2131 Structured System Analysis and Design By Germaine Cheung Hong Kong Computer Institute Lecture 2 (Chapter 2) Information System Building Blocks

2 Front- and Back-Office Information Systems Front-office information systems support business functions that extend out to customers – Marketing Information System – Sales Information System – Customer management Information System Back-office information systems support internal business operations as well as reach out to suppliers – Human resources Information System – Financial management Information System – Manufacturing Information System – Inventory control Information System

3 A Federation of Information Systems

4 Information System Applications A transaction processing system (TPS) – captures and processes data about business transactions. A management information system (MIS) – provides for management-oriented reporting based on transaction processing and operations of the organization. A decision support system (DSS) – helps to identify decision making opportunities or provides information to help make decisions.

5 Information System Applications An Executive Information System (EIS) – For top-level managers that integrates data from all over the organization into “at-a-glance” graphical indicators and controls. An expert system – Captures the expertise of workers and then simulates that expertise to the benefit of non-experts. A communications and collaboration system – Enables more effective communications between workers, partners, customers, and suppliers to enhance their ability to collaborate. An office automation system – Supports wide range of business office activities that provide for improved work flow between workers.

6 Information System Applications

7 Information Systems Architecture A framework for various stakeholders to understanding different views of fundamental building blocks of an information system Provides a foundation for organizing the various components of any information system

8 Goal-oriented of an Information Systems Improve business knowledge – Product of information and data Improve business process and services – The activities (including management) that carry out the mission of the business. Improve business communication and collaboration – How the system interfaces with its users and other information systems.

9 The focus of System designers’ and builders’ perspectives of an information system Database technology – Support business accumulation and use of business knowledge Software technology – Automate and support business processes and services Interface technology – Support business communications and collaboration

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11 Views of Knowledge System owners’ view of knowledge – Interested not in raw data but in information that adds new business knowledge and information that help managers make intelligent decisions. System users’ view of knowledge – View data as something recorded on forms, stored in file cabinets, recorded in books and binders, organized into spreadsheets, or stored in computer files and databases. System designers’ view of knowledge – Data structures, database schemas, fields, indexes, and constraints of particular database management system (DBMS). System builders’ view of knowledge – Database management system technology – Most commonly encounter data base language-SQL (Structured Query Language)

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13 Views of process System owners’ view of process – Interested in the big picture called business functions. Business function – a group of related processes that support the business. – Cross-functional information system Supports several business function regardless of which departments are involoved Continued...

14 System users’ view of process – Concerned with work that must be performed to provide the appropriate responses to business events. – Process requirements – documented in terms of activities, data flow or work flow. govern a business process. – Procedures – a step-by-step set of instructions and logic for completing a business process. – Work flow – the flow of transactions to ensure appropriate checks and approvals are implemented. Views of process

15 Views of process System designers’ view of process – Technical – Constrained by limitations of application development technologies being used – Software specifications – the document the technical design of computer program to be written System builders’ view of process – Using programming languages or application development environment that describe inputs, outputs, logic and control. – Application program – computer language that automate business process. – Prototyping – a technique for quickly building a functioning, but incomplete model of the information system using rapid application development tools.

16 PROCESS Building Blocks

17 Views of Communication System owners’ view of communication – Who - which business units, employees, customers, and partners interact with the system? – Where are these business units, employees, customers, and partners located? – What other information, computer or automated system will the system have to interface with? System users’ view of communication – Concerned with the information system’s inputs and outputs.

18 Views of Communication System designers’ view of communication – Concerned with the technical design of both the user and the system-to-system communication interfaces. – User dialogue – specifies how the user will navigate through an application to perform useful work. System builders’ view of communication – Concerned with the construction, installation, testing and implementation of user and system-to-system interface solutions. – Middleware – A layer of utility software that sites in between application software to integrate different technologies so that they can interoperate.

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20 Network technologies and the IS Building Blocks Information systems are built on networks Best designed information systems tends to separate Knowledge, Process and Communication building blocks and force them to communicate across the network. Clean layering building blocks – Allows any one building block to be replaced with another while having little or no impact on the other building blocks

21 Network Technologies and the IS Building Blocks

22 Discussion Time Discuss with your group(1.5%) – Try to describe the registry system in terms of the knowledge building blocks(data) – Try to explain the building blocks from System owners, System users, System designers and System builder point of view *Try to use a flow chart to write down the answers *Please write down your answers, it may be useful for assignment 1 *Time of discussion 20mins