Maintaining and
Enhancing HRIS
Objectives
explain the THREE types of
maintenance,
discuss the keys to successful
maintenance,
identify when maintenance is
required, and
Definition
•
Refers primarily to software maintenance rather
than hardware maintenance
•
It includes:
▫ Technical changes that do not alter HRIS functions
and features
▫ Correcting bugs in programs or data
▫ Altering data definitions (field sizes, types, and
codes)
▫ Modifying a system already in production
▫ Fine-tuning a system so that it will run faster
Definition
Maintenance
refers
to any changes made
to the HRIS after the
system becomes
operational and has
been accepted.
Maintenance
refers
to any changes made
to the HRIS after the
system becomes
Types of Maintenance
Corrective maintenance
•
often occurs early in the HRIS life cycle
•
Fixing problems that prevent the system from
working the way the designers and users
intended it to work
•
Some of the problems that lead to this kind of
problem are
▫ incorrect design (for example bugs that occur
from an improper or incomplete requirements
definition),
Adaptive maintenance
•
Done when there are changes in technology,
government regulations, or other external forces,
such as new system releases from the vendor.
•
Some examples of adaptive maintenance include
▫
increasing the size of identity card field from eight
to fourteen characters, and
Perfective maintenance
•
at optimizing the performance of the system.
•
It is done when there is a request from the users
and technicians.
•
may not be as important as corrective or adaptive
maintenance, but it can enhance the capability of
an HRIS.
•
it is mostly carried out during the growing stage of
an HRIS life cycle.
•
In a mature system, perfective maintenance occurs
because the users become more expert with the
Keys to Successful Maintenance
Maintainability
Maintenance Policies and Procedures
A Maintenance Control Philosophy
Maintenance Tools
Standards for HRIS Components
Maintenance Budget
Maintainability
•
The best strategy where maintainability is concerned is
to build or buy a system that requires as little
maintenance as possible.
•
According to Ceriello and Freeman (1991) a system that
is maintainable has the following characteristics:
▫ Is easy to understand
▫ Operates reliably
▫ Operates efficiently
▫ Has good documentation
▫ Is easy to test
▫ Is easy to modify
▫ Is programmed in structured and modular code
Maintenance Policies and Procedures
•
Policies and procedures are important to ensure
maintenance management system can run
smoothly.
•
Some of the policies and procedures that should
be considered include:
▫ Maintenance request and acceptance process
▫ Maintenance scheduling
A Maintenance Control Philosophy
•
With regard to maintenance control, the
Rigid
Phased/
User
Flexible
User
LOW USER EXPERIENCE
HIGH USER EXPERIENC E
LOW RISK HIGH
RISK
Types of Maintenance Control Options
• liter ally mea ns th at th e HR IS ve nd or or HRSC doe s n ot allow at em yst e s th on ges han y c an or s f est qu re ake o m s t ser e u th al l.
Rigid
control
Rigid
control
• su pport s t he vie w t hat th e HR IS wil l be fle xib le a nd ad ap tab leto ss, ele eth on . N ible poss as ng lo as for ity un mm co e HR th pport su th e HR SC det erm ines an d a dm inis ter s c rit eria fo r e valu atin
g ts. ues req ce an ten ain t m mos
Flexible
control
Flexible
control
• inte gra tes rig id a nd fle xib le c on tro l. I nit ially, co ntr ol m aybe rela ay l m tro on , c nce perie ex ain s g ser s u , a ally tu ven id. E rig x.
Phased
control
Phased
control
• allo ws use rs to help det erm ine main ten an ce app roa ch es. It mMaintenance Tools
•
There are many types of tools available for the
purpose of maintenance.
•
Technical tools, such as fourth-generation
languages and data dictionaries, are available to
help keep maintenance flexible and fast.
•
In addition to that, organizational processes and
techniques help HRSC staff and users
Standards for HRIS Components
•
All modifications made
should comply with a
certain standards.
•
This standards are to
ensure that all
modifications made
maintain the
compatibility and quality
of both hardware and
Maintenance Budget
•
Maintenance is not cheap. That is why if possible
any company would want a system that requires
as little maintenance as possible.
•
However, in most case it is not possible.
Therefore, for effective maintenance, enough
funds must be made available.
•
In fact, it is a good idea to view maintenance not
merely as an expense to minimize, but as an
Maintenance Staff
•
Characteristics of good maintainers are:
▫
Experienced
exposed to a variety of application and programming environments.
▫
Flexible
adapt to difficult or changing styles of coding, user requests, and
priorities.
▫
Self
-
motivated
initiate and complete work independently after receiving an assignment.
▫
Responsible
reliably perform assigned tasks in a dependable, timely manner.
▫
Disciplined
consistent in the performance of duties and disciplined to try haphazard approaches.
▫
Analytical
When Maintenance is Required?
•
Evaluations
▫ Users evaluations of the system.
Type of interaction user has with HRIS
Human resource functions with which users has the
most contact
Specific features, and the satisfaction level of each
feature
Desired enhancements and the importance of each
enhancement
When Maintenance is Required? (cont.)
•
Service Requests
▫ when the system did not function well at all or it
fails to meet standards completely, OR
▫ the system works so well that the users see new
avenues for improvement
•
User Surveys
▫ surveys should be conducted in order to find out
the current level of HRIS performance.
HRIS issues, strengths, and weakness,
When Maintenance is Required? (cont.)
Audits
▫ is formal activity performed with the purpose of checking
the functions and performance of a system. In a HRIS
audit, the system is checked against a certain standard.
Basically, audits are performed to:
obtain information about how well the system is meeting its
specified goals.
identify corrective and enhancement maintenance needed.
evaluate HRIS and HRSC staff performance objectively.
provide HRSC management with objective data to deal with
organizational and IS management.
demonstrate to management, users, and IS that the HRSC is
Types of Audits
Type Activities
Post-implementation
Designed to evaluate the completed HRIS development activity. Identify needed improvements in technical areas and areas such
as documentation and team building.
Results provides basis for future system audits.
Indictor analysis
Is done based on a list of objective performance indicator.
The indicators should be monitored on an ongoing basis for signs
that the system may need maintenance.
Annual audit To identify maintenance needs and early sighs of problem. Done periodically.
HRM audit Audit each HR functions, and see whether they are responsive to
their clients.
HR functions responsiveness stems from HRIS performance in
areas such as accuracy and timeliness of personnel records and reports.
Electronic data processing
audit
Covers technical issues, and not functional issues.
Testing how the automated IS deal with factors such as security,
When Maintenance is Required? (cont.)
•
Business and Government Changes
▫ To remain competitive, businesses must be able to
adapt to the changes that are happening all around it,
especially if the change is instigated by the
government. Adapting to these changes means that
the business itself has to undergo some kind of
change. As a result, the IS system used also have to
change, including the HRIS.
•
New Developments in the HRIS Field
The Maintenance and Enhancement Process
Understand HRIS goals and objectives Understand HRIS goals and objectives staff, vendors, and consultants understand entire system study sourcelisting documentationexamine
examine development and maintenance logs Study potential changes Study potential changes categorize
changes feasibility studyconduct
perform cost/benefit/ value analysis Design approved changes Design approved changes agree on maintenance contract keep design simple eliminate impct on other modules update maintenance log Implement approved changes Implement approved changes
study the design alter the code documentationupdate perform needed training test revised system
Evaluate HRIS maintenance
Evaluate HRIS
maintenance monitor costs
When Maintenance is not Enough
•
One reason a system needs to be replace is
because the performance of the system has
declined.
•
Systems declines due to several reasons, mainly:
▫ business needs evolve,
▫ new technology emerges,
▫ the system has experienced a certain level of
change from its original form,
How does one knows a systems needs to be
replaced?
•
There are many tools that HRSC managers can use to get
this kind of information.
▫ For example, audits, logs, and user and consultant
evaluations.
•
Information from these sources can be used to compare the
performance of the system to a predetermined standard.
•
Other than that, some of the things that one can watch for
are:
▫ maintenance resources – both time and money – have been
increasing,
▫ maintenance request increase in number,
Several possible replacement strategies
(Ceriello &Freeman 1991)
•
do not replace; let the HRIS collapse,
•
replace modules as they reach decline,
•
replace the entire system once it reaches decline,
•
replace parts of the system as cost-benefits-value
analysis indicates,
•
replace the entire system as cost-benefit-value
analysis indicates,
