CS 3 – System Analysis and Design Julie Ann U.

Abellera
Definition of Terms 1/4

Systems analysis – the process of understanding and

specifying in detail what the information system
should do
Systems design – the process of specifying in detail how
the many component parts of the information system
should be physically implemented
Systems analyst – a business professional who uses
analysis and design techniques to solve business
problems using information technology
Supers system a larger system that contains other system
Functional decomposition – dividing a system into
components based on subsystems that in turn are
further divided into subsystem
System boundary – the separation between a system and its
environment that inputs and outputs must cross
Automation boundary – the separation between the
automated part of a system and the manual part of a
system
Transaction processing system – information systems that
capture and record information about the transactions
that affect the organization
Management information system – information system that
takes information captured by transaction processing
systems and produces reports that management needs
for planning and control
Executive support system – support system that allow a
user to explore the impact of available options or
decisions
CS 3 – System Analysis and Design Julie Ann U. Abellera
Definition of Terms 2/4

Communication support system – supports systems that

allow employees to communicate with each other and
with customers and suppliers.
Office support systems - support that help employees create
and share documents including reports proposals, and
memos
Tools – software products used to help develop analysis
and design specifications and completed system
components
Techniques – strategies for completing specific system
development activities

Analyst’s approach to problem solving

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 (alternative)
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

questions to answer
1. what should it do?
2. what are the component parts?
3. how should they be configured?
4. what technology should be used to build the different
components?
5. who should build them?
CS 3 – System Analysis and Design Julie Ann U. Abellera
Definition of Terms 3/4

Required skills of the systems analyst

o Technical knowledge and skills
Know the fundamentals of
1. computers and how they work
2. devices that interact with computers, including
input devices, storage devices and output
devices
3. communications networks that connect
computers
4. databases and database management systems
5. programming languages
6. operating systems and utilities

o Business Knowledge and skills

1. what activities and process do organization
perform?
2. how are organizations structured?
3. how are organization managed?
4. what type of work goes on in organizations
(finance, manufacturing, customer service, etc)
o People Knowledge and skills
Analysts must understand
1. How people think
2. how people learn
3. how people react to change
4. how people communicate
5. how people work in variety of job and levels
o Integrity and ethics
CS 3 – System Analysis and Design Julie Ann U. Abellera
Definition of Terms 4/4

Business Process reengineering – a technique that seeks to

alter the nature of the work done in a business function
with the objective of radically improving performance
Strategic planning - a process which executives try to
answer questions about the company such as where
they are now, where they want to be and what they
have to do to get there.
Information Systems Strategic planning – the plan defining
the technology and application the information
systems function needs to provide support the
organization’s strategic plan
Application Architecture Plan- a description integrated
information system needed by the organization to
carry out business functions
Technology architecture plan – a description of the
hardware, software and communications networks
required to implement planned information systems
Enterprise resource planning – a process in which an
organization commits to using an integrated set of soft
ware packages for key information systems