Chapter 1

Assuming the Role of the Systems

Analyst
Systems Analysis and Design
Kendall & Kendall
 Learning Objectives
• Recall the basic types of computer-based systems that a
systems analyst needs to address
• Understand how users working in context with new
technologies change the dynamics of a system
• Realize what the many roles of the systems analyst are
• Know the steps of the SDLC as they relate to HCI and
how to apply them to a real system
• Understand what CASE tools are and how they help a
systems analyst
• Explore other methodologies such as object-oriented
systems design and prototyping
 Major Topics
• Information systems
• Phases of analysis and design
• System maintenance
• CASE tools
• Alternate methodologies
 Information
• Information is an organizational
resource, which must be
managed as carefully as other
resources.
• Costs are associated with
information processing.
• Information processing must be
managed to take full advantage
of its potential.
 Information System Categories
1. Transaction processing systems (TPS).
2. Office automation systems (OAS).
3. Knowledge work systems (KWS).
4. Management information systems (MIS).
5. Decision support systems (DSS).
6. Expert systems (ES) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
7. Group decision support systems (GDSS) and
Computer-Supported Collaborative Work Systems
(CSCWS).
8. Executive support systems (ESS).
 1. Transaction Processing Systems
• Computerized information systems developed to
process large amounts of data for routine business
transactions (e.g., payroll and inventory)
• Eliminates the tedium of necessary operational
transactions and reduces the time required to
perform them manually
• These are boundary-spanning systems that permit
the organization to interact with external
environments
 2. Office Automation Systems
• Support data workers, who do not usually create new
knowledge, but rather analyze information so as to transform
data or manipulate it in some way before sharing it
• Familiar aspects of OAS include the following:
– Word processing
– Spreadsheets
– Desktop publishing
– Electronic scheduling
– Communication thru e-mail,
voice mail, or video conferencing
3. Knowledge Work Systems
• Support professional workers
such as scientists, engineers,
and doctors by aiding them in
their efforts to create new
knowledge (often in teams)
• Office Automation Systems
(OAS) and Knowledge Work
Systems (KWS) work at the
knowledge level of the
organization
 4. Management Information Systems

• Do not replace transaction processing systems;

rather, all MIS include transaction processing
• These are computerized information systems
that work because of the purposeful interaction
between people and computers
• Support users in accomplishing a broader
spectrum of organizational tasks than TPS,
including decision analysis and decision
making
 Management information system
showing frequency and duration of calls.
Helping save staff time, minimizing
disturbance and improving the
quality of patient care.

Calls can be triggered from a variety

of devices including ceiling pulls, tail
call leads and pressure pads, each
designed to suit different levels of
patient dexterity. Once instigated,
calls are reset at the room from
which they were made via a button
or magnetic reset key.

Image Source Page: http://www.gdsystems.com/quantec-wired-nurse/55?pid=32&pagename=page/quantec_call_system

 5. Decision Support Systems
• A higher-level class of computerized information
systems. Similar to the traditional MIS because they
both depend on a database as a source of data.
• DSS are more closely tailored to the person or group
using them. Designed to help one or a few
managers make particular decisions.
• Departs from the traditional MIS because it supports
the decision making process in all phases, but the
actual decision is still upon the decision maker.
 Decision-support systems for sustainability in
spatial planning
• Image Source Page: http://www.irl.ethz.ch/plus/research
 6. Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence

• Artificial Intelligence can be

considered the overarching field for
expert systems
• Thrust of AI has been to develop
machines that behave intelligently
– Understanding natural language
– Ability to reason through a problem
One huge stride in AI is the ASIMO robot from Honda.

ASIMO has five recognition

features which include
face, sound, environment,
posture, and moving
objects.
ASIMO can judge distance
and greet someone when
they come near to it. It can
also respond to someone
waving to them or shake
someone's hand when
offered.
When it is spoken to it can
respond by turning and
facing the person it is
speaking to.
Image Source Page:
http://lis3353.wikispaces.com/Artificial+Intelligence
 6. Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence (cont.)

• Expert systems are a very special class of IS that

have been made practicable for use by business.
• Components include:
– Knowledge base - is an information repository
that provides a means for information to be
collected, organized, shared, searched and
utilized
– Inference engine - is a computer program that
tries to derive answers from a knowledge base
– User interface - is the space where interaction
between humans and machines occurs.
Welfaremeter Expert System

The system is a
combined monitoring
and alert system that
provides real-time
updates of the
environmental
conditions in the fish
pens, and assess if the
environment, prosperity
and welfare of the
farmed fish satisfy
today’s requirements
for animal welfare.

Image Source Page: http://bergento.no/welfaremeter-

product/
 7. Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS)
Computer-Supported Collaborative Work Systems (CSCWS)

• GDSS are used in special rooms equipped in a

number of different configurations, permit group
members to interact with electronic support – often
in the form of specialized software.
• Intended to bring a group together to solve a
problem with various supports as polling,
questionnaires, brainstorming, and scenario
creation. Sometimes GDSS are discussed under the
more general term computer-supported
collaborative work systems
 8. Executive Support Systems
• Help executives organize their interactions with the
external environment by providing graphics and
communications technologies in accessible places
such as boardroom or personal corporate offices
• Rely on the information generated by TPS and MIS
by creating an environment that helps them think
about strategic problems in an informed way.
• Extend and support the capabilities of executives,
permitting them to make sense of their
environments.
Executive Support System Model
 New Technologies
• New technologies are being integrated into
traditional systems:
1. Ecommerce uses the Web to perform business
activities.
2. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has the goal
of integrating many different information systems
within the corporation.
3. Wireless and handheld devices, including
mobile commerce (mcommerce).
4. Open source software.
 Advantages of Using the Web
• The benefits of using the Web are:
Increasing awareness of the availability of
the service, product, industry, person, or
group.
24-hour access for users.
Standard interface design.
Creating a global system.
 Nature of Analysis and Design
• Systems analysis and design is a
systematic approach to:
1. Identifying problems, opportunities, and
objectives.
2. Analyzing the information flows in
organizations.
3. Designing computerized information systems
to solve a problem.
 Systems Analyst
• Systems analysts act as:
– Outside consultants to businesses.
– Supporting experts within a business.
– As change agents.
• Analysts are problem solvers, and
require communication skills.
• Analysts must be ethical with users and
customers.
Where Do Systems Analysts Work?
The Systems Analyst as a Facilitator
Systems Development Life Cycle
• The systems development life cycle is a
systematic approach to solving
business problems.
• It is divided into seven phases.
• Each phase has unique activities.
 Phase 1
• Identifying:
 Problems.
 Opportunities.
 Objectives.

• Personnel involved:
Analyst.
User management.
Systems management.
 Phase 1 (Continued)
• Activities
 Interviewing
 Summarizing
 Estimating the scope and projects
 Documenting the results

• Output
 Feasibility report containing a problem definition and
summarizing the objectives
 Phase 2
• Determining the information requirements:
 Interview management, operations personnel.
 Gather systems/operating documents.
 Use questionnaires.
 Observe the system and personnel involved.
The current
People Business procedures
who are activity
environment timing are
involved performed

• Learn the who, what, where, when, and how,

and the why for each of these.
 Phase 2 (Continued)
• Personnel involved:
 Analyst.
 User management.
 User operations workers.
 Systems management.

• Output
 The Analyst should understand how users accomplish their
work when interacting with a computer and begin to know
how to make the new system more useful and usable.
 Phase 3
• Analyzing system needs:
 Create data flow diagrams.
 Document procedural logic for data flow diagram processes.
 Complete the data dictionary.
 Make semistructured decisions.
 Prepare and present the system proposal.
 Recommend the optimal solution to management.

• Analyst also analyzes the structured decisions made.

 Structured decisions are those for which the conditions, condition
alternatives, actions, and action rules can be determined. There are
three major methods: structured English, decision tables, and
decision trees.
 Phase 3 (Continued)
• Personnel involved:
 Analyst.
 User management.
 Systems management.

• Output
 A system proposal that summarizes what has been found out
about the users, usability, and usefulness of current systems;
provides cost/benefit analyses of alternatives; and make
recommendations on what (if anything) should be done. If
one of the recommendations is acceptable to management,
the analyst proceeds along the course.
 Phase 4
• Designing the recommended system:
 Design the user interface.
 Design output.
 Design input.
 Design system controls.
 Design files and/or database.
 Produce program specifications.
 Produce decision trees or tables.
 Phase 4 (Continued)
• Personnel involved:
Analyst.
System designer.
User management.
User operations workers.
Systems management.
 Phase 5
• Developing and documenting software:
 Design computer programs using structure charts, Nassi-
Schneiderman charts, and pseudocode.
 Walkthrough program design.
 Write computer programs.
 Document software with help files, procedure manuals, and
Web sites with Frequently Asked Questions.

• Programmers have a key role in this phase because they

design, code, and remove syntactical errors from computer
programs.
 Phase 5 (Continued)
• Personnel involved:
Analyst.
System designer.
Programmers.
Systems management.
 Phase 6
• Testing and maintaining the system:
 Test and debug computer programs.
 Test the computer system.
 Enhance system.
• Maintenance of the system and its documentation
begins in this phase and is carried out routinely
throughout the life of the information system. Much
of the programmer’s routine work consists of
maintenance, and businesses spend a great deal
of money on maintenance.
 Phase 6 (Continued)
• Personnel involved:
Analyst.
System designer.
Programmers.
Systems management.
 Phase 7
• Implementing and evaluating the system:
 Plan conversion.
 Train users.
 Purchase and install new equipment.
 Convert files.
 Install system.
 Review and evaluate system.

• Personnel involved:
 Analyst, System designer, Programmers, User management,
 User operations workers and Systems management.
 Phase 7 (Continued)
• It should be noted that systems work is often
cyclical. When an analyst finishes one phase
of systems development and proceeds to
the next, the discovery of a problem may
force the analyst to return to the previous
phase and modify the work done there.
Rapid Application Development
• Rapid Application
development (RAD) is an
object-oriented approach
to systems development
that includes a method of
development (including
generating information
requirements) as well as
software tools.
 System Maintenance
• System maintenance is:
– Removing undetected errors, and
– Enhancing existing software.

• Maintenance is an ongoing process

over the life cycle of an information
system
• Time spent on maintenance typically
ranges from 48-60 percent of total time.
 System Enhancements
• Systems are enhanced for the
following reasons:
1. Adding additional features to the system.
2. Business and governmental requirements
change over time.
3. Technology, hardware, and software are
rapidly changing.
Over time the total cost of maintenance
is likely to exceed that of systems
development and a certain point it
becomes more feasible to perform a
new systems study.
 Computer Aided Software
Engineering (CASE) Tools
• CASE tools are automated, microcomputer-based
software packages for systems analysis and design.

• Four reasons for using CASE tools are:

1. To increase analyst productivity.
2. Facilitate communication among analysts and users.
3. Providing continuity between life cycle phases.
4. To assess the impact of maintenance.
 Visible Analyst (VA)
• Allows its
users to
draw and
modify
diagrams
easily.
 CASE Tool Categories
• CASE tools may be divided into Several
categories
 Upper CASE (also called front-end CASE) tools, used
to perform analysis and design.
 Lower CASE (also called back-end CASE). These
tools generate computer language source code
from CASE design.
 Integrated CASE, performing both upper and lower
CASE functions.
 Upper CASE
• Upper CASE tools:
Create and modify the system design.
Store data in a project repository. The
repository is a collection of records,
elements, diagrams, screens, reports, and
other project information.
These CASE tools model organizational
requirements and define system boundaries.
 Lower CASE
• Lower CASE tools generate computer
source code from the CASE design.
• Source code may usually be generated in
several languages (i.e. Visible analyst
Corporate Edition, can generate full ANSI,
COBOL, or C-Language)
 Advantages of Generating Code
• Time to develop new systems decreases.
• The time to maintain generated code is less than
to maintain traditional systems.
• Computer programs may be generated in more
than one language.
• CASE design may be purchased from third-party
vendors and tailored to organizational needs.
• Generated code is free from program coding
errors.
 Reverse Engineering
• Reverse engineering is
generating the CASE
design from computer
program code.
• Source code is examined,
analyzed, and converted
http://www.asciiville.com/webcomic/pair-programming
into repository entities.
 Reverse Engineering (Continued)
• Reverse engineering produces (depending on
the tool set used):
1. Data structures and elements, describing
the files, records, and field.
2. Screen designs, if the program is online.
3. Report layouts for batch programs.
4. A structure chart showing the hierarchy of
the modules in the program.
5. Database design and relationships.
Advantages of Reverse Engineering
• Reverse Engineering has the following
advantages:
1. Reduced system maintenance time.
2. Program documentation is produced for
loosely documented programs.
3. Structured programs may be generated
from unstructured, older programs.
4. Future system maintenance is easier to
implement.
5. Unused portions of programs may be
eliminated.
 Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

• Object-oriented (O-O) analysis and design is an

approach to facilitate the development of systems
that must change rapidly in response to dynamic
business environments.
• O-O analysis and design is used to build object-
oriented programs.
• O-O programming examines the objects of a
system.
• Objects are grouped into classes for optimal reuse
and maintainability.
The Unified Modeling Language
• The Unified Modeling
Language (UML) is an
industry standard for
modeling object-oriented
systems.
• It breaks down a system into
a use case model.
 Extreme Programming (XP)
• Extreme programming takes good software
development practices and pushes them to
the limit.
• It is based on:
– Values.
– Principles.
– Core practices.
Extreme Programming (XP) (Continued)

• Extreme programming values are:

– Communication, Simplicity, Feedback &
Courage.
 Alternate Methodologies
• Alternate methodologies are available for
analyzing systems. These include:
1. Prototyping. As a response to the long
development times associated with the
systems development life cycle
approach and to the uncertainty often
surrounding user requirements.
2. ETHICS was introduced as a
sociotechnical methodology combining
social and technical solutions.
 Alternate Methodologies
3. Project Champion approach is a concept
borrowed from marketing, adopts the strategy
of involving one key person from each area
affected by the system to ensure success.
4. Soft Systems Methodology was envisioned as a
way to model a world that is often chaotic by
using “rich pictures,” ideographs that capture
characteristic organizational narratives.
5. Multi-view was proposed as a way to organize
and use elements of several competing
methodologies.
 Summary
• Information is a key resource
• Systems analysts deal with many types of
information systems
• Integration of traditional systems with new
technologies
• Roles and qualities of the systems analyst
• The systems Development Life Cycle
• CASE tools
• Alternatives to structured analysis and design
and to the SDLC