Answer to Question #203466 in Management for FIKIRU HABTAMU

Question

After a new business information system is developed, there are different conversion strategies

that an Information System analyst team follows to switch from old system to the newly

developed system. Discuss these conversion strategies briefly and suggest one which you think

most risky in terms of information loss (assuming other things constant)

Answer 1

Changing Over Directly

In this strategy the organization stops using the old system and directly moves to using the new system. For this strategy to work very extensive testing should have been done before the change over and also delays can be tolerated in the organization. This strategy is very risky as there is no means of comparing the two systems and also employees in the organization can resist change and refuse to start using and unfamiliar system.

Parallel Running

This strategy involves running the old system and the new system concurrently. After the organization is satisfied with the results from the new system then they can stop using the old system. This strategy has an advantage in that data comparison between the old and the new system is possible to de done and therefore errors can be eliminated. The disadvantage of this strategy is that it doubles the workload of the staff and also it is time consuming running two parallel systems (Marakas et al, 2013).

Gradual Conversion

This is a hybrid strategy of both the parallel running and the changing over directly. The gradual conversion strategy increases the volume of work handled by the new system gradually as the new system is phased in. This strategy has numerous advantages like it’s possible to detect errors, features in the new system are added gradually and employees have time to settle into the new system.

 

 

Modular Conversion

This strategy involves creating self-contained operational subsystems that will be used to change from the old system to the new system. After each subsystem or module is tested and accepted it starts being used. The advantage of this strategy is that a lot of testing is done before implementation and that employees run the modules gradually.

Distributed Conversion

This strategy is usually used in banks and franchises where conversion is done using any of the previous four methods at one site and when successful other sites follow suit. One advantage is that issues and errors  and problems are detected at one site and will not have to be spread across all the sites.

Risky Strategy

This changing over directly strategy is very risky as there is no means of comparing the two systems and also employees in the organization can resist change and refuse to start using and unfamiliar system. Although it can be argued that there is no single best way of converting from an old system to a new one and what makes a conversion successful is adequate planning, good backup, involvement of the employees and adequate security provision.

References

Marakas, G.M. and O'Brien, J.A., 2013. Introduction to information systems (p. 624). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.