Jon Frankel's blog

A last reminder that the final will be held in the regular classroom at the date/time in Wiser.  The format will be similar to the earlier exams.  The final is CUMULATIVE – it covers all of the content in the book.  Because that is a lot of material, you are allowed to bring in one 8.5×11 sheet of paper as a study guide (“cheat sheet”).  You can put anything you want on this sheet of paper – both sides, typed and/or handwritten – to help you.  Check the prior study guides, and here are some essay questions that may appear from the material since the last quiz.

Describe the seven phases of the systems development life cycle.
Explain project management and the role the triple constraints play when managing a project.
Explain the benefits and challenges of outsourcing.
Describe the pros and cons of the different methods of implementing/converting a system.

PLEASE FILL OUT EVALUATIONS IN CANVAS (And ratemyprofessor if you are so inclined)

Admin for rest of semester:
Today – Ch 9 – Last Connect due on Friday.  No more work accepted after that
Thu 5/1 – Finish ch9, Will assign powerpoint group presentation – BE THERE!
Next week  – In class Presentations, Review for Final.
Tue 5/13 – no class
Thu 5/22  – Final in regular classroom – Check wiser for schedule

Ch 9 – Systems Development

“Systems Development Life Cycle” (SDLC)
Planning – What are the goals. – Make Wiser more user friendly.
Analysis – What is the existing system doing?   E-R diagram, HW, Software etc…
Design – What should the new system look like?  Look at optionSSSS.
Development – Three choices – Build (50% of cost!), Buy or Rent (like housing example)? DONT BUILD!
Testing – “beta” test vs put in production – Spend the $ here before production! Also training.
Implementation – Conversion is turning it on.
– Parallel (old and new both work), Phased/Pilot (one at a time), Plunge (riskiest)
– Most complex and each “conversion” is unique (Somerville Lumber story)
Maintenance/Evaluation – Did it work?

Waterfall – Each phases leads to the next and gets bigger.
– Spend the dollars early to save money later.
– Fig 9.19 – Cost of fixing errors. Find them early to save money
(think of bug fixes that Microsoft has to roll out after the fact).

Build/Buy/Rent – House situation just like software
Build +Custom, No problems
– Expensive! Take a long time.
Buy +Modifications possible, problems will crop up
– It is what it is. Available faster, not as expensive
Rent + Flexible to get in/out, cheapest
(Cloud) – Not yours.

Other development methodologies (SCRUM, RAD, XP)
– Prototyping – Not quite working model.
– Testing the User Interface before the database & system is built.

Big developments often fail!
– They are overbudget and behind schedule.
– Missing business requirements, new technology, changes in requirements, Budget changes.  **Mismanagement**

“Triple Constraint” of IT projects – Project management.
– Fast, Cheap, Good – Sometimes you can two of these, but never 3.
– “Time, Resources/Cost, Scope” – Book terms for same thing.

Watch this video from about 6:00-25:00 – interesting history about development of PC and IBM’s decision to BUY not BUILD!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cMtZFwqPHc

Outsourcing – Not necessarily a bad thing.  What has happened to MA since we’ve outsourced manufacturing?
– Can work around the clock
– Must be managed properly (think of first round of outsourced tech support phone calls)

Quiz is Tuesday 4/22 – Chapters 5-8, Appendix B, C, Same format – 15 MC, 10 Fill in, 3 of 4 short essay
Group exercises coming up next 2 Thursdays in regular classroom (labs are all done)

Chapter 8 – Enterprise Systems (my least favorite chapter)

– Early systems were in accounting, payroll, A/P, A/R
BUT in Silos as they were standalone
– 1980s through today – “Enterprise” systems

UMass
– Blackboard/Canvas – Online Learning (linked for registration, but not grades)
– Wiser – Registration, Grades, Bills..
– Email – (Actually not at UMass)
– Blogs
– Simnet, Connect (Actually not at UMass)
– Website
– Payroll, A/P, A/R, Cafeteria, IT Requests

– Sort of integrated (same ID/PW) but not fully (no Single Sign On) like Amazon/Google
– “Legacy” systems – Are “old” – things have been around and might be/might not be integrated

– Big organizations (SAP) started to develop Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP). Example of a large Enterprise System.

Three categories of Enterprise Systems
-Supply Chain Management (SCM)
-Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
-Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP)

SCM (Supply Chain Systems)
Recall what supply chain is Fig 8.5
Raw Materials (Supplier) -> Manufacturer -> Distributor -> Retailer -> You
– Links systems across the whole chain.
– COMPLEX! Each entity has its own systems, and sometimes they enforce rules on the upstream & downstream entities.
– In Supply Chain, Money flows upstream & materials/goods flow downstream
– Some companies do it well – Dell with its JIT systems, Amazon, Walmart (RFID)
– Think what happened to it during the pandemic – fell apart…

Customer Relationship Management
– Focus on the customer, rather than the product.

ERP – As in SAP – Big systems that enterprise wide focus on the product, rather than customer/

Another example of doing Enterprise systems – Electronic Health Records

These days, ERP and CRM are merging and going to the cloud.
– Integration is NOT EASY.

Amazon, while doing SCM & ERP well, has had lots of issues
– Somali Immigrants – Working conditions are inhumane at many distribution centers
– Search for its own products – Antitrust issues with this
– Taking over our cities – Is it a monopoly?
– Literally shipping trash & counterfeit goods

The format for the 2nd quiz will be similar to the last one – some multiple choice, some fill in the blanks, and some short essays which will come from this list:

Words Bank for fill in questions:  Analytical, Attribute, Backup, Bandwidth, Bluetooth, Broadband, Capacity, Client, Cloud, Database, Disaster, Divide, E-R, Energy, Excess, Field, Geographic, Integrate, Internet, IP, Intellectual, Legacy, Managerial, MetaData, Modem, Primary, Protocol, Router, Scalability, Server, Single, Streaming, Transactional, Warehouse, Wide

This the most technical, rapidly changing area of MIS we cover.
Fundamentals of radio waves – tradeoff between distance & quantity of data/ability to go through walls.

Here’s the words we know about telecom (definitions added):

– RFID/NFC – Apple Pay, Charlie Card & Fastlane to communicate over small distances
– Bluetooth – Up to 33′ data between phones/headphones/cars etc
– WiFi – Up to 1000′ based on evolving 802.11AC standard
– Cellular 3G vs 4G vs 5G vs LTE vs 6G – Up to 7 miles
– GPS – Satellite based (11.000 miles) one-way communication to determine latitude/longitude
– GIS – Geographic Information Systems (Maps, Traffic, etc) built on top of GPS
– Ethernet/Cat 5 – Twisted pair wire to/from Router
– Router – Routes traffic properly to the right computer/phone/alexa in your house- Modem
– FiOS – Fiber – Much better speeds than Cable
– Cable Modem – Deliver Broadband speed to homes & business
– Broadband – Always on and FAST (but 25 Mbps?? Really?)
– Dial Up, DSL – Obsolete technology that took over phone and was slow
– IP , TCP/IP – Protocol developed in 1960s to enable packet based communications
– ISP – Internet Service Provider
– Browser – Used for browsing the WEB – which is only a part of the Internet
– LAN and WAN – Technically, difference is distance but really it is whether I control the wires
– DSL, WiMax – Obsolete older broadband technologies over phone lines
– VoIP – Skype and other services which send Voice over IP
– Protocol – Set of rules to communication between nodes
– VPN – Virtual Private Network – Allows “private” tunnel communication over public internet
– DNS – Domain name system to turn domain names into an IP address like 127.63.45.87

Look at phones and radios inside them:
– Cellular (3G, 4G, 5G) – 7 miles 1G – 1st generation Analog, 2G – Digital, basic data, 3G – Broadband, 4G  & 5G  – Today
– GPS – Location (including altitude) and speed from satellites in orbits 11,000 miles up.  – GIS – Built on top of GPS to give Information (as in gIs)
– BlueTooth – About 33 ft (10 meters) – Speakers, Printers,
– WiFi – Distance depends on what is around. 1000′ or 5′.  – Talks to a router
– Phones can be turned into hotspots (essentially a router)
– NFC/ RFID / Airplay / Airdrop – phones talk to other devices

What about computers?
– Ethernet Card to Router via Cat-5 wire (Cat-7 is available these days)
– To Modem via Cat-5 (or sometimes Modem/Router are 1 piece of hardware)
– To ISP via Coax Cable (or sometimes fiber)
– To Internet via Fiber (FiOS) or Coaxial (Comcast, RCN) or Phone DSL (Verizon)

Web is PART of Internet – Mail, Apps, FTP, Telnet other parts.
All Internet communication is by a Protocol (set of rules) called TCP/IP
– Developed in 1960s and still works!  We are running out of addresses though (IPV6 will fix that)
– Breaks data into packets and sends over the Internet Backbone.
– DNS is system to turn Domain names (facebook.com) into IP address (173.252.120.6)

Nodes connected to each other by various topology:
– Ring, Star, Wireless or most commonly a hybrid.
– LAN (local) vs WAN (Wide) – longer distance means we can’t control the wires

We are doing the “code” lab.  You can complete this on your own, or come to the lab if you want help.  This follows a global initiative to teach people about programming.  The lab is fun and easy (I promise!).  It is due by April 13 11.59pm.

Watch this video from President Obama  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XvmhE1J9PY) and this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc then work through the “classic maze tutorial for beginners” at http://hourofcode.com/code.  There are videos built into the exercises, and you can look at the code behind the scenes.  To prove you did the work, take a screen print when you are done and email it to me.  All the completed lessons will be highlighted, or it shows you a nice certificate!   If you can’t get it all done in one session, I recommend you setup an ID & signin so you can do it in more than one sitting.

Don’t forget that Simnet is due Sunday 4/6 11.59PM and LinkedIn (by email) at same time

What is a database?
– Holds data so programs have something to read
– Critical to development of MIS
– Development is by both IT people and “users” (business)

Umass Data Model
Student – Number, Name, Address, Phone, Email,
Class – Letter, Credits, Course, Term, Professor, Classroom?
Professor – Number, Name, Address, Email, Office, Office Hours, Dept, Salary

Usually portrayed with “entity-relationship” diagram
Entity – “person, place or thing” that is critical to business.
– Often called tables, relations or files
Attributes – Details of each entity (or fields)
– Has rules associated with each field (type, length, required)
– This is referred to as Metadata – Data about the data to enforce rules.  Ensures no GIGO
Record – One “row” in the database
– Must have a unique identifier called a “primary key”
– In E-R diagram, underline this primary key

– Draw lines with description when there is a relationship
– If one to many, use “crows foot”
– Put “0” where relationship is not required. “cardinality”
– Concept of Referential Integrity

DataBase Management Systems – Enterprise or Individual – Examples: Access, MySQL, Oracle
– Software package that lets computers store data
– SQL – Computer language that lets you create & update tables.  Standard across ALL platforms!
– Data Redundancy, Data Inconsistency, Data Security

Other terms  – Data Warehouse, Data Mining.  Being replaced by Big Data (see trends.google.com)

Fig 6.4 – Accurate, Complete, Consistent, Timely, Unique
DataBase Administrator (DBA) – In change of it all.  Especially security and Information Policies.

Slowly, Data Analytics & Data Analysts are figuring out how to use this data, especially visualization.

Compared to Spreadsheets (Easy to use, not a definitive source)
– No relations, no metadata, no primary key, limits on size, no automated collection, single user

Data visualizaion video 200 countries/200 years
Finished up by looking at how companies across many industries are doing data analysis

Quiz 1 Results:

Average – Curved grades ASSUMING YOU ARE OK with connect
9:30AM class 30.7/40    12:30pm class 29.9/40   4:00pm class 32.8/40
34+ –> A
28-33.5   –> B
22-27.5 –> C
< 22 –> Less than C

Also shown is connect grade (circled number)
Connect – Out of 10 (5 smartbook/cases INCLUDING Appendix A). If you didn’t get 10, I will take late smartbook for 80% credit.  Note smartbook bug is showing 0% if submitted at all late- I will adjust this.

Simnet Labs are finishing up next week and due April 6th 11:59PM – Don’t forget to do LinkedIn assignment (setup a LinkedIn page, and link your Simnet “White Belt” credential) and email me your LinkedIn URL (format is like http://linkedin.com/in/jonfrankel)

Note final is Thursday May 22.  Do NOT make travel plans before – this is the only opportunity to take it.
————–

Ch 5 Infrastructure – Blue prints for systems.  Talk about cloud systems first…

-Support Operations (current systems)
– Support Change (Future systems)
– Support Environment (E-Waste & Cloud)

Operations –
Downtime – HW crashes, Natural Disasters, Floods, earthquakes, 9/11 (from Ch 4 – fig 4.7)
– D/R strategy – Disaster/Recovery – How to get techie stuff back up and running
“Cold Site” – Restore data into that site. Time delay (“Warm site”)
“Hot Site” – Real time data available all the time. Very $$ (like Fidelity example)

Business Continuity Planning – More than systems
– Testing, Phone chains, All the logistics beyond the techie stuff.
– Physical Buildings – Where will people work

Change – Capacity Planning – Nice chart that we buy more than we have
– Lots of terminology here – most important (IMHO) is Scalability – How long can I keep running with current systems
–> being replaced by cloud computing (see below)
– 5 9s (99.999) availability standard, and how redundancy leads to fault tolerance and make it possible

E-Waste – Electronic Waste
– Rare Earth Elements (and other fun things like lead, mercury…)  – not good for environment!
– Only about 20% of e-waste is really recycled.
– Recycling is not always done properly
– Growing problem with no good solutions

Power Consumption – Cloud service / data centers use a tremendous amount of electricity. – This number is only going up, especially with AI.  And leads to more carbon emissions too.

Cloud Computing -IMHO this is the BIG change in MIS over the past/next decade
– All data is available all the time.
– In the old days, software wasn’t that good in the cloud
– Salesforce does great MIS systems in the cloud

Features – Capacity Planning (Support Change)
– Traditionally been difficult – Pay for more than you needed, upgrade frequently
– With the cloud, pay for what you use and can use as much as you want.  Like power grid.
– Way fewer resources like hardware & software (also includes people, who can collaborate easily)
– Backups & upgrades are automatic
– Disaster/Recovery automatic
– Systems Development is much simpler (more on this in chapter 9)

Downsides :
– Security – If hacked, or company goes out of business, then who knows what happens
(but they can probably do security better than most companies)
– They can raise prices easily or possibly sell your data
– Reliant on the Internet – These days, it is 100%* reliable
– Limited by the features they give you (which are usually fine)
– Don’t worry about the differentiation between types of cloud models (Iaas vs SaaS vs PaaS)