Systems Analysis & Design Methods - Research Paper Example

? Systems Analysis and Design Submitted to, Submitted By, of the Submitted on, [January 18th, 4. EXPLAIN HOW A SYSTEMS ANALYST OR PROJECT MANAGER HELPS THE CORPORATION ACHIEVE ITS STRATEGIC MISSION. CAN A COMPANY FORMULATE AN EXCELLENT STRATEGIC VISION WITHOUT HAVING THE INPUT OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGER? WHY OR WHY NOT? The strategic processes of an organization are its key concern. Systems Analysts and Project Managers are the integral individuals that perform inevitable tasks in the systems development processes of an organization. A specialized systems analyst possesses the following skills: Analytical Skills FUNCTIONAL INSIGHT The analytical skills possessed by a system analyst give him the insight to understand the different functions being performed within an organization. Furthermore it assists the identification of opportunities and problems. This insight further helps in the analysis and solving of problems. SYSTEMS THINKING One of the most important skills that system analysts possess is systems thinking. Systems’ thinking is the ability to see the organization as a whole system. To see how the different departments and information systems in an organization are in fact one combined whole system overall. The feature assists in the management of the overall flow of processes and also enables detection of any major processing or coordination flaws among them. As in the words of Hoffer, George and Valacich (2011) “Systems thinking provide a framework from which to see the important relationships among information systems, the organizations they exist in, and the environments in which the organizations themselves exist.” (Hoffer, George, Valacich, 2011) Thus Systems thinking is a vital phenomenon skill that is provide for an organization by the systems analyst. TECHNICAL SKILLS A systems Analyst possesses key technical skills for the betterment of the company. Possessing acute and up-to-date technical skills a systems analyst helps in understanding the limitations and potential of the implementation of information and communications technology within the systems of an organization. Systems Analysts possess the ability to envision embedding of such information systems within the organization that embed all the required user needs and also helps users to solve their problems. This in turn is the basis of laying down guidelines for the development of the systems design and the systems’ building. Possessing Technical skills, a Systems Analyst possesses the skills of the ability to work with programming languages, computer software systems and computer hardware systems. MANAGEMENT AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS A Systems Analyst is equipped with the latest and the most globally oriented managerial skills. These skills help in the management of projects, handling of resources, risk management and change. The interpersonal skills possessed by a systems analyst are helpful in his interaction with the end users of the system, other analysts of the system and system programmers. Figure 1Role of a System Analyst. Rational Software Corporation (2002) As shown in the figure above, a System Analyst performs the core task of coordinating among users and other professionals that are part of the backend of the system and are usually not directly in contact with the end users. Their role as an intermediary and facilitator, when performed with its true meanings, gives the organization what it actually needs: better means of coordination among stakeholders and system professionals and the ability to manage each task looking at each one of them as integral units of one major system. A person at the managerial position within the organization has a similarly integral role to play in the development of the system just like the system analyst. While a systems Analyst possesses substantial managerial skills, it is essential that the department of project management be assigned to individuals who may concentrate on this task only. The way in which a project manager plays an important role has massive emphasis on the development of an organization as a whole. These managers often have a direct role to play in organizations specially when the structure of the organization is relatively small or is in accordance with the managerial style. If addressed more typically, Information Systems Managers or Project Mangers as they are usually referred to, perform the important tasks of allocation of resources to system processes, and looking after the overall performance issues instead of getting into the production scenarios of the system. The problems that usually arise in the course of process development are often addressed by the project managers and they are responsible for handling the ongoing process needs and other managerial concerns. A project manager may sometimes be responsible for the development of a number of tasks and may be looking after the overall development of the system as a whole too. Verifying the above discussion Hoffer (2011) quotes the functions of project management as: “Scope Management Risk Management Communications Management Schedule Management Human Resource Management Quality Management Cost Management Procurement Management Integration Management” (Hoffer, George, Valacich, 2011) The above detailed discussion about the roles of system analysts and project managers clearly signifies their integral existence in an ongoing organization. A single chairperson of an organization cannot handle the processing at each and every management level within an organization and neither can he humanely be conscious of the needs of every system unit working in his business. It is essential therefore that people like systems analysts be made compulsory parts of a system’s organization. The facilitation that system analysts provide between users and the system specialists, coupled with the expertise that they possess both in the technical, ethical and managerial perspectives, their analysis and interaction means substantial benefit to the organization as a whole. The skills of a system analyst provide fluency of the step by step execution of system processes and also enable the embedding of user demands into the organizational systems. This eventually increases their usability finally resulting in the prosperity of the organization as a whole. Moreover, a project manager works at each individual managerial level to provide just the right guidance and surveillance that any of them might miss and result in the accomplishment of their tasks in a manner that is not up to the mark. By providing the emerging needs timely and solving other administrative issues project managers have become inevitable for organizations and their absence might result in total chaos for the overall system. Since the Analysts and the managers know the core of the institutional systems well therefore their feedback and suggestions are realistic and updated with the current state of the organizational setup. It is therefore essential that their analysis should be given weighted and their suggested changes should be incorporated in order to make the system function even more effectively than its existing state. 1. A COMPANY HAS MANY FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENTS (SUCH AS FINANCE, HUMAN RESOURCES, ETC.) EXPLAIN OR DESCRIBE THE PROCESS THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN TO DEVELOP AN AUTOMATED INFORMATION SYSTEM AND OR SOFTWARE. The idea behind the text the follows is to explain how a company existing of various functional departments builds software or an Information System for itself. The narration is initiated by looking at the concept behind Information Systems. Information systems are an inevitable implementation of advancements in computers and information technology. They assist not only in day to day activities but also make many tasks much simpler for commercial organizations and scientific aspects. Formal Definition of Information Systems is as follows: “an Information System (or according to some people, Application Landscape) is some kind of combination of information technology and the activities of people associated to support and execute the necessary operations and management of the system with the responsibility of decision-making. It's a system of people and technology depending on each other to achieve some common goal.” (Whatisinformationsystem, 2011) Thus, it may well be referred to as a combination of man and machine where the interactions between them result in the overall efficiency of the process environment of the organization as a whole. Very simply speaking, raw data is input into a computer system. This system is designed as such that it intelligently processes the data in line with the requirements of the particular business scenario. The output generated is just the information that the subsequent business level needs. It may well be said that the management of the activities and performance of a business process are assisted well by information systems. Every particular type of information system possesses specific types of input parameters and provides output with respect to its usability requirements. Hence, no two information systems can ever be identical. They can be viewed as work systems where all activities are centered towards digital processing of data provided to them. The standard practice of information systems development is exercised under the guidelines chalked out as Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The SDLC ensures the fulfillment of all business objectives, goals and user requirements. According to SDLC the series of steps/phases that need to be taken into account when building an automated information system can be narrated as follows: 1. Problem and problem scope Identification and understanding. 2. Requirements acquisition and Analysis. 3. Possible solution(s) identification and feasibility study. 4. Design. 5. Development 6. Implementation and Testing. 7. Creeping Commitment (BPR, CPI and TQM). Problem and Problem Scope Identification: Initiation of information systems development depends on the rise of problem. The term “problem” can be considered for three conditions that are, Emergence of a genuine or anticipated fault that needs to be corrected. Need of refinement in the system to achieve better results. New directives by system owner to fulfill enhanced requirements. Problem scope can be defined as the boundary in which the problem remains effective. Scope identification is highly necessary to figure out the correct the requirements and stakeholders. Requirement Acquisition and Analysis: Sometimes referred to as data gathering, it is done mostly through applying one or more of the three basic data acquisition techniques that are questionnaires, interviews and observations. All the three methods have merits and demerits both. Questionnaires help in getting to the point answers with a limited effort, interviews amplify the essence of data gathering with a limited psychological exposure, and observation (either direct or indirect or done through ethnography) is effective to understand the flow of processes to be automated and data. There three main themes that are generally adapted are Data Oriented Requirements Analysis. Revolves around data, meta data and flow of data. Process Oriented Requirement Analysis. Focuses on how, where, when issues regarding processes and their logical connectivity. Object Oriented Requirement Analysis. A merger of both the paradigms that allows viewing the functioning in terms of an integrated effect of data and processes as attributes and behaviors. A standardized framework named “PIECES problem solving framework” and “Fish-bone Diagram” are used effectively at this phase. Solution Identification and Feasibility Study: The analysis of requirements leads to the process of figuring out the possible solutions to address and curtail the problem. There may be more than one suitable solution. The best can be figured out through the feasibility study. Feasibility study basically focuses on the following question, Whether the new system achieves solutions as per the management’s concept? Would it adequately automate the required process? The suitability of new system be can be studied under following heads, Operational Feasibility: refers to the fulfillment of users’ requirements, the effect of new system on environment and its acceptance by the users. Economic Feasibility: refers to cost and benefit analysis of the new system. Technical Feasibility: focuses on the issue that whether the staff is ready to effectively run the new system and the incorporation of technical resources. Schedule Feasibility: is about evaluation of systems development schedule in terms of effectiveness. Risk Feasibility: denotes the evaluation of chances of failure or unsuccessful implementation of new system considering the technology and resources used. Logical Design This phase comprises of systems modeling. Context diagram is the most elementary tool that helps in identifying different entities like processes, actors, objects and flow of operations. From generalization to specialization this phase highlights the minute details except technical details that are related to the automation of processes through different models. Few tools that are used mostly at this stage are Entity Relationship Diagram, Data Flow Diagrams, Flowcharts, Use Cases, UML Class Diagrams and Sequence Diagrams. Physical Design This phase holds the interpretation of logical design in terms of technicalities and physical resources. The term may refer to both prototyping and final blue print of the system. Development In this phase system is developed as a full physical system exploiting software and hardware tools and resources as per the finalized blue print. This phase partially overlaps with the next phase in terms of testing as the test runs are deployed to confirm the required functionality of the new system. Implementation and Testing This refers to the deployment of new system either as a parallel phase wise switch over or instant switch over. In both the cases it is highly recommended to closely test and evaluate the system outcomes in order to frame the flaws and inadequacies. The user requirements may also get matured at this stage. Logically this demands a cyclic reference to the former steps of the life cycle. The terms used for referring the initial steps again are Business Process Re-Design (BPR), Total Quality Management (TQM), and Continuous Process Improvement. Creeping Commitemnt This phase refers to an appropriate cyclic execution of initial steps of SDLC according to the initiated requirements. Figure 1.0 explains the situational execution of this phase. Figure 1.0: Systems Development Life Cycle highlighting the adequate possibilities of creeping commitment after exploration of changes required. Source: http://saher-saleh.wikispaces.com/SDLC 3. ETHICS FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS LEADERS IS A CRITICAL TOOL FOR SUCCESS. PERFORM RESEARCH TO FIND AT LEAST SIX PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES THAT ARE NOT MORE THAN FOUR YEARS OLD THAT PERTAIN TO SYSTEMS DESIGN. WRITE A SUMMARY OF EACH THAT IS NOT LESS THAN HALF A PAGE FOR EACH. CHOOSE THREE OF THE ARTICLES AND WRITE A PAPER OUTLINING SOME SOLUTIONS TO THESE ETHICAL CONFLICTS. In order to study the effect of information systems the study of a number of peer reviewed papers was done. Summary of six of the studied papers, with their respective titles, is narrated below. 1. Information Technology Ethics: The Conceptual Model of Constructs, Actions and Control Measure. Authors: Anas A. Al-Bakri and Nazzal M. Kisswani The onset of information and communications technology has its pros and cons associated with it. Where, on one end, usability has been enhanced as a result, similarly there has been a similar increase in the misuse of technologically advancements as well. The general perspective is that users tend to misuse technology disregarding ethical implications. The paper highlights the manner in which the issue of misuse of technology is being dealt with in Malaysia. It mentions the steps that are being taken regarding the social and ethical misuse of technology. The study for the said purpose involved the construction of a conceptual model that exhibits efficient and comprehensive understanding of the issues that information systems face with respect to ethics. It also relates how the inclusion of certain control measures would have positive or negative effects. 2. Toward ethical information systems: the contribution of discourse ethics Authors: John Mingers and Geoff Walsham The importance of Ethics in the Information Systems being embedded into the present day corporate world is being discussed in the paper under study. An extensive amount of information in the form of literature is now available that refers to ethics and information systems. The issue that organizations face is that despite the fact that several documents have been written regarding emphasizing the implementation of ethics in information systems very few of these points of study are factually implemented. Owing to this reason this paper has been written intending to place emphasis upon the need to implement ethics in the information systems. The concept of Discourse ethics is the center of discussion within the paper. The relation of discourse ethics with respect to web 2.0 and open source software, the digitizing of everything in the world and the identification scheme based on biometrics are narrated. 3. Stakeholders Perspective and Ethics in Financial Information Systems. Authors: Guillaume Biot- Paquerot and Amir Hasnaoui. Ethical and Social Issues with respect to Information Systems are the factors that are the most interlinked with the human resource connected the systems. Information Planning, Development and Utilization are the main factors that may well be associated in this regard. They may be termed as an undocumented code of ethics with respect to computing and technology that are just as important for an information system as general ethics are for a society. With reference to Information systems linked with financial matters the current paper discusses the concerns that stakeholders possess with respect to them. Financial information systems related research often neglects the ethical concerns that stakeholders possess with respect to them. The paper emphasizes upon the need for the embedding of ethical concerns within business environments along with security and technical concerns. 4. Academic perceptions: Ethics in the information systems discipline Authors: Patsy A Granger Lewelyn. The paper under consideration is a study that hovers around academicians who teach the discipline of information systems. It attempts to study the ethical norms practiced and emphasized by these academicians. The activities of these academicians that was taken into consideration for the study were regarding the areas of research, extra-employment environment dealings, student related interactions and activities with relation to information systems. The research carried out involved collection of data related to about 38 activities carried out by the instructors. For data collection a questionnaire was distributed among 480 respondents. The analysis resulted in noting of several identifying features that can be targeted as characteristic features of instructors. The level of appointment of the instructors was the point at which the most obvious difference in characteristics was observed. 5. Ethics and Information Systems- The Corporate Domain Authors: H. Jeff Smith and John Hasnas. The corporate world and the ethical concerns in the information systems embedded in the corporate enterprise have become the talk of the town in the modern world. The use of business ethics in order to solve business dilemmas has not been a norm in the global world of business nowadays. The current paper discusses three theories that can be implemented in order to increase the use of business ethics in solving corporate problems. Long term profits have been notified as a result of the implementation of the mentioned theories. The profits have been obtained without the intervention of any deceptive strategies. Another theory discusses how the problems related to stakeholders can be addressed without the involvement of violation of the rights of any of the stakeholders. 6. Information Systems Ethics- A Practitioner’s Perspective. Author: Thomas Hilton The center of this paper is the study regarding employees working in the Information systems department of the company named Fortune 500. The mail server was used to distribute the survey among the employees. About 97% of the employees responded. The majority had the consensus of opinion that management should define ethical norms for the usage of computer information systems within the company. They also advocated that that the methodology adopted should be selected with the consensus of opinion among the employees. Only about a little more than fifty percent of the employees commented upon the opinion that the current ethical norms of computer usage within the company were up to the mark and did not need any changes. About fifty percent of the respondents also opted for the option that they were unaware of the involvement of any ethical concerns within the information systems of their company. THE ANALYSIS The analysis has been conducted keeping in mind the studies of the paper numbers 4, 5 and 6 as numbered above in the document. The issues related to the embedding of ethics in the information systems of present day environments are discussed in the above mentioned peer reviewed papers. The core problem that is under discussion is that thought most of the ethical issues relevant to information systems are recognized, they are seldom given enough importance so as to implement them in their respective arenas. Generally the ethical issues faced with respect to information systems are: Ethical issues with respect to information systems are: intellectual property rights, electronic monitoring of employees, data utilization, and morality in information systems usage; The social renovation through which the information age of the present times is undergoing is one of the key reasons why the social and ethical issues confronting the information systems keep changing with every passing unit time. The way the social web or the web 2.0 has evolved over the last decade has revolutionized the concept of ethical and social issues faced by the information centered age of the present times. The need of the hour is thus that whether it may be the concerns of a company’s employees, academicians or the stakeholders of a business environment, each one of them should be made familiar with the general ethical norms of interacting with information systems. The core issues that are expected to be handled as a result of this implementation would be security concerns as well as those related to the enhancement of an enterprise’s performance that demonstrates substantial increase when ethical issues are catered in it. 1. EXPLAIN THE CONTEXT OF SYSTEM ANALYSIS, DESIGN METHODS AND SYSTEM BUILDING BLOCKS (1/2 PAGE) The effect produced by synchronized functioning of multiple components to achieve a single objective with stability is termed as a System. Designing a system is an intricate and complex task. It requires full understanding of domain, critical thinking and considerable related experience to design a system for a domain. This fact is valid for all systems including the development of modern Information Systems. The processes of acquiring through understanding of the problem, careful and multidimensional analysis of problem in order to achieve possible solutions, suggesting, designing, developing and implementing the best solution originate a unified notion of Systems Analysis and Design Methods. Information Systems Building Blocks are considered to be Knowledge, Processes and Communication (Interfaces). These are integral parts of all information systems. 2. DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE (SDLC) AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT (1/2) PAGE Information Systems are integral part of businesses in the modern world. With every passing moment the information systems are getting better and better in order to cope up with the user requirements. Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is an established and indispensible standard of information systems development worldwide. The management of ongoing project to achieve its timely and fulfilling completion is known as Project Management. In other words the development of information systems as per SDLC is conducted, controlled, managed and supervised by a Project Manager. The maturity assessment of an organization in terms of the Process Management and development of its Information Systems can be done through Capability Maturity Model. The 5 ranks of CMM are used to grade the level of optimization enjoyed by an organization. Compliance with the SDLC and strict project management practices enable organizations to achieve higher CMM levels. The incorporation of these standard practices minimizes the risk factor and enhances the performance of an organization’s Information System. REFERENCES: Hoffer, J. A., George, J. F., & Valacich, J. S. (2011).Modern systems analysis and design. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Whitten, J. L., Bentley, L. D., & Dittman, K. C. (2007).Systems analysis and design methods. Boston, Mass: McGraw-Hill. (2011) Role: Analyst. Unified processes for education. Roles and activities. Retrieved from http://www.upedu.org/process/workers/wk_sysan.htm Whatisinformationsystem. (2011). What is Information System? Retrieved from http://whatisinformationsystem.com O'BRIEN, J. A. (2005). Introduction to information systems. Boston, McGraw-Hill/Irwin Sarkar, S. (2008). Ethical ad Social Issues in Information Systems. Retrieved from http://www.santarosa.edu/~ssarkar/cs66fl08/notes/ch4notes.htm ITIL (2011) Steps in Information Systems Development. The Art of Service. Retrieved from http://theartofservice.com/steps-in-information-systems-development.html Paquerot, B. G., Hasnaoui, A. (2009). Stakeholders Perspective and Ethics in Financial Information Systems. Journal of Electric Commerce in Organizations. Vol 7. No. 1. Lewellyn, P.A.G. (1996). Academic perceptions: Ethics in the information systems discipline. Journal of Business Ethics, 15(5), 559-559. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198085097?accountid=28180 Hilton, T. (2000). Information systems ethics: A practitioner survey. Journal of Business Ethics, 28(4), 279-284. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198126372?accountid=28180 Smith, H. J., & Hasnas, J. (1999). Ethics and information systems: The corporate domain. MIS Quarterly, 23(1), 109-127. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/218128546?accountid=28180 Aziz, A., Lokman, A., & Yusof, Z. (2011). Information Technology Ethics: The Conceptual Model of Constructs, Actions and Control Measure. International Journal On Computer Science & Engineering, 3(6), 2580-2588. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=15874198-8e0a-4d61-abd8-6d988a43478a%40sessionmgr104&vid=8&hid=120 Mingers, J., & Walsham, G. (2010). Toward ethical information systems: the contribution of discourse ethics. MIS Quarterly, 34(4), 833+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA244907135&v=2.1&u=pres1571&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Saleh, S. (2012). Systems Development Life Cycle. Retrieved from http://saher-saleh.wikispaces.com/SDLC Melville, N. P.(March 2010) Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability. MIS Quarterly, 34(1), 1-21. Retrieved from http://www.misq.org/downloadable/download/linkSample/link_id/838/ D'Arcy, J., Hovav, A., Galletta, D. (March 2009) User Awareness of Security Countermeasures and Its Impact on Information Systems Misuse: A Deterrence Approach. Information Systems Research, 20(1), 79-98. Retrieved from http://hci.uma.pt/courses/socialweb/reading_material/5/darcy08.pdf Turilli, M., Floridi, L. (June 2009) The Ethics of Information Transparency. Ethics and Information Technology, 11(2), 105-112. Read More