As our sixth assignment, we were a scenario about two experts on different fields but having the same goal, and that is to make an efficient and effective information system. These two people have different views and approach on how to generate a new information system that would work successfully. Before I go thoroughly on my discussion about their conversation, let me first define the individual expertise of John Juan, as a systems professional and Peter Pedro, as the department manager.
We are all aware that we are already living in what we call “Information Age.” Primarily, this means that most of our activities are being done with the use or help of computers or computer generated systems. In addition, in the fields of business (either it is a small one or big one), industry as well as in government, the role of technology in the Information Age has been renowned world wide, and their whole organizational structures as well as strategic planning procedures has been totally engage to this role of technology. According to R. H. Glover, the author of “Executive information systems: Current assessment & future agenda for Higher education,” as he gave emphasis on the function of technology, he believed that the caliber of information on hand to all decision makers is very significant. Basically, it is because the quality of strategic planning is dependent in the availability of quality information. This means that the people who make the decisions must be knowledgeable in strategic planning for him or her to make the planning efficiently. Glover also states that the administrative information systems were very serious in supplying the necessary data that produced the needed information. We are also aware that having a very good organizational structures as well as strategic plans, with the use of the technology, is very important in the success of every company and enterprise, for it is responsible in making the company competitive and prominent.
JOHN JUAN, THE SYSTEMS PROFESSIONAL
On our past assignments, we have been discussing about the systems analyst, what does the role of a systems analyst as well as how do the systems analyst works. Also, we discussed about the different phases of systems development life cycle which is necessary in making an efficient and effective system.
In the scenario given, John Juan is the systems professional or the one who do the systems analysis. As the systems analyst, John Juan is the one responsible in designing the new information system considering the information requirements of the company as well as of the end users.
Responsibility of John Juan as A Systems Professional
As a systems professional, John Juan has responsibilities that he must always bear in mind.
• To the Employers/Clients/System Users
Essentially, John Juan has the responsibility to be loyal and faithful to his employer in professional matters. He must also preserve every user’s, company’s and supplier’s privilege to secrecy and confidentiality as well as to be in awe of any ownership rights that belongs to them. He can do that that by giving appropriate security to the information, limiting the capability to access and ensure the accurate disclosure of any data and information about the clients as well as the users. In addition, John Juan must always treat all persons fairly, especially, when in his colleagues (if he is part of a team).
.
• To the Profession
As a professional, John should not just depend on the blunt truth, but basically on the mere facts basis. As a systems professional, he must not jump into conclusion unless he has evidences and make some experiments and surveys to prove it for his own. He must not make any unsupported statements or false statements or present any ambiguous information. He must always make a connection to his client, providing that he must inform them about the progress or conflict on the system he makes. He should take or make his research cautiously and meticulously. He must gather, tabulate, and interpret the data and information with complete awareness. He must consult his client first before taking any action, for approval purposes. Also, he must be vigilant in making or disclosing any information as a result of his research. He should always uplift his colleagues to do their very best to make a good outcome.
• To the Society
As part of his responsibility to the society, John Juan must be able to make the system he working at to be beneficial to most number of user as well as it will make the company more profitable. Also, he must generate instructions and proper training to those people who will use the system in order to avoid unnecessary damage to the system and negative feedbacks from the client and users. He must also acknowledge those people who helped (or will help him) and take part on the making of the system.
Skills (In Summary)
Basically, the most important skill John Juan must have, are the following:
• Interpersonal skills: this skill is pertaining to the ability of the systems professional to deal with people in an educated manner. This means that he is capable to appropriately interact with others. This skill includes everything that is necessary in interacting with other people; from communicating skills to listening skills to attitude and manner.
• Business skills: this skill defines the capability of the system professional to deal with the business logic of the client or company he worked in. Essentially, for John Juan, he must be aware on the business process of the company before he could propose a necessary system which fits to the company’s need.
• Analysis and design skills: systems professionals are known to be knowledgeable in terms of analyzing and interpreting problems as well as analyzing and interpreting the gathered data and information related to the problem after he could propose and deign a new system.
• Programming skills: this is a very important skill of a system analyst and John Juan must have a broad background on programming to be able to do the required by the company. Without knowledge on program, it is impossible for a systems analyst or a system professional to generate and deploy an information system.
His Approach on Generating a New Information System
As I have read and understood, based on the given scenario and on the conversion took place between him and Peter Pedro, John Juan wants to be knowledgeable on how the existing information system works; to be able to know the reason why it is necessary for the company to make a new one and to know if it just needs to be improve by doing some modifications and adjustments. This view could be practical in terms of cost to buy new parts and components for the new information system.
PETER PEDRO, THE DEPARTMENT MANAGER
As the department manager, Peter Pedro must be capable to manage many functional areas. He must have the ability to lead; he must acquire good leadership skills in order to handle all the people under his supervision efficiently. Peter Pedro must have a very tough administrative and managerial skill, as well as organizational and analytical skills. Also, as a department manager, Peter Pedro must be very proficient and excellent in making decision as well as he must acquire a good problem solving skills. Since he also manage a team who are assigned for making the system of the company; which means that John Juan is under his supervision, Peter Pedro must have a good background about information technology and facilities management. On the other hand, Peter Pedro is also called as the generalist. He is anticipated to have the ability to manage, at the same time, in several vicinity, proceedings and cut-off date. Peter Pedro must also comprise intense interpersonal and communication skills. This means that he must the “power of the tongue”; the ability to encourage the teams under him to work hard, the ability to persuade clients and the ability to handle fiery situation in a calm state. Also, he must be able to nurture and uphold a mutual and compassionate workplace. Peter Pedro must be able to do his responsibilities with minimal supervision.
Skills (In Summary)
• The capacity to lead and encourage a team
• Outstanding communication and people skills
• A great dedication to customer service
• The aptitude to perform under stress and nervous tension and can take care of demanding state of affairs
• Self-confidence, determination and eagerness
• Decision-making competence and a sense of accountability
• The ability to scrutinize and be familiar with sales figure
His Approach on Generating a New Information System
As I have read and understood, based on the given scenario and on the conversion took place between him and John Juan, Peter Pedro does not want John Juan to go over to the old system again. For his point of view, he wanted to go directly to the list of requirements for the system he wants to develop by John Juan’s team. As far as I am concern, Peter Pedro would like to totally break down the old system and develop and deploy a new one. This approach could lead to time effectiveness; the point here is, if the systems professional will go on finding what was wrong and still can be use in the old system, they would spend a lot of time and the deadline for the expected output would be extended and the deployment of the new system will be delayed.
Comparison of Their Approach
Both John Juan and Peter Pedro have points in their different approach and both approaches are for the benefit of making a new system. Primarily, although John Juan and Peter Pedro have different approach on how to make the system analysis, they still have one goal and that is to make a functional information system. As an educated system professional, John Juan’s actions and approach is based on what he knows is right and because it is part of what he has learned. I believe he just want to have a better and thorough review and research on the old system to generate a great idea in order to produce an effective and efficient new system. On the other hand, Peter Pedro would go directly on making the new system since, based on what he has said in the conversation between him and John Juan, they always get the customized and modified edition of the old system which is not fit to the new system they require and want to have. Obviously, Peter Pedro really wants to have and deploy new information system. He does not care if the old system only needs some adjustments and modification and can still be use. All he wants is only to have a new information system that possibly will be utilized for his department. (Well, it is only based on how I understand the things that Peter Pedro told John Juan in their conversation.)
Which Approach I Am In Favor With?
Well, based on the scenario with their conversation, my sympathy will be with John Juan. Primarily because he is more knowledgeable in making efficient information system compared to Peter Pedro, who only do managing and supervising although he has, somehow, knowledge about information system procedures, but not that much knowledge as of John Juan.
As a good and effective systems analyst or a systems professional, it is necessary that you always go into detail, no matter how big or small it is, as long as it is related to the system you are working at. In the case of John Juan, he only wants to go over to the old system to be able to know if there could be something on it that can still be use. Also, by making that step, he could bring about new and better ideas that will be very helpful for his client as will as for the users. John Juan is only applying the step by step procedure of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) which is essential in building an operative and competent information system.
It seems that the information systems develop is essential for the part of Peter Pedro but it will be inappropriate for the case of the system analyst (systems professional, John Juan), the one who will make the system, to directly jump and do what Peter Pedro wants. It must be “doing what you need for the benefit of many than doing what you want for your own benefit.”
As A System Analyst…Method I Will Propose..
As a systems analyst, I want to consider the time I will spend in making the system as well as the cost and the availability of the resources. First and foremost, it is important for a systems analyst to know the needs of the client. Although, sometimes, there is a point that the systems analyst has a different views compared to the client that would bring up an unnecessary misunderstanding. But basically, to be able to produce a good information system, the client and the systems analyst must agreed on the same idea, and they must always consult each other as the process takes place. Since in our previous assignment, we were tasked to discuss different systems development models that are appropriate in making a good and functional information system. If I were John Juan, I will use the Synchronize-and-stabilize (sometimes just called sync-and-stabilize). For me, Synchronize-and-stabilize method is appropriate in making a good and effective information system since the works can be done in parallel. Also, in parallelism method, works can be done on a less allotted time. The only thing is, in the progress of the process of making the system, people who work in parallel must interact to one another to ensure that their works are correct, and to avoid iterated works.
SYNCHRONIZE-AND-STABILIZE (SYNC-AND-STABILIZE)
One of the models in the Systems Development Life Cycle is the Synchronize-and-stabilize (sometimes just called sync-and-stabilize). It is an SDLC model in which teams work in parallel on individual application modules, repeatedly coordinating their code with that of other teams, and debugging (stabilizing) code on a regular basis all the way through the development procedure. It is said that the sync-and-stabilize model is more advantageous over the older waterfall, which is rigorously chronological in nature. Because sync-and-stabilize development allows parallelism, changes can be done at any point in the process and for that, it can be flexible, and responding to the market requirement changes is easier.
In Synchronize and Stabilize Model:
Product development and testing is done in parallel
Vision statement and evolving specification
Features prioritized and built in 3 or 4 milestone sub projects
Frequent synchronization (daily builds) and intermediate stabilization (milestone)
“Fixed” release and ship dates and multiple release cycles
Customer feedback continuous in the development process
Product and process design so large teams work like small teams
The Synchronize and Stabilize Model is more flexible compared to Sequential Model in System Development Life Cycle. Since synch-and-stabilize approach uses parallelism, more works can be done and it is also a cost-effective scheme compared to sequential approach which uses a chronological method.
The Synchronize and Stabilize team process can be summarized as follows:
Feature Oriented
Synchronize (daily build) and Stabilize (fix errors at end of each milestone, such that the required set of features is completely functional)
Product Managers develop a vision statement and feature list based on customer input
Program Managers develop an initial functional specification based on the vision statement
Program Managers create schedules and parallel feature teams of 3-8 developers and testers based on the functional specification
Team members can work autonomously, thus maintaining some creative freedom on the project, provided their work can be combined successfully into the daily builds
Teams develop their own playful penalties for breaking the daily build, which forces a certain amount of discipline amongst a team, while at the same time remaining democratic
According to the book “How Microsoft Builds” by Cusumano and Selby, there are phases which is need to under go in synch-and-stabilize approach.
PLANNING PHASE (3-12 months, depending on size of project)
Vision Statement – Product and program management use extensive customer input to identify and priority-order product features.
Specification - Based on vision statement, program management and development group defines feature functionality, architectural issues and components inter dependencies.
Schedule And Feature Team Formation ¬- Based on specification document, program management coordinates schedule and arranges feature teams that each contain approximately 1 program manager, 3 to 8 developers, and 3 to 8 testers(who work in parallel 1:1 with developers.)
DEVELOPMENT PHASE (6-12 months)
Project managers coordinate evolution of specification. Developers design, code, and debug. Testers pair with developers for continuous testing.
Subproject I: most crucial 1/3 features, milestone release I
Subproject II: second 1/3 features, milestone release II
Subproject III: final (least critical) 1/3 features, milestone release III --- code complete
STABILIZATION PHASE (3-8 MONTHS)
Program managers coordinate OEMs and ISVs and monitor customer feedback. Developers perform final debugging and code stabilization.
Internal Testing - Testers recreate and isolate errors.
External Testing - Thorough testing of complete product within the company.
Release Preparation - Thorough testing of complete product outside the company by “beta” sites such as OEMs, ISVs, and end users. Prepare final release of “golden master” disk and documentation for manufacturing.
Conclusion:
As a systems analyst, one must always capable of knowing how the old system works before proposing a new system. Primarily, there must be something wrong with the old system that is why the company wants to have a new system. As a good and effective systems analyst, he or she must be able to apply, if necessary, the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
REDUCE: It could be apply in reducing the cost as well as the time that could be allotted. Basically, if the systems analyst proposes to use some parts of the existing system in making a new one,, there will be able saved in terms of cost as well as time. For instance, a specific component is not available in a near location, which means there is a need to go to other location to find or buy that component. That will cost time and money. If that happens, there will be cots ineffectiveness as well as delay of scheduled time the systems must do.
REUSE: Instead of just throwing things away, try to find ways to use them again. Fundamentally, reusing the materials that can still be even avail will lessen the budget allotted to buy new parts and components for making the new system.
RECYCLE: Nowadays, numerous numbers of materials we use can be recycled. We are all aware that recycled materials undergo procedures that make it possible to generate or produce new products and materials from the old ones.
My main point here is, if there is just a need of improvement on the existing system, there is no need to junk or break the whole system. Making some adjustments on current system will do as long as the new system that the company needs and want is fit to the capability of the improved system. Nonetheless, if the company really needs to have a new system with new parts and components, here comes the time that the systems analyst would do the feasibility analyzing and propose a new system considering the business logic of the company he works in. Also, the systems analyst and the client must agree on the same idea to avoid misunderstandings. To be able to make a good system, both must helping each other and supporting each other as well encouraging their colleagues to work hard and enjoy what they are doing. Lastly, acknowledging ones help and work is necessary to build a good relationship between the people who worked hard in producing an information system.
Sources:
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/html/cnc9764/cnc9764.html
http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/professional-guidelines.html
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/romance/staff/TFIRM/roleofmanager.pdf
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/synchronize-and-stabilize
We are all aware that we are already living in what we call “Information Age.” Primarily, this means that most of our activities are being done with the use or help of computers or computer generated systems. In addition, in the fields of business (either it is a small one or big one), industry as well as in government, the role of technology in the Information Age has been renowned world wide, and their whole organizational structures as well as strategic planning procedures has been totally engage to this role of technology. According to R. H. Glover, the author of “Executive information systems: Current assessment & future agenda for Higher education,” as he gave emphasis on the function of technology, he believed that the caliber of information on hand to all decision makers is very significant. Basically, it is because the quality of strategic planning is dependent in the availability of quality information. This means that the people who make the decisions must be knowledgeable in strategic planning for him or her to make the planning efficiently. Glover also states that the administrative information systems were very serious in supplying the necessary data that produced the needed information. We are also aware that having a very good organizational structures as well as strategic plans, with the use of the technology, is very important in the success of every company and enterprise, for it is responsible in making the company competitive and prominent.
JOHN JUAN, THE SYSTEMS PROFESSIONAL
On our past assignments, we have been discussing about the systems analyst, what does the role of a systems analyst as well as how do the systems analyst works. Also, we discussed about the different phases of systems development life cycle which is necessary in making an efficient and effective system.
In the scenario given, John Juan is the systems professional or the one who do the systems analysis. As the systems analyst, John Juan is the one responsible in designing the new information system considering the information requirements of the company as well as of the end users.
Responsibility of John Juan as A Systems Professional
As a systems professional, John Juan has responsibilities that he must always bear in mind.
• To the Employers/Clients/System Users
Essentially, John Juan has the responsibility to be loyal and faithful to his employer in professional matters. He must also preserve every user’s, company’s and supplier’s privilege to secrecy and confidentiality as well as to be in awe of any ownership rights that belongs to them. He can do that that by giving appropriate security to the information, limiting the capability to access and ensure the accurate disclosure of any data and information about the clients as well as the users. In addition, John Juan must always treat all persons fairly, especially, when in his colleagues (if he is part of a team).
.
• To the Profession
As a professional, John should not just depend on the blunt truth, but basically on the mere facts basis. As a systems professional, he must not jump into conclusion unless he has evidences and make some experiments and surveys to prove it for his own. He must not make any unsupported statements or false statements or present any ambiguous information. He must always make a connection to his client, providing that he must inform them about the progress or conflict on the system he makes. He should take or make his research cautiously and meticulously. He must gather, tabulate, and interpret the data and information with complete awareness. He must consult his client first before taking any action, for approval purposes. Also, he must be vigilant in making or disclosing any information as a result of his research. He should always uplift his colleagues to do their very best to make a good outcome.
• To the Society
As part of his responsibility to the society, John Juan must be able to make the system he working at to be beneficial to most number of user as well as it will make the company more profitable. Also, he must generate instructions and proper training to those people who will use the system in order to avoid unnecessary damage to the system and negative feedbacks from the client and users. He must also acknowledge those people who helped (or will help him) and take part on the making of the system.
Skills (In Summary)
Basically, the most important skill John Juan must have, are the following:
• Interpersonal skills: this skill is pertaining to the ability of the systems professional to deal with people in an educated manner. This means that he is capable to appropriately interact with others. This skill includes everything that is necessary in interacting with other people; from communicating skills to listening skills to attitude and manner.
• Business skills: this skill defines the capability of the system professional to deal with the business logic of the client or company he worked in. Essentially, for John Juan, he must be aware on the business process of the company before he could propose a necessary system which fits to the company’s need.
• Analysis and design skills: systems professionals are known to be knowledgeable in terms of analyzing and interpreting problems as well as analyzing and interpreting the gathered data and information related to the problem after he could propose and deign a new system.
• Programming skills: this is a very important skill of a system analyst and John Juan must have a broad background on programming to be able to do the required by the company. Without knowledge on program, it is impossible for a systems analyst or a system professional to generate and deploy an information system.
His Approach on Generating a New Information System
As I have read and understood, based on the given scenario and on the conversion took place between him and Peter Pedro, John Juan wants to be knowledgeable on how the existing information system works; to be able to know the reason why it is necessary for the company to make a new one and to know if it just needs to be improve by doing some modifications and adjustments. This view could be practical in terms of cost to buy new parts and components for the new information system.
PETER PEDRO, THE DEPARTMENT MANAGER
As the department manager, Peter Pedro must be capable to manage many functional areas. He must have the ability to lead; he must acquire good leadership skills in order to handle all the people under his supervision efficiently. Peter Pedro must have a very tough administrative and managerial skill, as well as organizational and analytical skills. Also, as a department manager, Peter Pedro must be very proficient and excellent in making decision as well as he must acquire a good problem solving skills. Since he also manage a team who are assigned for making the system of the company; which means that John Juan is under his supervision, Peter Pedro must have a good background about information technology and facilities management. On the other hand, Peter Pedro is also called as the generalist. He is anticipated to have the ability to manage, at the same time, in several vicinity, proceedings and cut-off date. Peter Pedro must also comprise intense interpersonal and communication skills. This means that he must the “power of the tongue”; the ability to encourage the teams under him to work hard, the ability to persuade clients and the ability to handle fiery situation in a calm state. Also, he must be able to nurture and uphold a mutual and compassionate workplace. Peter Pedro must be able to do his responsibilities with minimal supervision.
Skills (In Summary)
• The capacity to lead and encourage a team
• Outstanding communication and people skills
• A great dedication to customer service
• The aptitude to perform under stress and nervous tension and can take care of demanding state of affairs
• Self-confidence, determination and eagerness
• Decision-making competence and a sense of accountability
• The ability to scrutinize and be familiar with sales figure
His Approach on Generating a New Information System
As I have read and understood, based on the given scenario and on the conversion took place between him and John Juan, Peter Pedro does not want John Juan to go over to the old system again. For his point of view, he wanted to go directly to the list of requirements for the system he wants to develop by John Juan’s team. As far as I am concern, Peter Pedro would like to totally break down the old system and develop and deploy a new one. This approach could lead to time effectiveness; the point here is, if the systems professional will go on finding what was wrong and still can be use in the old system, they would spend a lot of time and the deadline for the expected output would be extended and the deployment of the new system will be delayed.
Comparison of Their Approach
Both John Juan and Peter Pedro have points in their different approach and both approaches are for the benefit of making a new system. Primarily, although John Juan and Peter Pedro have different approach on how to make the system analysis, they still have one goal and that is to make a functional information system. As an educated system professional, John Juan’s actions and approach is based on what he knows is right and because it is part of what he has learned. I believe he just want to have a better and thorough review and research on the old system to generate a great idea in order to produce an effective and efficient new system. On the other hand, Peter Pedro would go directly on making the new system since, based on what he has said in the conversation between him and John Juan, they always get the customized and modified edition of the old system which is not fit to the new system they require and want to have. Obviously, Peter Pedro really wants to have and deploy new information system. He does not care if the old system only needs some adjustments and modification and can still be use. All he wants is only to have a new information system that possibly will be utilized for his department. (Well, it is only based on how I understand the things that Peter Pedro told John Juan in their conversation.)
Which Approach I Am In Favor With?
Well, based on the scenario with their conversation, my sympathy will be with John Juan. Primarily because he is more knowledgeable in making efficient information system compared to Peter Pedro, who only do managing and supervising although he has, somehow, knowledge about information system procedures, but not that much knowledge as of John Juan.
As a good and effective systems analyst or a systems professional, it is necessary that you always go into detail, no matter how big or small it is, as long as it is related to the system you are working at. In the case of John Juan, he only wants to go over to the old system to be able to know if there could be something on it that can still be use. Also, by making that step, he could bring about new and better ideas that will be very helpful for his client as will as for the users. John Juan is only applying the step by step procedure of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) which is essential in building an operative and competent information system.
It seems that the information systems develop is essential for the part of Peter Pedro but it will be inappropriate for the case of the system analyst (systems professional, John Juan), the one who will make the system, to directly jump and do what Peter Pedro wants. It must be “doing what you need for the benefit of many than doing what you want for your own benefit.”
As A System Analyst…Method I Will Propose..
As a systems analyst, I want to consider the time I will spend in making the system as well as the cost and the availability of the resources. First and foremost, it is important for a systems analyst to know the needs of the client. Although, sometimes, there is a point that the systems analyst has a different views compared to the client that would bring up an unnecessary misunderstanding. But basically, to be able to produce a good information system, the client and the systems analyst must agreed on the same idea, and they must always consult each other as the process takes place. Since in our previous assignment, we were tasked to discuss different systems development models that are appropriate in making a good and functional information system. If I were John Juan, I will use the Synchronize-and-stabilize (sometimes just called sync-and-stabilize). For me, Synchronize-and-stabilize method is appropriate in making a good and effective information system since the works can be done in parallel. Also, in parallelism method, works can be done on a less allotted time. The only thing is, in the progress of the process of making the system, people who work in parallel must interact to one another to ensure that their works are correct, and to avoid iterated works.
SYNCHRONIZE-AND-STABILIZE (SYNC-AND-STABILIZE)
One of the models in the Systems Development Life Cycle is the Synchronize-and-stabilize (sometimes just called sync-and-stabilize). It is an SDLC model in which teams work in parallel on individual application modules, repeatedly coordinating their code with that of other teams, and debugging (stabilizing) code on a regular basis all the way through the development procedure. It is said that the sync-and-stabilize model is more advantageous over the older waterfall, which is rigorously chronological in nature. Because sync-and-stabilize development allows parallelism, changes can be done at any point in the process and for that, it can be flexible, and responding to the market requirement changes is easier.
In Synchronize and Stabilize Model:
Product development and testing is done in parallel
Vision statement and evolving specification
Features prioritized and built in 3 or 4 milestone sub projects
Frequent synchronization (daily builds) and intermediate stabilization (milestone)
“Fixed” release and ship dates and multiple release cycles
Customer feedback continuous in the development process
Product and process design so large teams work like small teams
The Synchronize and Stabilize Model is more flexible compared to Sequential Model in System Development Life Cycle. Since synch-and-stabilize approach uses parallelism, more works can be done and it is also a cost-effective scheme compared to sequential approach which uses a chronological method.
The Synchronize and Stabilize team process can be summarized as follows:
Feature Oriented
Synchronize (daily build) and Stabilize (fix errors at end of each milestone, such that the required set of features is completely functional)
Product Managers develop a vision statement and feature list based on customer input
Program Managers develop an initial functional specification based on the vision statement
Program Managers create schedules and parallel feature teams of 3-8 developers and testers based on the functional specification
Team members can work autonomously, thus maintaining some creative freedom on the project, provided their work can be combined successfully into the daily builds
Teams develop their own playful penalties for breaking the daily build, which forces a certain amount of discipline amongst a team, while at the same time remaining democratic
According to the book “How Microsoft Builds” by Cusumano and Selby, there are phases which is need to under go in synch-and-stabilize approach.
PLANNING PHASE (3-12 months, depending on size of project)
Vision Statement – Product and program management use extensive customer input to identify and priority-order product features.
Specification - Based on vision statement, program management and development group defines feature functionality, architectural issues and components inter dependencies.
Schedule And Feature Team Formation ¬- Based on specification document, program management coordinates schedule and arranges feature teams that each contain approximately 1 program manager, 3 to 8 developers, and 3 to 8 testers(who work in parallel 1:1 with developers.)
DEVELOPMENT PHASE (6-12 months)
Project managers coordinate evolution of specification. Developers design, code, and debug. Testers pair with developers for continuous testing.
Subproject I: most crucial 1/3 features, milestone release I
Subproject II: second 1/3 features, milestone release II
Subproject III: final (least critical) 1/3 features, milestone release III --- code complete
STABILIZATION PHASE (3-8 MONTHS)
Program managers coordinate OEMs and ISVs and monitor customer feedback. Developers perform final debugging and code stabilization.
Internal Testing - Testers recreate and isolate errors.
External Testing - Thorough testing of complete product within the company.
Release Preparation - Thorough testing of complete product outside the company by “beta” sites such as OEMs, ISVs, and end users. Prepare final release of “golden master” disk and documentation for manufacturing.
Conclusion:
As a systems analyst, one must always capable of knowing how the old system works before proposing a new system. Primarily, there must be something wrong with the old system that is why the company wants to have a new system. As a good and effective systems analyst, he or she must be able to apply, if necessary, the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
REDUCE: It could be apply in reducing the cost as well as the time that could be allotted. Basically, if the systems analyst proposes to use some parts of the existing system in making a new one,, there will be able saved in terms of cost as well as time. For instance, a specific component is not available in a near location, which means there is a need to go to other location to find or buy that component. That will cost time and money. If that happens, there will be cots ineffectiveness as well as delay of scheduled time the systems must do.
REUSE: Instead of just throwing things away, try to find ways to use them again. Fundamentally, reusing the materials that can still be even avail will lessen the budget allotted to buy new parts and components for making the new system.
RECYCLE: Nowadays, numerous numbers of materials we use can be recycled. We are all aware that recycled materials undergo procedures that make it possible to generate or produce new products and materials from the old ones.
My main point here is, if there is just a need of improvement on the existing system, there is no need to junk or break the whole system. Making some adjustments on current system will do as long as the new system that the company needs and want is fit to the capability of the improved system. Nonetheless, if the company really needs to have a new system with new parts and components, here comes the time that the systems analyst would do the feasibility analyzing and propose a new system considering the business logic of the company he works in. Also, the systems analyst and the client must agree on the same idea to avoid misunderstandings. To be able to make a good system, both must helping each other and supporting each other as well encouraging their colleagues to work hard and enjoy what they are doing. Lastly, acknowledging ones help and work is necessary to build a good relationship between the people who worked hard in producing an information system.
Sources:
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/html/cnc9764/cnc9764.html
http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/professional-guidelines.html
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/romance/staff/TFIRM/roleofmanager.pdf
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/synchronize-and-stabilize
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