ISTM 210 Chapter 14

Careers in business IT:

We’ve seen CIO’s and DBA’s (_______________ ) during semester. We know network admins keep our
intranets working.
BI analysts help organizations make sense of their data/information – so it can be used for tactical and
strategic decision-making.

In developing your HTML code, you have been programmers, but the one in charge of an entire web-
based software app is called a senior web developer – one in charge of development of eCampus app, as
an example.

For complex software systems, there will be a Head Applications Developer in charge.
____________ design the parts of the applications/systems. Coding and software that connects the
designed elements with the actual programming infrastructure on the system is called __________.
(Think about code that brings data from a mobile app into the system where database tables are actually
updated.)

IT consultants serve as a bridge between the more technical IT programmers and developers (mentioned
above), and the business departments that are looking to use technology to improve their business
function. Many MIS majors work in this type of position.

Now that we understand a little bit more of the jobs, what are they doing when they are developing
systems. How do they manage that development, and how do they even decide what needs to be done?

You must decide if something should be done (more in SDLC later.) Consultants can help by studying
how things are done and making suggestions – the first thing they must learn before they suggest
technology solutions is the business itself. They must “_______________________________.”

When it is decided that something needs to be done, we begin that ________, which is a temporary
endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. It might be a brand-new product or service, or
it might be a major overhaul to an existing one.

A computer project might be under the direction of IT staff, IT consultants, but it must be controlled at
every step along its development.
Last year, we had a manager from Southwest airlines speak to our classes. She was manager in charge
of a program called PRO – Program for Reliable Operations. They were working on developing this
system – modernizing it. Instead of something brand new, sometimes you are upgrading an existing or
_______ system. Both are large undertakings.
One of the most difficult decisions organizations make is determining the projects in which to invest time,
energy, and resources. An organization must identify _________________ and __________________.
The “what” part of this question focuses on issues such as justification for the project, definition of the
project, and expected results of the project. The “how” part of the question deals with issues such as
project approach, project schedule, and analysis of project risks. Determining which projects to focus
corporate efforts on is as necessary to projects as each project is to an organization. The three common
techniques an organization can use to select projects include:
• Focus on organizational goals
• Categorize projects
• Perform a financial analysis

The projects that contain ____________ should be prioritized first, and the projects that are simply nice-
to-haves should be last. For example, developing backup and recovery strategies are considered
business critical needs; whereas, enhancing the employee intranet and developing an employee vacation
tracking system are not as critical to running the core business.

The “how” portion concerned with the project’s approach is discussed in our textbook - three approaches
the ‘how’ are presented:

SDLC (system development life cycle) (Kyle field), RAD and Prototyping

SDLC – usually employed for large-scale projects

Start with seeing if a new system or major overhaul is economically, technically and operationally
achievable (________________)

During Concept development, you produce the Cost and Risk Analysis Statement.

Planning develops a project management plan – if decided to go forward! (mention Gantt chart)

Gather requirements, then design what it will look like, then develop the system (write the code)
and then test before you implement.

All the steps must be done (if problems, go back up a step)

Test,test,test! Any computer system analysis class shows cost of ‘errors’ found early and found
later.

You are responsible for knowing these 8 steps of the SDLC from our textbook. Note, during feasibility and
cost and risk analysis, you can decide to develop “in-house” or let consultants help you customize
something you purchase or maybe there’s a product that’s ready to go right off the shelf.
RAD (rapid application development) – we write it, you use it, change it up, try again and repeat – quickly.

Prototyping – we develop it and let them the users touch it and they’ll give you great feedback (in design,
let them see and play with) – a methodology that can be used in SDLC or RAD. Sometimes these
prototypes are called _____________.

During the development stage, when code is written, it’s good to have a blueprint to follow.
What is UML? It is a blueprint for constructing an application. If you decide to do it, you have to
understand what you’re doing, and all must understand same thing. ‘Blueprints’ help us all know what’s
happening.

UML is typically used with object-oriented languages (C#, Java, C++, Python)
UML makes sense when diagramming objects – works with OOP languages. This helps with reusability of
code.

Example:
Use Case Scenario – who can do what/ you have ‘actors’ – what will happen when the computer
programs run.
A teller can ‘open’ a bank account for a customer.
A customer can ‘transfer’ money between accounts he owns.

OOAnalysis – what will the system do with bank accounts (objects)

OODesign – how will a customer transfer the money. How will the code be written?

Sequence Diagram – sometimes called ______________.

if a customer moves money from account A to account B, what will happen in what order – what is the
timing?
Withdraw from A before you…
Deposit into B

An example of the beauty of OO Programming languages:

Once you’ve set up a system with regular checking accounts for a bank, you can reuse the code
when you want to set up checking accounts for students or checking accounts for senior citizens. This is
the reusability that has made OOP languages so popular. I’ll show you some UML diagrams in class.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is a business-wide computer system.

Common ERP packages (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, and others – top 3 dominate the market)
ERP requires major investment, but most companies would agree that there are bigger costs in not
making the investment.