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LN17 PDF

The document summarizes key aspects of system implementation, testing, documentation, maintenance, and website maintenance. It discusses seven major activities of implementation including coding, testing, and installation. It also outlines categories of testing like unit testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing. The document notes that documentation takes significant time and resources to develop properly. System maintenance involves corrective, adaptive, and preventive changes and accounts for a large portion of IT budgets. Website maintenance requires attention to uptime, links, and search engine registration.

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54 views

LN17 PDF

The document summarizes key aspects of system implementation, testing, documentation, maintenance, and website maintenance. It discusses seven major activities of implementation including coding, testing, and installation. It also outlines categories of testing like unit testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing. The document notes that documentation takes significant time and resources to develop properly. System maintenance involves corrective, adaptive, and preventive changes and accounts for a large portion of IT budgets. Website maintenance requires attention to uptime, links, and search engine registration.

Uploaded by

Trump Donald
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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I S 460 Lecture Notes Professor Yong Tan

Lecture 17. Implementation and Maintenance

System Implementation
• Seven major activities
– Coding
– Testing
– Installation
– Documentation
– Training
– Support
The Process of Coding, Testing and Installation
• Coding
– Physical design specifications are turned into working computer code
• Testing
– Tests are performed using various strategies
– Testing can be performed in parallel with coding
• Installation
– Process during which the current system is replaced by the new system

1. MANAGING PROGRAMMING
Project Manager’s Tasks during Programming
1. The Programmer Paradox
• More is not always better than less!
• After the “right” number of people are assigned to a programming task, adding more
people slows down rather than speeds up completion of the project.
• Projects requiring a large team should be broken into a series of independent, smaller parts.
2. Coordinating Activities
• Weekly (hopefully brief) meetings
• Create and follow standards
• Organize programmer’s work areas
– Development area
– Testing area
– Production area
• Implement change control mechanisms
• Use program log to monitor program changes
3. Managing the Schedule
• Use initial time estimates as a baseline
• Revise time estimates as construction proceeds
• Fight against scope creep
• Monitor “minor” slippage
• Create risk assessment and track changing risks
• Fight the temptation to lower quality to meet unreasonable schedule demands

2. DESIGNING TESTS
Categories of Testing
• Stub testing
– Tests control structures before all modules are written
• Unit testing
– Tests each module to assure that it performs its function
• Integration testing
– Tests the interaction of modules to assure that they work together

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I S 460 Lecture Notes Professor Yong Tan

• System testing
– Tests to assure that the software works well as part of the overall system
• Acceptance testing
– Tests to assure that the system serves organizational needs
Unit Testing
• Black Box Testing
– Focuses on whether the unit meets requirements stated in specification
• White-Box Testing
– Looks inside the module at actual code
Integration Testing
• User interface testing
– Tests each interface function
• Use-scenario testing
– Ensures that each use scenario works correctly
• Data flow testing
– Tests each process in a step-by-step fashion
• System interface testing
– Ensures data transfer between systems
System Testing
• Requirements Testing
– Ensures that integration did not cause new errors
• Usability Testing
– Tests how easy and error-free the system is in use
• Security Testing
– Assures that security functions are handled properly
• Performance Testing
– Assures that the system works under high volumes of activity
• Documentation Testing
– Analysts check the accuracy of documentation
Acceptance Testing
• Alpha Testing
– Performed by users to assure they accept the system; frequently repeats earlier tests
• Beta Testing
– Uses real data, not test data. Actual users monitor for errors or needed improvements.

3. DEVELOPING DOCUMENTATION
Types of Documentation
• System Documentation
– Intended to help programmers and analysts understand and maintain the system after it is
installed
• User Documentation
– Intended to help users operate the system
Types of User Documentation
• Reference documents
• Procedures manuals
• Tutorials
Producing Documentation
• High quality documentation takes about 3 hours per page or 2 hours per screen
• The task should not be left to the end of the project
• Time required to develop and test user documentation should be built into project plan
• On-line documentation is growing in importance

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I S 460 Lecture Notes Professor Yong Tan

Value of Online Documentation


• Searching is simplified
• Information can be presented in multiple formats
• New methods of interacting with documentation are possible (e.g., tool tips)
• Less costly than paper documentation
Sources of Documentation Topics
• The commands and menus in the user interface
• Users’ business tasks (what they need to do)
• Definitions of terms
Sources of Navigation Terms
• The commands and menus in the user interface
• Major system concepts (e.g., data entities)
• Set of tasks performed by users
• Synonyms for the items above (users don’t always use our terminology).
Guidelines for Crafting Documentation Topics
• Use the active voice
• Minimize use of “to be” verbs
• Use consistent terms
• Use simple language
• Use friendly language
• Use parallel grammatical structure
• Use steps correctly
• Use short paragraphs

4. MAINTAINING INFORMATION SYSTEMS


The Process of Maintaining Information Systems
• Process of returning to the beginning of the SDLC and repeating development steps focusing on
system change until the change is implemented
• Four major activities
– Obtaining maintenance requests
– Transforming requests into changes
– Designing changes
– Implementing changes
• Deliverables and Outcomes
– Development of a new version of the software and new versions of all design documents
created or modified during the maintenance effort
Conducting System Maintenance
• Corrective maintenance
– Changes made to a system to repair flaws in its design, coding, or implementation
• Adaptive maintenance
– Changes made to a system to evolve its functionality to changing business needs or
technologies
• Perfective maintenance
– Changes made to a system to add new features or to improve performance
• Preventive maintenance
– Changes made to a system to avoid possible future problems
The Cost of Maintenance
• Many organizations allocate eighty percent of information systems budget to maintenance
– $70 billion annually (IEEE estimate)
– 75% of the Fortune 1000’s IS budget
• Factors that influence system maintainability

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I S 460 Lecture Notes Professor Yong Tan

– Latent defects
– Number of customers for a given system
– Quality of system documentation
– Maintenance personnel
– Tools
– Well-structured programs
Managing Maintenance
• Number of people working in maintenance has surpassed number working in development
• Three possible organizational structures
– Separate
• Maintenance group consists of different personnel than development group
– Combined
• Developers also maintain systems
– Functional
• Maintenance personnel work within the functional business unit
Managing Maintenance
• Assignment of personnel
– Maintenance work is often viewed negatively by IS personnel
– “Maintaining a computer program is one of life’s dreariest jobs … for most American
programmers, it is a fate worse than death” -- Edward Yourdon
– Organizations have historically have rewarded people involved in new development better
than maintenance personnel
– Organizations often rotate personnel in and out of maintenance roles in order to lessen
negative feelings about maintenance
Measures of Effectiveness
• Number of failures
• Time between each failure
• Type of failure
• Mean time between failures (MTBF)
– A measurement of error occurrences that can be tracked over time to indicate the quality of
a system
Website Maintenance
• Special considerations
– 24 X 7 X 365
• Nature of continuous availability makes maintenance challenging
• Pages under maintenance can be locked
• Date and time stamps
– Check for broken links
– HTML Validation
• Pages should be processed by a code validation routine before publication
Website Maintenance
• Special considerations (continued)
– Re-registration
• When content significantly changes, site may need to be re-registered with search engines
– Future Editions
• Consistency is important to users
• Post indications of future changes to the site
• Batch changes

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