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Editor's Notes

1. Strategic Information Systems Planning. As we saw in Chapter 1, information systems work within the context of an organization and must satisfy its current requirements as well as providing a basis from which future needs can be addressed. In order to do this, strategic plans are developed for the organization as a whole and within their context a strategic view of information systems needs can be formed. For example, in the Agate case study a strategic decision may be made to target multinational companies for international advertising campaigns. This has consequences for campaign management and its supporting information systems. Business modelling. In order to determine how an information system can support a particular business activity it is important to understand how the activity is performed and how it contributes to the objectives of the organization. Campaign management is an important business function for Agate and it should be modelled in order to determine how it is carried out, thus providing some of the parameters for subsequent information systems development.
2. Strategic Information Systems Planning. As we saw in Chapter 1, information systems work within the context of an organization and must satisfy its current requirements as well as providing a basis from which future needs can be addressed. In order to do this, strategic plans are developed for the organization as a whole and within their context a strategic view of information systems needs can be formed. For example, in the Agate case study a strategic decision may be made to target multinational companies for international advertising campaigns. This has consequences for campaign management and its supporting information systems. Business modelling. In order to determine how an information system can support a particular business activity it is important to understand how the activity is performed and how it contributes to the objectives of the organization. Campaign management is an important business function for Agate and it should be modelled in order to determine how it is carried out, thus providing some of the parameters for subsequent information systems development.
3. Perform an initial analysis. All software development activity utilizes valuable re­sources. Embarking upon a prototyping exercise without some initial analysis is likely to result in an ill-focused and unstructured activity producing poorly designed software. Define prototype objectives. Prototyping should have clearly stated objectives. A proto­typing exercise may involve many iterations, each iteration resulting in some improv­ement to the prototype. This may make it difficult for the participants in a prototyping exercise to determine if there is sufficient value to continue the prototyping. However, with clearly defined objectives it should be possible to decide if they have been achieved. Specify prototype. Although the prototype is not intended for extended operation it is important that it embodies the requisite behaviour. It is almost certainly the case that the proto­type will be subject to modification and this will be easier if the software is built according to sound design principles. Construct prototype. Since it is important that prototype development is rapid, the use of a rapid development environment is appropriate. For example, if an interactive system is being prototyped, environments such as DelphiTM or Visual Basic® can be most effective. Evaluate prototype and recommend changes. The purpose of the prototype is to test or explore some aspect of the proposed system. The prototype should be evaluated with respect to the objectives identified at the beginning of the exercise. If the objectives have not been met then the evaluation should specify modifications to the prototype so that it may achieve its objectives. The last three stages are repeated until the objectives of the prototyping exercise are achieved.