Planning Phase

To understand why an information system should be built and determine how the project team will build it

Project Initiation and Preliminary Investigation

When someone in an organisation identifies a need to improve or build a new system

A formal way of asking the information systems department for assistance, documenting business reasons and expected value

Business users as part of the system approval process

To evaluate system requests with a broader viewpoint and more effective priority setting

Action on requests must wait for committee meetings, possibly causing delays

Improve service, better performance, more information, stronger controls, reduced costs

A study by a systems analyst of the system request to recommend specific action

A report to management

To summarise the current issues and form the foundation of project objectives

Goals that represent the desired situation, matching issues point by point

The specific boundaries or extent of a project

The gradual expansion of a project beyond its original definition

A requirement or condition the system must satisfy, such as hardware, time, policy, or cost

Time relationships between project tasks in a horizontal bar chart

It does not indicate activity dependencies

The process of dividing a project into manageable tasks and logically ordering them

Satisfy business requirements, meet users’ needs, stay within budget, and be completed on time

Unclear requirements, poor design, insufficient testing, unrealistic cost estimates, poor control, or employee turnover

Introduction, systems request summary, findings, case for action, project roles, time and cost estimates, expected benefits, and appendix