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Information System Building Block

This document discusses the key building blocks of information systems including front-office and back-office systems that support business functions and operations. It also describes the four layers of an information systems architecture - business process, systems, technical, and product delivery architectures. Finally, it outlines different perspectives on data, processes, and interfaces as well as alternative development approaches like model-driven development, rapid application development, and using commercial off-the-shelf software.

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90 views6 pages

Information System Building Block

This document discusses the key building blocks of information systems including front-office and back-office systems that support business functions and operations. It also describes the four layers of an information systems architecture - business process, systems, technical, and product delivery architectures. Finally, it outlines different perspectives on data, processes, and interfaces as well as alternative development approaches like model-driven development, rapid application development, and using commercial off-the-shelf software.

Uploaded by

proshanto salma
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Lecture-3 & 5

INFORMATION SYSTEM BUILDING BLOCKS

• Front-office information systems support business functions that reach out to


customers (or constituents).
– Marketing
– Sales
– Customer management
• Back-office information systems support internal business operations and interact
with suppliers (of materials, equipment, supplies, and services).
– Human resources
– Financial management
– Manufacturing
– Inventory control
An Information systems architecture is a formal definition of the business processes and
rules, systems structure, technical framework, and product technologies for a business or
organizational information system. An information system architecture usually consists of
four layers:
business process architecture,
systems architecture,
technical architecture, and
product delivery architecture.
The DATA Focus
 System owners’ perspective
– Business knowledge is the insight that is gained from timely, accurate, and
relevant information. (Recall that information is a product of raw data.)
• System users’ perspective
– Data requirements are a representation of users’ data in terms of entities,
attributes, relationships, and rules. Data requirements should be expressed in
a format that is independent of the technology that can or will be used to store
the data.
• System designers’ perspective
– Database schema
• System builders’ perspective
– Database management system
The PROCESS Focus
• System owners’ perspective
– Business functions are ongoing activities that support the business. Functions
can be decomposed into other sub functions and eventually into processes
that do specific tasks.
– A cross-functional information system supports relevant business processes
from several business functions without regard to traditional organizational
boundaries such as divisions, departments, centers, and offices.
• System users’ perspectives
– Business processes are activities that respond to business events. Business
processes are the “work” performed by the system.
– Process requirements are a representation of the users’ business processes in
terms of activities, data flows, or work flow.
– A policy is a set of rules that govern a business process.
– A procedure is a step-by-step set of instructions and logic for accomplishing a
business process.
• System designers’ perspectives
– An application schema is a model that communicates how selected business
processes are, or will be, implemented using the software and hardware.
– Software specifications represent the technical design of business processes to
be automated or supported by computer programs to be written by system
builders.
• System builders’ perspectives
– Application programs are language-based, machine-readable representations of
what a software process is supposed to do, or how a software process is
supposed to accomplish its task.
– Prototyping is a technique for quickly building a functioning, but incomplete
model of the information system using rapid application development tools.
The INTERFACE Focus
• System owners’ perspective
• System users’ perspectives
– Interface requirements are a representation of the users’ inputs and outputs.
• System designers’ perspective
– User dialogues describe how the user moves from window-to-window,
interacting with the application programs to perform useful work.
• System builders’ perspective
– Middleware is a layer of utility software that sits in between application
software and systems software to transparently integrate differing
technologies so that they can interoperate.

Alternative Routes through a Methodology


• Model-Driven Development (MDD)
• Rapid Application Development (RAD)
• Commercial Off-the-Shelf Software (COTS)
• Maintenance and Reengineering

or hybrids of the above


Model-Driven Development Route
• Modeling is the act of drawing one or more graphical representations (or pictures) of
a system. Modeling is a communication technique based upon the old saying, “a
picture is worth a thousand words.”
• Model-driven development techniques emphasize the drawing of models to help
visualize and analyze problems, define business requirements, and design
information systems.
– Structured systems analysis and design — process-centered
– Information engineering (IE) — data-centered
– Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) — object-centered (integration of
data and process concerns)
Rapid Application Development Route
• Rapid application development (RAD) techniques emphasize extensive user
involvement in the rapid and evolutionary construction of working prototypes of a
system to accelerate the system development process.

RAD is based on building prototypes that evolve into finished systems (often using
time boxing)
– A prototype is a smaller-scale, representative or working model of the users’
requirements or a proposed design for an information system.
– A time box is a nonextendable period of time, usually 60-120 days, by which a
candidate system must be placed into operation.
Commercial Off-the-Shelf Software Route
• Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software is a software package or solution that is
purchased to support one or more business functions and information systems.
Automated Tools and Technology
• Computer-aided systems engineering (CASE)
• Application development environments (ADEs)
• Process and project managers
CASE Tools
Computer-aided systems engineering (CASE) tools are software programs that automate or
support the drawing and analysis of system models and provide for the translation of
system models into application programs.
– A CASE repository is a system developers’ database. It is a place where
developers can store system models, detailed descriptions and specifications,
and other products of system development. Synonyms include dictionary and
encyclopedia.
– Forward engineering requires the systems analyst to draw system models,
either from scratch or from templates. The resulting models are subsequently
transformed into program code.
– Reverse engineering allows a CASE tool to read existing program code and
transform that code into a representative system model that can be edited and
refined by the systems analyst.
ADE Tools
Application development environments (ADEs) are integrated software development tools
that provide all the facilities necessary to develop new application software with maximum
speed and quality. A common synonym is integrated development environment (IDE)
– ADE facilities may include:
• Programming languages or interpreters
• Interface construction tools
• Middleware
• Testing tools
• Version control tools
• Help authoring tools
• Repository links
Process and Project Managers
• A process manager is an automated tool that helps to document and manage a
methodology and routes, its deliverables, and quality management standards.
• A project manager is an automated tool to help plan system development activities
(preferably using the approved methodology), estimate and assign resources
(including people and costs), schedule activities and resources, monitor progress
against schedule and budget, control and modify schedule and resources, and report
project progress.

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