Industry analysis provides management with an analysis of the driving forces that affect its industry
and its organization’s performance. Such analysis offers a fact-based perspective on the industry’s important
trends, significant risks, and potential opportunities that may impact the business’s performance.
Competency analysis provides a complete picture of the organization’s effectiveness as seen via four
strategic filters: resources, infrastructure, products/services, and customers. By assessing these factors, an
organization can develop an accurate view of its relative strengths, weaknesses, and core competencies.
The analysis helps in developing strategic options, which are based on an understanding of the future
environment and the firm’s core competencies. Strategic opportunities may include market-entry options
or new product development options.
In developing a business strategy many organizations perform competency analyses on their key
competitors as well as potential business partners. By knowing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors,
management can identify imminent threats and spot new business opportunities for growth. Similarly,
by examining the competencies of potential trading partners, strategic gaps and/or synergies from
the partnership may materialize.
LEGACY SYSTEMS
Applications, databases, and business processes that are currently in full operation constitute a firm’s legacy
systems. Often, these are complicated systems to maintain and enhance. Even in modern companies,
the information system is usually a mixture of old and modern technologies, which are critical to the
organization’s business success.
Legacy components need to be mapped to current business processes to determine the extent to which
they support the mission of the company. This evaluation, together with an assessment of future strategic
business needs, will enable management to develop the migration strategy needed to move from legacy
systems to future systems with minimum disruption to business operations.
Developing an Architecture Description
System architecture is the structure of components, their interrelationships, and the principles and guidelines
governing their design and evolution over time. An architecture description is a formal description
of an information system, organized in a way that identifies the structural properties of the system and
defines the components or building blocks that make up the overall information system. This description
provides the elements for a plan from which new systems can be developed and commercial packages
procured that will work together as harmonious components of the overall system. It also provides the
technical foundation for a legacy migration strategy. Finally, the technical advantages that result from an
architecture description translate into important business benefits, which are presented in Table 13-1.
USER FEEDBACK
Assessing user feedback involves identifying areas of user needs, preparing written proposals, evaluating
each proposal’s feasibility and contribution to the business plan, and prioritizing individual projects. User
feedback at this point pertains to substantial, perceived problems rather than minor systems modifications,
which are dealt with at a later point in the SDLC. Next, we examine the following key phases of this activity.
1. Recognizing the problem.
2. Defining the problem.
3. Specifying system objectives.
4. Determining project feasibility.
5. Preparing a formal project proposal.
Recognizing the Problem
The need for a new, improved information system may be manifested through various symptoms. In the
early stages of a problem, these symptoms may seem vague and innocuous or may go unrecognized
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