ITGS

HL extension - 3.10 IT systems in organizations

Introduction

This topic builds on the concepts introduced in “Introduction to project management” and provides students with a more in-depth understanding of the development of IT systems.

Most organizations, at some stage in their development, require the introduction of a new IT system as well as the maintenance and eventual retirement of their current systems. The ability of the organization to manage this change can determine the future viability of the organization.

Students should consider the interrelationship between stakeholders, IT systems, data, processes and policies, which provides the framework for the different project management approaches needed in order to accomplish the specified task. For example, students should research real examples of the role of IT professionals who maintain legacy or develop new IT systems, to reinforce the theoretical concepts addressed in this topic.

Possible scenarios

Students may take the development of their internal assessment as a starting point for the application of the theoretical and practical aspects of this topic. This may take the form of producing a Gantt chart to indicate the stages in the development of the IT solution, on the agreed date, or how differing methodologies may lead to variations in the completion of tasks.

Other scenarios may include a city government that wishes to introduce an improved IT system to provide a more secure and effective method of record keeping in its public libraries. This would include the replacement of the storage area network (SAN) to accommodate the increased amount of data requiring archiving, along with the need to provide a disaster recovery system.

IT concepts to address in this topic

Information systems, people and teams

The system development life cycle (SDLC)