing or program testing
consists of testing each program separately in the system. The purpose of such testing is to
guarantee that programs are error free, but this goal is realistically impossible. Instead, testing
should be viewed as a means of locating errors in programs, focusing on finding all ways to
make a program fail. Once pinpointed, problems can be corrected. System testing tests the
functioning of the information system as a whole. It tries to determine if discrete modules will
function together as planned and whether discrepancies exist between the way the system
actually works and the way it was conceived. Among the areas examined are performance time,
capacity for file storage and handling peak loads, recovery and restart capabilities and manual
procedures. Acceptance testing provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used
in a production setting. Systems tests are evaluated by users and reviewed by management.
When all parties are satisfied that the new system meets their standards, the system is formally
accepted for installation.

4.11 Implementation and Maintenance

Conversion is the process of changing from the old system to the new system. Four main
conversion strategies can be employed. They are the parallel strategy, the direct cutover strategy,
the pilot strategy and the phased strategy.
In a parallel strategy both the old system and its potential replacement are run together for a time
until everyone is assure that the new one functions correctly. This is the safest conversion
approach because, in the event of errors or processing disruptions, the old system can still be
used as a backup. But, this approach is very expensive, and additional staff or resources may be
required to run the extra system. The direct cutover strategy replaces the old system entirely with
the new system on an appointed day. At first glance, this strategy seems less costly than the
parallel conversion strategy. But, it is a very risky approach that can potentially be more costly
than parallel activities if serious problems with the new system are found. There is no other
system to fall back on. Dislocations, disruptions and the cost of corrections are enormous.
The pilot study strategy introduces the new system to only a limited area of the organization,
such as a single department or operating unit. When this version is complete and working
smoothly, it is installed throughout the rest of the organization, either simultaneously or in stages.
The phased approach strategy introduces the new system in stages, either by functions or by
organizational units. If, for example, the system is introduced by functions, a new payroll system
might begin with hourly workers who are paid weekly, followed six months later by adding
salaried employees( who are paid monthly) to the system. If the system is introduced by
organizational units, corporate headquarters might be converted first, followed by outlying
operating units four months later.
Moving from an old system to a new system requires that end users be trained to use the new
system. Detailed documentation showing how the system works from both a technical and end-
user standpoint is finalized during conversion time for use in training and everyday operations.
Lack of proper training and documentation contributes to system failure, so this portion of the
systems development process is very important.

4.12 Production and maintenance

After the new system is installed and conversion is complete, the system is said to be in
production. During this stage the system will be reviewed by both users and technical specialists
to determine how well it has met its original objectives and to decide whether any revisions or
modifications are in order. In some instances, a formal post implementation audit document will
be prepared. After the system has been fine-tuned, it will need to be maintained while it is in
production to correct errors, meet requirements or improve processing efficiency.
Once a system is fully implemented and is being used in business operations, the maintenance
function begins. Systems maintenance is the monitoring, or necessary improvements. For
example, the implementation of a new system usually results in the phenomenon known as the
learning curve. Personnel who operate and use the system will make mistake simply because
they are familiar with it. Though such errors usually diminish as experience is gained with a new
system, they do point out areas where a system may be improved.
Maintenance is also necessary for other failures and problems that arise during the operation of a
system. End-users and information systems personnel then perform a troubleshooting function to
determine the causes of and solutions to such problems.
Maintenance also includes making modifications to an established system due to changes in the
business organizations, and new e-business and ecommerce initiatives may require major
changes to current business systems.