I.

THE CONTEXT OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODS

CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. Information systems in organizations capture and manage data to produce

useful information that supports an organization and its employees, customers,
suppliers, and partners.

2. Information systems can be classified according to the functions they serve,

including:
a. Transaction processing systems that process business transactions
such as orders, time cards, payments, and reservations.
b. Management information systems that use transaction data to produce
information needed by managers to run the business.
c. Decision support systems that help various decision makers identify
and choose between options or decisions.
d. Executive information systems that are system tailored to the unique
information needs of executives who plan for the business and assess
performance against the plans.
e. Expert systems that are systems that capture and reproduce the
knowledge of an expert problem solver or decision maker and then
simulate the “thinking” of that expert.
f. Communications and collaboration systems that enhance the
communication and collaboration between people, both internal and
external to the organization.
g. Office automation systems that help employees create and share
documents that support day-today office activities.

3. Information systems can be viewed from various perspectives, including from

the perspective of the “players, the “business drivers” influencing the
information system, the “technology drivers” used by the information system,
and the “process” used to develop the information system.

4. Information workers are the stakeholders in information systems. Information

workers include those people whose jobs involve the creation, collection,
processing, distribution, and use of information. They include:
a. System owners, the sponsors and chief advocates of information
systems.
b. System users, the people who use or are impacted by the information
system on a regular basis. Geographically, system users may be
internal or external.
c. System designers, technology specialists who translate system user’s
business requirements and constrains into technical solutions.
d. System builders, technology specialists who construct the information
system based on the design specifications.
e. Systems analysts, who facilitate the development of information
systems and computer applications. They coordinate the efforts of the
owners, users, designers, and builders. Frequently, they may play one
 of those roles as well. System analysts perform systems analysis and
design.
5. In addition to having formal analysis and design skills, a systems analyst must
develop or possess the following skills, knowledge, and traits:
a. Working knowledge of information technologies
b. Computer programming experience and expertise
c. General knowledge of business processes and terminology
d. General problem-solving sills
e. Good communication skills
f. Good interpersonal relations skills
g. Flexibility and adaptability
h. Character and ethics

6. Any stakeholder role may be filled by an internal or external worker referred to

as an external service provider (ESP). Most ESPs are systems analysts,
designers, or builders who are contracted to bring special expertise or
experience to a specific project.

7. Most information systems projects involve working as a team. Usually one or

more of the stakeholders (team members) take on the role of project manager
to ensure that the system is developed on time, within budget, and with
acceptable quality. Most project managers are experienced system analysts.

8. Business drivers influence information systems. Current business drivers that

will continue to influence the development of information systems include:
a. Globalization of the economy
b. Electronic commerce and business
c. Security and privacy
d. Collaboration and partnership
e. Knowledge asset management
f. Continuous improvement and total quality management
g. Business process redesign

9. Information technology can be a driver of information systems. Outdated

technologies can present problems that drive the need to develop new system.
Newer technologies such as the following are influencing today’s information
systems:
a. Networks and Internet
b. Mobile and Wireless technologies
c. Object technologies
d. Collaborative technologies
e. Enterprise applications

10. Many organizations have formal systems development process consisting of a

standard set of process or steps they expect will be followed on any systems
development projects. Systems development processes tend to mirror general
problem-solving approaches. A simplified system development process is
composed of the following phases:
 a. System initiation - the initial planning for a project to define initial
business scope, goals, schedule, and budget.
b. System analysis - the study of a business process domain to
recommend improvements and specify the business requirements and
priorities for the solution.
c. System design - the specification or construction of a technical,
computer-based solution for the business requirements identified in
system analysis.
d. System implementation - the construction, installation, testing, and
delivery of a system into operation.

11. Information systems face a lifetime of support and continuous improvements.

A change made for system support or improvement is merely another project,
sometimes called a maintenance or enhancement project. These projects
follow the exact same problem-solving approach defined for any project, but
they require less effort and budget.

12. Sequential development requires that each development process (phase) be

completed - one after the other. This approach is referred to as the waterfall
approach. An alternative development approach is iterative (or incremental)
development. This approach requires completing enough analysis, design,
and implementation as is necessary to fully develop a part of the new system.
Once that version of the system is implemented, the strategy is to then
perform some additional analysis, design, and implementation in order to
release the next version of the system. These iterations continue until all parts
of the entire information system have been developed.
II. INFORMATION SYSTEM BUILDING BLOCKS

CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. Organizations are served by a federation of information system that support

various business functions. Businesses have front-office information systems
that support business functions that extends out to their customers and back-
office information systems that support internal business operations and
interact with suppliers.

2. The many classes of information system applications overlap and interoperate

to complement and supplement one another.

3. Information systems architecture provides a unifying framework into which

various stakeholders with different perspectives can organize and view the
fundamental building blocks of information systems:
a. System owners and system users tend to focus on three common
business goals of any information system - improvements in business
knowledge, business process, and business communications.
b. System designers and builders tend to focus on technologies used by
the information system in order to achieve the business goals. They
focus on the database technologies that support business processes,
and interface technologies that support business communications.

4. The three views represent in the model are:

a. Knowledge - the business knowledge that helps managers make
intelligent decisions.
b. Process - the activities (including management) that carry out the
mission of the business.
c. Communications - how the system interfaces with users and other
information systems.

5. Improving business knowledge is a fundamental goal of an information system:

a. The system owners is interested in information that adds new business
knowledge
b. Information system users are knowledgeable about the data that
describes the business. This data is used to create information and
subsequent business knowledge.
c. System designers are concerned with the database technology that will
be used by the information system to support business knowledge.
III. INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. A System development process is a set of activities, methods, best practices,

deliverable, and automated tools that stakeholders use to develop and
continuously improve information systems and software.

2. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a framework for assessing the maturity
level of an organization’s information systems development and management
process and products. It defines the need for a system development process.

3. A system life cycle divides the life of an information system into two stages:
Systems Development and Systems Operation and Management.

4. A systems development methodology is a process for the system development

stage. It defines a set of activities a set of activities, methods, best practices,
deliverables, and automated tools that systems developers and project
managers are to use to develop and maintain information systems and
software.

5. The following principles should underlie all systems development

methodologies:
a. Get the system users involved
b. Use a problem-solving approach
c. Establish phases and activities
d. Document throughout development
e. Establish standards
f. Manage the process and projects
g. Justify information systems as capital investments
h. Don’t be afraid to cancel or revise scope
i. Divide and conquer
j. Design systems for growth and change

6. System development projects are triggered by problems, opportunities, and

directives:
a. Problems are undesirable situations that prevents the organization from
fully achieving its purpose, goals, and/or objectives.
b. Opportunities are chances to improve the organization even in the
absence of specific problems.
c. Directives are new requirements that are imposed by management,
government, or some external influence.

7. Wetherbe’s PIECES framework is useful for categorizing problems,

opportunities, and directives. The letters PIECES acronym correspond to
Performance, Information, Economics, Control, Efficiency, and Service.

8. Traditional, basic systems development phases include:

 a. Scope definition
b. Problem analysis
c. Requirements analysis
d. Logical design
e. Decision analysis
f. Physical design and integration
g. Construction and testing
h. Installation and delivery

9. Cross life-cycle activities are activities that overlap many or all phases of the
methodology. They may include:
a. Fact-finding
b. Documentation
c. Presentation
d. Feasibility analysis
e. Process management
f. Project management

10. There are different routes through the basic systems development phases. An
appropriate route is selected during the scope definition phase. Typical routes
include:
a. A Model-driven development strategies, which emphasize the drawing
of diagrams to help visualize and analyze problems, define business
requirements, and design information systems. Alternative model-
driven strategies include:
i) Process modeling
ii) Data modeling
iii) Object modeling
b. Rapid application development (RAD) strategies, which emphasize
extensive user involvement in the rapid and evolutionary construction
of working prototype of a system to accelerate the system
development process.
c. Commercial application package implementation strategies, which
focus on the purchase and integration of a software package or
solution to support one or more business function functions and
information systems.
d. System maintenance, which occurs after a system is implemented and
lasts throughout the system’s lifetime. Essentially, system
maintenance executes a smaller-scale version of the development
process with different starting points depending on the type of
problem to be solved.
IV. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. A Project is a temporary sequence of unique, complex. and connected

activities that have one goal or purpose and that must be completed by a
specific time, within budget, and according to specification.

2. Project management is the process of scoping, planning, staffing, organizing,

directing, and controlling the development of an acceptable system at a
minimum cost within a specified time frame.

3. Process management is an ongoing activity that documents, manages the use

of, and improves an organization’s chosen methodology (the “process”) for
systems development.

4. From a project management perspective, a project is considered a success if

the resulting information system is acceptable to the customer, the system is
delivered on time and within budget, and the system development process
had a minimal impact on ongoing business operations.

5. The Project Management Institute has created the Project Management Body
of Knowledge (PMBOK) for the education and certification of professional
project managers. It addresses:
a. Project manager competencies
b. Project management functions
c. Tools and techniques such as PERT chart and Gantt charts
d. Project management software

6. Project management is a cross life-cycle activity, that is, project management

tasks overlap all the system development phases. A project management
process is essential to achieving CMM level 2 maturity.

7. Joint project planning (JPP) is a strategy wherein all stakeholders in a project

participate in a none-to-tree-day project management workshop, the result of
which is consensus agreement on project scope, schedule, resources, and
budget.

8. The tasks of project management include:

a. Negotiate scope. Scope defines the boundaries of a project and is
included in the statement of work, a narrative description of the work to be
performed as part of a project.
b. Identify tasks. A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical
decomposition of the project into its tasks and sub-tasks. Some tasks
represent the completion of milestones or the completion of major
deliverables during a project.
c. Estimate task duration. There are many techniques and tools for estimate
task duration.
d. Specify intertask dependencies. The start or completion of individual
tasks may be dependent on the start or completion of other tasks. These
dependencies impact the completion of any project.
e. Assign resources. The following resources may impact a project schedule,
people, services, facilities and equipment, supplies and materials, and
money.
f. Direct team effort. One of the most important dimensions of directing the
team effort is the supervision of people.
g. Monitor and control progress. During the project, the project manager
must monitor project progress against the scope, schedule and budget,
and when necessary, make adjustment to scope, schedule, and resources.
V. SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. Formally, systems analysis is the dissection of a system into its component

pieces. As a problem-solving phase, it precedes a system design. With
respect to information systems development systems analysis is the
preliminary investigation of a proposed project, the study and problem
analysis of the existing system, the requirements analysis of business
requirements for the new system, and the decision analysis for alternative
solutions to fulfill the requirements.

2. The results of systems analysis are stored in a repository for use in later phases
and projects.

3. There are several popular or emerging strategies for system analysis. These
techniques can be used in combination with one another.
a. Model-driven analysis technique emphasize the drawing of pictorial system
models that represent either current reality or a target vision of the system.
b. Accelerated analysis approaches emphasize the construction of working
models of a system in an effort to accelerate systems analysis.
c. Both model-driven and accelerated system analysis approaches are
dependent on requirements discovery techniques to identify or extract
problems and requirements from system owners and users.
d. Business process design is a technique that focuses on simplifying and
streamlining fundamental business processes before applying information
technology to those processes.

4. Each phase of systems analysis (preliminary investigation, problem analysis,

requirements analysis, and decision analysis) can be understood in the
context of knowledge, process, and communication.

5. The purpose of the preliminary investigation phase is to determine the

worthiness of the project and to create a plan to complete those projects
deemed worthy of a detailed study and analysis. To accomplish the
preliminary investigation phase, the systems analyst will work with the system
owners and users to a) list problems, opportunities, and directives; b)
negotiate preliminary scope; c)assess project worth; d) plan the project;
and e) present the project to the business community. The deliverable for
preliminary investigation phase is a project charter that must be approved by
system owners and/or a decision-making body, commonly referred to as the
steering committee.

6. The purpose of the problem analysis phase is to answer the questions, are the
problems really worth solving, and is a new system really worth building? To
answer these question, the problem analysis phase thoroughly analyzes the
alleged problems and opportunities first identified in the preliminary
investigation phase. TO complete the problem analysis phase, the analyst will
 continue to work with the system owner, user, and other IS management and
staff. The systems analyst and appropriate participants will a) study the
problem domain; b) thoroughly analyze problems and opportunities; c)
optionally, analyze business process; d) establish system improvement
objectives and constraints; e) update the project plan; and f) present the
findings and recommendations. The deliverable for the for the problem
analysis phase is the system improvement objectives.

7. The purpose of the requirements analysis phase is to identify what the new
system is to do without the consideration of technology - in other words, to
define the business requirements for a new system. As in the preliminary
investigation and problem analysis phases, the analyst actively works with
system users and owners as well as other IS professionals. To complete the
requirements analysis phase, the analyst and appropriate participants will a)
define requirements, b) analyze functional requirements using system
modeling and/or discovery prototyping, c) trace and complete the
requirements statement, d) prioritize the requirements, and e) update the
project plan ans scope. The deliverable of the requirements analysis phase is
the business requirements analysis phase is the business requirements
analysis also includes the ongoing task of managing changes to the
requirements.

8. The purpose of the logical design phase is to document business requirements

using system models for the proposed system. These system models can,
depending on the methodology, be any combination of process models and
object models. Alternatively, prototypes could be built to “discover
requirements.” Some discovery prototypes can be reverse engineered into
system models. The systems analyst and appropriate participants will a)
structure or prototype functional requirements, b) validate functional
requirements, and c) define acceptance test cases. These tasks are not
necessarily sequential; they can occur in parallel. The deliverable for the
logical design phase is the business requirements statement.

9. The purpose of the decision analysis phase is to transition the project from
business concerns to technical solutions by identifying, analyzing, and
recommending a technical system solution. To complete the decision analysis
phase, the analyst and appropriate participants will a) define candidate
solutions, b) analyze candidate solutions, c) compare feasible candidate
solutions, d) update the project plan based on the recommended
solutions, and e) present and defend the target solution. The deliverable
of the decision analysis phase is the system proposal.