Systems Analysis & Design

7th Edition

Chapter 1

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Chapter Objectives

 Discuss the impact of information technology on

business strategy and success
 Define an information system and describe its
components
 Explain how profiles and models can represent
business functions and operations
 Explain how the Internet has affected business
strategies and relationships
 Identify various types of information systems and
explain who uses them

2
Chapter Objectives

 Explain modeling, prototyping, and CASE tools

 Distinguish between structured analysis and object-
oriented analysis
 Compare the systems development life cycle
waterfall model to adaptive models
 Discuss the role of the information technology
department and the systems analysts who work
there

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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

4
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 Future of IT
– Accounts for almost 30 percent of America’s
economic growth, and the wage gaps
between IT workers and all other workers will
continue to widen
– Global online population skyrocketed between
2000 and 2005

6
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
– Systems Analyst
• Plan, develop, and maintain information systems

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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

Hardware
– Moore’s Law
Software
– System software
– Application software
– Enterprise applications
– Horizontal system

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Information System Components

Software
– Vertical system
– Legacy systems
Data
– Tables
– Linking

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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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Understanding The Business
Business Process Modeling
Business Profile
Business Models
– Business model
– Business process
– Business process reengineering (BPR)

13
Understanding The Business

New Kinds of Companies

– Production-oriented
– Service-oriented
– Internet-dependent
– Dot-com (.com)
– Brick-and-mortar

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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)

15
Impact of the Internet

Web-Based System Development

– WebSphere
– .NET
– Web services

16
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
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

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Information System Users and Their
Needs
Top managers
Middle Managers and Knowledge Workers
Supervisors and Team Leaders
Operational Employees

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

25
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

26
Systems Development Tools and
Techniques
Computer-Aided Systems Engineering
(CASE) Tools
– Also called computer-aided software engineering

27
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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Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
In addition to selecting a development
method, system developers also must create
a plan or model for the many tasks that will
be required
Typically, the development team will use
project management tools to help achieve
the end result

30
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
Comparison of Predictive and Adaptive
Models
– The SDLC usually is referred to as the waterfall
model

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Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
The SDLC Waterfall Model
– Disadvantage in the built-in structure of the SDLC,
because the waterfall model does not emphasize
interactivity among the phases
– This criticism can be valid if the SDLC phases are
followed too rigidly
– However, adjacent phases usually interact

32
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
The SDLC Waterfall Model
– Usually includes five steps
• Systems planning
• Systems analysis
• Systems design
• Systems implementation
• Systems operation, support, and security

33
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
Systems planning
– Systems request
– Purpose of this phase is to perform a preliminary
investigation whose key part is a feasibility study
Systems Analysis
– First step is requirements modeling
– End product is the System requirements document

34
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
Systems Design
– Identify all outputs, inputs, and processes
– End product is system design specification
Systems Implementation
– New system is constructed
– Users, managers, IT staff trained to operate and
support the system
– System evaluation performed

35
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
Systems Operation, Support, and Security
– A well-designed system must be secure, reliable,
maintainable, and scalable
– After several years of operation, systems need
extensive changes
– SDLC ends with system replacement

36
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
Adaptive Methods and Models
– Attempt to develop a system incrementally, by
building a series of prototypes and constantly
adjusting them to user requirements
– Extreme Programming (XP)
– Analysts should recognize that these approaches
have advantages and disadvantages

37
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
Joint Application Development and Rapid
Application Development Methods and
Models
– Joint application development (JAD)
– Rapid application development (RAD)
Other Development Methods and Models
– Rational Unified Process (RUP®)
– Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF)

38
Planning and Modeling a Systems
Development Project
The Importance of Project Management
– Regardless of the development strategy, people,
tasks, timetables, and expenses must be managed
effectively
– Complex projects can involve dozens of people,
hundreds of tasks, and many thousands of dollars

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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

41
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)

42
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

43
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

44
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

45
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

46
The Systems Analyst Position

Certification
Career Opportunities
– Job titles
– Company organization
– Company size
– Corporate culture
– Salary, location, and future growth

47
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
 Organization structure usually includes levels

48
Chapter Summary

 Systems analyst use modeling, prototyping, and

CASE tools
 Various development methodologies exist
 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

49
Chapter Summary

 Systems analysts need a combination of technical

and business knowledge, analytical ability, and
communication

 Chapter 1 complete

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