VU Day 1: Topic 1

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VU Day 1 Topic 1
The Systems Game
Satzinger 4th edn. Chapters 1, 4
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The Systems Game

• Overview
• What is a system?
• What are information systems (IS)?
• Who are the stakeholders in the IS game?
• What do these stakeholders do?

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What is a System?

• A system is a set of interrelated or interacting
  elements forming a unified whole to achieve a
  specific purpose
• Organisations are large systems
• Each system has a purpose (or goal) and must work
  towards that purpose

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Different types of Systems

• 1. Natural
• physical eg stellar, geological
• living eg animal, plant
• 2. Human-made
• social
• transportation
• communication
• information etc.
• Does it have to involve ICT?

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Systems have a purpose

• Systems achieve their purpose
• by accepting inputs, and producing outputs,via
  an organised transformation process
• to solve business problems it is essential to
  identify the organisation's goals
• but how do we measure goals?

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Three interacting components

• 1. Input
• raw materials, energy, data etc
• 2. Processing
• manufacturing process, mathematical calculations,
  ordered reports etc
• 3. Output
• finished products, human services, management
  information in various forms

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Subsystem

• A system can be made up of many subsystems
• ie systems that form part of a larger system are
  sub-systems of that system
• Each subsystem performs some part of the system
  function and system objective.
• Subsystems enable the handling of systems
  complexity.
• Subsystems communicate between themselves

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Subsystem

• Highly independent subsystems with minimal flows
  between subsystems simplifies the larger system.
• The larger system is the environment.
• The system boundary separates the system from
  other systems and the environment.
• Systems that have the ability to change are
  called adaptive systems.

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Environment
Feedback
Monitoring
Subsystem
Subsystem
Subsystem
Boundary
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Interaction with environment

• Systems should respond to changes in environment
• Complicating factors
• rapid change
• frequent change
• changes may be too slow to observe or recognise
  (eg changes in taste)

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The Business Environment
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Systems Effectiveness

• A well designed system allows managers and
• users to
• focus upon end results
• undertake a plan of action that is purposeful,
• orderly and efficient
• coordinate specialised activities
• achieve better control
• liberate management to manage

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Characteristics of a well-designed system

• Effectiveness
• accomplishes its purpose
• Efficiency
• achieves purpose at least cost
• Dependability
• reliable and able to do the job
• Robustness
• fault tolerant
• Flexibility
• able to be changed
• Simplicity
• need not be complicated to be good
• Acceptability
• users must own the system

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System Limitations

• A system is no better than the planning that goes
  into it.
• Systems must be kept up-to-date.
• Systems must be flexible (scalable).

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Change

• Every new system will change the business in some
  way
• provide better information which can be used for
  a better competitive edge
• improving the way the organisation does business
• For change to be successful it must be carefully
  managed
• ITIL is a best practice framework that can help
  guide successful change management. (topic in
  BCO3001 Managing IT Service Support)

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New Systems

• Information systems projects are usually
  triggered by
• Problems
• Opportunities
• Directives
• Mergers/Takeovers

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Goal of System Development

• To produce a quality system
• on time
• within budget
• that meets the users requirements.

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A General Problem-Solving Approach

• 1. Identify the problem.
• 2. Analyze and understand the problem.
• 3. Identify solution requirements or
  expectations.
• 4. Identify alternative solutions and decide a
  course of action.
• 5. Design and implement the best solution.
• 6. Evaluate the results.
• If the problem is not solved, return to step
  1 or 2 as appropriate.

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Systems Perspective

• The systems perspective allows us to extend
  beyond technology to include
• people
• data
• processes
• communication
• and Information Technology

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Data and Information

• Data are raw facts about the organization and its
  business transactions.
• Information is data that has been refined and
  organized by processing.
• The data a business collects is a valuable
  resource.

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Data and Information

• One persons data is another persons information
• Information from one department may be the data
  for another department
• An Information System is an integrated and formal
  system for providing the information required by
  the business

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Information Systems and Component Parts (Figure
1-3)
Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing
World,4th Edition, Satzinger, Jackson, Burd
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Stakeholders Players in the Systems Game

• A stakeholder is any person who has an interest
  in an existing or new information system.
  Stakeholders can be technical or non-technical
  workers.
• For information systems
• 1. System owners
• 2. System users
• 3. Systems analysts
• 4. System designers
• 5. System builders
• 6. IT vendors and consultants

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Stakeholders Interested in New Development
(Figure 4-4)
Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World,
4th Edition, Satzinger, Jackson, Burd
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Information vs. Knowledge Workers

• Information workers are those workers whose jobs
  involve the creation, collection, processing,
  distribution use of information.

• Knowledge workers are a subset of information
  workers whose responsibilities are based on a
  specialized body of knowledge.

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People perspective for Systems Development
(Whitten et al, 2000, Fig 1.1)
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System Owners

• System owners are the information systems
  sponsors and chief advocates.
• usually responsible for funding the project to
  develop, operate, and maintain the information
  system
• Often referred to as the client

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System Users

• System users are the people who use or are
  affected by the information system on a regular
  basis - capturing, validating, entering, storing,
  responding to, and exchanging data and
  information.
• Internal users
• The purchasing clerk (supplier information)
• Managing director (profit figures)
• Supervisors, middle and executive managers
• Remote mobile users (internal but disconnected)
• External users
• Customers (orders, invoices etc)
• Potential investors (financial figures))

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Users as Stakeholders

• User roles
• Horizontal - information flow across departments
• Vertical - information needs of clerical staff,
  middle management, and senior executives

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Users as Stakeholders

• Business users
• Information users
• Management users
• Executive users
• External users
• customers, business partners

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Client Stakeholders

• The client is the person or group who is
  providing the funding for the project.
• Provided with periodic status reviews throughout
  development.
• As member of steering oversight committee usually
  approves stages f the project and releases funds

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Technical Stakeholders

• Systems analysts
• System designers
• System builders
• System maintenance personnel
• IT vendors and consultants

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Systems Analysts

• A systems analyst studies the problems and needs
  of an organization to determine how people, data,
  processes, communications, and information
  technology can best accomplish improvements for
  the business.

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• When information technology is used, the analyst
  is responsible for
• The efficient capture of data from its business
  source
• The flow of that data to the computer
• The processing and storage of that data by the
  computer
• The flow of useful and timely information back to
  the business and its people

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Synonyms for Systems Analysts

• A business analyst
• A programmer/analyst
• Systems consultant
• Systems architect
• Systems engineer
• Information engineer
• Systems integrator

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The Systems Analyst as a Facilitator
(Whitten et al, 2000, Fig 1.4)
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Skills Required by Systems Analysts

• Working knowledge of information technology
• Computer programming experience expertise
• General business knowledge
• Problem-solving skills
• Interpersonal communication/relations skills
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Character and ethics
• Systems analysis and design skills

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System Designers

• System designers translate system users business
  requirements and constraints into technical
  solutions.
• They design the computer files, databases,
  inputs, outputs, screens, networks, and programs
  that will meet the system users requirements.

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System Builders

• System builders construct the information system
  components based on the design specifications
  from the system designers. In many cases, the
  system designer and builder for a component are
  one and the same.

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IT vendors and consultants

• Sell hardware, software and services to
  businesses for incorporation into their
  information systems
• Business partners

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Today's Analyst

• Today's analyst needs to be familiar with all of
  the predictive, adaptive and iterative
  methodologies, models, tools and techniques that
  can be used to develop systems.
• Need to be able to distinguish between (among)
  structured and object techniques and when and
  where to apply them.

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Predictive vs Adaptive Approaches Fig. 2-1
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Homework

• Review this lecture
• Purchase Book/Disks
• From Satzinger et al.
• Read and summarize pages 1-9, 25-28 118-124
• Complete
• Review questions 1-4, 6-10 (page 30)
• Critical thinking 3, 4, and 5
• (page 30)