The Information Systems Development Life Cycle: A First Course in Information Systems

Citation

Fourie, I. (2000), "The Information Systems Development Life Cycle: A First Course in Information Systems", The Electronic Library, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 69-75. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2000.18.1.69.2

The Information Systems Development Life Cycle is part of the Information Systems Series which covers various aspects of information systems within their business and organisational contexts. The authors, David Avison and Hanifa Shah, are both well qualified for writing such a text. They come respectively from a School of Management and a School of Computing and both hold PhDs. David is also the President of the UK Academy for Information Systems, and joint editor of the Information Systems journal. Apart from leading the research activities of the Information Technology for Strategic Management Group, Hanifa Shah has several years of experience in industry. Their backgrounds and expertise are clearly reflected in the excellent manner in which theoretical discussions are linked to case studies and the tasks set for these. The numerous diagrams supporting the text are also exceptionaly clear in the way they convey theory and enable the reader to apply theory to practice.

The Information Systems Development Life Cycle succeeds very well as an undergraduate textbook. The clear, well structured layout, logical flow of arguments and facts, as well as the supporting didactic aids add to its appeal. Each chapter is preceded by a brief and uncluttered list of contents and includes numerous figures and diagrams to support the discussion, and concludes with a summary and a list of sources for further reading. These sources are all annotated, except for the sources listed in Chapters 11‐12. (Although it may be the case that these sources have already been annotated in earlier chapters, it would still be useful for the reader if their value for the particular chapter is highlighted.) In Chapter 13, the pattern is broken by providing a list of references – something which was not included with other chapters. No sources are recommended for further reading in spite of the fact that some very interesting issues are addressed (e.g. data mining, intranets, data warehousing).

Lists of “short questions” are included at the end of each chapter. These should prove valuable for revising the main concepts and issues of each chapter, and allow the reader to check his/her understanding of a chapter before moving on to the next. Areas to debate provide readers with the opportunity to think more widely about the topics under discussion. A case study based on a chain of hairdressing salons provides the ultimate opportunity for applying theory to practice. With each chapter, the tasks set for the case study are adapted according to the preceding content.

Apart from a series foreword and preface, there are 13 chapters. The chapters cover the following topics: introduction, the organisation, the information systems development life cycle, the feasability study, systems investigation, systems analysis, systems design, implementation, review and maintenance, tools, SSADM, the systems life cycle revisited and the technological infrastructure. Since The Information Systems Development Life Cycle is intended as an introductory course, it might have been more appropriate to use Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method as a chapter heading instead of just the acronym SSADM. (The section headings for the chapter titled SSADM are also very brief, and may be confusing for the novice.)

In Chapter 3 (p. 71) a model of the stages of the life cycle is introduced. For the following chapters (4‐9), the model is repeated, and each time the stage covered by the particular chapter is highlighted. This is a useful feature which can help readers to orientate themselves to the different stages and the content they are studying.

An index and a fairly extensive bibliography are also included. The bibliography is in line with what one can expect for an introductory text. Sources on soft systems methodology and the systems approach might perhaps have featured more strongly, since these do not necessarily exclude the sytems life cycle and could provide useful insights. In the preface the authors explain that the book draws on other sources such as soft systems methodology. The work of an expert in this field, Peter Checkland, is, however, missing from the bibliography. The index provides for subjects, the names of cited authors, companies and products. Only a few typographical errors were spotted (e.g. pp. 146, 194, 196, 202, 234).

Although there are a few possible improvements the authors could consider for a future revision, the book is highly recommended as an introductory textbook for courses in information systems which emphasise the business and organisational context, as well as the importance of human interactions and reactions. It would also be suitable for postgraduate students lacking the basic background, or working with more advanced but less structured texts.