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Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights reserved

Whitten Bentley DittmanSYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS 6th Edition

1C H A P T E R

THE CONTEXT OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS



About class…

• Try not to have long…long lectures– Very late class– Tired

• Typical class format– Lecture– Discussion



Importance of Systems Analysis and Design

• Examples– Denver airport Baggage-handling information system– WorldCom (now MCI) billing systems– California DMV system

• All my teaching slides (e.g., lecture note) are somewhat detail…. Save your time (taking note)….easy to follow….eliminate any guess (e.g., accent, pronunciation)….



New Denver airport

• Twice the size of Manhattan, NY• 10 times wider than London airport• Big enough to land three jets simultaneously-in bad weather• Baggage-handling information system

– One of kind…– Expensive: $1.7 billion (original price) – Very large size….– The most advanced and sophisticated automated baggage

handling system



Scale of baggage-handling system

• 21 miles of steel track– Tearing like intelligent coal-mine cars

• 4,000 independent "telecars" route and deliver luggage between the counters, gates and claim areas of 20 different airlines.

• Size of the system– 100 computers are networked to one another and to 5,000

electric eyes– 400 radio receivers– 56 bar-code scanners orchestrates the safe and timely arrival of

every valise and ski bag.



Result

• Scheduled to open Nov, 94

• Delayed nine-month because of system glitches.– Original price $1.7 billion, final cost $4.5 billion – Their bond rating demoted to junk and their budget

hemorrhaging red ink at the rate of $1.1 million a day in interest and operating costs.

• $ 1.1 M can worth more today!!



WorldCom (now under MCI)

• Fierce competitors to AT&T and Sprint• Used to have:

– 88,000 employees– 60,000 miles of telephone lines around the world– Revenue of $40 billion

• Collapsed because of the accounting fraud– $11 billion– The biggest ever

• A main trigger– Simple: failure of systems integration– Four different billing systems



California DMV system

• Straightforward task– Provide one-stop service: merge of the state’s driver license and

vehicle registration systems

• Started 1991 and stopped 1998– In Dec 98, the agency pulled the plug and walked away… – wasting $44.3 million investment..

• Y2K problem (very simple problem…)– Analysts and designers couldn’t think that systems can live longer

than them….– Billions of dollars were wasted ($740 billion)



Chapter 1 – The Context of Systems Analysis & Design Methods

• information system and name seven types of information system applications.

• Identify different types of stakeholders who use or develop information systems, and give examples of each.

• Define the unique role of systems analysts in the development of information systems.

• Identify those skills needed to successfully function as an information system analyst.

• Describe current business drivers that influence information systems development.

• Describe current technology drivers that influence information systems development.

• Briefly describe a simple process for developing information systems.• Differentiate between the waterfall and the iterative/incremental approaches to

systems development.



Why information systems?

• Information age – Change of Paradigm– Bill Gates wealth

• Globalization – Dramatic increase of global management

• Organizational Change– Downsizing (less hierarchical)– Less traditional middle management– Knowledge asset management

• Speed – Impossible without IT



IS vs. IT

An information system (IS) is an arrangement of people, data, processes, and information technology that interact to collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to support an organization.

Information technology is a contemporary term that describes the combination of computer technology (hardware and software) with telecommunications technology (data, image, and voice networks).



Chapter Map



Stakeholders: Players in the Systems Game

• A stakeholder is any person who has an interest in an existing or proposed information system. Stakeholders can be technical or nontechnical workers. They may also include both internal and external workers.

• Figure 1-1: next slide– System owners– System users– System designers– System builders– Systems analysts (project managers)



Stakeholders’ Perspectives on an Information System



System Owners

System owners – an information system’s sponsor and executive advocate, usually responsible for funding the project of developing, operating, and maintaining the information system.

– They usually come from the ranks of management. - medium (large) IS: middle (executive) managers

- smaller IS: middle or supervisory

Primary Concerns

- how much will the systems cost?

- how much value or what benefits will the system return to the

business?

CSUB enrollment (registration) system owners?



System Users

System users – a “customer” who will use or is affected by an IS on a regular basis

• capturing, validating, entering, responding to, storing, and exchanging data and information

– Make up the vast majority of the information workers in any IS– Primary concern: get the job done using an IS!– Internal users

• Clerical and service workers, technical and professional staff, supervisors, middle managers, and executive managers

– External users• Internet EC consumers, suppliers, partners…

CSUB enrollment (registration) system users?- Internal users?- External users?



System Designers and System Builders

System designer – a technical specialist who translates system users’ business requirements and constraints into technical solution.

– DBA, Network architects, web designer, security experts…

System builders – a technical specialist who constructs information systems and components based on the design specifications generated by the system designers.

– Programmers (applications, systems, and DB), network administrators, web masters..

CSUB enrollment (registration) system designer and builders?



Systems Analysts

Systems analyst – a specialist who studies the problems and needs of an organization to determine how people, data, processes, and information technology can best accomplish improvements for the business.

Roles:− Bridge (facilitator) between management and technical

specialist: next slide

− Understand both business and computing

− Initiate change within an organization

− Ultimately, a problem solver



The Systems Analyst as a Facilitator



Where Do Systems Analysts Work?

• May be permanently assigned to a team that supports a

specific business function

• May also be pooled and temporarily assigned to

specific projects

– Figure on next slide

• Career prospect for SA

– Textbook page 19



Where Do Systems Analysts Work?



Skills Needed by the Systems Analyst

• Working knowledge of (existing and emerging) IT

• Computer programming experience and expertise

• General business problem-solving skills

• Good interpersonal communication skills– Business writing class (Dr.John Stark)

– Technical business skill class (Dr. Ron Pimentel)

• Good interpersonal relation skills

• Flexibility and adaptability

• Character and ethics



Other Stakeholders

External Service Provider (ESP) – a systems analyst, system designer, or system builder who sells his or her expertise and experience to other businesses to help those businesses purchase, develop, or integrate their information systems solutions; may be affiliated with a consulting or services organization.

• Accenture (previously Anderson Consulting – spun off from Arthur Anderson consulting)

• Consultants, Contracted SA, SD, SB, programmers..

Project Manager – an experienced professional who accepts responsibility for planning, monitoring, and controlling projects with respect to schedule, budget, deliverables, customer satisfaction, technical standards, and system quality.

• Usually senior analysts



Two Drivers for Today’s Information Systems

• Business Drivers

– Globalization of the Economy

– Electronic Commerce

– Security and Privacy

– Collaboration and Partnership

– Knowledge Asset Management

– Continuous Improvement and Total Quality

Management

– Business Process Redesign



Two Drivers for Today’s Information Systems

• Technology Drivers

– Networks and the Internet

– Mobile and Wireless Technologies

– Object Technologies

– Collaborative Technologies

– Enterprise Applications



Object Technologies

Object technology – a software technology that defines a system in terms of objects that consolidate data and behavior (into objects).

– Objects are reusable and extensible

– Object-oriented programming languages include C++, java, Smalltalk, and Visual Basic.net

Object-oriented analysis and design – a collection of tools and techniques for systems development that will utilize object technologies to construct a system and its software.

– Works well in programming level

– May not need some of analysis and design level (e.g., database – structured tools and techniques)

– Hybrid analysis and design



A Simple System Development Process

System development process – a set of activities, methods, best practices, deliverables, and automated tools that stakeholders use to develop and maintain information systems and software.

Justice Department SDLC documentA general problem-solving approach

1. Identify the problem.2. Analyze and understand the problem.3. Identify solution requirements or expectations.4. Identify alternative solutions and choose the “best” course of action.5. Design the chosen solution.6. Implement the chosen solution.7. Evaluate the results. If the problem is not solved, return to step 1 or 2 as

appropriate.



Systems Development and Problem Solving



Sequential versus Iterative Development

Iterative (incremental) approach is more popular strategy

Not good strategy for most modern systems development

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