Systems Analysis and

Design
Lesson 1: Introduction to Information Systems
Topics:

1. Definition of System
2. Concepts of System
3. Information Systems
4. Types of Information System (IS)
5. General System Principles
6. Players in System Game
7. Roles of the Systems Analyst
8. Required skills of the System Analyst
System Definition

✓ A system is an interrelated set of components that function

together to achieve an outcome.
✓ The three major components of a
system are:
1. Input
2. Processing
3. Output
Elements of a System

✓ There are 6 elements of a system:

1. Purpose
2. Subsystems
3. Environment
4. Boundary
5. Connections
6. Control Mechanism
Concept of System

1. Business Concepts
✓ Collection policies, procedures, methods, people, machines and other
elements that interact and enable the organization to achieve its goals.
2. Information System
✓ A collection of interrelated components that collect, process, store and
provide as output the information needed to complete a business task.
✓ The components of an Information Systems are:
a. Work Practice
b. Information
c. People
d. Information technology
Reasons why Information System is Needed

✓ Growing size of the organization and the number of competitors.

✓ Growing ability of computers to process large amount of data with
great speed.
✓ Dramatic increase in volumes of data generated.
✓ Advances in communication technologies to permit faster data
transmission.
✓ Increase in pace of business transactions.
✓ Much more sophisticated technology today.
Types of Information System (IS)

1. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

✓ Process large amount of data for routine business activities or
transactions.
✓ Very important for the organization since they gather all the input
necessary for other types of information systems.
Types of Information System (IS)

2. Management Information System (MIS)

✓ Provide standard reports for managers about transaction data.
✓ Work on the purposeful interaction between people and computers.
✓ Support a broader range of organizational tasks to include not only TPS
but also decision analysis and decision making.
✓ Managers, usually in a report format.
✓ Help unite some of the computerized information functions of a
business.
✓ Designed to take the relatively raw data available through a TPS and
convert them into a summarized and aggregated form for managers,
usually in a report format.
Types of Information System (IS)

3. Decision Support System (DSS)

✓ Designed to help organizational decision makers identify and choose
between options or decisions.
✓ Provide an interactive environment in which decision makers can
quickly manipulate data and models of business operations.
✓ Depend on a database as a source of data.
Types of Information System (IS)

4. Office Automation System (OAS)

✓ Support general office work for handling and managing documents and
facilitating communication.
✓ Aspects include word processing, spreadsheets, desktop publishing,
electronic scheduling and communication through voice mail, email
and video conferencing.
Types of Information System (IS)

5. Expert System (ES)

✓ Perform a task that would otherwise be performed by a human expert.
✓ Designed to take the place of human expert, while others are designed
to aid them.
✓ Are part of a general category of computer applications known as
Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Types of Information System (IS)

6. Executive Information System (EIS)

✓ Provide a generalized computing and communication environment to
senior managers to support strategic decisions.
✓ Rely on the information generated by MIS and allow communication
with external sources of information.
✓ Designed to facilitate senior managers access to information quickly
and effectively.
General System Principles

✓ The more specialized a system is, the less able it is to adapt

to different circumstances.
✓ The more general-purpose a system is, the less optimized it
is for any particular situation. But the more the system is
optimized for a particular situation, the less adaptable it
will be to new circumstances.
✓ The larger the system is the more of its resources that must
be devoted to its everyday maintenance.
General System Principles

✓ Systems are always part of a larger systems, and the can

always be partitioned into smaller systems.
✓ Systems grow. The principle could not be true for all
systems, but many of the systems with which we are
familiar do grow, because we often fail to take it into
account when we begin developing the system.
Players in the System Game
Players in the System Game

1. System Sponsors/owners
✓ Pay for the system to be built and operated and set the
vision and priorities for the system.
2. System Users
✓ Use the system on a regular basis to support the operation
and management of the organization.
Players in the System Game

3. System Designers
✓ Technical specialists who build, test and deliver the
information system.
4. Systems Analysts
✓ Who determine the requirements that must be met by the
information system.
Required Skills of a Systems Analyst

1. Technical Knowledge and Skills

✓ Computers and how they work.
✓ Devices that interact with computers including input
devices, storage devices and output devices.
✓ Communications networks that connect computers.
✓ Databases and database management system.
✓ Programming languages
✓ Operating systems and utilities.
Required Skills of a Systems Analyst

✓ Software packages such as Microsoft Access that can be

used to develop systems.
✓ Integrated development environments (IDEs) for specific
programming languages.
✓ Computer-aided system engineering (CASE) tools that store
information about system specifications created by
analysts and sometimes generate program code.
✓ Program code generators, testing tools, configuration
management tools, project management tools and others.
Required Skills of a Systems Analyst

2. Business Knowledge and Skills

✓ Have an understanding of the business organizations in
general.
✓ Understand the type of organization for which they work.
Required Skills of a Systems Analyst

Some specifics the analyst needs to know about the company:

✓ What the specific organization does?
✓ Wat makes it successful?
✓ What its strategies and plans are?
✓ What are its traditions and values?
Required Skills of a Systems Analyst

3. People Knowledge and Skills

✓ Understand a lot about people since they usually work on
development teams with other employees.
✓ Possess many interpersonal skills.
✓ Understand how people:
1. Think 4. Communicate
2. Learn 5. Work (in a variety of jobs and
3. React to change levels.