Tina: Good morning, David. Are you ready for the next step?
David: Sure. Now that we have a logical model of the bookstore system, what comes next?
Tina: We’re at a transition point between the logical design, which describes what the new system will do, and
the physical design phase, which describes how it will be done, including the user interface and physical
components. Before we start the physical design, we have to study various systems development options
and make a recommendation to Wendy.
David: What are the options?
Tina: Well, some large organizations use Web-based systems hosted by outside vendors who supply and maintain the software. In a sense, the customer rents the application. I checked with our IT director, and she
feels we’re not ready for that approach. She wants us to implement a system on the college network and
migrate to a Web-based system later. That brings us to the next set of questions.
David: Such as?
Tina: We need to consider our role in the development process.We can build the system ourselves, which is
called in-house development. Or we can purchase a software package, which might need some degree of
modification to meet our needs. Or we could consider outsourcing options, including hiring an IT consultant to help with development tasks. Either way, we need to do a cost-benefit study.
David: What about the transition from logical to physical design that you mentioned?
Tina: The idea is to take our logical design, which is similar to an architect’s proposal, and translate it into a physical design, which is more like a working blueprint. If we decide to develop the system in-house, we’ll probably build a prototype, or working model of the system. If we decide to purchase a package, we’ll follow a
series of steps that will help us select the best product.We’ll also talk about systems design guidelines.
David: When you mention the idea of a blueprint, it sounds like we’re getting ready to pick up our tools and go to work.
Tina: We sure are. Here’s a task list to get us started: