Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 1V. V. ScopingScoping the Problem the ProblemTypes of information system projectsTypes of information system projectsChoosing Among AlternativesChoosing Among AlternativesExample: The Hotel Checkout SystemExample: The Hotel Checkout SystemExample: The Computer Books By Mail CorporationExample: The Computer Books By Mail CorporationBusiness Process ReengineeringBusiness Process ReengineeringInformation Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 2Why Start an Information SystemWhy Start an Information SystemProject?Project? Types of information system projects: Computerize a function within an organization; Integrate existing information systems; Develop a new application for an existing information system; Convert an existing application to a new platform; Modify or extend an existing application. Reasons for initiating an information system project: Problem-driven: competition, crisis,... Change-driven: new needs, growth, change in business,change in environment; Opportunity-driven: new technology; Part of a previous plan.Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 3Where Do We Start?Where Do We Start?Scope the problemScope the problem - what is the objective of the project? ... the“vision” of those who are pushing for it? (Provided by the “customer”)e.g., “Meeting scheduling is too costly right now” Scope the solutionScope the solution - given the vision, how much do we tackle?e.g., “Build a system that schedules meetings”, vs“Build a system that maintains people’s calendars” vs ... Choose a business processChoose a business process - what is the scheduling process?e.g., “Anyone who wants to schedule a meeting goes to thesecretary, gives details and the secretary handles the rest” vs“Anyone can submit a meeting request, participants areinformed and a negotiation settles meeting details.” Choose among alternative computerized solutions, given aChoose among alternative computerized solutions, given abusiness processbusiness process -- assuming that the secretary handles timetablegathering…e.g., “Computer takes in scheduling request details, outputs asolution”vs “Solution arrived at interactively by secretary and computer” ...Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 4ScopingScoping the Problem the ProblemThe problem is usually defined vaguely by the customer: Consider a university textbook store; say the manager wantsto computerize the book order forms filled out by instructors; A large insurance company wants to cut down the averagetime it takes to process an insurance claim from 2 months to 2weeks; A telecommunications company wants to integrate its billingsystem with customer record systems of several affiliates, sothere is only one billing system...or, Put a man on the moon by the end of the decade (...thesixties, that is)Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 5ScopingScoping the Problem the ProblemOften, what the analyst gets when she begins her study is symptomssymptomsrather than causescauses (...the problem). For example, consider thefollowing case:“Ontario patients needing a particular typeof X-ray testing have to wait for months” The long wait is the symptom, not the problem. The problem maybe:Shortage of X-ray machines;Shortage of trained staff;Shortage of doctors to process the dataInefficient scheduling procedures...Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 6Scoping the ProblemFor the Bookstore example: “Textbooks are often not ordered intime for the start of classes” But that’s just a symptom, so you ask the manager “why?”:“Because we don’t receive the booklists from instructors earlyenough” Is that just a symptom of some other problem?…so ask theinstructors “why?”: “Because the instructors aren’t allocated tocourses early enough” Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …so ask theUG office “why?” “Because we never know who’s available toteach until the last minute” Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …so ask thedept chair “why?”: “Because there’s always uncertainty aboutwho gets hired, sabbaticals, etc.” Is that just a symptom of some other problem?…so ask thedept chair “why?”: “Because instructors we want to hire don’taccept our offers early enough”…Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 7Scoping the Problem (cont’d) Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …so ask thenew recruits “why?”: “Because some other universities seemto wait for ages before making offers” Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …so ask U ofWaterloo, etc, “why?”: “Because it takes our department along time to reach consensus on hiring” Is that just a… …oh wait… …maybe we can develop adecision support system for faculty hiring at U of Waterloo,and that will help us get our textbooks for the start of class…Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping -- 8Scoping Scoping the Problemthe Problem The next thing that needs to be settled during analysis is thescopescope of the solution to be tackled. Suppose you decided that delay in processing booklists frominstructors is the right level of problem to tackle. Should we try to: Just computerize the submission of textbook forms for allcourses, or Computerize submission of forms and ordering frompublishers, or Computerize submission of forms, ordering from publishersand the management of book inventories. Scoping is about selecting among different scopes andscopes andboundariesboundaries for the solution to be implemented, e.g., a newsystem which only handles purchase orders, vs one that handlesbudgets as well. In addition to these, we assume that organizational goals andorganizational goals andobjectivesobjectives are fixed, so
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