Module 3

Development of MIS
Contents
 Development of Long Range Plans of MIS
 Ascertaining the Class of Information
 Determining the Information Requirement
 Development and Implementation of MIS
 Management of Quality in MIS
 Organization for development of MIS
 MIS: the factors for Success and Failure
IS Planning: Strategic
• Analysis of
▫ Strategic objectives
▫ Policies
▫ Human Resource
▫ Maturity of IS usage of the organization
▫ Present and future needs of the organization
• Includes
▫ Broad guidelines on allocation of resources
▫ Mechanism of control of process of IS
development
▫ Guidelines for implementing strategies of the plan
IS Planning: Long Range
• Primarily to understand user needs and
objectives
• Focuses on expectations of users from system,
not project specific details
• Time horizon of 5 to 10 years typically
• Step-wise course of action
▫ Collecting background data
▫ Analysing the broad long-term needs
▫ Developing long-range plan document
IS Planning: Medium Range
• Present information needs of the organization
• Time horizon is 1-2 years, focus on present
• Plan of action for portfolio of IS projects
• Resource requirements for each
• Procurement of necessary resources for
implementation
• Staffing needs analysis
• Budgeting and funding issues
• Priority setting of projects under development
IS Planning: Short Range
• Time horizon few months to a year
• Operational details and short-term goals and
objectives
• Maintenance plan for existing systems
• Development plans for top priority systems
• Technical support required for development
• Operations, training, staffing, financial plan
containing practices and procedures for relevant
issues in short term
Development of Long Range Plans of
MIS
• Planning is essential to achieve success
• Information is a major resource for MIS
• Using proper data entry methods and plan from proper
resource
• MIS plan flexible to adapt to time, circumstances and latest
technology
• Provides direction for development of systems
• Provides basis for achieving specific targets or tasks against
time frame
• Plan related with goals and objectives of MIS:
▫ Provide online information about everything
▫ Quick process of query
▫ Focus on end user
▫ Will contain strategic, tactical and operational area of business
Contents of MIS plan
• Can contain following major elements
▫ Deal with business plan
▫ Strategy for plan achievement
▫ Architecture of MIS
▫ System development schedule
▫ Hardware and software plan
Bharti Airtel grows at a stunning pace by
keeping its focus on the customer
“It’s our ability to bring activation from
four days to two hours, and our billing
cycles from 15 days to two hours, It’s our
ability to handle more and more
customers.”

• Based in New Delhi, Bharti Airtel is India’s

largest private sector telecom operator, with a
strong presence in mobile communications,
fixed line services, and domestic and
international long distance services in each of
India’s 23 “circles”
Bharti Airtel: Business Challenge and
Solution
• Business Challenge
▫ Needed to maximize its future flexibility and
growth potential
▫ Needed to find a way to focus on developing new
services
• Solution
▫ Entered into 10-year agreement with IBM to
transform management of IT infrastructure
▫ Provides a standardized framework to integrate its
channels and customer-facing processes
Business Benefits
• Ability to process 1.5 million new customers per
month
• Improved cross-selling and targeting
• More seamless, efficient total customer experience
through end-to-end integration of customer facing
processes
• Optimization of business processes
• Optimization of Infrastructure through flexible,
standardized integration framework
• Focus resources on growing the business
• Flexible pricing model enables to avoid major
increases in capital expenditures
MIS Plan Vs Business Plan

Business Plan MIS Plan

Business goals and objectives MIS objectives, consistent to the business goals
and objectives
Business plan and strategy Information strategy for the business plan
implementation playing a supportive role
Strategy planning and decision Architecture of the MIS to support decisions
Management plan for execution System development schedule, matching the
and control plan execution
Operation plan for the execution Hardware and software plan for the
procurement and the implementation
Strategy for Plan achievement
Designer has to take strategic decisions for achievement of
MIS goals and objectives:
‣ Development Strategy: An online, a batch, a real time.
Technology platform.
‣ System development strategy: Operational VS functional,
Accounting VS Analysis, SSAD (Structured System Analysis and
Design) VS OOT (Object Oriented Technology), Database VS
conventional, Distributed VS Centralized database, one database
VS multiple databases
‣ Resources for system development: In house VS external,
customised development VS the use of packages
‣ Manpower composition: Analyst, programmer skills and know-how
Architecture of MIS
• Provides a system structure and their input,
output and linkages
• Provides a way to handle system or subsystem
by simplification, coupling and decoupling of
subsystems
• Spells out in detail subsystems from data entry
to processing, analysis to modelling and storage
to printing
Example: Architecture of MIS
Example: Transaction Processing
System
Example: Payroll System
Example: Executive Information
System
System Development Schedule
• Consideration to importance of information in
overall information requirement
• Consideration to logical system development
▫ e.g. Developing accounting system first then analysis
• Unless systems are fully developed, integration not
possible
• Development schedule weighed against time scale
for achieving information requirement linked to
business plan
• Time schedule and development schedule can be
revised according to performance of business
Hardware and Software Plan
• Economics of investment worked out after technical and
operational feasibility
• Plan of procurement after hardware and software selection
• Phased approach of investment
▫ Lower configuration at start, higher on development
▫ Match technical decisions with financial decisions
• System Development linked to information requirements,
which are linked to goals and objectives of business
• Selection of architecture, approach to information system
development and choice of hardware and software are
strategic decisions in design and development of MIS
MIS Plan
• Organization’s strategic plan should be basis for
MIS strategic plan
• Information system schedule should match
implementation schedule of business plan
• Choice of IT is strategic business decision and
not financial decision
Model of MIS Plan
Contents Particulars Focus
Corporate information Business environment and Where are we?
current operations
Corporate Current and new Where do we want to
mission/obj/goals mission/goals/obj reach?
ectives
Business risk and rewards Trade off between risk and rewards What is the risk? Support
info to resolve risk
Business policy and strategy Details of the strategic and How do we achieve the
policy decisions affecting goals & objectives?
the business
Information needs Strategic planning: What is the key
managerial & operational information?

Architecture of plan Information technology details What are the tools for
achievement
Schedule of development Details of the system & subsystem When & how will it be
achieved
Organisation & execution of Manpower and delegation details Who will achieve it
the plan
Budget and ROI Details on the investment schedule How much will it cost?
Walmart and Others: Stress-Testing
Websites for the Holiday Season

• What if, in the days up to peak season, a crush of

shoppers forced a retailer to lock its doors?
• Web stores for Walmart, Macy’s and other retailers got
off to a blazing start in 2006 holiday season
• Walmart.com was down for about 10 hours
• Walmart expected order activity to be double the level of
the previous year’s, but it came in at seven times the
previous year’s volume
• They spent 13 months adding faster checkouts and an
interactive toy section, but doors closed
• Macy’s site performed poorly for about 9 hours, down for
about one hour
Stress testing Web Sites
• Many web sites conduct load testing, forecasting and
monitoring and use content distribution networks
for speed performance
• They build e-commerce infrastructures with an eye
on performance, with redundancy at common
failure points
• Marketing, site designers, QA testers often aren’t
watching or sharing the same metrics
• If marketing pushes a promotion without being sure
site design and capacity can handle it, “individual
success but collective failure”
Stress testing Web Sites
• Customers are ruthlessly unforgiving of poor
performance
• Of 1,173 online shoppers in a survey, 53 percent
say they’ll switch to a competitor if site slow to
load
• 21 percent will call customer service
• Stores that kept their sites up did blockbuster
business
 Ascertaining class of information
Information Class Example of information User
Organizational The number of employees, products, services Many users at all the
locations the type of business, turnover and variety levels
of the details of each one of these entities
Functional Purchases, sales, production, stocks, Functional heads and
managerial receivables, payables, outstandings, budgets, others
statutory info.
Knowledge The trends in sales, production, technology. The Middle and the top
deviations from the budgets, targets norms etc. management
competitor’s information, industry & business
information plan performance and target; and its
analysis
Decision Status information on a particular aspect, such Middle management
support as utilization, profitability standard, requirement and operations
versus availability. Info for problem solving and management
modeling. Overdue payments and receivables.
Operational Information on the production, sales, purchase, Operational &
dispatches consumptions etc in the form of management
planned VS actual. Information for monitoring of supervisor, section
execution schedules officers.
Organizational Information
• Information required by a number of personnel,
departments and divisions or functions
• Determined by constructing a matrix of
information VS user

Information entity Manager Manager Manager Manager

(Personnel) (Production) (Administration) (Accounts)
Employees Attendance X X X -

Salary wages and overtime X X X

Human resources X X -
information
Organizational Information
Functional Managerial Information
• Information required by functional head in conducting
administration and management
• Purely local to function, does not have use elsewhere
• Largely factual, statistical and detailed in multi-dimensions
• Normally generated at equal intervals for understanding trend
• Used for planning, budgeting and controlling operations
• Used for assessing particular aspects
▫ e.g. Stocks of finished goods, receivables, orders on hands show marketing
functions, raw material stocks, orders pending and payable show purchase
function
• Assessed on – work design, responsibility and functional objectives
Work Design, Responsibility, Functional
Objective
• Work Design
▫ For customer order scrutiny available stock, price, terms of payment and probable
delivery evolves out of customer order processing
• Responsibility
▫ Managers are responsible for achieving targets and accomplishing goals and
objectives
• Functional Objective
▫ Each function has its own objectives which is derived out of the corporate goals
▫ Some of the business plan objectives are given below based on which each
function in the organization derives its objectives
 Total sales per month is ₹ 10 million
 Finished goods inventory not to exceed ₹ 1 million
 Outstanding more than six months not to exceed ₹ 0.2 million
 Capacity utilisation should be minimum 85 percent
 Employee attendance per month should be 99 percent
Example: Functional Information
 Knowledge
• Creates awareness of aspects where manager is
forced to think, decide and act
• Shows trend or result against time scale
▫ e.g. Quarterly sales trend
• Highlights deviation from norm or standard
• Highlights abnormal developments not in
congruence with forecasts or expectations
• May cut across functional boundaries
• Nature is analytical and relates to past, present
and future
Example: Knowledge
Decision Support Information
• Supports manager in decision making, not direct
input
• Supports in model building and problem solving
• Acts in two ways:
▫ Justifying need of decision
▫ Aid to decision making
• Source could be external or internal
Decision Support
Operational Information
• Required by operational and lower levels of
management
• Main purpose is fact finding and taking actions or
decisions at micro level
▫ e.g. Decision to stay overtime, draw additional
material, change job from one machine to other, send
reminder to supplier for supply
• Make routine operations smooth and efficient
• Sources are internal through transaction processing
• Relates to small time span and is mostly current
Operational Information Systems
Frito-Lay Inc.: Failure and Success in
Systems Development

• Created national sales team to focus on customers such

as supermarket chains
• Teams used to work regionally, found nationwide
collaboration difficult
• Performance suffered, sales team turnover reached 25
percent
• Engaged Dallas-based Navigator Systems to help with
knowledge management and collaboration
• Project team was formed to work with national
supermarket sales team
Failure and Success in Systems
Development
• Supermarket sales team told the project team what kind
of knowledge they needed
• In the quest for speed, project team made a classic and
crippling error, did not involve Frito-Lay team
• The portal they developed wasn’t specific enough for the
supermarket sales team
• Project team needed to backtrack and plug in the
missing features
• They also had to win back the sales force
• Call-reporting feature was added
• Enabling users to analyse and manipulate data rather
than just viewing
Determining the information
requirement
• An information system should meet needs of organization it serves
• Applications should meet needs of their users
• Requirements determined by strategies, goals, procedures and behaviour of
individuals
• Difficult to determine correct and complete set of requirements:
▫ Constraints on humans as information processors and problem solvers
▫ Variety and complexity of information requirements
▫ Complex patterns of interaction among users and analysts in defining requirements
▫ Unwillingness of some users to provide requirements (for political or behavioural reasons)
• Three levels of information requirements:
▫ Organizational-level information requirements
▫ Database requirements
▫ Application-level information requirements
Levels of information requirement
• Organizational level
▫ Defining the underlying subsystems
▫ Developing the manager by the subsystem matrix
▫ Define and evaluate information requirements
• Database
▫ Applications and adhoc queries
▫ Complete architecture for the database
▫ Requirements must be divided into user perception and physical design
• Application level
▫ Social requirements – Also called behavioural, based on job design,
specify objectives and assumptions
▫ Technical requirements – Based on information needed for job or task to
be performed
Methods of handling uncertainty

Level of uncertainty Level of management Method

Low (Near Certainty) Operations Management Asking Strategy
Precise probabilistic Middle Management Deriving from an
knowledge existing information
system

Not able to determine in Middle and Top Synthesis from

probabilistic terms Management characteristics of the
precisely Utilising System
High (Total uncertainty) Top Management Experimentation and
Modelling
Methods of determining information
requirement
Four strategies for determining information
requirement:
• Asking or interviewing
• Deriving from an existing information system
• Synthesis from characteristics of the utilising system
• Experimentation and modelling
In addition, there are also methods and strategies for
obtaining assurance that requirements are complete
and correct and the systems implemented meet those
requirements
Asking or Interviewing
• Analyst obtains information requirements from
persons utilising the system by asking
requirements
• Methods are:
▫ Closed Questions
▫ Open Questions
▫ Brainstorming
▫ Guided Brainstorming
▫ Group Consensus
Determining from Existing System
• Systems with operational history can be use to
derive requirements for proposed system
• Types of existing systems are:
▫ Existing system that will be replaced by new
system
▫ Existing system in another, similar organization
▫ Proprietary system or package
▫ Descriptions in textbooks, handbooks, industry
studies etc.
• For some well defined functions such as payroll
Synthesis from characteristics of the
Utilising System
• Logical and complete method is analysis of
characteristics for obtaining information
requirements
• May overcome biases by providing analytical
structure for problem space
• Appropriate when utilising system is changing
or proposed system is different from existing
(content, form, complexity etc.)
Experimentation and Modelling
• In case of total uncertainty
• No existing model on which to base
requirements
• Test marketing of a product is an approach
• Information requirements undergo qualitative
change
Google’s Interface: Balancing Freedom
and Inconsistency
• “More than anything, Google prefers to make design
decisions based on what performs well. And as a
company, Google cares about being fast, so we want user
experience to be fast,”
• Not only front-end latency, but also making people use
computers efficiently
• Design decisions are based on cognitive psychology
▫ Black text on white background better than vice versa
▫ Sans serif fonts read better than serif fonts online
• Bottom-up approach
• Google apps look different from each other
▫ Keyboard shortcuts, save models different
• Different start-ups using different back ends
Development of MIS
• Determining strategy of development
• Choice of system or subsystem depends on
▫ Position in total MIS plan
▫ Size of the system
▫ User’s understanding of the systems
▫ Complexity and interface with other systems
• Degree of structure, formalization in system ,
procedures determine timing and development
Design and development process
• Effective communication between developers and users
• Synchronization in understanding of management, processes and IT in
users and developers
• Understanding of the information needs of managers from different
functional areas and combining these needs into a single integrated system
• Understand and define the requirements of MIS in the context of the
organization
• Keep pace with changes in environment, changing demands of the
customers and growing competition
• Utilize fast developing in IT capabilities in the best possible ways
• There should not be a need for frequent and major modifications
• Take care of not only the users i.e., the managers but also other
stakeholders like employees, customers and suppliers
Prototype Approach
Rapid development and testing of working
models or prototypes of new applications in
an interactive, iterative process.
As a development tool, makes process faster,
easier, especially for projects where end-user
requirements are hard to define
• Advantages of prototyping
– Useful if some uncertainty in
requirements or design solutions
– Often used for end-user interface
design
– More likely to fulfill end-user
requirements
• Disadvantages
– May gloss over essential steps
– May not accommodate large
quantities of data or large number of
users
Life Cycle Approach Understand Systems
the Business Investigation
Problem or Product Feasibility Study
Opportunity
Well-defined process
Systems
by which an Develop an Analysis
Information
application is System Product Functional Requirements
conceived, developed Solution
and implemented Systems
Design
Product System Specifications

Implement Systems
Implementation
the
Informatio Product Operational System
n System
Solution
Systems
Maintenance
Product Improved System
SDLC Phases and Major Activities
Prototype Vs Lifecycle Approach

Prototype Approach Life Cycle Approach

Useful in open system in cases of high Useful in closed system which have certain
amount of uncertainty about information information
Necessary to try out ideas, applications of No need to try out application of
information as decision support information as it is already proven
Necessary to control cost of design and Scope of design and application is fully
development before the scope of the system determined with clarity and
and its application is fully determined. experimentation is not necessary
Experimentation is necessary
User wants to try out the system before User is confident and confirms
commitment of specifications and specifications and information needs
information requirement
System and application is highly customer System and application is universal and
oriented governed by principles and practices
Implementation of Information
Systems
• Implementation refers to ongoing process of
preparing the organization for the new system
and introducing it in such a way as to assure its
successful use
• Vital step in the deployment of Information
Technology to support employees, customers
and other business stake holders of a company
• Implementation activities are needed to
transform a newly developed information
system into an operational system for end users
Overview of Implementation Process
Implementation
Activities

Conversion
Acquisition of •Parallel
Hardware, Software End-User
Development or Data Conversion •Pilot
Software and Training
Services Modification •Phased
•Direct
Implementing New Systems
Conversion Methods
Old System
Parallel
New System

Old System New System Pilot

Old System New System Phased

Old System New System Direct

Sample Implementation Process
Implementation Challenges
• Implementation
▫ Do what you planned to do
▫ Critical skill for managers
• Many companies are good at planning
• Few are good at executing the plan
▫ Even if senior management consistently identifies e-
business as an area of great opportunity and critical
need
• Resistance to change
▫ End user resistance
▫ End user involvement
Process of organizational change
• Lewin’s three-stage process
Stage Description

Unfreezing Increasing the receptivity of the organization to a possible change

Moving Choosing a course of action and following it

Refreezing Reinforcing the ‘equilibrium’ of the organization at a new level after the change
has occurred

• Three implicit theories to explain resistance:

▫ People-oriented: Factors internal to the users as individuals or group
▫ System-oriented: Factors inherent in the design of the system to be
implemented
▫ Interaction: Interaction between characteristics related to both
people and system
Managing Organizational Change
Resistance to Change
Obstacles to Knowledge Management
3%

9% User Resistance to Sharing Knowledge

Immaturity of Technology
Immaturity of Knowledge
15% Management Industry
53%
Cost

Lack of Need
20%
United Maintenance: Solving
User Resistance with
Understanding
• United Maintenance outfitted handheld devices to technicians
• Most of the technicians were struggling with questions when the
reason they wanted to put a job on hold was not listed on the
scrolling screen
• Employees objected to automatic time-stamping of all messages
• Function changed to allow technicians to enter time message was
received and action taken
• Today, technicians use handhelds to record everything they do on
field
• Service calls are dispatched through handhelds, service is recorded,
customers sign at the completion of the call
• Bill is automatically printed
• New wireless system has reduced the billing cycle from 2-3 weeks to
2-3 days
• Ensures technicians have filled out paperwork, saves time they used
to spend bringing records into office
Keys to Solving End User Resistance
• Create relationships
▫ Understand the end-user’s situation
• Provide education and training
• Require involvement and commitment
▫ End-users
▫ Top management
▫ All stakeholders
• Eliminate frustration and inconvenience
Change Management Tactics
• Involve as many people as possible in e-business
planning and application development
• Make constant change an expected part of the
culture
• Tell everyone as much as possible about
everything, as often as possible, in person
• Make liberal use of financial incentives and
recognition
• Work within company culture, not around it
Management of Quality in MIS
• Quality is defined as excellence or fitness
• Perfect quality is very costly and virtually
impossible
• Should be within acceptable limits as defined by
organization
Information Quality
Information products are made more valuable
by their attributes, characteristics, or qualities

Outdated, inaccurate, or hard to understand

information has much less value

Information has three dimensions

Time Content Form

Attributes of Information Quality
Quality Assurance
• Input is processed and controlled
• All updating and corrections are completed before
the data processing begins
• Inputs (transactions, documents, fields and records)
are subjected to validity checks
• Access to data files is protected and secured through
an authorization scheme
• Intermediate processing checks are introduced to
ensure that the complete data is processed right
through, i.e., run to run controls
• Due attention is given to the proper file selection in
terms of data, periods and so on
Quality Assurance
• Back-up of the data and files are taken to safeguard
corruption or loss of data
• System audit is conducted from time to time to ensure
that the computer system specification is not violated
• System modifications are approved by following a set
procedure which begins with authorization of a change
to its implementation followed by an audit
• Systems are developed with a standard specification of
design and development
• Computer system processing is controlled through
programme control, process control and access control
How Information Systems Contribute
to Total Quality Management
• Reduce cycle time

• Improve the quality and precision of the design

• Increase the precision of production

Organization for development of MIS
• How do business organize themselves to manage
IS and IT activities?
▫ Depends upon the type of technology
▫ Depends upon the size of the business
▫ Depends upon structure of the organization
• Organization and management of IS should fit
organizational structure of which it is part
▫ Culture should fit organizational culture
▫ Level of centralization should fit
▫ Management philosophy should be consistent
Management of Information Technology
Resources
• Centralized Management
▫ Staff positions and departments in strict vertical
hierarchy
▫ Control of organization in few hands
• Decentralized Management
▫ Delegates authority to lower-level managers
• IS often follows management pattern
Centralized Management
• Advantages of Centralized IS Management
▫ Standardized hardware and software
▫ Efficient administration of resources
▫ Effective staffing
▫ Easier training
▫ Common reporting systems
▫ Effective planning of shared systems
▫ Easier strategic planning
▫ Efficient use of IS personnel
▫ Tighter control by top management
Decentralized Management
• Advantages of Decentralized IS Management
▫ Better fit of ISs to business needs
▫ Timely response of IS units to business demands
▫ Encouragement of end-user development of applications
▫ Innovative use of ISs
▫ Support for delegation of authority
▫ Less competition for resources

In fully decentralized
management, the central IS
unit would not exist
Centralized Vs Decentralized IS trade-
offs
Organizing the IS Staff
• Central IS Organization: A corporate IS team
over all units
▫ IS Director oversees several departments
▫ Usually involved in every aspect of IT
▫ Often includes a steering committee
▫ Often easier to integrate an IS plan in a
centralized IS organization
An example of Central IS
Organizing the IS Staff (Cont.)
• Dispersed IS Organization
▫ Each unit fulfills its IS needs individually
▫ Each business unit has one or several IS
professionals
▫ Funds for development and maintenance of unit’s
IS own budget
▫ Decisions made independently
An example of Decentralized IS
Organizing the IS Staff (Cont.)
• A Hybrid Approach

▫ Small companies use the central approach

▫ Midsize and large use elements of central and

decentralized approaches

▫ Handled according to the position of the highest

IS officer in the organizational structure
MIS: The factors of success and failure
• Causes of IS Success and Failure
▫ Recognize that systems are developed in the first place because of:
 Powerful external environment
 Powerful internal forces
▫ Organizations with similar environments and institutional features, one
succeeds and the other fails in the same IS innovation
 Different patterns of implementation
• What is system failure?
▫ An information system:
 That does not perform as expected
 Is not operational at a specified time
 That cannot be used the way it was “intended”
Problem areas of IS
Stability, UI; Incompatible
efficiency, with structure,
timeliness Design culture and goals

Informatio Data
Operations n System

Proportionality
Cost Consistency,
with business
accuracy,
value
composition
Factors in Information System success
and failure
Factors in Information System success
and failure
• User Involvement and Influence
 Users can take limited view of system
 User-designer communications gap
• Management Support and Commitment
 Positive perception
 Inducement to participation
 Sufficient funding and resources
• Level of Complexity and Risk
 Project size: Greater risk with larger projects
 Project structure: Greater risk with less defined outputs and processes
 Experience with technology: Greater risk if project team and information systems
staff lack required expertise
• Management of Implementation Process
 Ignorance, optimism about time required to analyze and design systems
 Inadequate change management
What can go wrong?
• Analysis
▫ Poor definition
▫ Vague objectives
▫ Inadequate planning
▫ Lack of standards
▫ Improper staffing
▫ Absence of risk identification and mitigation
• Design
▫ Improper fit
▫ Untested technology
▫ Lack of impact analysis and change management
What can go wrong?
• Development, testing and implementation
▫ Lack of planning in team formation
▫ Lack of proper standards, tools, documentation
▫ Wrong estimation
▫ Absence of re-usable components
▫ Insufficient training
▫ Lack of comprehensive test plan and execution
▫ Unplanned data conversion
Factors contributing to success
• Integration to managerial functions
• Appropriate information processing technology
required to meet data processing and analysis needs
• Oriented, defined and designed in terms of user’s
requirements and operational viability is ensured
• Kept under continuous surveillance, so open system
design modified as per changing information needs
• Focuses on results and goals, and highlights factors
and reasons for non-achievement
Factors contributing to success
• Not allowed to end up into information
generation mill
• Recognizes that manager is a human being
• User friendly design
• Recognizes that different information needs for
different objectives must be met
• Meet newer needs of information
• Concentrates on mission critical applications
Factors contributing to failure
• Seen as data processing, not information
processing system
• Impersonal system, does not provide
information needed by managers
• Underestimating complexity in business systems
• Adequate attention not given to quality control
• Developed without streamlining business
processing systems in organization
Factors contributing in failure
• Lack of training and appreciation that
information users and data generators are
different
• Does not meet critical and key factors
▫ Query on the database
▫ Inability to get processing done as required
▫ Lack of user friendly system
▫ Dependence on system development personnel
• Belief that MIS can solve all planning and
control problems
Factors contributing to failure
• Lack of administrative discipline
▫ Following standardised systems and procedures
▫ Wrong coding
▫ Deviating from system specifications
• Does not give perfect information to all users
▫ Every user has human ingenuity, bias
▫ Certain assumptions not known to designer
JetBlue and WestJet: Difficult Path to
Software Upgrades
• JetBlue, WestJet switch to same reservations system
but one trip is bumpier
• Few things in the airline business are more daunting
than upgrading to new reservation system
• Reservations are at the heart of a customer’s
relationship with an airline
• Previously both used a system designed for start-up
airlines with simpler needs
• As carrier grew, more processing power was needed
and additional functions
JetBlue and WestJet: A Tale of two IS
Projects
• Both independently selected a system by Sabre
Holdings Corp.
• System sells seats and collects passenger payments
• Controls passenger experience
▫ Shopping on airline’s Website
▫ Interacting with reservation agents
▫ Using airport kiosks
▫ Selecting seats
▫ Checking bags
▫ Boarding at the gate
▫ Rebooking and getting refunds for cancellations
Two paths to software upgrade
• WestJet shifted to Sabre systems in Oct 2009 after
shifting to lighter winter schedule and cancelling
some flights
• Overnight transition of 840,000 files-transactions
of customers who had already purchased flights
• Customers struggled to place reservations, and the
WestJet Web site crashed repeatedly
• WestJet's call centers were also overwhelmed, and
customers experienced slowdowns at airports
• WestJet didn’t reduce the number of flights, to make
matters worse
JetBlue and WestJet: Difficult Path to
Software Upgrades
• WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer explained
that the company "encountered some problems
in the live environment that simply did not
appear in the test environment," foremost
among them the issues surrounding the massive
file transfer
• WestJet's latest earnings reports show that the
company weathered the storm successfully and
remained profitable, but the incident forced the
airline to scale back its growth plans
JetBlue and WestJet: A Tale of two IS
Projects
• JetBlue had the advantage of seeing WestJet begin
its implementation months before
• It was able to avoid many of the pitfalls that WestJet
endured
• They built a backup Web site to prepare for the
worst-case scenario
• Hired 500 temporary call center workers to manage
potential spikes in customer service calls
• JetBlue made sure to switch its 557 files over to
Sabre's servers on a Friday night, because Saturday
flight traffic is typically very low
Two paths to software upgrade
• Sold smaller numbers of seats on the flights that
did take off that day
• Routed basic calls to the temporary workers,
leaving its own call staff to tackle more complex
tasks
• 900,000 passenger records were moved
Thank You