Case Study: System Development Essay

System development is a process in which programmers with organization contribution write codes to solve a problem that face the organization system or automate a procedure. There are three major systems development techniques that been used to solve systems’ problems. The system development techniques are SDLC (Systems Development Life Cycle), JAD (Joint Application Development), and RAD (Rapid Application Development). SDLC provides tools for controlling details within large development projects that solve structured problems. JAD enables the identification, definition, and implementation of information infrastructures. RAD supports the iteration and flexibility necessary for building robust business process support(Osborn, 1995). In this case study, the manager been asked to design, develop, and install a Patient Management Information System for a medical clinic in which three physicians practice general medicine. This system has to be operational in 6 months. There is one individual in the clinic staff who is reasonably well informed about information technology. Thus, the manager needs to determine which system development methodologies will use to solve this problem. To choose the appropriate development system, the manager need to use a process which consists of s (1) defining requirements, (2) designing an information system to fit those requirements, (3) building the code to deliver that system, and (4) testing to see whether the code works and the system does the job it was intended to do(Osborn, 1995). The requirement for this case study is to design and develop and install a Management Information System for a medical clinic that has three physicians within 6 months. Based on that, this process will take longer if we use the SDLC which is the traditional method that need narrative descriptions, data definitions, and sample screens. Moreover, producing a thorough, often multi-volume description of system requirements can become such a time-consuming task that it begins to extend the expected life of a development project. On the other hand, JAD tends to rely on data models to provide requirements definition and prototypes to capture final design details. The data modeling can produce thorough system specifications more quickly than SDLC narratives, especially through the use of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools. The RAD relies on a series of iterative prototypes to specify and document requirements. The technique reverses the scheduling emphasis normally found in SDLC projects by setting a rolling series of release dates and dynamically adjusting system features to fit. Iterating prototypes gives requirements the opportunity to evolve and the flexibility to change if needed(Osborn, 1995). Since the project is for small clinic, which mean that the budget is limited. SDLC to the use of expensive mainframes to understand transactions, JAD to the need for managing data distribution following the advent of minicomputers, and RAD to the development of business process support based on networked client/server workstations. SDLC provides tools for controlling details within large development projects that solve structured problems. JAD enables the identification, definition, and implementation of information infrastructures. RAD supports the iteration and flexibility necessary to building robust business process support. Thus, based on the information that discussed earlier, I recommend using the RAD method because the clinic is small one which needs inexpensive system and the system will need support especially that there is only one person who informed about using information technology. In addition, the time limits that clinic has will fit also the RAD method. Literature showed that RAD proves most useful for systems support of unstructured business processes. This not means that this system will limit the business because when the business grows up the system can move for more structure system(Osborn, 1995). References Glandon, G., Smaltz, D. & Slovensky, D. (2012). Information Systems for Healthcare Management. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press. Osborn, C. (1995). SDLC, JAD, and RAD: Finding the Right Hammer. Center for Information Management Studies, Working Paper 95-07.