| Conversion | The process in which the hardware, software, people, network, and data resources of an old information system must be converted to the requirements of a new information system. This usually involves a parallel, phased, pilot, or plunge conversion process from the old to the new system.
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| Cost/Benefit Analysis | Identifying the advantages or benefits and the disadvantages or costs of a proposed solution.
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| Data Conversion | Converting data into new data formats required by a new business application and its software and databases. Also includes correcting incorrect data, filtering out unwanted data, and consolidating data into new databases and other data subsets.
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| Documentation | A collection of documents or information that describes a computer program, information system, or required data processing operations.
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| Economic Feasibility | Whether expected cost savings, increased revenue, increased profits, and reductions in required investment exceed the costs of developing and operating a proposed system.
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| Feasibility Study | A preliminary study that investigates the information needs of end users and the objectives, constraints, basic resource requirements, cost/benefits, and feasibility of proposed projects.
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| Functional Requirements | The information system capabilities required to meet the information needs of end users. Also called system requirements.
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| Human factors feasibility | Hardware and software capabilities that can affect the comfort, safety, ease of use, and user customization of computer-based information systems.
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| Intangible Benefits and Costs | The non-quantifiable benefits and costs of a proposed solution or system.
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| Postimplementation Review | Monitoring and evaluating the results of an implemented solution or system.
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| Project Management | Managing the accomplishment of an information system development project according to a specific project plan, in order that a project is completed on time and within its budget and meets its design objectives.
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| Prototyping | The rapid development and testing of working models, or prototypes, of new information system applications in an interactive, iterative process involving both systems analysts and end users.
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| Systems Analysis | (1) Analyzing in detail the components and requirements of a system. (2) Analyzing in detail the information needs of an organization, the characteristics and components of presently utilized information systems, and the functional requirements of proposed information systems.
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| Systems Design | Deciding how a proposed information system will meet the information needs of end users. Includes logical and physical design activities and user interface, data, and process design activities that produce system specifications that satisfy the system requirements developed in the systems analysis stage.
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| Systems Approach | A systematic process of problem solving that defines problems and opportunities in a systems context. Data are gathered describing the problem or opportunity, and alternative solutions are identified and evaluated. Then the best solution is selected and implemented, and its success is evaluated.
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| Systems Development | (1) Conceiving, designing, and implementing a system. (2) Developing information systems by a process of investigation, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance. Also called the systems development life cycle (SDLC), information systems development, or application development.
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| Systems Implementation | The stage of systems development in which hardware and software are acquired, developed, and installed; the system is tested and documented; people are trained to operate and use the system; and an organization converts to the use of a newly developed system.
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| Systems Maintenance | The monitoring, evaluating, and modifying of a system to make desirable or necessary improvements.
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| System Specifications | The product of the systems design stage. It consists of specifications for the hardware, software, facilities, personnel, databases, and the user interface of a proposed information system.
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| Systems Thinking | Recognizing systems, subsystems, components of systems, and system interrelationships in a situation. Also known as a systems context or a systemic view of a situation.
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| Tangible Benefits and Costs | The quantifiable benefits and costs of a proposed solution or system.
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| Technical Feasibility | Whether reliable hardware and software capable of meeting the needs of a proposed system can be acquired or developed by an organization in the required time.
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| User Interface Design | Designing the interactions between end users and computer systems, including input/output methods and the conversion of data between human-readable and machine-readable forms.
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