ITCO 603: System Analysis Modeling and Design

Introduction

College of Information Technology (CIT)

United Arab Emirates University
 Chapter Objectives
 Describe 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
 Distinguish between structured analysis, object-oriented analysis, and
agile methods
 Compare the traditional waterfall model with agile methods and models
 Apply five basic guidelines for systems development
 Discuss the role of the information technology department and the
systems analysts who work there

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Information Technology: The study, design,
development, implementation, support or management
of computer-based information systems, particularly
software applications and computer hardware

Information Processing
Acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval, display,
and dissemination of information

System: A set of connected things or parts forming a

complex whole, in particular

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 The Impact of Information Technology
New Information Systems
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 (2)

Who develops Information Systems?

In-house applications
Software packages
 Internet-based application services
 Outsourcing
 Custom solutions
 Enterprise-wide software strategies
 How versus What
 (risk occurs when a company decide how the system will

be implemented before determining what the system is

suppose to do)

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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
The components are
Hardware
Software
Data
Process
People

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 Understanding the Business
IT professionals must understand a company’s operations to
design successful systems.
System analysts use a process called a business process
modeling
Business Profile:
 Describes the company’s overall functions, process, organization,
products, services, customers, competitors, and future directions
and trends.
Business Model:
 Describesthe general details of one or more processes that a
company performs:
 Airline reservation, selling tickets, account crediting..etc.
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 Understanding the Business (2)

Business Model example

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 Understanding the Business (3)

IT companies are classified

as:
Product oriented
Service oriented
New kinds of companies
Mix of product, service and
support
Service and support
nowadays more profitable
Dot-com vs brick and
mortar companies
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 Impact of Internet
 Internet-based commerce is called as E-commerce
 Two types of E-Commerce
 Business to Customers (B2C)
Eg: Amazon, eBay etc.
 Business to Business (B2B)
 Much larger in volume

 Use electronic data interchange (EDI)

 many B2B sites exist where buyers, sellers, distributors, and manufacturers
can offer products, submit specifications, and transact business.
 Eg: Supply Chain Management (SCM) or Supplier Relationship

Management (SRM)
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the electronic interchange of business
information using a standardized format; a process which allows one company to send
information to another company electronically rather than with paper. Business entities
conducting business electronically are called trading partners, no paper, no people
involved
Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and
services. It includes the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process
inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption
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 Business Information Systems
System categories in the past (user-group based)
 office systems (administrative staff),
 Operational systems (operational personnel),
 decision support systems (middle-managers and knowledge workers), and
 executive information systems (top managers).

Systems today (features/functions based)

 Enterprise Computing
 Transaction processing
 Business support
 Knowledge management
 User productivity
 IS integration

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 Enterprise Computing
 IS that support company-wide operations and data management
requirements.
 Example: Wal-Mart’s inventory control system

 The main objective of enterprise computing is to

 integrate a company’s primary functions
(such as production, sales, services, inventory control, and
accounting)
 to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and help managers make key
decisions.
 improve data security and reliability by imposing a company-wide
framework for data access and storage

Note: Enterprise computing is usually seen as a collection of big

business software solutions to common problems such as resource
management and streamlining processes.
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 Enterprise Computing (2)
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
systems provide cost-effective support for users and managers
throughout the company.
(For example, a car rental company can use ERP to forecast
customer demand for rental cars at hundreds of locations)
By providing a company-wide computing environment, many
firms have been able to achieve dramatic cost reductions
Other companies have been disappointed in the time, money,
and commitment necessary to implement ERP successfully

Note: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a business

management software—typically a suite of integrated applications
—that a company can use to collect, store, manage and interpret
data from many business activities, including: Product planning,
cost. Manufacturing or service delivery. Marketing and sales.
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 Transaction Processing
Transaction processing
(TP) systems
process data generated
by day-to-day business
operations
Examples of TP
systems: Customer
order processing,
accounts receivable,
and warranty claim
processing.

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 Business Support Systems
Business support systems provide
job-related information support to users at all levels
of a company

Business Support systems can

analyze transactional data,
generate information needed to manage and control
business processes, and
Provide information that leads to better decision-
making.

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 Business Support System (2)

A business support system can work hand in hand with a

TP system.
For example, when a company sells merchandise to a
customer,
a TP system records the sale, updates the customer’s
balance, and makes a deduction from inventory
A related business support system highlights slow- or fast-
moving items, customers with past due balances, and
inventory levels that need adjustment

An important feature in BS is decision support capability

Analyze what-if scenario

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 Knowledge Management
Knowledge management systems
are also called expert systems because they simulate human
reasoning by combining a knowledge base and inference
rules that determine how the knowledge is applied.
A knowledge base consists of
a large database that allows users to find information by
entering keywords or questions in normal English phrases.
A knowledge management system uses inference rules,
which are logical rules that identify data patterns and
relationships.

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 Knowledge Management (2)

Figure 1-21 shows a knowledge management system

 that Toshiba maintains for its customers and users.
 After a user enters a symptom, problem, or question,
 Toshiba’s Knowledge Base searches for a solution and displays the
results.

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Information Systems Integration
Most large companies require systems that
combine transaction processing, business support, knowledge
management, and user productivity features.
For example, suppose an international customer has a problem with a
product and makes a warranty claim.
A customer service representative enters the claim into a TP system.
The transaction updates two other systems: a knowledge management
system that tracks product problems and warranty activity, and a quality
control system with decision support capabilities.
A quality control engineer uses what-if analysis to determine if it would be
advantageous to make product design changes to reduce warranty claims.
In this example, a TP system is integrated
with a knowledge management system and a business support system with
decision support features.
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What Information do users need?

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 What Information do users need? (2)

Top managers:
develop long-range plans, called strategic plans
ask questions such as “How much should the company invest in
information technology?”
Also need information from outside the company, such as economic
forecasts, technology trends, competitive threats, and governmental
issues.

Middle Managers and Knowledge workers:

need more detailed information than top managers
For example, a middle manager might review a weekly sales
summary for a three-state area, whereas a local sales team leader
would need a daily report on customer sales at a single location.
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 What Information do Users Need? (3)
Supervisors and team leaders:
 Coordinate operational tasks and people
 make necessary decisions, and ensure that the right tools, materials, and training are available
 Like other managers, supervisors and team leaders need decision support information,
knowledge management systems, and user productivity systems to carry out their
responsibilities
Operational employees
 users who rely on TP systems to enter and receive data
 also need information to handle tasks and make decisions that were assigned previously to
supervisors
Note: Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present include:
 inventories of information assets (including legacy and relational data sources, cubes,
data warehouses, and data marts),
 comparative sales figures between one period and the next,
 projected revenue figures based on product sales assumptions.
 DSSs are often contrasted with more automated decision-making systems known as Decision
Management Systems
Knowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing, sharing, and effectively
using organizational knowledge. It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organizational
objectives by making the best use of knowledge
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 System Development Tools
1) Modeling
produces a graphical representation of a concept or
process that systems developers can analyze, test, and
modify. (e.g. MS Visio)
A system analyst can describe and simplify an
information system by using a set of business, data,
object, network, and process models.
2) Prototyping
tests system concepts and provides an opportunity to
examine input, output, and user interfaces before final
decisions are made.
an early working version of an information system.

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 System Development Tools (2)

3) Computer-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) Tools

 also called as computer-aided software engineering,
 technique that uses powerful software, called CASE tools, to help
systems analysts develop and maintain information systems
CASE tools
 provide an overall framework for systems development

 support a wide variety of design methodologies, including

structured analysis and object-oriented analysis

 After developing a model, many CASE tools can generate program
code, which speeds the implementation process

Note: CASE tools types: diagrams, process modeling, project management,

documentation, analysis, design, programming, change control, web
development, prototyping, quality assurance, maintenance, etc.

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 System Development Methods
Structured Analysis:
System development is organized into phases, with
deliverables and milestones to measure progress.
SDLC (systems development life cycle): to plan and
manage system development process
Waterfall model or its variation is used in SA.
Process Model represents the system in terms of data
and the processes that act upon that data.
Modeling tools: Data Flow Diagrams (DFD)

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DFD example

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 DFD Example (safe-home)
Config
Config Configure data Control
Req. System Configuration Info Panel
Control Panel Display
Config
User Commands
Interact data Display Info
With User
and Data
Start
Stop Activate/Deactivate
System
Password Display
Msg./Stat.
Type Alarm
rm
Valid Ala
Process ID
Msg. Sensor
Password
Status

Sensor Monitor
Status Stat. Telephone
Sensor
Phone No. Tones

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 System Development Methods (2)
{Structured Analysis, contd…)
Disadvantage of SDLC : Some analysts see a disadvantage in the built-in structure of the SDLC,
because the waterfall model does not emphasize interactivity among the phases. Other analysts regard the
waterfall model as a two-way water flow model, with emphasis on iteration and user input.

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 System Development Methods (3)

Object Oriented Analysis:

 Views the system in terms of objects that combine data and
processes.
 The objects represent actual people, things, transactions,
and events
 Tools: various object oriented diagrams, such as UML

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Class Diagram in UML

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 System Development Methods (4)

Agile methods:
Stresses intense team based efforts
Incremental development producing chain of
prototypes.
Continuous feedback from stakeholders
Use spiral models

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32
System Development Guidelines

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 System Analyst
Responsibilities
Knowledge, Skills and Education
Technical
Communication
Business
Critical Thinking
Education, such as certification

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