Altitude Online: System Investigations and Analysis ConsiderationsIn the earliest chapters of this book, Jon
Altitude Online: System Investigations and Analysis Considerations
In the earliest chapters of this book, Jon and his team determined that Altitude Online desperately needed an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to pull together the information and systems being utilized by the various branches of the organization. In the chapters that followed, Jon and his team analyzed various components of the company’s information systems: hardware, software, telecommunications, databases, and various business systems; to prepare for the major undertaking of implementing an ERP.
As the system components were analyzed, in some cases, new systems development projects were initiated and implemented that would not impact the ERP. For example, in Chapter 8, Jon’s team initiated a systems development project to update and improve the company’s online presence. In other cases, preparations were made for a new ERP. For example, in Chapter 6, Altitude Online beefed up its WAN in order to support additional data transfer loads required by an ERP.
All of this effort has been a part of the organized approach to information systems development known as the Systems Development Life Cycle. In the early stages, Jon and his team met with key stakeholders in the system to determine the requirements. This is an important component of Systems Investigation. John met with upper management to determine if a major undertaking of this nature was financially feasible at this time—another important component of Systems Investigation.
As the team has analyzed the components of the current system—software, hardware, telecom, databases, etc.—it has undertaken the second phase of systems development: Systems Analysis. In this stage the team has determined the exact specifications required for a new system in terms of system input, processing, and output. This information is recorded in a document called a systems analysis report. The systems analysis report includes the company’s exact expectations for the new ERP.
Question: What important activities did Jon’s team engage in during the systems investigation stage of the systems development life cycle?
Altitude Online: Systems Design, Implementation, Maintenance, and Review Considerations
Having successfully completed the first two stages of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) for the new ERP system, Jon and his team are ready to lead the systems design effort. They might still need to return to previous stages of the SDLC as they uncover more information about the design of this system. But for now, the requirements as specified in the systems analysis report will guide the design efforts.
In Chapters 2–11, Jon’s team worked on the design of the ERP system. They laid out the details of the system design and addressed many questions that would arise in the systems implementation stage.
In Chapter 2, Jon’s team performed an exhaustive study of the three information systems currently in use across the organization. In Chapter 3, the team learned about the information system needs of the organization and what hardware in general could support those needs. In Chapter 4, Jon’s team focused on corporate software external to the ERP. In Chapter 5, the group merged and cleaned corporate data in preparation for transferring it to the ERP. In Chapter 6, Jon’s team developed the network infrastructure that would be required by a centralized ERP. In Chapter 7, Altitude Online’s Web site got a makeover, and a design for a corporate dashboard was established for use on the company’s intranet. In Chapter 8, an Altitude Online B2B e-commerce site was designed that would provide transaction data to the ERP. In Chapters 9 and 10, the team analyzed the information system needs of the company and designed a variety of reports and the functionality required of the new ERP. In the last chapter, these requirements were specified in a systems analysis report.
The systems analysis report on which the systems design would be based included the company’s expectations for an ERP. A considerable amount of research went into the report. Since the team had already decided that the best avenue was to outsource the development to an ERP corporation, it was time to contact vendors with a request for proposal (RFP). RFPs were sent to SAP, Oracle, The Sage Group, Microsoft Dynamics, and SSA Global Technologies. While the team waited for responses, it researched the companies and analyzed their products.
After several weeks of research and interviews with company representatives, Jon decided to work with SAP. Although SAP’s bid wasn’t the lowest they received, its reputation in the area, and its ERP feature set made it worth the expense.
Two SAP systems engineers moved into Altitude Online’s New York headquarters where they worked with Jon and his team on designing the new system. After many back and forth meetings with users and stakeholders, showing prototypes and collecting information, the team produced a design report that included detailed descriptions of ERP applications that would support all of the business areas of the company: sales, finance, marketing, human resources, and production. The report also spelled out infrastructure requirements including servers, telecommunications, and storage requirements. The report was approved and the team started working on the system.
While the SAP consultants worked on customizing an ERP system to Altitude Online’s requirements and testing it on data from Altitude Online’s database, Jon and his team were installing servers and hardware into the newly remodeled data center. When the hardware was ready, the new ERP system was installed, and data was copied from the old system to the new. Jon decided to use a phased -n approach to implementation by testing new features in the home office prior to extending the system to all of the branch offices.
The first month of testing was successful, with incremental improvements applied as they were needed. Jon and the team’s confidence in the new system had grown and they were ready to roll out the system to the rest of the company. They used a two-week cycle, adding a new office every two weeks so that they could confirm that the system was functioning and stable for each new installation prior to the next. The WAN that was leased earlier worked perfectly for the new system, supporting the ERP while meeting video conferencing and other network demands. The new e-commerce site for online order processing was brought online and interfaced with the ERP as planned.
All systems were go, and information was flowing across Altitude Online like never before. All that was left was to review all aspects of the system to make sure that they were functioning as intended. The team distributed a survey to collect user feedback that could assist in clearing up any minor bugs. From every indication, it appeared that the new ERP system was a huge success and for the moment, the corporate information systems were state of the art.
Question: Why is the quality of the systems analysis report crucial to the successful continuation of the project?
