Systems Analysis & Design

7th Edition

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Chapter Objectives
 Discuss the impact of information technology
on business strategy and success
 Define an information system and describe its
components
 Explain how the Internet has affected
business strategies and relationships

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Chapter Objectives
 Explain modeling, prototyping, and CASE
tools
 Distinguish between structured analysis and
object-oriented analysis

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Introduction
 Companies use information as a weapon in
the battle to increase productivity, deliver
quality products and services, maintain
customer loyalty, and make sound decisions.
 Information technology can mean the
difference between success and failure

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The Impact of Information
Technology
 Information Technology
 Combination of hardware and software products
and services that companies use to manage,
access, communicate, and share information
 A vital asset that must be used effectively,
updated constantly, and safeguarded carefully

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The Impact of Information
Technology
 The Role of Systems Analysis and Design
 Systems Analysis and Design
 Step-by-step process for developing high-quality
information systems

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The Impact of Information
Technology
 Systems analysis – process of understanding in
detail what a system should accomplish

 Systems design – process of specifying in detail

how components of an information system should
be physically implemented

 Systems analyst – uses analysis and design

techniques to solve business problems using
information technology- Plan, develop, and maintain IS
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The Impact of Information
Technology
 Who develops Information Systems?
 In-house applications
 Software packages
 Internet-based application services
 Outsourcing
 Custom solutions
 Enterprise-wide software strategies
 How versus What

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Information System
Components
 A system is a set of related components that
produces specific results
 A Mission-critical system is one that is vital to
a company’s operations
 Data consists of basic facts that are the
system’s raw material

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Information System
Components
 Information is data that has been transformed
into output that is valuable to users
 Information systems have five key
components: hardware, software, data,
processes, and people

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Information System
Components
 Hardware
 Is the physical layer of the information system
 Software
 System software
 Application software
 Enterprise applications
 Horizontal system
 Vertical system
 Legacy systems

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Information System
Components
 Data
 Is the raw material that an information system
transforms into useful information

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Information System
Components
 Processes
 Define the tasks and business functions that
users, managers, and IT staff members perform
to achieve specific results
 People
 Users, or end users, are the people who interact
with an information system, both inside and
outside the company

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Impact of the Internet
 E-Commerce or I-Commerce
 B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
 B2B (Business-to-Business)
 EDI
 Extensible markup language (XML)
 Supplier relationship management (SRM)

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Impact of the Internet
 Web-Based System Development
 WebSphere
 .NET
 Web services

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How Business Uses Information
Systems
 In past, IT managers divided systems into
categories based on the user group the
system served
 Office systems
 Operational systems
 Decision support systems
 Executive information systems

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How Business Uses
Information Systems
 Today, it makes more sense to identify a
system by its functions, rather than by users
 Enterprise computing systems
 Transaction processing systems
 Business support systems
 Knowledge management systems
 User productivity systems

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How Business Uses
Information Systems
 Enterprise computing systems
 Support company-wide operations and data
management requirements
 Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

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How Business Uses
Information Systems
 Transaction processing systems
 Efficient because they process a set of
transaction-related commands as a group rather
than individually

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How Business Uses
Information Systems
 Business support systems
 Provide job-related information to users at all
levels of a company
 Management information systems (MIS)
 Radio frequency identification (RFID)
 What-if

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How Business Uses
Information Systems
 Knowledge management systems
 Called expert systems
 Simulate human reasoning by combining a
knowledge base and inference rules
 Many use fuzzy logic

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How Business Uses
Information Systems
 User productivity systems
 Technology that improves productivity
 Groupware
 Information systems integration
 Most large companies require systems that
combine transaction processing, business
support, knowledge management, and user
productivity features

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Information System Users and
Their Needs
 A systems analyst must understand the
company’s organizational model in order to
recognize who is responsible for specific
processes and decisions and to be aware of
what information is required by whom.

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Information System Users and
Their Needs
 Top managers
 Strategic plans
 Middle Managers and Knowledge Workers
 Supervisors and Team Leaders
 Operational Employees
 Empowerment

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Systems Development Tools
and Techniques
 Systems analysts must know how to use a
variety of techniques such as modeling,
prototyping, and computer-aided systems
engineering tools to plan, design, and
implement information systems.
 Systems analysts work with these tools in a
team environment

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Systems Development Tools
and Techniques
 Modeling
 Business model
 Requirements model
 Data model
 Object model
 Network model
 Process model

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Systems Development Tools
and Techniques
 Prototyping
 Prototype
 Speeds up the development process significantly
 Important decisions might be made too early,
before business or IT issues are thoroughly
understood
 Can be an extremely valuable tool

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Systems Development Tools
and Techniques
 Computer-Aided Systems Engineering
(CASE) Tools
 Also called computer-aided software engineering
 CASE tools

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Systems Development
Methods
 The most popular alternatives are structured
analysis, which is a traditional method that
still is widely used, and object-oriented
analysis (O-O), which is a newer approach
that many analysts prefer
 The important thing is for a systems analyst
to understand the various methods and the
strengths and weaknesses of each approach

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Systems Development
Methods
 Structured Analysis
 Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
 Predictive approach
 Uses a set of process models to describe a
system graphically
 Process-centered technique

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Systems Development
Methods
 Object-oriented Analysis
 O-O analysis combines data & processes into
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

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Systems Development
Guidelines
 Stick to a plan
 Involve the users throughout the
development process
 Listening is very important
 Use project management tools to identify
tasks and milestones
 Remain flexible
 Develop accurate cost and benefit
information
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Information Technology
Department
 The information technology (IT) department
develops and maintains a company’s
information systems.
 The IT group provides technical support

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Information Technology
Department
 Application Development
 Team may include users, managers and IT Staff
members
 Systems Support and Security
 Deployment team
 User Support
 Help desk or information center (IC)

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Information Technology
Department
 Database Administration
 Database design, management, security, backup,
and user access
 Network Administration
 Includes hardware and software maintenance,
support, and security
 Web Support
 Webmasters

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Information Technology
Department
 Quality Assurance (QA)
 Reviews and tests all applications and systems
changes to verify specifications and software
quality standards
 Is a separate unit that reports directly to IT
management

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The Systems Analyst Position
 A systems analyst investigates, analyzes,
designs, develops, installs, evaluates, and
maintains a company’s information systems
 On large projects, the analyst works as a
member of an IT department team
 Smaller companies often use consultants to
perform the work

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The Systems Analyst Position
 Responsibilities
 Translate business requirements into practical IT
projects to meet needs
 Required Skills and Background
 Solid communication skills and analytic ability

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The Systems Analyst Position
 Certification
 Professional credential
 Career Opportunities
 Job titles
 Company organization
 Company size
 Corporate culture
 Salary, location, and future growth

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Chapter Summary
 IT is a combination of hardware, software,
and telecommunications systems that
support business
 The essential components of an information
system are hardware, software, data,
processes, and people
 Companies are production oriented, service
oriented, or a combination of the two

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Chapter Summary
 Based on their function and features,
information systems are identified as
enterprise computing systems, transactional
processing or operational systems, business
support systems, knowledge management
systems, or user productivity systems
 Organization structure usually includes
levels. Each level has different
responsibilities and information needs
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Chapter Summary
 Systems analyst use modeling, prototyping,
and CASE tools. Modeling produces a
graphical representation of the process,
prototyping involves creation of an early
working model, and CASE tools assist in
various systems development tasks
 Various development methodologies exist,
including structured analysis and object-
oriented analysis
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Chapter Summary
 Regardless of the development model, it is
important to use project management tools
necessary to manage people, tasks,
timetables, and expenses
 An IT department develops, maintains and
operates a company’s information systems
 Systems analysts need a combination of
technical and business knowledge, analytical
ability, and communication
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Systems Analysis & Design
7th Edition

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