2008 Pearson Prentice Hall

Assuming the Role

of the Systems
Analyst
Systems Analysis and Design,
7e
Kendall & Kendall
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Learning Objectives
Recall the basic types o comp!ter"based systems
that a systems analyst needs to address
#nderstand ho$ !sers $or%ing in conte&t $ith
ne$ technologies change the dynamics o a
system
Reali'e $hat the many roles o the systems
analyst are
Kno$ the steps o the SDL( as they relate to )(*
and ho$ to apply them to a real system
#nderstand $hat (AS+ tools are and ho$ they
help a systems analyst
+&plore other methodologies s!ch as object"
oriented systems design and prototyping
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*normation , A Key
Reso!rce
-!els b!siness and can be the
critical actor in determining the
s!ccess or ail!re o a b!siness
.eeds to be managed correctly
/anaging comp!ter"generated
inormation di0ers rom handling
man!ally prod!ced data
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/ajor 1opics
-!ndamentals o di0erent %inds o
inormation systems
Roles o systems analysts
2hases in the systems development
lie cycle as they relate to )!man"
(omp!ter *nteraction 3)(*4 actors
(omp!ter"Aided Sot$are
+ngineering 3(AS+4 tools
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Systems Analysts Recommend, Design,
and /aintain /any 1ypes o Systems or
#sers
1ransaction 2rocessing Systems 312S4
O5ce A!tomation Systems 3OAS4
Kno$ledge 6or% Systems 3K6S4
/anagement *normation Systems 3/*S4
Decision S!pport Systems 3DSS4
+&pert Systems 3+S4
+&ec!tive S!pport Systems 3+SS4
7ro!p Decision S!pport Systems 37DSS4
(omp!ter"S!pported (ollaborative 6or%
Systems 3(S(6S4
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Strategic
Level
Oerational
Level
Kno!ledge
Level
Hig"er
Level
A systems analyst
may be involved
$ith any or all o
these systems at
each organi'ation
level
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Operational Level
1ransaction 2rocessing System 312S4
2rocess large amo!nts o data or ro!tine
b!siness transactions
8o!ndary"spanning
S!pport the day"to"day operations o the
company
+&amples9 2ayroll 2rocessing, *nventory
/anagement
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Kno$ledge Level
O5ce A!tomation System 3OAS4
S!pports data $or%ers $ho share inormation, b!t do
not !s!ally create ne$ %no$ledge
+&amples9 6ord processing, Spreadsheets, Des%top
p!blishing, +lectronic sched!ling, (omm!nication
thro!gh voice mail, +mail, :ideo conerencing
Kno$ledge 6or% System 3K6S4
S!pports proessional $or%ers s!ch as scientists,
engineers, and doctors
+&amples9 comp!ter"aided design systems, virt!al
reality systems, investment $or%stations
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)igher Level
/anagement *normation System 3/*S4
S!pport a broad spectr!m o organi'ational tas%s
incl!ding decision analysis and decision ma%ing
+&amples9 pro;t margin by sales region, e&penses vs<
b!dgets
Decision S!pport System 3DSS4
Aids decision ma%ers in the ma%ing o decisions
+&amples9 ;nancial planning $ith $hat"i analysis,
b!dgeting $ith modeling
+&pert System 3+S4
(apt!res and !ses the %no$ledge o an e&pert or
solving a partic!lar problem $hich leads to a
concl!sion or recommendation
+&amples9 /=(*., >(O.
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Strategic Level
+&ec!tive S!pport System 3+SS4
)elps e&ec!tives to ma%e !nstr!ct!red strategic
decisions in an inormed $ay
+&amples9 drill"do$n analysis, stat!s access
7ro!p Decision S!pport System 37DSS4
2ermit gro!p members to interact $ith electronic s!pport
+&amples9 email, Lot!s .otes
(omp!ter"S!pported (ollaborative 6or% System
3(S(6S4
(D(6S is a more general term o 7DSS
/ay incl!de sot$are s!pport called ?groupware@ or
team collaboration via net$or% comp!ters
+&ample9 video conerencing, 6eb s!rvey system
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*ntegrating .e$ 1echnologies
into 1raditional Systems
+commerce and 6eb Systems
+nterprise Reso!rce 2lanning
Systems
6ireless Systems
Open So!rce Sot$are
.eed or Systems Analysis and
Design
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Figure 1.2 Systems analysts need to be
a$are that integrating technologies a0ects
all types o systems
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+commerce and 6eb Systems
8ene;ts
*ncreasing !ser a$areness o the availability o
a service, prod!ct, ind!stry, person, or gro!p
1he possibility o AB"ho!r access or !sers
*mproving the !se!lness and !sability o
interace design
(reating a system that can e&tend globally
rather than remain local, th!s reaching people
in remote locations $itho!t $orry o the time
'one in $hich they are located
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+nterprise Reso!rce 2lanning
Systems 3+R24
2erorms integration o many
inormation systems e&isting on
di0erent management levels and
$ithin di0erent !nctions
+&ample9 SA2, Oracle
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6ireless Systems
System analyst may be as%ed to design
standard or $ireless comm!nication net$or%s
that integrate voice, video and email into
organi'ational intranets or ind!stry e&tranets
System analyst may also be as%ed to develop
intelligent agents
+&ample9 /icrosotCs ne$ sot$are based on
8ayesian statistics
6ireless comm!nication is reerred as m"
commerce 3mobile commerce4
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Open So!rce Sot$are
An alternative o traditional sot$are
development $here proprietary code is
hidden rom the !sers
Open so!rce sot$are is ree to distrib!te,
share and modiy
(haracteri'ed as a philosophy rather than
simply the process o creating ne$
sot$are
+&ample9 Lin!& Operating System, Apache
6eb Server, /o'illa -ireo& 6eb bro$ser
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.eed or Systems Analysis
and Design
*nstalling a system $itho!t proper planning
leads to great !ser dissatisaction and
reD!ently ca!ses the system to all into
dis!se
Lends str!ct!re to the analysis and design o
inormation systems
A series o processes systematically
!nderta%en to improve a b!siness thro!gh
the !se o comp!teri'ed inormation systems
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Roles o the Systems
Analyst
1he analyst m!st be able to $or%
$ith people o all descriptions and
be e&perienced in $or%ing $ith
comp!ters
1hree primary roles9
(ons!ltant
S!pporting +&pert
Agent o change
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E!alities o the Systems
Analyst
2roblem solver
(omm!nicator
Strong personal and proessional
ethics
Sel"disciplined and sel"motivated
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Systems Development Lie
(ycle 3SDL(4
1he systems development lie cycle
is a phased approach to solving
b!siness problems
Developed thro!gh the !se o a
speci;c cycle o analyst and !ser
activities
+ach phase has !niD!e !ser
activities
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Figure 1.3 1he seven phases o
the systems development lie
cycle
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*ncorporating )!man"
(omp!ter *nteraction 3)(*4
(onsiderations
1he demand or analysts $ho are
capable o incorporating )(* into the
systems development process %eeps
increasing, as companies begin to
reali'e that the D!ality o systems and
the D!ality o $or% lie can be
improved by ta%ing a h!man"centered
approach at the o!tset o a project
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*dentiying 2roblems,
Opport!nities, and Objectives
Activity9
*ntervie$ing !ser management
S!mmari'ing the %no$ledge obtained
+stimating the scope o the project
Doc!menting the res!lts
O!tp!t9
-easibility report containing problem
de;nition and objective s!mmaries rom
$hich management can ma%e a decision on
$hether to proceed $ith the proposed project
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Determining )!man
*normation ReD!irements
Activity9
*ntervie$ing
Sampling and investing hard data
E!estionnaires
Observe the decision ma%erFs behavior and environment
2rototyping
Learn the $ho, $hat, $here, $hen, ho$, and $hy o the
c!rrent system
O!tp!t9
Analyst !nderstands ho$ !sers accomplish their $or%
$hen interacting $ith a comp!terG and begin to %no$
ho$ to ma%e the ne$ system more !se!l and !sable<
1he analyst sho!ld also %no$ the b!siness !nctions and
have complete inormation on the people, goals, data
and proced!re involved
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Analy'ing System .eeds
Activity9
(reate data Ho$ diagrams
(omplete the data dictionary
Analy'e the str!ct!red decisions made
2repare and present the system proposal
O!tp!t9
Recommendation on $hat, i anything,
sho!ld be done
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Designing the Recommended
System
Activity9
Design proced!res or data entry
Design the h!man"comp!ter interace
Design system controls
Design ;les andIor database
Design bac%!p proced!res
O!tp!t
/odel o the act!al system
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Developing and Doc!menting
Sot$are
Activity9
System analyst $or%s $ith programmers to develop
any original sot$are
6or%s $ith !sers to develop e0ective doc!mentation
2rogrammers design, code, and remove syntactical
errors rom comp!ter programs
Doc!ment sot$are $ith help ;les, proced!re
man!als, and 6eb sites $ith -reD!ently As%ed
E!estions
O!tp!t9
(omp!ter programs
System doc!mentation
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1esting and /aintaining the
System
Activity9
1est the inormation system
System maintenance
/aintenance doc!mentation
O!tp!t9
2roblems, i any
#pdated programs
Doc!mentation
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*mplementing and +val!ating
the System
Activity9
1rain !sers
Analyst plans smooth conversion rom
old system to ne$ system
Revie$ and eval!ate system
O!tp!t9
1rained personnel
*nstalled system
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Figure 1.4 Some researchers estimate that the
amo!nt o time spent on systems maintenance may
be as m!ch as JK percent o the total time spent on
systems projects
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1he *mpact o /aintenance
/aintenance is perormed or t$o
reasons
Removing sot$are errors, and
+nhancing e&isting sot$are
Over time the cost o contin!ed
maintenance $ill be greater than that
o creating an entirely ne$ system< At
that point it becomes more easible to
perorm a ne$ systems st!dy
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Figure 1.5 Reso!rce
cons!mption over the system
lie
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Approaches to Str!ct!red Analysis and
Design and to the Systems Development
Lie (ycle
1raditional systems
development lie cycle

(AS+ systems development lie

cycle

Object"Oriented Systems
Analysis and Design
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(ase 1ools
(AS+ tools are prod!ctivity tools or
systems analysts that have been
created e&plicitly to improve their
ro!tine $or% thro!gh the !se o
a!tomated s!pport
Reasons or !sing (AS+ tools
*ncreasing Analyst 2rod!ctivity
*mproving Analyst"#ser (omm!nication
*ntegrating Lie (ycle Activities
Acc!rately Assessing /aintenance (hanges
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(ase 1ool (lassi;cations
#pper (AS+ tools perorm
analysis and design
Lo$er (AS+ tools generate
programs rom (AS+ design
*ntegrated (AS+ tools perorm
both !pper and lo$er (AS+
!nctions
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#pper (AS+ 1ools
(reate and modiy the system
design
)elp in modeling organi'ational
reD!irements and de;ning
system bo!ndaries
(an also s!pport prototyping o
screen and report designs
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Lo$er (AS+ 1ools
Lo$er (AS+ tools generate
comp!ter so!rce code rom the
(AS+ design
So!rce code is !s!ally
generated in several lang!ages
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Figure 1.7 1raditional vers!s
(AS+ systems development lie
cycle
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Object"Oriented Systems
Analysis and Design
Alternate approach to the str!ct!red
approach o the SDL( that is intended to
acilitate the development o systems that
m!st change rapidly in response to
dynamic b!siness environments
Analysis is perormed on a small part o the
system ollo$ed by design and
implementation< 1he cycle repeats $ith
analysis, design and implementation o the
ne&t part and this repeats !ntil the project
is complete
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Alternate Approaches to Str!ct!red
Analysis and Design and to the Systems
Development Lie (ycle
Agile approach
2rototyping
+1)*(S
2roject champion
Sot Systems /ethodology
/!ltivie$
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S!mmary
*normation is a %ey reso!rce
Systems analysts deal $ith many types o
inormation systems
*ntegration o traditional systems $ith ne$
technologies
Roles and D!alities o the systems analyst
1he systems Development Lie (ycle
(AS+ tools
Alternatives to str!ct!red analysis and
design and to the SDL(