Reading Response for Lecture 02

In the previous class we focused our attention on why we even need something like systems analysis and design. In this class we will move on to consider the basic ingredients of systems analysis and best practices on how to get it right.

Below is a list of the readings for this class with some suggestions on how to approach them and questions for discussion in class. Please create a post in this discussion consisting of at least 200 words discussing any issue from the required reading for the week (you do not need to address one of the discussion questions below, but you are welcome to do so).  See the Reading Report Grading Rubric for details about how posts will be graded.

The readings

Aegis Case Study (link). This case study, which is 4 pages in length (including the glossary) tells the story of an IT implementation that went massively overbudget in terms of both cost and delivery schedule. At the end of the case the project team is left wondering how things got so far off track. What do you think went wrong?

Larman pp. 11-40 (Chapter 1 starting with 1.6, Chapter 2). The Larman reading focuses on defining basic concepts and vocabulary. You should come away from this reading with the following: What is UML? What is the UP? What is agile development and how is it different from the water fall process? Note: the reading also introduces the UP phases and disciplines, but you don't need to dwell on this. I will cover this material in the slides and it is going to be a bit abstract at this point, so feel free to skim those pages.

Discussion questions: Why do we need both UML and UP? How do they relate to each other? Why all the fuss about agile? Does the concept of agile apply to other aspects of a business besides IT? Can you think of any examples?

Kent Beck on XP Values and Principles (online reserves).  Kent Beck is the creator of XP (Extreme Programming), one of the best known agile methodologies. In this reading he talks about some of the key ingredients needed to make XP and arguably any system development methodology work.

Discussion questions: Are any of these values or principles surprising? Do they apply to teams in general? What about this is specific to software development? How important are these values and principles to a semester long MI258 project? What specific actions might you take to incorporate these insights into your team's process?

Severance Ch. 2. This chapter lays out some principles on how to get systems projects right. The perspective is important because this is the business person speaking rather than the technologist. Let me give you some suggestions on how to get to the heart of this reading quickly. I suggest you start with the summary on p. 58 and then go back to the Figures in the chapter. For each Figure, read enough of the nearby text to understand what it means. At that point you have most of what you need for our class discussion.

Discussion questions: Comparing the two models in this chapter – Business Architecture and Journey Management – to the UML and UP, are there any similarities? What do these business-focused models add that is lacking in the more technical Larman view of things? Why do we need this business perspective? What goes wrong in a project if we ignore it?