2
Today How Businesses Work What is a System Types of Systems The Role of the Systems Analyst The Programmer/Analyst
4
How Businesses Work Business Areas
The organizational areas needed to support a business.
These can to equate to departments. An organizational structure made up
of executives, middle management, supervisory management and staff.
6
Organizational Roles Operational
people involved in the day to day processing of transactions
e.g. Bank Tellers; Mutual Fund Sales People; Sales Associate; clerks
attention span: right now, up to the end of the day
7
Organizational Roles Management
Lower Management (Supervisors) make organizational and day to day decisions attention span: today, tomorrow
Middle Management (someone to blame) make tactical and day to day decisions have the most stress attention span: this week, this month
Executives (Top Management) make strategic and periodic decisions attention span: this month, this year or more
8
How Businesses Work The personnel in the organizational
roles for each business area are the individuals who provide the information needed to understand what is required for development of automated computer systems.
9
Today How Businesses Work What is a System Types of Systems The Role of the Systems Analyst The Programmer/Analyst
10
What is a system? A combination of hardware and software
that meets the needs of a business. A collection of inter-related components
that collect, process, store and provide as output the information needed to complete business tasks and to make business decisions.
A shared understanding of how things work.
11
Today How Businesses Work What is a System Types of Systems The Role of the Systems Analyst The Programmer/Analyst
12
Types of systems? Operational (Transaction
Processing) Systems Take care of the day-to-day
processing of the business Information about the transactions
that affect the organization are captured and recorded
13
Types of systems? Management Information Systems
Uses operational systems’ information to give management the information needed to make management decisions
14
Types of systems? Executive Information Systems
Provide information to executives on how their company is doing relative to the industry
15
Types of systems? Decision Support Systems
Systems that allow a user to explore the impact of available options or decisions
‘What if’ analysis
16
Types of systems? Expert Systems
Simulate human reasoning and decision-making.
Artificial Intelligence.
17
Types of systems? Office Systems
Productivity tools available to employees on a desk top.
Electronic Mail, Word Processing, Database Management, Spreadsheets, Desktop Publishing, Presentation Graphics and so on.
18
Information Systems
IS PlanningLevel
Type of planning Typical IS applications
Organizational Unit
Responsible for Developing
Strategic Strategies in support of organizational long-term objectives
Market and sales analysis, Product planning, Performance evaluation
Senior Management/ Executives
Tactical Policies in support of short-term goals and resource allocation
Budget analysis, Salary forecasting, Inventory scheduling, Customer service
Middle Management
Operational Day-to-day staff activities and production support
Payroll, Invoicing, Purchasing, Accounting
Supervisors; Operational
19
Today How Businesses Work What is a System Types of Systems The Role of the Systems Analyst The Programmer/Analyst
20
Systems Analyst A business professional involved in
the development of a computerized solution to a business problem
Requires extensive technical, business and people knowledge, communication, business and technical skills
Is fundamentally curious to explore how things are done with a desire to make them work better
21
Systems Analyst Focuses on understanding the
business problem Focuses on the approach to be
taken to solve the business problem
22
Systems Analyst
“…must thoroughly understand the problems the system will solve”
you might be the only person who understands the whole problembecause
you might be the only person who everyone talks to
23
Problem Solving Approach
1. Research and understand the problem
2. Verify that the benefits of solving the problem outweigh the costs
3. Develop a set of possible solutions (alternatives)
4. Decide which solution is best and make a recommendation
5. Define the details of the chosen solution
6. Implement the solution
7. Monitor to make sure that you obtain the desired results
24
Systems Analyst Skills Technical Knowledge and Skills Business Knowledge and Skills People Knowledge and Skills Integrity & Ethics
25
Systems Analyst Skills Technical Knowledge and Skills
Computers and how they work Devices that interact with computers, including
input devices, storage devices, and output devices Communications networks that connect computers Databases and database management systems Programming languages Operating systems and utilities Tools and techniques for developing systems
26
Systems Analyst Skills Technical Knowledge and Skills
Tools and techniques for developing systems Tools are software products that help develop
analysis or design specifications and completed system components
Microsoft Access, PowerBuilder for developing systems
Integrated development environments (IDE’s) for specific programming languages (Java, C++)
CASE tools to store information about system specifications
Program code generators, testing tools, project management tools (to name a few)
27
Systems Analyst Skills Technical Knowledge and Skills
Tools and techniques for developing systems
Techniques are used to complete specific system development activities
Project planning techniques Systems analysis techniques Systems design techniques System construction and implementation
techniques System support techniques
28
Systems Analyst Skills Business Knowledge and Skills
What the specific organization does What makes it successful What its strategies and plans are What its traditions and values are
29
Systems Analyst Skills People Knowledge and Skills
How people think How people learn How people react to change How people communicate How people work (in a variety of jobs
and levels) Must be able to listen well
30
Typical Job Titles for Analysts Programmer/analyst Business systems analyst System liaison End-user analyst Business consultant Business systems consultant Systems consultant System support analyst System designer Software engineer System architect
31
Today How Businesses Work What is a System Types of Systems The Role of the Systems Analyst The Programmer/Analyst