BTS330: Business Requirements Analysis using OO Lecture 6: Systems

Agenda  What is a System  Review of Business Areas  Types of Systems  The Role of the Systems Analyst

What is a system?  A combination of hardware and developed software that create the software solution that meets the needs of a business.  A collection of inter-related components that collect, process, store and provide as output the information needed to complete business tasks.

What is a system?  Characteristics of a system* –It exists in an environment –It is separated from its environment by some kind of boundary –It has inputs and outputs which come from, or are sent to the environment –It has interfaces (allows communication between two systems) –It can have sub-systems (which are also systems) –It has a control mechanism *Object-Oriented Systems Analysis & Design using UML, 1999 pages 5-6

What is a system? What the system does System Boundary InputsOutputs Control How the system is controlled Feedback Feed-forward *Object-Oriented Systems Analysis & Design using UML, 1999 pages 5-6

Business Areas  The organizational areas needed to support a business.  These can to equate to departments.  An organizational structure made up of executives, middle management, supervisory management and staff.

Organizational Roles to Support the Business  Operational staff  Management

Organizational Roles to Support the Business:  Operational –The individuals involved in the day to day processing of transactions I.e. Bank Tellers; Mutual Fund Sales People; Sales Associate

Organizational Roles to Support the Business:  Management –Executives (Top Management) Those that make strategic and day to day decisions –Middle Management Those that make tactical and day to day decisions –Lower Management Supervisory personnel who make day to day decisions

Stakeholders  The personnel in the organizational roles for each business area are the individuals who provide the information needed to understand what is required for development of automated computer systems.

Types of systems?  Office Systems –Productivity tools available to employees on a desk top. –Electronic Mail, Word Processing, Database Management, Spreadsheets, Desktop Publishing, Presentation Graphics and so on.

Types of systems?  Operational (Transaction Processing) Systems –Take care of the day-to-day processing of the business –Information about the transactions that affect the organization are captured and recorded

Types of systems?  Management Information Systems –Uses operational systems’ information to give management the information needed to make management decisions

Types of systems?  Executive Information Systems –Provide information to executives on how their company is doing relative to the industry

Types of systems?  Decision Support Systems –Systems that allow a user to explore the impact of available options or decisions –‘What if’ analysis

Types of systems?  Expert Systems –Simulate human reasoning and decision- making. –Artificial Intelligence.

Systems that Solve Business Problems  Information systems –Collection of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to complete business functions

Information Systems IS Planning Level Type of planningTypical IS applicationsOrganizational Unit Responsible for Developing StrategicStrategies in support of organizational long- term objectives Market and sales analysis, Product planning, Performance evaluation Senior Management/ Executives TacticalPolicies in support of short-term goals and resource allocation Budget analysis, Salary forecasting, Inventory scheduling, Customer service Middle Management OperationalDay-to-day staff activities and production support Payroll, Invoicing, Purchasing, Accounting Lower Management; Operational

Flow of Information –Horizontally - information flows across departments –Vertically - information needs of clerical staff, middle management, and senior executives

Project Initiation: How are Projects Chosen?  Long-term information systems strategic plan (top-down)  Department managers or process managers (bottom-up)  Response to outside forces –Legislative changes –Market forces –Competition

Strategic Planning  Strategic Planning involves determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services.

Strategic Planning  What are the strategic plans of Elfin Works?

Need for Software Development: –Environments are rapidly changing –New technologies are frequently introduced –Companies merge and need to combine their systems –Government legislation –Strategic Decisions

Systems Analyst  A business professional involved in the development of a computerized solution to a business problem  Requires extensive technical, business and people knowledge, communication, business and technical skills  Is fundamentally curious to explore how things are done with a desire to make them work better

Systems Analyst  Focuses on understanding the business problem  Focuses on the approach to be taken to solve the business problem

Problem Solving Approach 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 (alternatives) 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

Systems Analyst “Must thoroughly understand the problem the system will solve”