The Systems Proposal What the book calls the “Updated Baseline Project Plan” - no standard name...

The Systems Proposal

• What the book calls the “Updated Baseline Project Plan” - no standard name for it

• Presents the different options to the customer along with all the information they will need to make a decision

• Deliverable 3 - must present at least three significantly different alternatives, one of which is the recommended solution

The Systems Proposal (cont.)

• Introduction– Project Overview - updated, summarized

version of the organizational description, the problem statement, and the scope statement

– Recommendation - brief description of the recommended solution and why it is more feasible than the alternatives (summary of feasibility analysis)


• System Description– Major requirements and constraints - a prioritized

list of 6-10 high-level requirements and constraints (distinguish between the two) that will be used as a basis of comparison among alternatives

– Brief technical descriptions of the three alternatives– Proposed DFDs for all three alternatives– Comparison of alternatives in terms of requirements

and constraints


• Feasibility assessment– Address each of the six types of feasibility for

each alternative solution– For some feasibility types, the analysis may be

the same for all three alternatives– Some analyses may be repeated from

Deliverable 1– Economic feasibility analysis must be much

more detailed than in Deliverable 1

Generating Alternatives

• Must have three significantly different alternative solutions

• All 3 must involve some change from the current situation

• Consider:– non-technical solutions– partial solutions– low-end and high-end solutions

Requirements Document

• An idea from software engineering

• Another way to structure requirements

• A statement specifying what a proposed system is required to do

• Often structured as a list of numbered requirements, in textual form

• Details the what, not the how

Requirements Documents (cont.)

What makes a good requirements document?- completeness- consistency- clarity- correctness- level of detail - testability - understandability

Purposes

• Contract between system vendor and customer

• Communication with customer

• Starting point for design

• Guide for testing

• Comparing alternatives

Types of requirements

• Functional Requirements • Data Requirements • Look and Feel requirements • Usability requirements• Performance Requirements• Operational requirements• Maintainability requirements• Security requirements

Examples of requirements

Functional requirements:

• When a customer applies for a video rental card by providing customer information and a means of verifying their identity, the system issues a video rental card.

• When a customer rents videos by providing their video rental card and the videocassettes they are renting, the system calculates the amount due from the customer (including late fees), record receipt of the amount, print a customer receipt, and make a record of each item rented.

• When a customer returns a video, the system records the return and notes any late fees on the customer record.

• If a customer returns a movie 1-5 days late, the late charge is equal to an additional rental for each day it is late.

• If the customer has outstanding late fees, they are not permitted to rent another video until the late fees are paid.


Data requirements:

• The information maintained about customers includes customer id number, customer last name, address, telephone number, major credit card number and expiration date, and information on outstanding late fees

• The information maintained about videos includes a video id number, title, year, class (which determines rental rate) and copy number

• The information maintained about rentals includes the customer id, the video id, the date rented, the date returned, and the amount charged


Look and Feel requirements:

• The user interface must conform to the conventions of the Microsoft Office products interface.

• The XYZ company logo must appear in the upper right corner of each screen.

• The fonts used on all printed output must be at least 14 points.

• The color purple must not be used in any screen output.


Usability requirements:

• User training for video store clerks must not exceed 30 minutes.

• User training for video store managers must not exceed 2 hours.

• Error rates among trained users must not exceed 1 data entry error in 4 hours.

• On-line help must be provided and must be able to answer any questions a user has during use after training.


Performance requirements:

• Average time to complete a customer application process must not exceed 10 minutes.

• Average time to complete a video rental transaction must not exceed 3 minutes.

• The system must be able to handle at least 2000 customers, 5000 video rental items, and 300 video rentals per day with no noticeable degradation in performance.


Operational requirements:

• The system must run using PC-compatible hardware running the Windows 95 operating system.

• The system must successfully network up to 8 PC’s with full data-sharing capabilities.


Maintainability requirements:

• A trained video store manager, with no additional training or background, must be able to change the rental rates used for different classes of videos.

• An enhancement to the system to allow it to handle more than one type of rental item (e.g. DVD) should cost (in terms of both time and money) no more than 10% of the original system development cost.


Security requirements:

• The system must be password protected, allowing only video store employees to access any part of the system, and only managers to modify video information.

Assessing Feasibility

Technical – is technology available or are we able to develop it?

Economic – do we have the time and money? Operational - will it work?Schedule – can it be done in the given time? Legal and contractual - are we allowed to do this?Political – is anyone trying to undermine this

project?

Operational Feasibility

• Will it work with current systems?

• Will it be accepted by users?

• Will it solve real problems?

Analysis

Design

Implementation

Information GatheringData, Logic, and Process ModelingSystems Proposal Preparation

Data Entry DesignScreen and Report DesignData OrganizationProcess Design

IntegrationTesting

Work Breakdown - level 1

Information Gathering

Data, Logic, and Process Modeling

Systems Proposal Preparation

Conduct InterviewsAdminister QuestionnairesIntroduce PrototypeObserve Reactions to Prototype

Data ModelingLogic ModelingProcess Modeling

Perform Cost/Benefit AnalysisPrepare ProposalPresent Proposal


Conduct Interviews

Administer Questionnaires

Choose interviewees 1Develop interview guide 2Schedule interviews 3Conduct interviews 10Transcribe notes 5

Design questionnaire 5Review questionnaire 5Distribute questionnaire 1Wait for responses 10Compile responses 5

Introduce Prototype

Observe Reactions to Prototype

Build prototype 5Install prototype 2

Observe prototype use 5Summarize recommendations 2

Detailed ActivityDays

Required


Choose interviewees

Develop interview guide

Schedule interviews

Conduct interviews

Transcribe notesDesign

questionnaireReview

questionnaireDistribute

questionnaireWait for

responsesCompile

responsesBuild prototype

Install prototypeObserve

prototype useSummarize

recommendations

5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Activity

Days

40

Gantt Chart

PERT Chart

1A

ChooseInterviewees

2B

DevelopInterview Guide

3C

ScheduleInterviews

10D

ConductInterviews

5E

Transcribe Notes

5F

DesignQuestionnaire

5G

ReviewQuestionnaire

1H

DistributeQuestionnaire

10I

Wait forResponses

5J

CompileResponses

5K

Build Prototype

2L

Install Prototype

5M

ObservePrototype Use

2N

SummarizeRecommendations

Economic Feasibility Analysis

For each alternative:• identify tangible, intangible, one-time and

recurring costs and benefits• present and explain estimates for all tangible

costs and benefits– use risk reduction and present value calculations if

appropriate

• compare costs and benefits using break-even analysis

Cost/Benefit Analysis

• Risk reduction– use when one of the major benefits of the new system is to reduce

the chance of some risk event or to reduce the loss from such an event

• Cash-flow analysis– use when justifying a large up-front cost that will be paid out of

operating funds• Present value

– use when considering long-term costs and/or benefits• Break-even analysis

– use when there are significant tangible benefits expected from the new system

Quantifying Risk Reduction

• Risk reduction is often hard to quantify• Customer needs to know how much they’re

paying for risk reduction• Can use the concept of utility loss to quantify the

concept• Utility loss is the product of:

– the probability of the risk event occurring– the cost to the organization of the risk event occurring

Quantifying Risk ReductionExample

• Suppose:– The major benefit of the new system is that it reduces the

risk from some event (e.g. a lawsuit) occurring– If this event happens, it will cost the organization about

$2,000,000 (this is an estimate)– The probability that this event will occur is currently 5%,

reduced to 1% with the new system (another estimate)– Compare utility losses:

• Currently: (.05)*($2,000,000) = $100,000• New system: (.01)*($2,000,000) = $20,000• Savings: $80,000

Time Value of Money

• Basic idea: the value of a dollar cost (or benefit) depends on when that dollar is spent (or received)

• After calculating the dollar amounts of all tangible costs and benefits for each year, you must adjust the totals to calculate the NPV (net present value) of each year’s costs and benefits

Net Present Value (NPV)

• To calculate NPV, need:– total tangible costs and total tangible benefits for each year– discount rate

• Calculate PV for costs and for benefits for each year• Add up PVs to get NPV of costs and NPV of benefits• Overall NPV = (NPV of benefits) - (NPV of costs)

Break-even Scenario

Suppose:– initial tangible costs, including new equipment,

analysis, development, and training, are estimated to be $75,000.

– Recurring operational costs, including system maintenance and training for new users, is estimated at $5000 per year.

– Tangible benefits, in the form of decreased costs, are estimated to be $25,000 per year.

Break-even Scenario (cont.)

Years

1 32 4

$

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

Break-even point

Costs

Benefits

The Systems Proposal What the book calls the “Updated Baseline Project Plan” - no standard name...

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