ACKNOWLEDGEMENT INTRODUCTION- XV CHAPTER 1 * MANAGING THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE.. 1 KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT.- 3 Planning- .3 Leadership- 5 Participation ..- .6 Project Management ..- ..6 Resources ..- .8 CHANGE..- .. 11 The Six Stages of Change..- 12 THE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT CYCLE. 15 CHAPTER 2 * HANDLING USER REQUESTS .17 STANDARDIZE YOUR REQUESTS- . 17 YOU'VE GOT MAIL!..- 18 For Whom, for What? ..- 20 For MIS Only- ..22 TRACKING THE PROJECT'S PROGRESS- .. 23 Using the Project Tracking System..- 23 WHAT'S THE MAGNITUDE?- .26 The Existing Application- .27 Other Applications- ..28 The User's Work Process or Schedule ..29 Other Requests ..- 30 Your Programming Staff'..- .30 Your Budget..- ..31 The AS/400..- ..32 APPROVAL AND PRIORITIZATION..- .32 SUMMARY.- 35 CHAPTER 3 * DEFINING THE USERS' REQUIREMENTS? BE CAREFUL WHAT You ASK FOR.. ..- .38 THE DOUBLE THREAT..- 39 The Successful Business Analyst ..- ..40 Developing Business Analysts- 40 MEETING WITH THE USER- ..41 Project Development Checklist Overview44 A Balancing Act- 46 How Will This Affect the Company? 49 Check Within..- 49 Information-A Two-Way Street..- 49 Does Silence Mean Acceptance?- 50 Larger Projects-A Presentation Please 50 The Seven Deadly Words..- 52 Dealing with Downsizing ..- 53 SUMMARY.- 56 CHAPTER 4 * DETERMINING YOUR APPROACH. 57 How TO USE THE CHECKLIST- .58 EVALUATION OF THE DESIGN'S IMPACT..- ..60 Impact on Existing Applications ..- ..60 Impact on Users ..- ..61 Impact on the System..- ..62 Impact on the Development Team- 63 Total Score ..- ..64 THE DESIGN TRIANGLE.--.-------------------- Choosing Your Team..------------------------- Using Consultants or Contract Programmers ..08 SUMMARY CHAPTER 5 * IMPACT ON FINANCIAL APPLICATIONS 75 INTEGRATION vs. INTERFACES Best of Breed vs. Integration..-.. 76 DEVELOPING NEW APPLICATIONS ..- 11 KEEP IN MIND- . 80 BENEFITS OF AUTOMATED JOURNAL ENTRIES81 INTERFACE METHODOLOGIES ..- ..83 IMPACT ON THE PROJECT.- . 84 CHAPTER 6 * THE PROJECT PLAN..8- 5 SCOPE ..- 86 GOOD ARTISANS NEVER BLAME THE TOOLS88 LET'S START WITH WHO- ..89 How LONG?..- 89 KEEPING TRACK OF THE PROJECT.- ..90 The Project Plan in Detail..- .. 91 Who Is Responsible? ..- .95 A Driving Force at Status Meetings- .96 THE STATUS MEETING ..- ..97 Here We Go with Who Again..- ..98 What's Your Frequency?- t99 Standardize Your Reporting Format!.. 100 Issues and Answers.- 101 Know Your Objectives- .. 103 A Final Word on Status Meetings ..1- 03 IF THE PROJECT SLIPS ..- .. 104 Isolate and Insulate ..- .104 MANAGEMENT- 105 A FINAL THOUGHT.- 106 CHAPTER 7 * DATABASE DESIGN..- .107 BUILDING YOUR OWN SYSTEM -..,..,,108 Building for the Future..- ..112 BUYING A SOFTWARE PACKAGE.- .. 112 Tips for Evaluating a Software Package 113 MIGRATING TO A NEWDATABASE- . 115 More Migration Tips- ..116 CHAPTER 8 * THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.. 119 STANDARDIZE!- . 121 CONSULTING FIRMS, TOOLS, AND THE YEAR 2000 121 Hardware/Operating Systems ..- 128 Networks- .. 129 The Database Review..- 131 Program Review..- 133 Backup Systems ..- ..135 Suppliers and Customers- .. 136 Standardized Date Routines- . 136 Forms and Documents ..- .137 SUMMARY.- .. 138 CHAPTER 9 * PROGRAMMING SPECIFICATIONS.. 139 GET SPEC CHANGES IN WRITING.- .. 141 SPECS FOR EXISTING PROGRAMS REQUIRING CORRECTION . 142 CHAPTER 10 * VALIDATION- 145 CHAPTER 11 * PROGRAMMING- 151 SIMPLICITY- 151 SHARING INFORMATION- 152 STANDARDS- .. 153 MODULAR PROGRAMMING ..- 154 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION ..- .. 157 RECURSIVELY CALLED CL PROGRAMS .. 157 INDICATORS ..- .. 158 Do NOT OVERCODE/UNDERCODE COMMANDS AND HELP TEXT 158 PRINT DISPLAY FILE COMMAND.- . 159 SYSTEM/PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION- 159 WARNING, WILL ROBINSON! WARNING! 160 LOOK AHEAD, EVEN EARLY IN DEVELOPMENT 160 INFORMATION SERVICES A PROFIT CENTER? WHY NOT? 161 CHAPTER 12 * TESTING ..- ..163 TESTING IN STAGES ..- 164 Unit Testing.- . 164 System Testing.- .. 165 Team Testing ..- 166 User Testing.- :.. 168 WRITING UP AN APPLICATION- 171 The Write-Up- 172 TESTING ENVIRONMENTS ..- .173 OTHER HELPFUL HINTS ABOUT TESTING 177 CHAPTER 13 * OPERATIONAL CONTROLS AND DISCIPLINES..179 DISCIPLINE = SUCCESS ..- 180 SCHEDULING- .. 180 STRONG LEADERSHIP Is ESSENTIAL .. 181 REPORTING PROBLEMS ..- 182 IMPACT ON THE DEPARTMENT- 183 TRAINING- 184 KEEPING THE STAFF INFORMED- 185 RESPONSIBILITIES OPERATORS SHOULD HAVE. 186 SUPPORT.- 186 Configuration- 186 Print a Grid- ..188 Production Environments- ..!88 THE BOTTOM LINE- 192 CHAPTER 14 * DOCUMENTATION ..193 OBJECT DOCUMENTATION- .. 194 SOURCE DOCUMENTATION ..:- 197 PROCESS DOCUMENTATION ..- .. 199 Scenario 1..- ..200 Scenario 2..- ..201 Scenario 3..- ..202 CHAPTER 15 * IMPLEMENTATION..- ..205 RULES OF THE ROAD- ..205 IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGIES- ..207 TheBigBang,- ..208 Phased Implementation..- 209 XI TRAINING- 210 GEARING UP.- 212 User Notification- ..214 Approval and Sign-off ..- ..216 Support/Implementation Week- ..217 Set Up a Hot Line- ..217 DAILY POST-IMPLEMENTATION MEETINGS 218 POST-IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW..- .219 CHAPTER 16 * SUPPORT ..- ..223 IN-HOUSE SOFTWARE-MAINTENANCE..- 223 PURCHASED SOFTWARE-MAINTENANCE..- .224 CROSS-TRAINING..- 225 OVERNIGHT STAFF SUPPORT-PROBLEMS 226 THE HELP DESK- .227 1. Use the Data Being Generated- 228 2. Training of the Help Desk Personnal2- 29 Other Points..- 229 OPERATIONS ..- ..230 DOCUMENTATION- .. 230 CONSULT ANTS-.. 231 SUPER USERS ..- 232 INDEX..- 233