IT2700 Systems Analysis and Design
Course Documents
Chapter Summary
Chapters 1 - 10
The following objectives will be covered:
· Discuss the impact of information technology on business
· Define an information system and describe its components
· Use profiles and models to understand business functions and operations
· Understand the impact of the Internet on business
· Identify various types of information systems and explain who uses them
· Explain systems development tools, including modeling, prototyping, and CASE tools
· Distinguish between structured analysis and object-oriented methodology
· Describe the systems development life cycle
· Discuss the role of the information technology department and the systems analysts who work there
Chapter 2: Analyzing the Business Case
The following objectives will be covered:
· Explain the concept of a business case and how a business case affects an IT project
· Describe the strategic planning process and why it is important to the IT team
· Explain the purpose of a mission statement
· Describe the SDLC, and explain how it serves as a framework for systems development and business modeling
· List the reasons for information systems projects and the factors that affect such projects
· Explain the initial review of systems requests and the role of the systems review committee
· Define operational feasibility, technical feasibility, economic feasibility, and schedule feasibility
· Describe the steps in a preliminary investigation and the end product of an investigation
Chapter 3: Requirements Modeling
The following objectives will be covered:
· Explain systems analysis phase activities and the end product of the systems analysis
· Describe the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and explain use case diagrams and sequence
· List and describe system requirements, including outputs, inputs, processes, performance,
· Describe how to conduct a successful interview
· Explain when and how to use fact-finding techniques, including interviews, documentation
Chapter 4: Enterprise Modeling
The following objectives will be covered:
· Describe enterprise modeling concepts and tools, including entity-relationship diagrams, data flow diagrams, a data dictionary, and process descriptions
· Explain how entity-relationship diagrams provide an overview of system interactions
· Describe the symbols used in data flow diagrams and explain the rules for their use
· Draw data flow diagrams in a sequence, from general to specific
· Explain how to level and balance a set of data flow diagrams
· Describe how a data dictionary is used and what it contains
· Use process description tools, including structured English, decision tables, and decision trees
· Describe the relationship between logical and physical models
Chapter 5: Development Strategies
The following objectives will be covered:
· Describe software trends, including the concept of software as service
· Explain software acquisition alternatives, including traditional versus Web-based software development strategies
· Describe software outsourcing options, including the role of service providers
· Explain advantages and disadvantages of developing software in-house versus other alternatives
· Explain cost-benefit analysis and financial analysis tools
· Explain the differences between a request for proposal (RFP) and a request for quotation (RFQ)
· Describe the contents of the system requirements document
· Explain the transition from systems analysis to systems design, and the difference between logical and physical design
· Explain the transition to systems design and the importance of prototyping
· Discuss guidelines for system design, and explain the importance of codes
Chapter 6: Data Design
The following objectives will be covered:
· Explain data design concepts and data structures
· Describe file processing systems and various types of files
· Understand database systems and define the components of a database management system (DBMS)
· Describe Web-based data design and characteristics
· Explain data design terminology, including entities, fields, common fields, records, files, tables, and key fields
· Describe data relationships, draw an entity-relationship diagram, define cardinality and use cardinality notation
· Explain the concept of normalization
· Understand the steps in database design
· Describe hierarchical, network, relational, and object-oriented database models
· Explain data warehousing and data mining
· Differentiate between logical and physical storage and records
· Explain data control measures
Chapter 7: User Interface, Input, and Output Design
The following objectives will be covered:
· Explain the concept of user interface design and human-computer interaction, including the basic principles of user-centered design
· List specific guidelines for user interface design
· Describe user interface techniques, including screen elements and controls
· Explain input design concepts, techniques, and methods
· Describe guidelines for data entry screen design
· Use validation checks for reducing input errors
· Design effective source documents and input controls
· Discuss output design issues and various types of output
· Design various types of printed reports and suggest output controls and security
Chapter 8: System Architecture
The following objectives will be covered:
· Provide a checklist of items to consider when selecting a system architecture
· Describe servers, server-based processing, clients, and client-based processing
· Explain client/server architecture, including tiers, cost-benefit issues, and performance considerations
· Describe the impact of the Internet on system architecture
· Explain the difference between online and batch processing
· Define network topology, and provide examples of hierarchical, star, bus, and ring network models
· Explain network protocols and licensing issues
· Explain system management tools and techniques, including performance management, system security, fault management, backup, and disaster recovery
· Describe the systems design specification and explain the contents of each section
Chapter 9: Systems Implementation
The following objectives will be covered:
· Explain the importance of software quality assurance and software engineering
· Describe the application development process
· Draw a structure chart showing top-down design, modular design, cohesion, and coupling
· Explain the coding process and how code is generated
· Explain unit testing, integration testing, and system testing
· Differentiate between program, system, operations, and user documentation
· List the main steps in system installation and evaluation
· Develop an overall training plan with specific objectives for each group of participants, compare in-house and outside training providers, and describe effective training techniques
· Describe the data conversion process
· Identify and describe changeover methods
· Explain post-implementation evaluation
· Describe the final report to management
Chapter 10: Systems Operation and Support
The following objectives will be covered:
· Explain how the systems operation and support phase relates to the rest of the system development process
· Describe user support activities, including user training and help desks
· Discuss the four main types of system maintenance: corrective, adaptive, perfective, and preventive
· Explain techniques for managing systems operation and support, including maintenance teams, maintenance request procedures, configuration management, maintenance releases, version control, and baselines
· Describe techniques for managing system performance, including performance and workload measurement, and capacity planning
· List factors indicating that a system has reached the end of its useful life
· Assess future challenges and opportunities that IT professionals will face as technology continues to reshape the workplace
Chapter 1
Information technology, or IT, is a term that refers to the combination of hardware and software products and services that companies use to manage, access, communicate, and share information. Most businesses give information technology a high priority, and for good reason. A report generated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Digital Economy 2002, stated that IT has created a new economy and provides unprecedented benefits to businesses and individuals around the world. This growth is primarily driven by the explosion in Internet use, which is predicted to increase by 60 percent between 2001 and 2004. During periods of economic growth, companies work to stay ahead of the IT curve with the most advanced hardware, software, and connectivity options. When the economy is weak, many companies depend on IT to reduce operating costs and improve business efficiency.
Define an information system and describe its components
An information system combines information technology, people, and data to support business requirements. An information system has five key components. The first is hardware, which consists of everything in the physical layer of the information system, such as servers, workstations, scanners, handheld computers, and telecommunications equipment. The second component is software, which refers to the programs that control the hardware and produce the desired information or results. Data, the third component, refers to the raw material that is transformed into useful information. The fourth component, processes, describe the tasks and functions that users, managers, and IT staff members perform to achieve specific business results. Processes represent actual day-to-day business operations, and thus are referred to as the building blocks of an information system. The final component of an information system consists of the people who use the information system, who are called users, or end users.
Use profiles and models to understand business functions and operations
A process called business process modeling is used by systems analysts to represent a company's operations and information needs. In business processing modeling, the analyst's first step is to create an overview that describes a company's overall functions, which is called a business profile. The business profile often includes descriptions of the company's processes, organization, products, services, customers, suppliers, competitors, constraints, and future goals. After creating a business profile, the analyst then creates a series of models that document various business procedures. A business model is a graphical representation of one or more business processes that a company performs. This business process describes a specific set of transactions, events, tasks, and results carried out by the firm. For example, an analyst might create a business model that represents how the company handles a sales order. This model might include the event of receiving the sales order, followed by processes for checking customer status, verifying customer credit, and entering customer order data. The final step in this model would be the desired result: the completed sales order.
Understand the impact of the Internet on business
Consumers can use the Internet to go online and purchase an enormous variety of products and services. Internet-based commerce is called e-commerce (electronic commerce) or I-commerce (Internet commerce). Within the e-commerce shopping environment, consumers can use the Internet to conduct research, compare prices and features, check availability, arrange delivery, and choose payment methods, all in one convenient session. These types of activities refer to the sector of e-commerce called B2C, or business-to-consumer. B2C activity is expected to grow dramatically in the coming years, which has created strong competition among the Web designers who create the sites that generate online sales. The other main e-commerce sector is B2B, or business-to-business. B2B allows companies to access the global marketplace, allowing greater access to information and opportunities for cost control. Most B2B transactions rely on individual data-sharing arrangements called electronic data interchange (EDI), by which company computers transfer data between companies over private telecommunications networks. In the future, a substantial amount of EDI traffic will take place on the Internet, making such arrangements accessible to more businesses. It is predicted that B2B sales will increase to over $7 trillion by 2004.
Identify various types of information systems and explain who uses them
At one point, it was general practice for IT managers to divide systems into categories based on the user group the system served. Today, these traditional labels no longer apply, as information use has changed in most companies. Thus, it makes more sense to identify systems by their functions and features, rather than by who uses the system. Enterprise computing refers to information systems that support company-wide operations and data management requirements. Examples of such company-wide operations include production, sales, services, inventory control, and accounting. Enterprise computing integrates IT into a company's primary functions to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and help managers make key decisions. Transaction processing (TP) systems process data generated by day-to-day operations of a business, such as accounts receivable, warranty claim processing, and customer order processing. Business support systems offer job-related information support to users at all levels of a company. For example, some companies use scanners to collect sales data that can update a company-wide database immediately. Knowledge management systems, also called expert systems, simulate human reasoning in order to provide information. Knowledge management systems combine a knowledge base and inference rules that determine how the knowledge is applied. A knowledge base is a large database into which users enter keywords or questions in order to find information, and inference rules are logical rules that identify data patterns and relationships. User productivity systems include e-mail, voice mail, fax, video conferencing, word processing, automated calendars, database management, spreadsheets, and much more. In short, user productivity systems are systems that are used by employees at all levels to improve productivity.
Explain systems development tools, including modeling, prototyping, and CASE tools
Modeling is a systems development tool that involves creating a graphical representation of a process or concept that then can be analyzed, tested, and modified. An information system can be described using a set of business, data, object, network, and process models. A business model, or requirements model, describes the information a system must provide. A data model describes the structure and design of data in the system. An object model describes objects that combine data and processes, and a network model describes the design of telecommunications links. Finally, a process model describes the logic that programmers use to write programming code. Another systems development tool is prototyping, which uses an early working version of an information system, called a prototype, to test and examine input, output, and user interfaces before final decisions are made. Sometimes, a prototype can develop into the final version of the system; other times, a prototype serves as an initial model that is used as a benchmark in creating the finished system. Computer-aided systems engineering, or CASE, is a technique that uses powerful software to assist systems analysts in developing and maintaining information systems. This software is called CASE tools, and makes it easier to build an information system by providing an overall framework for systems development and supporting a wide variety of design methodologies used by analysts.