There are various advantages and disadvantages of building an information system from scratch and the essential needs that propel the prosperity of an organization via the implementation of a technology information system. The choice of system decided for a firm is usually determined by system developers or the consultants that a company refers to for advice for choice of system intended for the firm.
Computer and informatics knowledge offers a great platform to the better understanding of integrating an information system into an organization. Preferably I would advise the building of a system from the ground up which gives room for accountability and better incorporation of the various entities into the development modules and models. One other advantage of designing and developing a system from scratch is that it allows analysts to be able to determine the system requirement during the analysis stage for all the participating expected end users of the system.
The software modularity and metrics are usually encouraged at the early stages of construction of a software system via prototyping and outlining most of the system requirement from the end users perspective view. The preference for building the system up from the ground is to ensure that all the phases of the engineering process are covered appropriately.
Also, in the case of any need for bug fixing and system upgrade, the specific stages can always be revisited for purposes of recoding using documented comment, for example on a waterfall model of software engineering and development. Open source software can be beneficial to a company if there is need for large and infinitely database platform for the company with an integration to a most universal hardware and software installation plugin platforms. The setback of an open source software is that it most of them are not customizable to organization needs, like company logos and copyright logo licensees encoded and branded on software systems generally like on web based applications.
Most of the current software systems are being customized to be web based with high end encryption services to facilitate cloud computing and backing up of information on online databases to prevent the loss of data.
The in house development of the software intended for the company involves the working of a team of developers’ expertise to function towards the project. Teamwork is essential to facilitate brainstorming and a wide range of ideas brought to the table for solving the problem statement. This is advantageous in that it saves on the costs that would be spent on purchasing a software package which has proven to be much expensive for most organization and most of the time quite cumbersome for them to use.
The expenses that are usually incurred include the need for retraining the working staff by skilled IT service personnel to assist them in better understanding on how to use the software package solution and know their way around the system installed for the organization.
On the other hand, the disadvantage of building the system from the ground up is the time usually taken for production can be long and wanting. This period involves decision making and polishing on project execution sections that require successful implementation of a system. Furthermore, maintenance costs of ensuring that the system ids operative can also prove to be expensive for an organization during the follow up services offered by a software service firm.
References
Oz, E. (2009). Management information systems. Boston, Mass: Thomson/Course Technology.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2001). Essentials of management information systems: Organization and technology in the networked enterprise. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Doyle, S. (2000). Understanding information & communication technology. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes.
