SE2 EPA
DOT
Vol. 1
May, 1978
No. 3
APPLICATIONS SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: A BETTER WAY
Dr. Gene Lowrinore
Systems Analyst
A typical ADP shop spends about 50-70 percent of its resources on system maintenance,
enhancement, and conversion. Reducing these costs requires careful attention to the
various phases of the system development process and the associated documentation. A
somewhat idealized development cycle for a software system requiring no purchase of
new hardware consists of the following cycles:
Initiation
A user perceives a need and requests assistance. The user,
working with a systems analyst, defines the objectives and
the scope of the problem. Together they develop some initial
guidelines around which to form the solution. These guide-
lines should be documented in a Memo of Agreement.
Feasibility
In the feasibility study, they outline in general terms sev-
eral solutions to the user's problem. Each possibility is
analyzed in sufficient detail to permit reasonable estimates
of its cost, effectiveness, and development risk. If at
least one of these solutions has benefits which outweigh
costs, the one which gives the highest value to the govern-
ment is chosen for development. Not only must this choice be
right, the analysis must convince the rest of the world of
its correctness. The Feasibility Study Report is a formal
record of this decision and the analysis that led to it.
Requirements Analysis
The data with which a system deals are the most important
consideration in design. Although this is a widely-recog-
nized fact only in data base management systems, it is true
for all systems. Consequently, the requirements analysis is
primarily concerned with data.
Data requirements should be developed beginning with output,
then on to inputs. For each output, there is a set of user
actions which results. Output requirements are thus based on
the set of expected user actions. Input requirements are
then determined from output requirements. Care should be
taken to include as requirements only those inputs and out-
puts which are a consequence of the problem definition; not
those that are a consequence of design decisions. Such data
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DIRECTOR'S
CORNER
Willis Grcenstrcct
This month I would like to share my
thoughts with you about a mutual problem,
that is, job priorities and turnaround.
My staff says that to expect users to
change their habits is crazy. But I have
often thought I was crazy to take this
job, so here goes.
As you may know, the Agency's ADP philo-
sophy is to give user management the re-
sponsibility for priorities and turn-
around. In the case I am thinking about,
the user group has funding which it jus-
tified through the Zero Based Budgeting
(ZBB) process. Each is free to spend it
for timesharing as needed (subject to
modest oversight) since, normally, each
is best able to make those decisions.
The data centers supply their services to
the greatest extent possible and charge
what it costs to provide them. The vol-
ume of jobs processed is so large we must
rely on some tools to tell us what is
going on, such as the Standard Measure-
ment Facility (SMF) data, HASP, Job
Stream Manager (JSM), etc. The goal is
to provide optimum service to all classes
of users at the same time.
This brings me to the point that I want
to bring to your attention. We all rec-
ognize the advantages of interactive
computing. But most of us realize that
it is not practical for us to provide
enough computer capacity to run all jobs
in an interactive mode because we would
use that capacity only about 4-6 hours
a day. The costs of such a capacity
would be extremely high. Some say let
others use the system for.the rest of the
time. But you know the user profile on
our systems is five days a week, 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m., with ;aa;;imum use from 10-11
a.m. and 1-3 p.m. Eastern time. And I
don't see others' habits being any dif-
ferent.
Those of us involved in data center man-
agement look at system performance by job
classes to determine if we are meeting
our goals. If we are not, we make vari-
ous adjustments to improve performance.
Most often, these adjustments result in
more equipment and increased cost.
If each of us would use the class and
priority that is really needed instead
of popping jobs to the top of whatever
resource level is permitted, we could
provide good service for less money.
Doubtless I know that some conditions
cause all of us to use high priorities at
certain times. But you should think
about it before you do. If you wish to
talk about this please call me or the
user support group at either data center.
EPA Data Talk is published monthly by
the National Computer Center, Manage-
ment Information and Data Systems
Division, for EPA personnel and con-
tractors interested in general ADP
topics.
Comments and suggestions are solic-
ited and should be addressed to:
Editor, EPA Data Talk
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711
To ensure that our distribution list
is up-to-date, please indicate any
required changes on the mailing label
attached to this issue and mail it to
the above address.
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requirements can best be expressed in a Data Dictionary. The
Data Dictionary should be compiled in this phase and updated
throughout the life of the system.
After data requirements are considered, other requirements
must be determined, such as responsiveness, reliability, ro-
bustness, and portability. At this point, the study should
expand to include other identifiable needs which could be ob-
tained from the developing system at small cost. This should
be done in lieu of the current practice of installing "hooks'
for future systems changes. Once the generalized require-
ments have been agreed on, the minimal system which meets
them should be developed. The Requirements Analysis Report
(including the Data Dictionary) records these findings.
System Definition
Here the system which satisfies the requirements determined
in the previous phase is defined. Treating the system as a
"black box," the analyst defines the system by its primary
inputs and outputs. This definition results in a System
Specification which should consist of a provisional User's
Manual, algorithms required
performance specifications.
by the problem definitions, and
"Defimtion.
Systems Definition is the only stage in the development cycle
where human interface factors such as usability can be con-
sidered. Unfortunately for the user, these factors are al-
most always left unconsidered.
System Design
The internal structure of the system is then designed such
that it satisfies the Systems Specifications. This process
might be likened to converting the "black box" into a "white
box." Several respected design methodologies can be used for
this purpose. Each has its own documentation requirements.
All result in a "logical" system design which must still be
packaged to fit the target operating environment.
The Test Plan and the Implementation Plan are also developed
in this phase. They, together with the Systems Design, con-
stitute the documentation of this phase.
Implementation
For software systems, implementation consists primarily of
(1) coding and testing, (2) testing and acceptance of the
new system, and (3) converting to the new system. The docu- 7.
mentation produced in this step consists of source code, run-
streams, and test results. The User's Manual must also be
completed at this time.
Evaluation
Shortly after the system is in operation, an evaluation of
its development should be made by those involved. They
should decide how well the original objectives, budgets, and
schedules were met. Decisions that exceeded or fell short of
expectations should be documented for future reference.
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Development and implementation completed,
the system enters a long cycle of opera-
tion, maintenance, and modification. The
typical EPA system will live for several
years, have several significant enhance-
ments made to it, and will change opera-
ting environments at least once.
By performing the various steps in the
system development cycle and agreeing on
standards for each of these steps, re-
sources and attention can be allocated to
a system development which reduces the
life-cycle cost. But developers must
have support. Training in the new metho-
dologies must be provided. Much of the
development and documentation activity
should be automated. Automated and iranu-
al tools to measure both the quality and
the performance of software products must
be made available. MIDSD is involved in
these and other efforts which we hope
will lead to the development of better
systems.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WCC
Ker. Byram
Technical Operations Branch
V
COMNET has appointed Mr. Dan O'Leary
as Acting EPA Project Director. Mr.
O'Leary is a West Point graduate with
over fifteen years of ADP experience.
Before becoming the Director of Data Pro-
cessing for the State of Alaska, Mr.
O'Leary worked for IBM. During the late
60's and early 70's he was employed as a
consultant to the Planning Research Cor-
poration and later formed his own inde-
pendent firm doing business with various
local, state, and federal agencies. Be-
fore joining COMNET early this year, Mr.
O'Leary served as Director of the Federal
Trade Commission's Management Division.
Performance monitors submitted six-
ty-four reports during the fifth period.
These reports have been organized, summa-
rized, and sent out for comment to all
Board Members and the monitors before the
Board's fifth Performance Period Evalu-
ation Meeting.
Seminars are scheduled in nine out
of ten regional offices and in Cincin-
nati, RTP, and Las Vegas. The User Sup-
port Group developed a training package,
composed of fourteen separate modules,
covering topics such as advanced Alpha,
security, cost reduction, and job stream
management.
The WCC recently completed pilot
testing of the Xerox 1200 copier, which
produces 8%" x 11" copy from magnetic
tape. The cost seems competitive with
normal line printing but the turnaround
time is somewhat greater. The WCC will
announce the availability of this new
service soon.
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PROGRAMMING & ANALYSIS SERVICE
NOW AVAILABLE AT NCC
lim Smith
ISI Computer Specialist
SDC Integrated Services, Inc., the NCC
Mission Contractor, has implemented a new
Programming and Analysis service within
the NCC User Services Support Department.
The service will provide relatively
short-term support to the NCC user com-
munity and is not intended to replace but
to augment the Development, Maintenance,
and Operations Contract.
Some of the short-term services that will
be provided at first are:
Program Design and Development
Analysis of Existing Programs
Design Consultation
Data Base Design
Program Optimization
Development of Formal System
and/or Program Design Requirements
Correction of Existing Programs
Modification of Existing Programs
Conversion of Existing Programs/
Systems
Testing and Acceptance of
Converted Programs
PDP-11/70 MINICOMPUTER: RELIABLE AND WELL-USED
Curt Lackey
Region IV ADP Branch Chief
Region IVs use of its PDP-11/70 minicom-
puter is at an all-time high since the
installation of the INFORM Data Manage-
ment System. And its use will increase
as other new systems in various stages of
development are implemented. One of
these new systems, the Water Enforcement
System (WEMS), is in advanced stages of
development and will combine or replace
four systems now being used by the En-
forcement Division. And this new system
will interface with the Permits Compli-
ance System, allowing Region IV to submit
permits-related data to Headquarters.
Computer Sciences Corporation is devel-
oping specifications for a Project Man-
agement Turnaround Document System
(PROMUS) which will further increase the
use of the PDP-11/70. This new system
will prepare an on-line letter by com-
bining data elements from the Grants In-
formation Control System with unique data
elements not in the GIGS. This letter,
which will serve as a turnaround docu-
ment, will respond to all manner of
grantee and contractor inquiries about
construction grant projects.
Currently only programs written in COBOL,
FORTRAN, PL/1, SCORE, S2K, Assembly lan-
guages, and supported statistical soft-
ware will be considered for these activi-
ties.
Anyone interested in discussing Program-
ming and Analysis services should call
Jim Smith of SDC/ISI at (919) 541-3619 or
FTS 629-3619. To formally apply for such
services, a memo should be sent to the
Chief, Data Center Branch, National Com-
puter Center (MD-34). This memo should
contain enough background information to
suggest the scope of the services re-
quested.
Region IV has had its PDP-11/70 for one
year now and its stability has been ex-
cellent. The percentage of time avail-
able on our PDP-11/70, with the excep-
tion of the first month's operation, has
been at or above 95 percent and now
stands at 99.5 percent. A faulty memory
board caused major problems during June
and July, 1977. Otherwise, periods of
extended downtime were caused by circum-
stances extraneous to the machine itself,
such as air conditioning problems and im-
properly wired fire alarm and sprinkler
systems. These problems have since been
corrected and a Halon Fire Prevention
System installed.
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SAN FRANCISCO
LEGEND
BOSTON
M I WETHERSFIELO
NEW YORK CITY
©
M/R) COLUMBIA
COMTEN NODE
MULTIPLEXOR (LOW-SPEED)
RJE (.HIGH-SPEED!
BOTH ON CIRCUIT
ATLANTA
NEW ORLEANS
EPA NETWORK
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MULTI-MEDIA COURSES
NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
Maureen Johnson
Computer Specialist
The two major obstacles to successfully
arranging ADP training sessions are trav-
el expenses and scheduling. During the
past two years, MIDSD has explored sev-
eral training techniques which reduce
travel and provide more flexible schedu-
ling.
All regional offices and some laborato-
ries now have videocassette courses on
Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB), Univac EXEC,
SCORE IV, and an Introduction to COMNET.
Through a contract with Deltak, Inc., we
can rent a wide range of videocassette
courses. Reaction to these courses has
been mixed because the quality varies
from one course to another. But, most
participants agree that a videocassette
course is better than no training at all.
ADP coordinators will soon be asked to
project their FY79 Deltak course require-
ments. Talk over your ideas for next
year with your ADP coordinator. If you
are interested and have not seen a Deltak
course catalog please contact John
Staley at (919) 541-3648 or FTS 629-3648.
John also handles requests for current
Deltak courses.
Univac's Author System for Education and
Training (ASET) will soon make several
computer-assisted technical courses
available at NCC. Courses in COBOL, FOR-
TRAN, Interactive Terminal Usage, File
Management (Univac), and File Naming Con-
ventions (Univac) are being developed for
this program. Several NCC computer oper-
ators have successfully completed an ASET
series of operator training courses and
found them very effective. Courses will
also be provided to teach development of
ASET courses. Details of these and other
courses will be announced in NCC auto-
mated memos.
Ted Standish
Region III ADP Branch Chief
Two special reviews have recently been
made of the Model State Information Sys-
tem (MSIS), a system used by states and
regions to implement the requirements of
the Safe Drinking Water Act. The first
review reexamined the Drinking Water
Regulations as they are interpreted in
MSIS and identified interpretive or de-
sign problems in the system. This re-
view should be completed by the end of
this month.
The second review was conducted by about
25 people from Headquarters (Office of
Drinking Water and Management Information
Systems Branch), the Washington Computer
Center (WCC), and the South Western Ohio
Regional Computing Center (SWORCC), the
contractor who developed MSIS. Their ob-
jective was to get the WCC version of
MSIS to work acceptably with data from
Pennsylvania, a non-primacy state. At
the end of the two-week effort, all par-
ties agreed that MSIS does indeed work
and that it should become an integral
part of the Water Supply Program. They
will soon report the results and conclu-
sions of the effort. In the meantime,
Willis Greenstreet, Tom Martin, Ray Lee,
or Ted Standish can provide information.
In the last two weeks, the design feasi-
bility studies for three new systems in
support of Personnel Management (Person-
nel Management Information System), the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(Hazardous Waste Data Management System)
and Safe Drinking Water Act (Underground
Injection Control Program) have been re-
leased. In addition to these studies,
the FY1979-80 Agency guidance revealed
the potential for additional systems or
data processing applications such as the
Compliance Analysis System for Water En-
forcement, increased use of graphics ca-
pabilities, and the development of envi-
ronmental quality indices. I would hope
that the regions are aware of these new
developments.
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A recent memorandum from Steve Gage, AA
for Research and Development, asked each
region to review and comment on the Coun-
cil of Environmental Quality's UPGRADE
System. The Agency is increasing its em-
phasis on environmental quality indices,
so this system may soon be of great
value.
We are confused by the Standing Air Moni-
toring Work Group's recommendations and
their implementation. The many memoran-
da and statements from the Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards make un-
clear the future of AEROS and the respon-
sibilities or authorities that regions
will have to collect data from the
states.
MIDSD is preparing a Statement of Work to
have a contractor visit each region to
review the organization and management of
the ADP activities. If you would like to
suggest specific items that should be
covered by this contract,
Frank Bullock or me.
please call
As we are now in the micist of Zero Based
Budgeting (ZBB) and all having a glorious
time, Region II should be thanked for its
voluntary testing of the new automated
system which should now be operational.
We wish to thank David Blythe
of the NCC for his drawings
used to illustrate this issue
of EPA Data Talk.
UNITED STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park
North Carolina 27711
CLASS
POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
U S ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA-33S
OPP.C.AL
PENALTY FOR PRIVAT^L^.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
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