chapter 3 feasibility analysis & systems project...

Chapter 3Feasibility Analysis & Systems Project Management

Copyright 2004, Merrill Warkentin page 1

Determining Feasibility, Managing Analysis and

Design Activities

Professor Merrill WarkentinMississippi State University

2 © Copyright 2005, Merrill Warkentin

Overview

project initiation

determiningproject feasibility

project scheduling

managing project activities

managing systems analysisteam members


Reasons for initiating projects

Problems that lend themselvesto systems solutionsOpportunities for improvement through

upgrading systemsaltering systemsinstalling new systems


Improvement possibilities

speeding up a processstreamlining a processcombining processesreducing errorsin input

reducing redundant storagereducing redundant outputimproving system andsubsystem integration


Managing Design Activities

teams and tension

develop common norms

enhance communication/team-building

agree on productivity goals

motivate team members


Managing analysis & design

promote communication between members

utilize feedback to minimize tensioncreate explicit norms

set productivity goalsbased on member expertise,past performance,nature of the specific project




Managing analysis & design

motivate project team membersaffiliation, control,independence, creativity

avoid project failurestake advantage of training,experience, project analysis


Project selection criteria

backed by managementtimed appropriately forcommitment of resourcesmoves the business towardattainment of its goalspracticableimportant enough to be consideredover other projects


Feasibility

feasibility study assesses the operational, technical, and economic merits of the proposed projectthree type

technical feasibilityeconomic feasibilityoperational feasibilityschedule, legal, ethical


Technical Feasibility

Can we do it? - Is technology available?are current technical resources sufficient to build the new system? can resources be upgraded to provide the level of technology necessary for the new system?


Economic Feasibility

Can we afford it? Will it pay for itself?whether the time and money are available to develop the systemincludes the purchase of

new equipmenthardwaresoftware


Economic Feasibility AnalysisCosts

development costsoperating costs

Benefitstangible (quantifiable)intangible - important!

How do we decide?




Operational feasibility

Should we do it? Can we make it work?determines if the human resources are available to operate the systemonce it has been installedusers that do not want a new system may prevent it from becoming operationally feasible


Other Feasibility Factors

schedule feasibilitycan it be completed on time?

legal feasibilitydoes it violate any laws?

social and ethical feasibilityis it right?


Feasibility Analysis

define project objectivesdetermine organizational objectivesverify that objectives are acceptable

determine resourcesjudge feasibility

decision is made by managementsystems analyst provides expert advice


Feasibility Study

define problem, objectives, scope

identify constraints and limitations

develop alternative solutions

estimate costs & benefits

prepare feasibility report

system proposal for senior mgt.


Feasibility Impact Grid (FIG)used to assess the impact of any improvements to the existing systemcan increase awareness of the impacts made on the achievement ofcorporate objectivescurrent or proposed systems on the leftobjectives listed on the topred arrows indicate a positive impactgreen arrows indicate implementation


Activity planning

design team selection & assignment

estimate task time

schedule project / task




Activity control

monitoring using feedback

expediting or rescheduling

motivating teams


Activity planning & controlestimate time required

major phasesindividual taskstime for each task

schedulingGantt charts PERT diagrams

expeditingconstantly review schedules andcosts over life of project


Scheduling tools

Gantt Charts PERT Diagrams


Computer-based project schedulingbenefits

low costsimple, intuitive, GUIvariety of display options

programs Microsoft ProjectSymantec’s TimelineCA-Super Project

personal information managers (PIMS)ECCOOrganizer


GANTT charts

project scheduling technique

each bar represents a task

length of bars = relative length of task

visual, simple

enhancescommunication

A

B

C

D

E


PERT charts

nodes = events

establishes critical path(longest, no slack time)

portrays order of precedence

helps identify critical activitiesand slack time

10 5040

20

30

A,4 C,5

B,2 D,3

E,6




PERT diagram advantages

easy identification of theorder of precedence

easy identification of the critical path and thus critical activitieseasy determination of slack time,the leeway to fall behind onnon-critical paths


Team management

teams often have two leaders:one who leads members to accomplish tasksone concerned with social relationships

the systems analyst must manageteam memberstheir activitiestheir time, and resources


Goal setting

set for tangible outputs and process activitiesmust be reasonablehelp to motivateteam members


Copyright NoticeThis document may not, in whole or part,

be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, transmitted,

or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without explicit permission and written authorization

from Dr. Merrill Warkentin.

[email protected]

MISProfessor.com

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