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ICSAN MIS study materials
ICSAN MIS study resources

ICSAN MIS: Information Systems Development, Acquisition and Project Management

ICSAN MIS · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Information Systems Development, Acquisition and Project Management

What the exam tests

This domain covers the systems development life cycle, agile and hybrid delivery, build-versus-buy decisions, testing, procurement and project control. Expect questions on requirements, user acceptance testing, earned value and change control.

Core rules and concepts

  • SDLC phases are initiation and feasibility, requirements, design, build or configure, test, deploy, and operate and review. Agile delivers in iterations; waterfall is sequential; hybrid combines both.
  • Alternatives include bespoke development, package acquisition, SaaS and low-code. Selection considers fit, cost, risk, integration and vendor lock-in.
  • Project constraints are scope, time, cost and quality. Tools include work breakdown structure, critical path, risk register and earned value management (EVM).
  • Testing includes unit, integration, system, regression and user acceptance testing (UAT). UAT confirms fitness for business use.
  • Formal change control prevents uncontrolled scope creep; data migration and training are part of delivery, not extras.

Worked example

A project has planned value (PV) 500, earned value (EV) 400 and actual cost (AC) 450. Schedule variance is EV minus PV = -100; cost variance is EV minus AC = -50. SPI is 400/500 = 0.8; CPI is 400/450 = 0.89. Reasoning: the project is behind schedule and over budget. A common error is to compare AC with PV; EVM compares earned value with plan and cost.

Traps that cost marks

Do not treat UAT as optional. Gold plating adds unrequested features. Fast tracking overlaps activities; crashing adds resources, often at extra cost. Informal changes are scope creep even if small. Lowest price is not best value when support and exit costs are ignored.

Key points

  • SDLC phases apply even when agile iterations compress them.
  • Build, buy and SaaS decisions balance fit, cost, risk and lock-in.
  • EVM uses PV, EV and AC to show schedule and cost performance.
  • UAT and regression testing protect business acceptance.
  • Change control manages scope, not just documents.