1 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall James A. Senn’s Information Technology, 3 rd Edition Chapter 11 Creating Enterprise Applications

2 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Objectives Describe the principal functions and roles of a system analyst. Identify the characteristics of shared systems. Discuss the changing process for developing information systems applications.

3 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Objectives (Continued) Describe the tools and techniques available to system analysts for collecting data and developing IT applications. Summarize the purpose and characteristics of unified modeling language (UML). Explain the roles of the four types of IT systems development professionals.

4 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Developing Open Shared Systems Development Alternatives Build the application itself. Purchase a prewritten application. Contract out the application development.

5 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Developing Open Shared Systems Open Systems for Sharing Open System: A software system that performs on different computer and communications hardware. Interoperability: The perfect exchange of data and information in all forms (data, text, sound, and image, including animation) between the individual components of an application (hardware, software, network).

6 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Developing Open Shared Systems Shifting Development Model Craft Approach Assembly Approach Object: A component that contains data about itself and how it is to be processed.

7 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Developing Open Shared Systems Building IT with Components

8 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Definition Systems Analyst: The IT professional responsible for working with users to determine a system’s requirements and for describing the features needed in the system.

9 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Data Collection Techniques Interviews –Structured Interview: An interview in which the questions are prepared in advance and each interviewee is asked the same set of questions. –Unstructured Interview: An interview in which the questions may be prepared in advance, but follow-up questions vary, depending on the interviewees’ background and answer.

10 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Data Collection Techniques (Continued) Questionnaire: A sheet of questions used to collect facts and opinions from a group of people. Document Examination/Record Inspection: The review of company documents about a system or opportunity under investigation. Observation: The process of watching an activity take place to collect information about that activity.

11 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Data Collection Techniques (Continued) Sampling: The process of collecting data and information at prescribed intervals.

12 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques System Flowcharts System Flowcharts: A graphical description of a business process or procedure using standard symbols to show decision logic.

13 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques System Flowcharts (Continued)

14 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Dataflow Diagram Dataflow Diagram (DFD): A chart showing the movement of data through a system. –DFD Levels Leveling: The process of exploding processes in a dataflow diagram to show more detail.

15 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Dataflow Diagram (Continued)

16 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Dataflow Diagram (Continued)

17 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Data Dictionaries Data Dictionary/Repository: A catalog that lists and describes all the types of data flowing through a system. Composed of data elements and a data structure. Data Element: The component of a data dictionary that includes data names, alternate names, and length allowances.

18 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Data Dictionaries (Continued)

19 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall The System Analyst’s Tools and Techniques Data Dictionaries (Continued) Data Structure: The set of data elements used together and the name that collectively identifies the set.

20 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Computed-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) Definition Computed-Aided Systems Engineering/Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE): A set of tools used in systems development to improve the consistency and quality of the system while automating many of the most tedious and time-consuming systems tasks. –Charting and Diagramming Tools –Centralized Information Repository –Interface Generators –Code Generators –Project Management Tools

21 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Computed-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) Definition (Continued)

22 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Computed-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) Front-End, Back-End, and Integrated CASE Front-End CASE Tool: A CASE tool that automates the early (front-end) activities in systems development. Back-End CASE Tool: A CASE tool that automates the later (back-end) activities in systems development. Integrated CASE (I-CASE) Tool: A CASE tool that spans activities throughout the entire systems development life cycle.

23 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Computed-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) Front-End, Back-End, and Integrated CASE (Continued)

24 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Unified Modeling Language Definition Unified Modeling Language (UML): The standard vehicle for visualizing, describing,and documenting the details of an IT application. Actor: Anyone or anything that will interact with the application. Activity Diagram: Shows the flow of control in an application.

25 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Unified Modeling Language Definition (Continued)

26 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Unified Modeling Language Definition (Continued) Use Case Diagram: Provides context for the system, illustrating the actors, the use cases, and the flow or interaction between use cases and actors. –Use Case: Identifies the sequence of activities performed for an actor. Use Case Description: Describes the use case in ordinary language, including its identifying name and actors.

27 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Unified Modeling Language Definition (Continued)

28 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Unified Modeling Language Definition (Continued) Class Diagram: Describes an object class, including the class name, attributes, and methods. Other UML Diagrams –Sequence Diagram –State Transition Diagram –Component Diagram

29 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall Unified Modeling Language Definition (Continued)

30 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall IT Development Personnel The Systems Analyst: The Key Roles Change Agent: A person who acts as a catalyst for change. Professional Skills –Problem Solving –Outcome Thinking –Creativity –Meeting Skills –Communication Skills

31 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall IT Development Personnel The Systems Analyst: The Key Roles

32 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall IT Development Personnel The Chief Information Officer Chief Information Officer (CIO)/IT Director/Director of Information Systems: The person given the responsibility of managing and developing the firm’s information technology capabilities.

33 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall IT Development Personnel The Chief Information Officer (Continued)

34 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall IT Development Personnel Computer Programmers Computer Programmers –Responsible for turning detailed specifications into computer software. –Responsible for documenting the program.

35 Senn, Information Technology, 3 rd Edition © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall IT Development Personnel System Contractors System Contractor: An outside person or firm that contracts with a company to develop IT applications. System Integrator: A type of systems contractor who is retained to take responsibility for acquiring hardware, software and network capacity for an application, as well as for implementing the application.