Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340 Information Systems Analysis and Design Why Start an Information System Project V Scoping the Problem Types of information system projects Choosing Among Alternatives Example The Hotel Checkout System Example The Computer Books By Mail Corporation Business Process Reengineering 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340 Types of information system projects Computerize a function within an organization Integrate existing information systems Develop a new application for an existing information system Convert an existing application to a new platform Modify or extend an existing application Reasons for initiating an information system project Problem driven competition crisis Change driven new needs growth change in business change in environment Opportunity driven new technology Part of a previous plan Scoping 1 csc340 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping 2 Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340 Where Do We Start Scoping the Problem Scope the problem what is the objective of the project the vision of those who are pushing for it Provided by the customer e g Meeting scheduling is too costly right now Scope the solution given the vision how much do we tackle e g Build a system that schedules meetings vs Build a system that maintains people s calendars vs Choose a business process what is the scheduling process e g Anyone who wants to schedule a meeting goes to the secretary gives details and the secretary handles the rest vs Anyone can submit a meeting request participants are informed and a negotiation settles meeting details Choose among alternative computerized solutions given a business process assuming that the secretary handles timetable gathering e g Computer takes in scheduling request details outputs a solution vs Solution arrived at interactively by secretary and computer The problem is usually defined vaguely by the customer Consider a university textbook store say the manager wants to computerize the book order forms filled out by instructors A large insurance company wants to cut down the average time it takes to process an insurance claim from 2 months to 2 weeks A telecommunications company wants to integrate its billing system with customer record systems of several affiliates so there is only one billing system 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Information Systems Analysis and Design Scoping 3 csc340 or Put a man on the moon by the end of the decade the sixties that is 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping 4 Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340 Scoping the Problem Scoping the Problem Often what the analyst gets when she begins her study is symptoms rather than causes the problem For example consider the following case Ontario patients needing a particular type of X ray testing have to wait for months The long wait is the symptom not the problem The problem may be Shortage of X ray machines Shortage of trained staff Shortage of doctors to process the data Inefficient scheduling procedures For the Bookstore example Textbooks are often not ordered 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 booklists from instructors early enough Is that just a symptom of some other problem so ask the instructors why Because the instructors aren t allocated to courses early enough Is that just a symptom of some other problem so ask the UG office why Because we never know who s available to teach until the last minute Is that just a symptom of some other problem so ask the dept chair why Because there s always uncertainty about who gets hired sabbaticals etc Is that just a symptom of some other problem so ask the dept chair why Because instructors we want to hire don t accept our offers early enough 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Scoping 5 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Page Scoping 6 Information Systems Analysis and Design csc340 Information Systems Analysis and Design Scoping the Problem cont d The next thing that needs to be settled during analysis is the scope of the solution to be tackled Suppose you decided that delay in processing booklists from instructors is the right level of problem to tackle Should we try to Just computerize the submission of textbook forms for all courses or Computerize submission of forms and ordering from publishers or Computerize submission of forms ordering from publishers and the management of book inventories Scoping is about selecting among different scopes and boundaries for the solution to be implemented e g a new system which only handles purchase orders vs one that handles budgets as well In addition to these we assume that organizational goals and objectives are fixed so the systems analyst does not have to worry about this dimension in practice this may not be realistic Is that just a symptom of some other problem so ask the new recruits why Because some other universities seem to wait for ages before making offers Is that just a symptom of some other problem so ask U of Waterloo etc why Because it takes our department a long time to reach consensus on hiring Is that just a oh wait maybe we can develop a decision support system for faculty hiring at U of Waterloo and that will help us get our textbooks for the start of class 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Information Systems Analysis and Design Scoping 7 csc340 2003 Steve Easterbrook and John Mylopoulos Information Systems Analysis and Design Choosing Among Alternative Business Processes Information Systems Analysis and Design Scoping 8 csc340 Choosing Among Alternative Computerized Solutions What is the space of alternatives we are choosing from There are two dimensions along which we have choices The first and most important is between different business processes processes i e between different ways of accomplishing the same task e g handling an invoice handling a loan application handling an insurance claim Consider the purchasing department of a university Current purchase process If someone wants to buy equipment she requests a purchase order from the purchase order department purchase order is issued vendor sends equipment to purchase order department is paid and equipment is shipped to researcher Alternative process Researcher s department issues purchase order gets equipment charges researcher s budget There are clearly other
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