Planning for a New System
A new system can bring numerous benefits to different users within an organisation:
- Improved Efficiency: Streamlined processes can save time and reduce errors.
- Better User Experience: Modern interfaces and intuitive design can make work more enjoyable and productive.
- Enhanced Capacity and Scaling: New systems often allow for growth and increased workloads.
- Cost Efficiency: While there may be upfront costs, new systems often lead to long-term savings.
- Future Proofing / Competitive Advantage: Staying up-to-date with technology can give organisations an edge over competitors.
- Better Compliance: New systems can help ensure adherence to regulations and industry standards.
Imagine a small retail business upgrading from a manual inventory system to a digital one. This new system could provide:
- Real-time inventory tracking
- Improved accuracy
- Enhanced reporting and analytics
and so on.
The Importance of Planning
- Aligns with Organisational Goals: Ensures the system supports strategic objectives.
- Identifies Risks: Anticipates potential challenges and mitigates them early.
- Ensures Stakeholder Buy-In: Involves users and stakeholders to foster ownership and acceptance.
Neglecting user input during planning can lead to a system that doesn't meet their needs, resulting in low adoption and high resistance.
Primary Stages in System Life Cycle
We can outline five stages:
- Analysis - understanding the context (what the users need and how the current system works)
- Design - making detailed plans for software and hardware components
- Implementation/Operation - actually realising the system (e.g. programming)
- Installation - installing and launching the system
- Maintenance - provide support (e.g. updating)
There exist multiple strategies of gathering data for the analysis and installing new system
Understanding the Context
Generally, two central considerations can be considered:
- Extent: What should the new system achieve? What functionalities should be present?
- Limitations/Feasibility: What are the potential issues with the system? What resources are available?
Limitations (Feasibility) Study Components: Feasibility Study (TELOS)
One of the key steps in this process is conducting a feasibility study, often using the TELOS framework:
- Technical feasibility: Can we build it?
- Economic feasibility: Can we afford it?
- Legal feasibility: Is it legal?
- Operational feasibility: Can we implement it into our operations?
- Schedule feasibility: Can we do it in time?
- Always start with a feasibility study before diving into system development.
- It can save you time, money, and headaches down the road!
Human Interaction Considerations
Usability
metric of how the technology or system suits everybody
Accessibility
metric of how the technology or system suits people with some sort of disability
Accessibility is essential not only for physical disabilities, but also for mental disabilities, for instance, reminders for users with ADHD.
Methods to improve the accessibility of the system:
- touch screen
- voice recognition
- text-to-speech
- Braille keyboard
Potential Organisational Issues in System Installation
Installing a new system can have wide-ranging impacts on an organisation. Some issues to consider include:
- Disruption to existing workflows: How will the new system affect current processes?
- Training requirements: How much time and resources will be needed to train staff?
- Resistance to change: How will employees react to the new system?
- Integration with existing systems: How will the new system work with current infrastructure?
Elements of systems
Hardware
The physical parts of a computer system, including internal components like the CPU and RAM, and external devices like monitors, keyboards, and printers.
Software
A set of programs, instructions, or data that directs computer operation and allows it to execute specific tasks
Peripheral
An external device connected to a computer that adds functionality, such as input (e.g., keyboard), output (e.g., headphones), or both (e.g., touchscreen)
Network
A system where multiple computers or devices (nodes) are connected to share data, resources, and communicate with each other
Human Resources
The people who work within an organisation, along with the department that manages hiring, training, and employee support.
Stakeholders
People or groups who are affected by or interested in a new system. This includes users, clients, developers, managers, and investors.
When planning a new system, always align its goals with the organization's strategic objectives and requirements.
- What are the key reasons for implementing a new system?
- How can organizational issues impact the success of a new system?
- Why is a feasibility study critical in the planning process?
