Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 1VI. VI. ScopingScopingScopingScoping the Problem and the Solution the Problem and the SolutionChoosing Among AlternativesChoosing Among AlternativesExample: The Hotel Checkout SystemExample: The Hotel Checkout SystemExample: The Computer Books By Mail CorporationExample: The Computer Books By Mail CorporationBusiness Process ReengineeringBusiness Process ReengineeringInformation Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 2TwoTwo Scoping Scoping Steps StepsScope the problemScope the problem“Meeting scheduling is too costly right now” vs“We need to improve productivity” Scope the solution Scope the solution“Build a system that schedules meetings”, vs“Build a system that maintains people’s calendars”vs ...Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 3…And Two More StepsChoose a business processChoose a business process“Ask the secretary, who handles the rest” vs“Negotiate with participants meeting details.” Choose among alternative computerizedChoose among alternative computerizedsolutions, given a business processsolutions, given a business process“Computer generates schedule, given requestdetails”, vs“Solution produced by secretary and computer”...Beware of the difference betweenproblems and symptoms!Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 4Scoping the ProblemFor the Bookstore example: “Textbooks are often notordered in time for the start of classes” But that’s just a symptom, so you ask the manager“why?”: “Because we don’t receive the booklistsfrom instructors early enough” Is that just a symptom of some other problem?…soask the instructors “why?”: “Because the instructorsaren’t allocated to courses early enough” Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …soask the UG office “why?” “Because we never knowwho’s available to teach until the last minute”…more…Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 5Scoping the Problem (cont’d) Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …soask the dept chair “why?”: “Because there’s alwaysuncertainty about who gets hired, sabbaticals, etc. Is that just a symptom of some other problem?…soask the dept chair “why?”: “Because instructors wewant to hire don’t accept our offers early enough”… Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …soask the new recruits “why?”: “Because some otheruniversities seem to wait for ages before makingoffers”…more…Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 6Scoping the Problem (cont’d) Is that just a symptom of some other problem? …soask U of Waterloo, etc, “why?”: “Because it takesour department a long time to reach consensus onhiring” Is that just a… …oh wait… …maybe we candevelop a decision support system for faculty hiringat U of Waterloo, and that will help us get ourtextbooks for the start of class…Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 7Scoping the Solution Say you decided that delay in processing booklists frominstructors is the right level of problem to tackle…“So,let’s computerize submission of textbook forms frominstructors” But while we’re at it, “it would help if we alsocomputerized the submission of orders to thepublishers” …and of course, “we ought to computerize themanagement of book inventories too, so we canquickly check stock levels before ordering new books” …and in that case, “we might as well computerize thearchives of past years booklists so that we can predictdemand better”Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 8Scoping the Solution (cont’d) …and therefore “it would also make sense toprovide a computerized used book exchange,because that has a big effect on demand fornew books” …and then of course there’s … oh, wait, this isgoing to cost millions!Bookstore manager: “tell me again how thisautomated used book exchange will help meorder books faster?”Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 9Choosing Among AlternativeChoosing Among AlternativeBusiness ProcessesBusiness Processes What is the space of alternatives we are choosingfrom? There are two dimensions along which we havechoices. The first (and most important) is between differentbusiness processesbusiness processes, i.e., between different ways ofaccomplishing the same task, e.g., handling an invoice,handling a loan application, handling an insuranceclaim,…Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 10Choosing Among AlternativeChoosing Among AlternativeBusiness Processes (contBusiness Processes (cont’’d)d) Consider the purchasing department of a university:Current purchase process: If someone wantsto buy equipment, she requests a purchaseorder from the purchase order department,purchase order is issued, vendor sendsequipment to purchase order department, is paidand equipment is shipped to researcher;Alternative process: Researcher’s departmentissues purchase order, gets equipment, chargesresearcher’s budget There are clearly other alternatives as well...Page ‹#›Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340©2004 Steve Easterbrook and John MylopoulosScoping -- 11Choosing Among AlternativeChoosing Among AlternativeComputerizedComputerized Solutions Solutions For each proposed business process, we can look intowhat tasks can be computerized, or facilitated by thesystem to be built, For the textbook store example, assume we only want toautomate
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