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Introduction
In this era of technological
revolution, when everything has been influenced by information technology, the use
of information systems is getting common in businesses, institutions,
organizations across all industries. The trend of using information systems is
increasing with the passage of time. It is vital to understand that an
information system is a collection of multiple pieces of software and hardware
equipment, which are used in the process of collecting information, then
processing, storing, as well as, disseminating that information across the
organization. If one has to look at a few simple examples of information
systems, then some of the examples are smartphones, personal computers,
networks, as well as, databases. The information system is used by an
organization to perform a range of tasks such as interacting with the customers
along with suppliers, managing their day to day operations, performing
different tasks, and handling their marketing activities and campaigns. It is
important to mention here that whatever the information system is being used by
an organization, humans will remain to be an essential part of the process
because these systems cannot work without the help of human resources. There
are so many types of information systems available, and it is up to the need
and requirements of an organization, what kind of information system they need
Comparing the
advantages and disadvantages of three different Information Systems Development
Method
It is vital to understand that there
are various types of information system development methods, and each method
has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some of these information system
development methods are complex, whereas some others are common and easy to
understand. In this report, the focus will be to discuss some easy to
understand methods, and compare them on the basis of their aspects. Before
moving to the next sections of this report, it is important to mention here
that three information system development methods to be compared are systems
development life cycle method, spiral methods, as well as, waterfall method.
1. Case Study
There are so many types of
information systems, and these information systems have proved a handful for
small and large business organizations to manage their day-to-day tasks and
operations in a variety of contexts. When it comes to deal with customers, an
example of an information system is Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Many organizations use CRM as an important tool to manage their interaction
with their customers. When it comes to looking at the operational side, there
are so many information systems to help organizations to manage their
operations such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Procurement, and
Inventory and Stock Control. In the essence of research and development, there
are various information systems, especially when the medical field is reviewed
in this regard; the famous example is the Electronic Medical Record (EMR).
There are various other categories in real-world scenarios, where different
categories are covered by information systems such as financial, human
resource, information management, productivity, business intelligence, and
knowledge management
To understand the role and use of
information systems in a real-world application, it is necessary to look at a
case study scenario to see how things happened. A study was conducted in 2014
to see customer relationship management (CRM) as an important information
system to work in the context of flour mills. In this research, a case study
approach was taken as flour mills were the primary source of information to see
how they have used CRM, and how it has proved beneficial for them. It is a
well-known fact that handling customers is one of the major concerns of every
business organization, and organizations with better handling processes remain
on the top in the industry. Every business organization has to interact with
its customers, and if they are not able to manage this relationship
effectively, it can cost them in so many ways. There was a time when there were
no information systems to help organizations in this cause, and manual handling
and management was done. However, now life has been made easier with the help
of CRMs. In this case study, the purpose of this research was to see the use of
CRM, and how these flour mills have been able to deal with their customers. To
collect useful data regarding the research study was collected through a survey
questionnaire method. After analyzing collected data and responses, when
results were prepared, it was found that these flour mills are benefitting a
lot from the CRM. It was found that flour mills, which have used and integrated
CRM properly, gained a lot of benefits. It was also found that employees of
these flour mills showed resistance and concerns regarding the use of CRM
because they were not prepared for this kind of change in the business
processes. It is vital to understand that a proper appraisal system should be
developed so that employees can easily embrace CRMs. The efforts of management
looked to be quite critical in this regard
2. Criteria for the
Analysis
It is vital to have some kind of
criteria to continue with this analysis. In this report, a standard evaluation
framework will be used and things will be reviewed under this evaluation
criterion, where a detailed explanation and description of three information
system development methods will be provided. Once these three information
system development methods will be described with their own features such as
advantages and disadvantages, then a comparison will be made in a table form to
see the strong and weak points of these information system development methods.
3. Comparative Analysis
In this comparative analysis
section, three information system developmentmethods will be discussed in
detail, and then a comparison would be provided to see, which one looks better
than the others.
The Spiral Method: The
first method in this comparison is the Spiral Method. It is one of the
important information system development methods, which is considered great in
terms of risk-driven scenarios. The most interesting thing about this method is
that it is a combination of the waterfall method and the iterative method.
Every method has its own processes to handle for the organizations, and the
spiral method is known for its risk management capabilities. It is one of the
best choices for software engineers because it proves quite effective in this
regard. If an organization is looking to deal with complex, expensive, large,
as well as, complicated information system projects, then using the spiral
method can be quite useful in a variety of ways. There are different phases of
the spiral method, and each phase has various steps. The first phase is called
the planning phase. In this phase, the first thing is to do an estimation of
the resources, schedule, and costs for the process of iteration. Every new
system comes with a range of requirements, and this phase of planning helps to
identify those requirements. It is vital to identify these requirements to
develop better communication in the process. Once planning is done, a proposed
design for the overall system is also developed at this stage. In the next
phase, the system’s 1st prototype is developed by using the preliminary design
proposed in the previous phase. This prototype is a good indication for the
final product
In the next phase, the most critical
thing is risk analysis. When a plan is finalized with a proposed design, it is
vital to identify any kinds of potential risks so that a risk mitigation
strategy is developed to deal with the risks. This risk analysis process is
quite crucial because these risks can become the cause of the failure of the
system. When risk analysis is done, the next phase is the testing and
engineering phase. At this phase, the information system is developed, codes,
as well as, tested. The last phase of this process is the evaluation phase.
When the spiral method is used to developed software for the customers, it is
evaluated by constant monitoring, and this evaluation explains the overall
performance of the system. The spiral method comes with certain advantages and
disadvantages. The first advantage of the spiral method is the fact that
additional functions can easily be added in this information system method. It
means that if any changes are required in the later stages, one can easily make
those changes. This method is also considered useful in terms of cost
estimation. Risk management is one of the best advantages of this method. It is
one of those methods, which is faster in its development process. There are a
few disadvantages as well as this method has a risk, where it may not be able
to meet the given budget or schedule. This development method is only suitable
for complicated and large information systems, which means a lot of effort and
resources required. It is critical to follow its given protocols, and if any
protocol is missed, things become difficult to manage. There are so many
phases, so a lot of documentation is required
The Waterfall Method:It
is one of the basic development methods, which has been used for decades, and
it has also provided the basis for other methodologies to get things going.
When its roots are traced back to the past, it is evident that the waterfall
method was primarily used in the era of 1970s. It is observed that when the aim
is to come up with a system that has the essence of a sequential and linear
approach; the use of the waterfall method is the most appropriate thing to do.
One must understand that the waterfall method also comes with different phases,
and each phase has its own crucial place in the process of development of
systems. When a phase ends with output, that output is used as a source for
input to be used in the next phase. The first and foremost critical phase of
this model is the requirement phase. At this stage, it is determined what kind
of requirements are there for a system so that a proper information system is
developed to handle those requirements. Once requirements are identified, now
it is time to come up with a design of the system. It is critical to developing
a logical design, which has the feasibility to be used in the information
system of an organization. If the design is not logical, then it won’t comply
with the system. Once a design is finalized, the next phase in this process is
the implementation of the design as per the proposed steps. The design is
implemented with the essence of the waterfall method. Verification is the next
phase of this process, which is actually an evaluation phase, where system
design is evaluated to verify if it is working properly or not and if it needs
any improvement. The last phase in this process is the maintenance phase, where
customers are provided the information system to use, and when any kind of
problem is identified, those problems are noted, and maintenance is done to
keep things on a right track
It was mentioned earlier that every
system has a few advantages and disadvantages so the waterfall method also has
a few of them. The best part of this information system development method is
that it is quite a straightforward methodology, where a series of phases is
there to follow one after the other. It means that system is not that complex
to handle and understand. Another advantage of this system is its easy approach
to manage, which makes it easier to manage as compared to other information
system development methods. If there is a small project to be managed, then the
use of the waterfall method is quite a handful, as it is easier to deal with
small projects without any issues. The time management in this model is also
effective as compared to another model. There are methods, which are complex
and difficult to understand, but this is not the case with the waterfall
method, as it is not as difficult as other methods are. Its overall management
is quite simple. As far as disadvantages are concerned, the biggest
disadvantage is that when the method is used to develop an information system,
and later it is found that a revision is required; it does not provide the
facility of doing any revision. If any requirement was missed during the
initial phases, and now the product is going through the testing phase, there
is no viable option to add those missing requirements
System Development Life
Cycle (SDLC) Method:It is one more critical
method of information system development, and it is quite similar to the
methods of spiral and waterfall. It is one of those development methods, which
work on a gradual basis, rather than being too faster like the spiral method. Its
gradual development process with its different phases continues until the best
quality information system is developed in the end. It comes with an iterative
process having multiple steps, and there is a structure to follow these steps.
The first phase of this development method is the planning phase, where a
problem is identified with its scope so that a viable solution can be proposed.
The benefits, limitations, time, costs, as well as, resources are finalized at
this stage. The 2nd phase of SDLC is the analysis of the system to find out
relevant requirements. Here, functional requirements are determined and defined
as the scope of the project. The 3rd phase in this process is system design.
Two previous phases have helped to identify requirements and planning is done,
so it is time to develop a system design as per needs. When the design of the
system is proposed and finalized, the next phase is the development stage,
where the system is actually developed. When the system is developed, it is
used and tested in the 5th phase for its flaws and performance. The 6th phase
is the implementation phase, where the system is practically implemented and
used to see if it is performing as per expectations or not. If any issues are
found, or any additional requirements are identified, in both cases, the
maintenance stage would help to add new functions and capabilities
As far as advantages and
disadvantages are concerned, SDLC also comes with various advantages and disadvantages.
The biggest advantage of the system development life cycle method is that it
has a series of structure steps, which means that it can be handled by
following those steps one after the other. There is complete clarity in this
regard and there is no confusion. The next advantage of SDLC is that it is
easier to manage, and if any problem is found, then one can go back to the
previous stage to remove the problem area, and then get back again on its given
track. It means that when an error is noticed, it allows making some changes to
deal with those errors. However, there are few limitations as well for the SDLC
method. It is observed that it may not be as stable as it supposed to be, and
it happens because control on such kind of method is not as efficient as it is
in the other two methods of information system development. Some issues have
also been noticed with its documentation process
Comparative
Table
|
System
Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Method |
The
Waterfall Method |
The
Spiral Method |
|
It is
one of the easy to manage information system development methods |
It has series of steps to follow
and easier to manager |
It is difficult and complex to
manage |
|
If any
problem is identified, SDLC allows users to make changes ot go back to the
previous phase |
In this method, if any error has been noticed at
any phase, it cannot be fixed and user cannot go back to any previous stage |
If an additional function or any changes are
identified during the process, those changes can easily be made in this
method |
|
This
method also does not include an risk assessment process |
There is no risk analysis process
in this method |
Risk mitigation and analysis is
important part of the process |
|
It can
be used for both small and large projects |
This method is only used for the small kind of
projects |
When there are large as well as complicated
projects, spiral model works best in such a scenario |
4. Recommendation of
the Suitable Method
After looking at three different information system development methods, it can be said that all of them have their own pros and cons, and each one is suitable for different kinds of projects and circumstances. Keeping the aforementioned case study in context, it can be said that the spiral model can be used for the flour mills because it was found that employees resisted using new CRM as they were not prepared for it. If an organization would have used the spiral method to implement the new CRM, it would have kept this risk in view. So, risk analysis and risk mitigation are two important elements to keep in mind, when a new information system is being developed and implemented. If the project is small, then it is considerable to use the waterfall method, but here it is concluded that the spiral method looks to be the best choice among these three information system development methods.
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