What is the term that is used to describe all the activities to build launch and maintain an information system?

There are 5 phases in the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Systems Planning is the first phase and it is the topic of this lecture and the first 3 chapters of your book.

1: Phase 1: Systems Planning

LECTURE NOTES

• Introductions
• See Fig 1-2 pg 3. Its a Gantt chart used a starting point for a discussion about systems development. 
• Each phase has one or more main topics, and the chart will be updated as we move through the textbook.

• Systems planning is the first of five phases in the systems development life cycle. 
• In this phase, you learn about the relationship between systems projects and corporate strategies.
• This phase explains how systems projects get started, 
• how to evaluate a project proposal to determine its feasibility, and 
• how to use project management skills.
• the deliverable for this phase is the preliminary investigation report. 

In class exercise--> see the Dilbert cartoon on page 1.  It is always a good idea to know whether a project fits the company’s overall strategy. (see page 1.)

In class exercise--> can you think of another example of where a Gantt Chart would be useful.

• Chapter Introduction Case: Mountain View College Bookstore on page 3, which sets up the material developed in the chapter

  READ THE CASE FROM PAGE 3.

• DISCUSSION TOPIC-->
• learn about basic systems development concepts.  In this case they develop a business information system for a bookstore.
• first talk about what va business information system is for
• then build a model to help in understanding specific operations and processes.
• discuss systems analysis and design tools and techniques.
• techniques used are:
• use a structured method based on SDLC (SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE)
• OBJECT ORIENTED and AGILE methods of development
• SDLC
• is like constructing a building
• list specific objectives
• hire architect to create drawings
• make detailed blueprints.
• build it
• deliver it
• Microsoft Project is a tool used for creating a list of tasks and a timeline

The Impact of Information Technology

• Define information technology (IT) 
• combination of hardware, software and services people use to manage, communicate and share information.
• Explain how business depends on information technology 
• IT is crucial to businesses.  Without it, businesses cant function.  Order information, email communications, etc...
• FUTURE OF IT (Fig 1-5)
  
  
  

• Define systems analysis and design and information system 
• SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
• a step by step process for developing high quality business information systems
• systems analysts are a part of an IT dept which manages the business information system
• Describe systems analysts 
• they plan, develop and maintain information systems.
• they are in DEMAND!!
• Differentiate between in-house applications and software packages 
• Consider alternatives to in-house applications and software packages 
• Note the risks involved in launching a new information system 

Information System Components

Define system

• a System is a set of related components
• examples, systems route the internet, manufacture microchips, roll steel,  etc...
• a MISSION CRITICAL SYSTEM is one which is vital to a companies operations.  The systems (computers, roller, heat sensors, electric motors, etc...) that run the Rolling Mills in the steel plant is a mission critical system.
• ALL information systems require data
• DATA - consists of RAW facts (how hot is the steel, how thick is it, etc...)
• INFORMATION - data that has been transformed into useful output
• An information system has 5 key components
  

• HARDWARE
  Define hardware, and list types of hardware 
• SOFTWARE
• Examples of application software include word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, database programs, video and audio editing programs, and Web browsers
• Enterprise Applications are apps that are used company wide, such as order processing systems, payroll systems.
• System software manages hardware components (Operating Systems, security software, etc...)
• Differentiate between a horizontal system and a vertical system 
• HORIZONTAL SYSTEM SOFTWARE can be adapted for use by many different companies such as inventory or payroll software.
• VERTICAL SYSTEMS SOFTWARE is unique to a particular business such as video retail software, rolling mill software, web-based retailer, etc...
• DATA - is typically stored in a database
  

• PROCESSES
• describes the tasks and business functions that users managers and IT staff perform to achieve specific results.
• an analyst must understand and document processes to build a successful information system 
• PEOPLE
• people who have an interest in an information system are called stakeholders.
• STAKEHOLDERS include
• management group
• end users
• IT Staff
• network admins
• ITS GENERALLY ACCEPTED THAT THE SUCCESS OF A SYSTEM WILL DEPEND ON HOW MUCH IT MEETS THE NEEDS OF ITS USERS.  DUH!!

for this reason its CRITICAL that user requirements and expectations are well understood throughout the development cycle.

Understand the Business

• IT professionals must understand a company’s business operations in order to design a successful system 
• Note that different businesses have different requirements 
• Describe business process modeling 
• A business process is a specific set of transactions, events and results that can be documented.
• A Business Process Model is a graphic that displays one or more business processes.
• A simple model (Fig 1-11) Note the image 
  
  
  
• A complex process may require a more complex notation.  Business Process Model Notation can be used
  
  
  


• other tools include

  VISIO, Visible Analyst (See Part B of the Systems Analyst Toolkit in the back of the book)

• Define business profile, and explain how systems analysts develop a business profile 
• A business profile is an overview of a companies mission, functions, organization, products, services, customers, suppliers, competitors, constraints and future direction.
• A Systems Analyst  must research and assemble a business profile and the business profile is used to create the business model.
• Differentiate between product-oriented companies (manufacture goods like appliances, steel, microchips, etc...) and service-oriented companies, noting the trend toward companies combining products, services, information, and technical resources 
  Can you think of a few examples; IBM,  Microsoft, Google

Impact of the Internet 

• Define e-commerce (electronic commerce), or I-commerce (Internet-commerce) 
• commerce that requires the internet (Amazon)
• ecommerce includes Business to Business and Business to Consumer sectors
• Differentiate between B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce and B2B (business-to-business) e-commerce 
• B2C example : Amazon
• B2B example : many companies...
• B2B systems use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to exchange data.EDI is performed over private telephone lines for security.  
• EDI is used to plan production, inventory levels, etc, based on data from another company.
• Explain how B2C e-commerce is changing traditional business models 
• The INTERNET... Amazon, etc...
• the growth in B2C marketing and the resulting call for systems analysts and programmers 
• Describe B2B e-commerce, and point out the advantages of B2B e-commerce 
• illustrate supply chain management (SCM) or supplier relationship management (SRM) 
• this is industry wide B2B transactions to facilitate management of the supply chain.

Business Information Systems

• Systems are identified by the user group that the system supports

Definitions

• Define enterprise computing
• information systems that support company wide operations and data management requirements.
• examples; Boeings production control system, Walmarts inventory control system.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a type of software used to help support company wide processes.  Example; car rental companies use ERP to help predict demand  for rental cars.
• Describe transaction processing (TP) systems
• A transaction refers to the series of operations required to perform a single task.  If one of the operations fails then all operations are rolled back.  The operations are executed as a unit.

• 

• Describe business support systems and management information systems (MIS)
• Management Information Systems (old name)
• originally only managers required the kind of information provided by information systems
• Business Support System
• provides support to all level of employees
• help users by collecting data in a timely fashion (RFID part of that) and providing that data to the right user at the right time.
• RFID sensor info updates inventory of a part, the system then makes that knowledge available to production. 
• Describe knowledge management systems, or expert systems
• these systems simulate human reasoning
• combine a knowledge base with inference rules that determine how knowledge is applied.
• Toshiba Knowledge Base
• a user enters a problem, a symptom or question, and the system uses the inference rules to find a solution against its database.
• uses fuzzy logic to find answers.  With fuzzy logic, input data need not be precise, the results are ordered by relevance.
• List examples of user productivity systems, which systems increase employee efficiency and assist with communications
• email, voice mail, fax, video, web conferencing, etc...
• groupware allows users to share data: GroupWise by Novell.
• companies like to have their systems integrated so that the data is available across the various business groups.
• production should know about inventory, etc...
• companies like to combine Transaction processing, business support, knowledge management and user productivity features.

What Information do users need?

What Information Do Users Need?

• Note how corporate organizational structure has changed in recent years 
• downsizing and business process reengineering has resulted in a reduction in the number of management levels and a delegation of responsibility to lower level personnel (operational personnel)
• A Systems Analyst must understand the companies organizational model to know who is responsible for specific processes and decisions and to be aware of what information is required by whom.
• Fig 1.22
  
  
  

• Describe top managers and strategic plans 
• are responsible for long term goals.
• Note information for a strategic plan comes not just from inside the company but outside as well (economic trends, competitive threat, government legislation, etc...)
• responsible to a board of governors
• Describe middle managers 
• focus on a shorter time frame, requiring more detailed data than top managers but less detail than supervisors
• provide direction, resources and performance feedback to supervisors and team leaders. 
• knowledge workers, support an organization’s basic functions: Systems Analyst, programmers, accountants, researchers, etc...
• Describe supervisors, or team leaders 
• oversee operational employees.
• carry out day to day operations.
• make decisions, make resources available
• need decision support information, knowledge management systems, user productivity systems
• Define operational employees, and describe the empowerment trend 
• rely on Transactional Processing systems to enter and receive data
• the trend is for operational employees to have access to data that was traditionally accessible only to supervisors.  This trend gets information into the hands of those that need it more quickly and technology now allows that to happen.
• this is called empowerment
• empowerment improves worker motivation and increases customer satisfaction.

Systems Development Tools

• List various systems development tools, and point out that systems analysts should be familiar with each of these 
• As well as understanding a business system, a systems analyst must be familiar with a number of tools and techniques to help in planning, design and implementation of a business system
• these include:
• modeling
• prototyping
• computer aided systems engineering tools
• analysts work in teams
• Define modeling 
• produces a graphical representation of a concept or a process that developers can analyse, test and modify.
• Differentiate among a business model (or requirements model), a data model, an object model, a network model, and a process model 
• business model (or requirements model)
• describes the information that  a system must provide
• data model
• describes data structures and design
• object model 
• describes objects that will be required by the system
• network model
• describes the design and protocols of the communication links.
• process model
• describes the logic that programmers use to write their code
• models work together to describe an environment, 
• Microsoft Visio is one of many tools used by  analysts to create  business model diagrams.
  
  
  
• see Systems Analyst Toolkit Part B at the end of the book
• Define prototyping and prototype 
• is an early working but incomplete version of the information system.
• allows you to test the UI, input, output before writing the final version
• Point out the disadvantage of prototyping
• may cause decisions to be made too early
• prototypes often have insufficient documentation, or even no documentation at all 
• Define computer-aided systems engineering (CASE) (also called computer-aided software engineering) and CASE tools
•   see Systems Analyst Toolkit Part B at the end of the book
• example Microsft Express, UML tool in Netbeans, Rational Rose, etc...

Systems Development Methods

• Identify methods used in systems development 
• Structured Analysis
• oldest method
• still widely used
• uses a series of phases called the Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
• Uses a set of process models to describe a system graphically
• Process-centered technique
• Waterfall model
• the result of each phase is called a deliverable or end product which flows into the next phase
  Fig 1.27, pg 23
  
  
  
• Systems planning phase
• Systems request
• begins the process & describes problems or desired changes
• Purpose of this phase is to perform a preliminary investigation
• Key part of preliminary investigation is a feasibility study
• Systems Analysis Phase
• build a logical model
• deliverable is the System requirements document
• investigate processes and document what the system does
• Systems Design Phase
• Deliverable is system design specification
• Management and user involvement is critical
• create a physical model that satisfies the documented features
• design user interface
• identify inputs/outputs, etc...
• Systems Implementation
• New system is constructed
• Systems Support and Security
• A well-designed system must be secure, reliable, maintainable, and scalable
• Most information systems need to be updated significantly or replaced after several years of operation
• Object Oriented Analysis
• more recent
• Combines data & processes that act on the data into things called objects
• Object is a member of a class
• Objects possess properties
• Methods change an object’s properties
  

• A message requests specific behavior or information from another object
• Usually follow a series of analysis and design phases that are similar to the SDLC
• Interactive model
• Agile Analysis
• Are the newest development
• Emphasize continuous feedback
• Iterative development
• Agile community has published the Agile Manifesto
• Spiral model
• Agile process determines the end result
• Other adaptive variations and related methods exist
• Two examples are Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP)
• Analysts should understand the pros and cons of any approach before selecting a development method

Systems Development Guidelines

• Develop a project plan
• Involve users and listen carefully to them
• Use project management tools to identify tasks and milestones
• Develop accurate cost and benefit information
• Remain flexible
  

Information Technology Department

Systems Analyst Responsibilities

• translate business requirements into IT projects
• Knowledge, Skills, and Education
• Needs 
• technical knowledge, 
• strong oral and written communication skills and 
• analytic ability
• an understanding of business operations, and
• critical thinking skills

Summary

• IT refers to the combination of hardware and software resources that companies use to manage, access, communicate, and share information
• The essential components of an information system are hardware, software, data, processes, and people
• Successful companies offer a mix of products technical and financial services, consulting, and customer support

What are system analysis activities?

What do we call the type of testing that the users perform to ensure that the system meets the business requirements?

What is the name of the diagram that is often used to show the different layers of the system?

Are those activities that enable a person to describe in detail how the information system will actually be implemented to provided the needed solution?