Because the purpose of a new system is to improve the organization’s performance, information systems projects must explicitly address the ways in which the organization will change when the new system is installed, including installation of intranets, extranets, and Web applications. In addition to procedural changes, transformations in job functions, organizational structure, power relationships, and the work environment should be carefully planned. Areas where users interface with the system require special attention, with sensitivity to ergonomics issues. Ergonomics refers to the interaction of people and machines in the work environment. It considers the design of jobs, health issues, and the end-user interface of information systems. Table 14.5
lists the organizational dimensions that must be addressed when planning and implementing information systems. Although systems analysis and design activities are supposed to include an organizational impact analysis, this area has traditionally been neglected. An organizational impact analysis explains how a proposed system will affect organizational structure, attitudes, decision making, and operations. To integrate information systems successfully with the organization, thorough and fully documented organizational impact assessments must be given more attention in the development effort.
Sociotechnical Design
One way of addressing human and organizational issues is to incorporate sociotechnical design practices into information systems projects. Designers set forth separate sets of technical and social design solutions. The social design plans explore different workgroup structures, allocation of tasks, and the design of individual jobs. The proposed technical solutions are compared with the proposed social solutions. The solution that best meets both social and technical objectives is selected for the final design. The resulting sociotechnical design is expected to produce an information system that blends technical efficiency with sensitivity to organizational and human needs, leading to higherjob satisfaction and productivity.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TOOLS
Commercial software tools that automate many aspects of project management facilitate the project management process. Project management software typically features capabilities for defining and ordering tasks, assigning resources to tasks, establishing starting and ending dates to tasks, tracking progress, and facilitating modifications to tasks and resources. Many automate the creation of Gantt and PERT charts. Some of these tools are large sophisticated programs for managing very large projects, dispersed work groups, and enterprise functions. These high-end tools can manage very large numbers of tasks and activities and complex relationships.
Microsoft Office Project 2010 has become the most widely used project management software today. It is PC-based, with capabilities for producing PERT and Gantt charts and for supporting critical path analysis, resource allocation, project tracking, and status reporting. Project also tracks the way changes in one aspect of a project affect others. Project Professional 2010 provides collaborative project management capabilities when used with Microsoft Office Project Server 2010. Project Server stores project data in a central SQL Server database, enabling authorized users to access and update the data over the Internet. Project Server 2010 is tightly integrated with the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services collaborative workspace platform. These features help large enterprises manage projects in many different locations. Products such as Easy Projects .NET and Vertabase are also useful for firms that want Web-based project management tools.
Going forward, delivery of project management software as a software service (SaaS) will make this technology accessible to more organizations, especially smaller ones. Open source versions of project management software such as Open Workbench and OpenProj will further reduce the total cost of ownership and attract new users. Thanks to the popularity of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, project management software is also likely to become more flexible, collaborative, and user-friendly. While project management software helps organizations track individual projects, the resources allocated to them, and their costs, project portfolio management software helps organizations manage portfolios of projects and dependencies among them. Project portfolio management software helps managers compare proposals and projects against budgets and resource capacity levels to determine the optimal mix and sequencing of projects thatbest achieves the organization’s strategic goals.
Sociotechnical Design
One way of addressing human and organizational issues is to incorporate sociotechnical design practices into information systems projects. Designers set forth separate sets of technical and social design solutions. The social design plans explore different workgroup structures, allocation of tasks, and the design of individual jobs. The proposed technical solutions are compared with the proposed social solutions. The solution that best meets both social and technical objectives is selected for the final design. The resulting sociotechnical design is expected to produce an information system that blends technical efficiency with sensitivity to organizational and human needs, leading to higherjob satisfaction and productivity.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TOOLS
Commercial software tools that automate many aspects of project management facilitate the project management process. Project management software typically features capabilities for defining and ordering tasks, assigning resources to tasks, establishing starting and ending dates to tasks, tracking progress, and facilitating modifications to tasks and resources. Many automate the creation of Gantt and PERT charts. Some of these tools are large sophisticated programs for managing very large projects, dispersed work groups, and enterprise functions. These high-end tools can manage very large numbers of tasks and activities and complex relationships.
Microsoft Office Project 2010 has become the most widely used project management software today. It is PC-based, with capabilities for producing PERT and Gantt charts and for supporting critical path analysis, resource allocation, project tracking, and status reporting. Project also tracks the way changes in one aspect of a project affect others. Project Professional 2010 provides collaborative project management capabilities when used with Microsoft Office Project Server 2010. Project Server stores project data in a central SQL Server database, enabling authorized users to access and update the data over the Internet. Project Server 2010 is tightly integrated with the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services collaborative workspace platform. These features help large enterprises manage projects in many different locations. Products such as Easy Projects .NET and Vertabase are also useful for firms that want Web-based project management tools.
Going forward, delivery of project management software as a software service (SaaS) will make this technology accessible to more organizations, especially smaller ones. Open source versions of project management software such as Open Workbench and OpenProj will further reduce the total cost of ownership and attract new users. Thanks to the popularity of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, project management software is also likely to become more flexible, collaborative, and user-friendly. While project management software helps organizations track individual projects, the resources allocated to them, and their costs, project portfolio management software helps organizations manage portfolios of projects and dependencies among them. Project portfolio management software helps managers compare proposals and projects against budgets and resource capacity levels to determine the optimal mix and sequencing of projects thatbest achieves the organization’s strategic goals.
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