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IMPLEMENTATION OF MIS Implementation of MIS is a process in itself and involves various steps. It is understood here that the major steps are based on the design specifications. All requirements of the system, such as input, processing, output, equipment, personnel, etc., are provided by the design specifications. There are four basic methods for implementing the MIS once the design has been completed. These are 1. Install a system in a new operation or organization, one just being formed. 2. Cut off the old system and install the new. This produces a time gap during which no system is in operation. It is practical only for small companies or small systems where installation requires one or two days. An exception to this would be the installation of a larger system during a plant's vacation shutdown or some other period of inactivity. 3. Cut over by segments. This method is also referred to as "phasing in" the new system. Small parts or subsystems are substituted for the old. If this method is possible, some careful questions should be asked about the design of the new system. Is it really just an automation of isolated groups of clerical activities? Generally, new systems are not substitutable piece by piece for previous nonsystems. However, in the case of upgrading old systems, this may be a very desirable method. 4. Operate in parallel and cut over. The new system is installed and operated in parallel with the current system until it has been checked out; then the current system is cut out. This method is expensive because of personnel and related co..c;ts. However, it is required in certain essential systems, such as payroll or customer billing. Its big advantage is that the system is fairly well debugged when it becomes the essential information system of the company.

System implementation consists of various steps that are given below. I.

PLANNING THE IMPLEMENTATION For proper implementation, the plan is a pre-requisite and is known as pre-implementation activity. It is in this step that various activities, which are required for implementing a system, are identified and their sequence and relation to' each other is decided. In this• step, various other estimates like time required for each activity and cost estimates are also obtained. To better describe the plan and implementation schedule, a system analyst should make use of various tools like Gantt Charts 1

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i) Identify the implementation tasks The planning for the project of implementation should follow the procedures for project planning. Once the conversion method has been described, the specific steps are as we shall delineate here. 1.Planning the implementation activities 2.Acquiring and laying out facilities and offices 3.Organizing the personnel for implementation 4.Developing procedures for installation and testing 5.Developing the training program for operating personnel 6.Completing the system's software 7.Acquiring required hardware 8.Generating files 9.Designing forms 10.Testing of the entire system 11.Completing cutover to the new system 12.Documenting the system 13.Evaluating the MIS 14.Providing system maintenance (debugging and improving)

The plans should list all subtasks for each of these major tasks so that individuals in the organization may be assigned specific responsibilities.

ii) Establish Relationships Among Tasks For small projects, the order of performance may simply be described in text form. However, even in small projects, a Gantt chart or network diagram makes visualization of the plan and schedule much clearer. In large projects, many concurrent and sequential activities are interrelated, so that a network diagram must be employed in any good plan.

The actual desired end date is then usually specified by management on the basis of this information. Obviously, management may apply pressure or provide additional personnel to shorten the network times.

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iv) Prepare a Cost Schedule Tied to Tasks and Time The cost for completing each milestone, and possibly each task required to complete a milestone, should be established as part of the plan; then the rate of expenditures should be budgeted. The techniques for this phase of planning were covered in Chapter 6.

v) Establish a Reporting and Control System Reporting and control of the work in progress may be obtained by weekly meetings of the key people involved or by brief written progress reports. The financial personnel must make certain that report formats allow them to show cost and technical progress relationships as well as cost and time relationships. When large numbers of people are both conducting regular operations and introducing new equipment, arrangements, and operations, some confusion is inevitable. The object of the control system is to minimize this confusion and the associated delays and costs.

II.

ACQUISITION OF FACILITIES AND SPACE PLANNING The information system to be implemented may be for a new organization, where no old system is in existence or for an existing organization, where the information system has been modified to a great extent or altogether a new one has been developed. This requires acquisition of facilities like office, computer-room, computer library, etc. For proper implementation of the system, the MIS manager is required to prepare estimates of floor space requirements and also rough layouts. Space planning should take into account the space occupied by computers, terminals, printers, etc., as also by people and their movement. The number and types of exits, storage areas, air-conditioning, and location of utilities, safety and security factors also affect the layout and location of the computer room.

III.

DEVELOP PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTATION It is also important that a manager (may be from the finance/accounts/ computer centre) be given the responsibility of guiding the task of implementation. The so-appointed MIS manager must make the role of line managers/users clear and ensure their involvement in the system to the maximum extent possible. In other words, the users should develop a feeling as if the system is their own system. It will help manage users' resistance to change and increase 3

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their acceptance. It is the right time here that the MIS manager starts recruiting/hiring other required personnel.

IV.

TRAIN THE OPERATING PERSONNEL Adequate user training is very important for successfully implementing an information system. The users may be identified and classified differently on the basis of the operations/functions performed by them. For example, clerical or managerial, frequent users versus occasional users. These classes are not necessarily exclusive, as they quite often overlap. The MIS manager must design training programmes as per the needs of these users. Clerical users must be trained in the processing of transactions and managers must be informed as to the format and content of reports and terminal displays, as well as how to make on-line inquiries. Particular attention should be paid to the training of first-line supervisors. They must have a thorough understanding of what the new MIS is like and what it is supposed to do. Because, in essence, they oversee the operation of the system, they must learn how it will operate. They are faced with many changes in their work and they must obtain acceptance of changes by their subordinates. Supervisors will therefore have an intense interest in the answers to 1.What new skills must we and our people learn? 2.How many people do we gain or lose? 3.What changes in procedures do we make? 4.What are the new forms? Are there more or fewer? 5.What jobs will be upgraded or downgraded? 6.How will our performance be measured?

V.

COMPUTER-RELATED ACQUISITIONS The process of acquiring the necessary hardware and software should, in fact, start immediately after the design specifications of the system are over. It should be ensured that the facilities which are required for installing the hardware, such as, site preparation work, computer room layout, air-conditioning, electric connections, communication lines, etc., should be complete to avoid loss of time in making the system operational.

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An important factor in systems installations is that a new computer is often required along with the new MIS. The Acquisition consists of bringing on site

VI.

i.

Hardware

ii.

Software

iii.

Personnel

iv.

materials

DEVELOP FORMS FOR DATA COLLECTION AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION For implementation of MIS, the required forms should be generated, but care must be taken that these are generated in the context of the entire MIS. Moreover, forms being the key user interfaces become all the more important in the general acceptance of the system.

VII.

DEVELOP THE FILES The specifications for the files have been developed in the detailed design stage. In the implementation stage, the actual data must be obtained and recorded for the initial testing and operation of the system. This requires a checklist of data, format of data, storage form and format, and remarks to indicate when the data have been stored. The implementation also requires the development of a procedure for updating each piece of the data and for updating entire sections of the file as required. This collection of data used in routine operations is often called the master file.

VIII.

TESTING THE SYSTEM It is more important at implementation because, testing at this stage is done under real operating conditions with factual data. Testing can be done with only a small representative data but it should be done at various levels, starting from elements to sub-systems and' finally to the system as a whole. The elements may include equipment, forms, programs, work procedures and formats, etc., and may be tested relatively independently of the system to which they belong. Testing of information systems, nowadays, can be undertaken with the help of Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools.

1. Component Testing 

Component testing is also known as module and program testing. It finds the defects in the module and verifies the functioning of software. 5

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

Component testing is done by the tester.



Component testing may be done in isolation from rest of the system depending on the development life cycle model chosen for that particular application. In such case the missing software is replaced by Stubs and Drivers and simulate the interface between the software components in a simple manner. Let’s take an example to understand it in a better way. Suppose there is an application consisting of three modules say, module A, module B and module C. The developer has developed the module B and now wanted to test it. But in order to test the module B completely few of it’s functionalities are dependent on module A and few on module C. But the module A and module C has not been developed yet. In that case to test the module B completely we can replace the module A and module C by stub and drivers as required.



Stub: A stub is called from the software component to be tested.



Driver: A driver calls the component to be tested.

One of the most intense arguments in testing object-oriented systems is whether detailed component testing is worth the effort. Select a component for testing when the penalty for the component not working is greater than the effort required to test it. Not every class will be sufficiently large, important or complex to meet this test so not every class will be tested independently. There are several situations in which the individual classes should be tested regardless of their size or complexity: Reusable components - Components intended for reuse should be tested over a wider range of values than a component intended for a single focused use. Domain components - Components that represent significant domain concepts should be tested both for correctness and for the faithfulness of the representation. Commercial components - Components that will be sold as individual products should be tested not only as reusable components but also as potential sources of liability. 2. Sub-System Tests The SubsystemTest is like a UnitTest in that it is used primarily by the programmer to confirm that his code is working. The difference is that it doesn't test a single class but a group of classes that work together.

3. Software Testing 6

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Software testing is the process of evaluation a software item to detect differences between given input and expected output. Also to assess the feature of A software item. Testing assesses the quality of the product. Software testing is a process that should be done during the development process. In other words software testing is a verification and validation process. 4. Verification Verification is the process to make sure the product satisfies the conditions imposed at the start of the development phase. In other words, to make sure the product behaves the way we want it to. 5. Validation Validation is the process to make sure the product satisfies the specified requirements at the end of the development phase. In other words, to make sure the product is built as per customer requirements. Basics of software testing There are two basics of software testing: blackbox testing and whitebox testing. 6. Blackbox Testing Black box testing is a testing technique that ignores the internal mechanism of the system and focuses on the output generated against any input and execution of the system. It is also called functional testing. 7. Whitebox Testing White box testing is a testing technique that takes into account the internal mechanism of a system. It is also called structural testing and glass box testing. Black box testing is often used for validation and white box testing is often used for verification. 8. Levels of testing There are many types of testing like 

Unit Testing



Integration Testing



Functional Testing



System Testing



Stress Testing



Performance Testing



Usability Testing



Acceptance Testing



Regression Testing 7

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Beta Testing Unit Testing Unit testing is the testing of an individual unit or group of related units. It falls under the class of white box testing. It is often done by the programmer to test that the unit he/she has implemented is producing expected output against given input. Integration Testing Integration testing is testing in which a group of components are combined to produce output. Also, the interaction between software and hardware is tested in integration testing if software and hardware components have any relation. It may fall under both white box testing and black box testing. 9. Functional Testing Functional testing is the testing to ensure that the specified functionality required in the system requirements works. It falls under the class of black box testing. 10. System Testing System testing is the testing to ensure that by putting the software in different environments (e.g., Operating Systems) it still works. System testing is done with full system implementation and environment. It falls under the class of black box testing. 11. Performance Testing Performance testing is the testing to assess the speed and effectiveness of the system and to make sure it is generating results within a specified time as in performance requirements. It falls under the class of black box testing. 12. Usability Testing Usability testing is performed to the perspective of the client, to evaluate how the GUI is userfriendly? How easily can the client learn? After learning how to use, how proficiently can the client perform? How pleasing is it to use its design? This falls under the class of black box testing. 13. Acceptance Testing Acceptance testing is often done by the customer to ensure that the delivered product meets the requirements and works as the customer expected. It falls under the class of black box testing. 14. Regression Testing Regression testing is the testing after modification of a system, component, or a group of related units to ensure that the modification is working correctly and is not damaging or imposing other modules to produce unexpected results. It falls under the class of black box testing. 8

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15. Beta Testing Beta testing is the testing which is done by end users, a team outside development, or publicly releasing full pre-version of the product which is known as beta version. The aim of beta testing is to cover unexpected errors. It falls under the class of black box testing.

IX.

CUTOVER Changeover/cutover is the event of switch-over from the old system to the new system, which takes place after the system is tested and found reliable. The existing system is replaced by the new system in this phase. Conversion from the old system to the new system may be accomplished by selecting one or a combination of various conversion approaches. For New Organization/Operation If the organization is a new one or when the old system does not exist, there is only one method for implementing the newly developed system, i.e. install the system. The newly developed system is implemented as there is no old system in operation and thus no question of replacement of the old or existing system arises.

For Existing Organization/Operation When the old system is in existence, there may be four different strategies, namely: (i) Direct (ii) Parallel (iii)Modular (iv) Phase-in

1. Direct Approach A direct implementation is the installation of the new system and the immediate discontinuation of the old system, sometimes called cut-off. This is the 'Cold Turnkey' approach. This approach produces a time gap when no system is working. Thus, this approach is meaningful when (a) The system is not replacing any other system, (b) The old system is judged absolutely worthless, (c) The new system is either very small or simple, and 9

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(d) The design of the new system is drastically different from that of the old system and comparisons between systems would be meaningless.

However, this approach may be used in organizations having seasonal operations like sugarcane processing or during the shut-down of a plant. The main advantage of this approach is that it is relatively inexpensive. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this approach is that it involves a high risk of failure.

2. Parallel Approach In this approach, the new system is installed and operated in parallel with the current system until it has been tested thoroughly; then the current system is cut-out. This is the opposite of the direct implementation approach. In a parallel implementation approach, the outputs from each system are compared and differences reconciled. This method is expensive because of duplicating facilities and personnel to maintain the dual systems. However, it is required in certain essential systems, such as payroll, examination and defence systems. Its main advantage is that the accuracy of the system is properly checked before it is accepted as an information system of the organization. In this approach, a target date should be set to indicate when parallel operation will cease and the new system will operate on its own. If possible, the target date should be set at the end of the longest processing cycle (e.g. at the end of the fiscal period and after year-end closings).

3. Modular Approach Modular approach, sometimes termed the 'pilot approach', refers to the implementation of a system in the organization on a module basis. For example, an inventory system might be implemented with only a selected product grouping or with all products in one location of a multiple-location organization. This approach has the following advantages. (a) The risk of a system's failure is localized. (b) The problems identified in the system can be corrected before further implementation. (c) Other operating personnel can be trained in a 'live' environment before the system is implemented at their location.

4. Phase-in Implementation

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This method is also referred to as 'cut over by segments' approach, which is similar to the modular approach. However, it differs in that the system itself is segmented and not the organization. For example, the new data collection activities are implemented and an interface mechanism with the old system is developed. This interface allows the old system to operate with the new input data. Later, the new database access, storage, and retrieval activities are implemented. Once again, an interface mechanism with the old system is developed. Another segment of the new system is installed until the entire system is implemented. The advantages of this approach are that the rate of change in a given organization can be minimized and data processing resources can be acquired gradually over an extended period of time. This method is most-suited for systems which require only up gradation of the old systems. The disadvantages to this approach include the costs incurred to develop temporary interfaces with old systems, limited 'applicability and a feeling of 'pendency' in the organization. This approach suggests that sub-systems are substituted for the old system. However, new systems, most of the times, are not substitutable piece by piece for the old systems. X.

DOCUMENT THE SYSTEM "Documentation" of the MIS means preparation of written descriptions of the scope, purpose, information flow components, and operating procedures of the system. Documentation is not a frill; it is a necessity-for troubleshooting, for replacement of subsystems, for interfacing with other systems, for training new operating personnel, and also for evaluating and upgrading the system. If the system is properly documented, 1. A new team of operators could be brought in and could learn to operate the MIS on the basis of the documentation available. 2. Designers not familiar with the organization or MIS could, from the documentation, reconstruct the system. 3. A common reference design is available for managers, designers, and programmers concerned with system maintenance. 4. The information systems analyst will have a valuable data source for developing a new MIS, schedules, personnel plans, and costs.

XI.

EVALUATE THE MIS Evaluation should not be delayed beyond the time when the systems analysts have completed most of the debugging. The longer the delay, the more difficult it will be for 11

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the designer to remember important details. The evaluation should be made by the customer as well as by the designers. The measurement of costs or benefits of an MIS is the measurement of a change or difference between the old and the new. The measurement of change must be related to the basic goals of the MIS, the principal activities that further these goals, or the many minor activities that further these goals. In other words, we may measure the change in the total output of the system or measure the many changes accomplished throughout the system. The former is obviously the most desirable. The results obtained from the evaluation process help the organization to determine whether its information systems are effective and efficient or otherwise. As the organizations are existing in dynamic and competitive environments, evaluation is a continuing activity. On the basis of the feedback provided by the evaluation process, the organization in order to keep its MIS at the highest levels of effectiveness and efficiency, of course, within cost constraints, must respond by taking corrective actions. Corrective action may include removing errors which may be due to design, due to environmental changes or due to organizational changes, or due to changes while enhancing the existing system.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Evaluation of MIS is an integral part of the management control process, in which the organizations determine or appraise the quality or worth of their information systems. In other words, evaluation of MIS is a process of measuring performance of organisational information systems. The feedback so obtained helps determine the necessary adjustments to be made in their information systems. There are different approaches to evaluate MIS in an organisation. The MIS evaluation approaches provide different means to measure accomplishments of system objectives. Hamiltons' survey (1980) indicates that the following approaches on MIS evaluation are frequently employed in organisations. The scope of each evaluation approach has been summarised as follows (Hamilton et al., 1981).

(i) Quality Assurance Review Quality assurance reviews or technical reviews focus on assessing the information system's technical quality, e.g. comparison to standards and operations acceptance procedures. Technical evaluation includes variables like data transmission rate, 12

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main/secondary storage, CPU capacity, etc. Technical reviews are performed by MIS development/ operations personnel or a separate quality_ assurance group within the MIS function. (ii) Compliance Audits Compliance audits or application control reviews assess the adequacy and completeness of controls for the system inputs, outputs, processing, security and access. Compliance audits are typically performed by an autonomous internal audit function. (iii) Budget Performance Review Evaluation of MIS budget performance concentrates on compliance with a predetermined budget expenditure level for the MIS development or operations process. Evaluation of user budget performance has its focus on MIS resource consumption by the user. Both may be supported by a chargeback mechanism. (iv) MIS Personnel Productivity Measurement The capability of MIS personnel is typically determined in terms of productivity. Examples of productivity measures include lines of code per unit time for the programming (development) personnel and keystrokes per unit time for the data entry (operations) personnel. (v) Computer Performance Evaluation The production capability of the computer hardware is typically evaluated in terms of performance efficiencies and bottlenecks that limit production. For example, computer performance evaluation measurements are made on per cent uptime, actual throughput, and I/O channel utilisation. (vi) Service Level Monitoring Service level monitoring focusses on assessing the information and support provided to the user, based on the terms established between the MIS and the user personnel. Assessment of the information provided include turnaround time, response time and error rates. Assessment of the support provided include the time required to respond to the user's problems and requests for changes. (vii) User Attitude Survey User attitude survey method is used in operational evaluation. Operational considerations refer to whether the input data is adequately provided and the output is usable. This type of attitude surveys are conducted through questionnaires and/or interviews to appraise the user's perceptions of the information and support given by 13

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the MIS function. User attitude surveys typically assess such aspects as the quality and timeliness of reports, quality of service and MIS-user communication. (viii) Post-Installation Review . The focus of a Post-Installation Review (PIR) is often on estimating whether the system meets the requirement definition, i.e. 'Does the system do what it is designed to do'? However, the scope of the PIR may include a post-hoc review of the development and operation processes, an examination of the information and support provided, an analysis of the actual use process, and cost/benefit analysis of the system and its effects on the user performance. Cost/Benefit analysis is also known as economic evaluation. The analysis quantifies the system's effect on organisational performance in terms of dollars, e.g. direct cost savings or tangible financial benefits. Cost benefit analysis is often used in capital budgeting to gauge the return on investment.

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT Evaluation of performance measurement consist of two major classes (Davis and Olson, 1985), as given below. Effectiveness This refers to the quality of the outputs from the system. Effectiveness means doing the 'right' thing in the right manner so that desired result may be achieved. Information System is said to be effective if its product (i.e. output) is of quality, and the process of producing output is right (effective).

Efficiency It is a measure of the amount of resources required to achieve the output, i.e. the use of system resources to get results. Being efficient implies the system is operating the 'right' way.

The relationship between effectiveness and efficiency is that effectiveness is a measure of 'goodness' of output, while efficiency is a measure of the resources required to achieve the output. 'this relationship has also been shown in Fig. below. Efficiency (Relative cost of Producing Outputs)

Process

Effectiveness (Outputs Against Desired Outouts)

Outputs

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There are various dimensions of information systems that should be evaluated. These may include the development process, which concerns whether the system was developed following set standards; information being provided and the system's performance. Depending upon the dimensions of the information system to be evaluated, an appropriate evaluation approach may be adopted. To understand the concept of MIS evaluation, two types of evaluation have been discussed in this section. These are product-based evaluation and economic evaluation; where one type of evaluation (economic) focuses on the costs/benefits of MIS, the other type focuses on the product, i.e. information support from the MIS.

PRODUCT-BASED MIS EVALUATION Since the focus of the product-based evaluation is on the product (information support) or the output from the system, the evaluation may be termed as effectiveness evaluation. For assessing the effectiveness of output from MIS, the following model may be used. Model Structure The information attributes may be identified as components of a general model for evaluation of MIS effectiveness in an organization. Some of these attributes are listed below. (i) Timeliness (ii) Relevance (iii) Accuracy (iv) Completeness (v) Adequacy (vi) Explicitness (vii) Exception-based.

Evaluation Models Having identified and categorised various costs and benefits, monetary value of each and every cost as well as benefit is estimated. A system analyst/user manager may evaluate the costs and benefits so estimated. For evaluation, there are several models, which are available, namely: 15

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(i)

Net benefit analysis,

(ii)

Present value analysis,·

(iii)

Net present value,

(iv)

Payback method,

(v)

Cash-flow analysis,

(vi)

Break-even analysis, etc.

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Each method has got its own advantages and disadvantages. Any one or a combination of several methods may be used to evaluate the estimated figures of costs and benefits. No doubt, costlbenefit analysis is a very important tool used in economic evaluation of the system, however, the difficulty in quantifying intangible and indirect costs and benefits becomes its major limitation. The results obtained from the evaluation process help the organisation to determine whether its information systems are effective and efficient or otherwise. As the organisations are existing in dynamic and competitive environments, evaluation is a continuing activity.

XII.

CONTROL AND MAINTAIN THE SYSTEM

Control and maintenance of the system are the responsibilities of the line managers. Control of the system means the operation of the system as it was designed to operate. Managers themselves may not be factoring into decisions information supplied by the system, such as sales forecast or inventory information, and may be relying on intuition. It is up to management at each level in the organization to provide periodic spotchecks of the system for control purposes.

Maintenance is closely related to control. The process of monitoring, evaluating and modifying of existing information systems to make required or desirable improvements may be termed as System Maintenance. System maintenance is an ongoing activity, which covers a wide variety of activities, including removing program and design errors, updating documentation and test data and updating user support. For the purpose of convenience, maintenance may be categorized into three classes, namely; (i) Corrective, (ii) Adaptive, and 16

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(iii) Perfective.

1. Corrective Maintenance This type of maintenance implies removing errors in a program which might have crept in the system due to faulty design or wrong assumptions. Thus, in corrective maintenance, processing or performance failures are repaired.

2. Adaptive Maintenance In adaptive maintenance, program functions are changed to enable the information system to satisfy the information needs of the users. This type of maintenance may become necessary because of organizational changes which may include: (i) change in the organizational procedures, (ii) Change in organizational objectives, goals, policies, etc., (iii) Change in forms, (iv) Change in information needs of managers, (v) Change in system controls and security needs, etc.

3. Perfective Maintenance Perfective maintenance means adding new programs or modifying the existing programs to enhance the performance of the information system. This type of maintenance is undertaken to respond to the user's additional needs which may be due to the changes within or outside of the organization. Outside changes are primarily environmental changes, which may in the absence of system maintenance, render the information system ineffective and inefficient. These environmental changes include: (i) Changes in governmental policies, laws, etc., (ii) Economic and competitive conditions. (iii)New Technology

Internal Problems Related to MIS Maintenance 

No plan for maintenance



No resource allocation for maintenance



Lack of management understanding, interest, and commitment



Lack of user understanding and cooperation 17

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Inadequate documentation



Lack of qualified personnel

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