System planning

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System Fundamentals[1]

How are systems planned? Are systems just thrown into the users face without any planning? Who should we talk with as we plan a new system? What questions should we ask users, IT administrators, and finance stakeholders as we plan a new system?


SL version[edit]

A stakeholder is a person with an interest or concern in something especially a business[2]. A stakeholder is someone who might be:

  • Using a system
  • Supporting a system
  • Realizing benefits from a system.

You must be careful to identify all the possible relevant stakeholders. Stakeholders will have different needs and desires. When you are planning a system, you need to account for the different needs and desires of different stakeholders. There are often stakeholder groups, or group of people within an organization who have similar needs and desires. A system must meet the need of the stakeholders who use it. We will work through two different examples to help you understand this idea.

The role of an end-user must be considered when planning a new system [3]

HL version[edit]

In addition to the material above, you should know and understand it is helpful to think of a stakeholder as a customer. A customer is a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business[4]

There are two different types of customers:

Internal customers: people inside the company who will be using the new system External customers people outside the company who will be using the new system

The big idea here is there are many different types of stakeholders, and you need to carefully understand WHO might be using a system and WHAT ROLE they have interacting and using your system.


Real-world practical advice[edit]

You should always be nervous when there is more than one person in charge of a project. We call this double-headed management, and it is very dangerous because you may get two very different specifications about the system. It is always a good idea to have only one single person who describes what a system should do. In project management, we call this a "senior customer" or a "senior user".

Standards[edit]

  • Identify the context for which a new system is planned.
  • Identify the relevant stakeholders when planning a new system.

References[edit]

  1. http://www.flaticon.com/
  2. New Oxford American Dictionary (Second Edition)
  3. IB Computer Science Subject Guide
  4. New Oxford American Dictionary (Second Edition)