Chapter 5
System Implementation
System Implementation
The Processes of Coding
Testing and Installation
Documenting the system
Training and Support
Post implementation review
Systems maintenance
Bug-fixing, Enhancements
The objective of Systems Implementation phase is to convert the final
physical system specifications into working and reliable software and
hardware, document the work that has been done, and provide help for
current and future users and caretakers of the system.
The Processes of Coding
The detailed specifications produced during the design phase are
translated into hardware, communications, and executable software.
The design must be translated into a machine-readable form. The
code generation step performs this task.
Different high level programming languages are used for coding.
With respect to the type of application, the right programming
language is chosen.
Depending on the size and complexity of the system, coding can be
an involved, intensive activity. Once coding is begun, the testing
process can begin and proceed in parallel.
The deliverables and outcome from the coding are the code and
program documentation.
Software Testing
Software Testing is the process of executing a program or system
with the intent of finding errors. Or, it involves any activity aimed at
evaluating an attribute or capability of a program or system and
determining that it meets its required results.
Software shall be unit tested, integrated, and retested in a systematic
manner.
The purpose of testing can be quality assurance, verification and
validation, or reliability estimation.
Testing is an integral part in software development. Typically, more
than 50% percent of the development time is spent in testing.
Software testing can be divided into: Correctness testing, Performance tests, Reliability testing and Security is
testing.
• Correctness testing
Correctness is the minimum requirement of software, the essential purpose of testing. Correctness
testing will need some type of vision, to tell the right behavior from the wrong one. The tester may or
may not know the inside details of the software module under test, e.g. control flow, data flow, etc.
• Performance testing
•
Performance has always been a great concern and a driving force of computer evolution. Performance
evaluation of a software system usually includes: resource usage, throughput, and stimulus-response
time and queue lengths detailing the average or maximum number of tasks waiting to be serviced by
selected resources. Typical resources that need to be considered include network bandwidth
requirements, CPU cycles, disk space, disk access operations, and memory usage.
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• Reliability testing
•
Software reliability refers to the probability of failure-free operation of a system. It is related to many
aspects of software, including the testing process.
The robustness of a software component is the degree to which it can function correctly in the presence
of exceptional inputs or stressful environmental conditions.
Cont..
• Security testing
•
Software quality, reliability and security are tightly coupled. Flaws in
software can be exploited by intruders to open security holes. With the
development of the Internet, software security problems are becoming
even more severe.
Many critical software applications and services have integrated security
measures against malicious attacks. The purpose of security testing of
these systems include identifying and removing software flaws that may
potentially lead to security violations, and validating the effectiveness of
security measures. Simulated security attacks can be performed to find
vulnerabilities.
•
By scope, software testing can be categorized as follows: Unit testing, Integration tests,
System tests, Acceptance testing.
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• Unit testing
•
Each module or unit or component is tested alone in an attempt to discover any errors that may
exist in the code.
• Integration Tests
•
The process of bringing together all of the modules that a program comprises for testing purposes.
Modules are typically integrated in a top-down, incremental fashion.
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• Subsystem/System Testing
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The bringing together of all the programs that a system comprises for testing purposes.
All results should be documented on the Test Analysis Report, Test Problem Report and on the
Test Analysis Approval Determination. Any failed components should be migrated back to the
development phase for rework, and the passed components should be migrated ahead for security
testing.
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• Acceptance Testing
•
The process whereby actual users test a completed information system. The end result of which is
the users acceptance of it.
Installation
Install the software product in the target environment as designed and
in accordance with the Installation Plan.
The resources and information necessary to install the software
product shall be determined and be available.
Ensure that the software code and databases initialize, execute, and
terminate as specified in the contract. The installation events and
results shall be documented.
With the implementation of any system, typically there is old data
which is to be included in the new system.
Documenting the system
There are two kinds of documentations 1) System documentation 2) User
documentation.
System documentation is detailed information about a systems design
specifications, its internal workings, and its functionality. It is meant for
maintenance programmers.
It is further divided into internal and external documentation.
Internal documentation is part of the program source code or is generated at
compile time.
External documentation includes the outcome of all of the structured
diagramming techniques such as DFD and ERD.
User documentation is written or visual information about an application
system, how it works and how to use it.
The kinds of user documents are reference guide, users guide, release
description, system administrators guide and acceptance sign-off.
Training
It is always a good business practice to provide training before the end
user uses the new system. Because there has been a previously designed
training plan established, complete with the system user manual, the
execution of the plan should be relatively simple. Typically what
prevents a plan from being implemented is lack of funding. Good
budgeting should prevent this from happening.
Post implementation review
The Post-Implementation Review is used to evaluate the effectiveness
of the system development after the system has been in production for a
period of time (normally 6 months).
Systems maintenance
Systems Operations
•
Operations support is an integral part of the day to day operations of a system.
The following is a checklist of systems operations key tasks and activities:
o Ensure that systems and networks are running and available during the
defined hours of Operations;
o Acquisition and storage of supplies (i.e. paper, toner, tapes, removable disk);
o Perform backups (day-to-day protection, contingency);
o Perform the physical security functions including ensuring adequate UPS,
Personnel have proper security clearances and proper access privileges etc.;
o Ensure users are trained on current processes and new processes;
o Maintain performance measurements, statistics, and system logs. Examples of
performance measures include volume and frequency of data to be processed
in each mode, order and type of operations;
Bug-fixing and Enhancements
• Identify Problem and Modification Process
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One fact of life with any system is that change is inevitable.
Daily maintenance activities for the system, takes place to ensure that
any previously undetected errors are fixed.
Also modifications may be needed to provide new capabilities or to
take advantage of hardware upgrades or new releases of system
software and application software used to operate the system. New
capabilities needs may begin a new problem modification process
described above.
