UNIT-IV

DEVELOPING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

What Is Information Systems Analysis and Design?

Information systems analysis and design is a method used by companies ranging from IBM to
PepsiCo to Sony to create and maintain information systems that perform basic business
functions such as keeping track of customer names and addresses, processing orders, and
paying employees. The main goal of systems analysis and design is to improve organizational
systems, typically through applying software that can help employees accomplish key business
tasks more easily and efficiently. As a systems analyst, you will be at the center of developing
this software.

The analysis and design of information systems are based on: Your understanding of the
organization’s objectives, structure, and processes Your knowledge of how to exploit information
technology for advantage To be successful in this endeavor, you should follow a structured
approach. The SDLC, is a four-phased approach to identifying, analyzing, designing, and
implementing an information system. we use the SDLC to organize our discussion of the
systems development process. Before we talk about the SDLC, we first describe what is meant
by systems analysis and design.

Systems Analysis and Design:Core Concepts

The major goal of systems analysis and design is to improve organizational systems. Often this
process involves developing or acquiring application software and training employees to use it.
Application software, also called a system,is designed to support a specific organizational
function or process, such as inventory management, payroll, or market analysis. The goal of
application software is to turn data into information.
For example, software developed for the inventory department at a bookstore may keep track of
the number of books in stock of the latest best seller. Software for the payroll department may
keep track of the changing pay rates of employees. A variety of off-the-shelf application software
can be purchased, including WordPerfect, Excel, and PowerPoint. However, off-the-shelf
software may not fit the needs of a particular organization, and so the organization must
develop its own product.

In addition to application software, the information system includes:

The hardware and systems software on which the application software runs. Note that the
systems software helps the computer function, whereas the application software helps the user
perform tasks such as writing a paper, preparing a spreadsheet, and linking to the Internet.
Documentation and training materials, which are materials created by the systems analyst to
help employees use the software they’ve helped create.
The specific job roles associated with the overall system, such as the people who run the
computers and keep the software operating.
Controls, which are parts of the software written to help prevent fraud and theft.
The people who use the software in order to do their jobs.
The components of a computer-based information system application are summarized in Figure
1-2. We address all the dimensions of the overall system, with particular emphasis on
application software development—your primary responsibility as a systems analyst.

Our goal is to help you understand and follow the software engineering process that leads to
the creation of information systems. As shown in Figure 1-3, proven methodologies, techniques,
and tools are central to software engineering processes.

Methodologies are a sequence of step-by-step approaches that help develop your final
product: the information system. Most methodologies incorporate several development
techniques, such as direct observations and interviews with users of the current system.
Techniques are processes that you, as an analyst, will follow to help ensure that your work is
well thought-out, complete, and comprehensible to others on your project team. Techniques
provide support for a wide range of tasks, including conducting thorough interviews with current
and future users of the information system to determine what your system should do, planning
and managing the activities in a systems development project, diagramming how the system will
function, and designing the reports, such as invoices, your system will generate for its users to
perform their jobs.
Tools are computer programs, such as computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools,
that make it easy to use specific techniques. These three elements— methodologies,
techniques, and tools—work together to form an organizational approach to systems analysis
and design.

FIGURE 1-3 The software engineering process uses proven methodologies, techniques, and
tools.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

It is important to note here that Management Information System captures data and information
from the environment as well as the transactions and operations of the system. Data have to be
obtained both from the internal environment like internal operations (marketing, production,
finance and other functional areas) as well as from the external environment like competitors,
unions, labour force, government policies, legal considerations, suppliers, customers, society,
market etc. The internal information is generated from the operations of the organisation at
various management levels in the various functional areas. The information gets processed
within an organisation as it travels from the clerical level to the top levels of management. That
is, the internal information always pertains to the various operational units of the organisation
and gets summarised and processed as it gets from lower level to the top level.
The external information which is from the environment affects the performance of the
organisation from outside. Two basic approaches possible to Management Information System
in any organisation are:
i) Organisational functional sub-systems like marketing, production, materials, personnel and
finance.
ii) Processing activity sub-system at four different levels: a) Transaction processing (Clerical
staff) b) Operational control (Junior level managers) c) Management control (Middle level
managers) d) Strategic planning (Top level managers) Management Information System (MIS)
The major processing functions in Management Information System are: Processing of business
transaction Updating of master files Generation of information reports Processing of interactive
enquiries Providing interaction analytical support Information systems could be of two different
types, i.e., structured and unstructured. Formalisation and publicisation of information lead to
structuredness in information processing activity. Information systems could also be
characterised as formal and informal.

Formal systems follow the hierarchical structure of the organisation, whereas systems where
unauthorised people pass on public or private information from one level to another level are
called informal systems. MIS can also be classified according to function and time frame (i.e.,
for historical, control and planning purposes).
As discussed in the "Communicating" function of managers in MIS, much information flowing in
an organisation is informal.

PITFALLS IN MIS DEVELOPMENT FUNDAMENTAL WEAKNESSES 1.

No Management System to Build Upon For some reason many managers think that they can
patch up a company's shortcomings in basic management systems by applying a computerized
management information system as a band-aid. Unfortunately, this will not work. If good
planning and control do not exist within the framework of a good organizational structure, no
degree of sophistication with a computer is going to cure the basic ill. The MIS must be built on
top of a management system that includes the organizational arrangements, the structure and
procedures for adequate planning and control, the clear establishment of objectives, and all the
other manifestations of good organization and management. The lack of managerial and
operational applications (as opposed to accounting and clerical applications) is serious,
because it implies that the process of management is not being performed well. If we can say
(as we must) that information is the raw material of decision making, and if information is not
being generated, disseminated, and used for management, then no system-manual or
computer-is going to solve the problem.

2. What business are we in?

Not having a crisply stated mission and purpose for the company is a common weakness. This
problem evolves from the firm's top management wanting to be (or being comfortable with
being) operating managers. Top management focuses on the day-to-day operational problems
and abdicates the responsibilities of providing a future for the company. The results are as you
would expect.
Since it is not terribly clear what business we are in, each major challenge the company must
face is a completely new challenge and must be analyzed from the ground up. If there was a
mission statement, some of these problems could be dealt with routinely as opposed to their
being major crises. Much of the guidance for what the MIS should do rests on a clear idea of
what business the firm is in. Many of the constraints on the MIS are derived from knowing what
business the company is in and what business it will be in. Without this background information,
the MIS mayor may not satisfy management needs.

3. Company Objectives
Written objectives are also often missing in a company. A firm without objectives is much like a
company without a statement of mission and purpose-it is a ship without a rudder. This problem
evolved in the same way the previous one did. Top manage- , ment failed to set objectives for
the company. The results are also similar. Everyone in the company is left without the benefit of
the guidance that objectives give. For example, clear objectives provide decision-making criteria
when problems arise. Without these objectives, not only is each problem a major new
challenge, but each time a problem arises, management must generate decision-making criteria
for this case before it can attack the problem.

4. Managerial participation
Of all the reasons for MIS failure, lack of managerial participation probably heads the list.
Dozens of studies on hundreds of companies have concluded that the most striking
characteristic of the successful company is that MIS development has been viewed as a
responsibility of management. This includes both top management and operating line
management. The reasonable conclusion that managers must reach is that MIS is too important
to be left to the computer technician. There are three good arguments for managerial
participation. First, the time has come when the up-to-date manager must bring to the job at
least a minimal familiarity with the topic of MIS. Second, from the point of view of the
organization, the time is rapidly approaching when a company's information system will become
a vital part of its operation just as marketing, operations, and finance are today. Third, it simply
makes good sense for managers to become involved, because much better and more effective
information systems will be the result of that involvement.

5. Organization of the MIS function

Another significant cause of computer failure is the lack of proper organization of the EDP and
MIS function. When computers first burst upon the business scene in the late 1950s and early
19608, the only practical applications were concerned with the automation of clerical work:
accounting, payroll, inventory reporting, and similar financial jobs. Following the classical
organizational principle of assignment of a service activity by familiarity, the overwhelming trend
at that time was to assign the computer to the controller or the chief accountant. Unfortunately,
this is where it has remained in many companies. The result has been a disproportionate
emphasis on accounting and related clerical work. The exact location in the organization and
the authority granted to the MIS manager is, of course, a function of the type of business the
firm is in and how important the information resource is to its operation.
6. Reliance on Consultant or Manufacturer

Some computer manufacturers and some consultants will try to sell the turnkey system, one
that is designed and debugged and ready for its buyer to push the button or turn the key.
Although some complete packages exist (there are several truly excellent offerings), be careful!
In most cases, the consultant or manufacturer is concerned more with the machine than with
management solutions. Before buying a "solution" from a consultant or manufacturer, be sure
that it is the whole solution, that you understand it thoroughly, and that you understand your
legal recourse when things do not work the way you expected. There are other good reasons for
going slow in allowing consultants or manufacturers to make your computer and MIS decisions.
First, there is a good chance that you will have to spend a great deal of time educating them in
the operations of your company before they are in a position to make recommendations.
Second, installing the system without substantial preparation is likely to result in some chaos.
And third-and this is a general rule-if the buyer does not have the personnel capable of
designing the organization's MIS, it is unlikely that it will have the expertise to operate those that
were designed and installed by the outsider.

7. Communications Gap

It is unlikely that for the foreseeable future the computer technician (EDP manager, systems
analyst, programmer, management scientist) will be able to speak the language of
management, and managers for the most part are not prepared to speak the language of the
computer. The result is a communications gap that sometimes causes a design standoff.
Technicians have little appreciation of the process of management or of the problems of
managers. Operation of the machine is their" thing." They measure their performance by how
many shifts the computer is running and how much printout or output they can generate. Given
the choice, technicians will give the user all the data contained in the system pertaining to the
user's problem. Thus the sales manager who asks for the sales performance report is likely to
get computer printout in a stack two feet high. What he really wants is an exception report that
highlights significant variances from plan. On the other hand, the manager is not without guilt.
Unless he's been to a business school or a good seminar recently, he is not likely to be very
knowledgeable about the computer and how it can be used to help him improve his operations.

The people involved Whether we are talking about the management team, the MIS specialists,
or the people who are doing the company's main work (and will be the MIS users), one criterion
is overriding:there is no substitute for competence. The performance of employees (including
managers) can be compared as follows:

• Good performers are an order of magnitude more productive than average per¬formers. Given
tools from the Stone Age and no light to work by, good performers will produce good results.
Average performers can be made productive only in the right environment.