LIM, MARYLYN GRACE C.

OOA

                Book: Systems Analysis and Design: an Active Approach

                Author: George M. Marakas

                Reference No.: QA

                                                76.9

                                                S88

                                                M37

                                                2001

Chapter 1: The Systems Development Environment

Quote: “Anything that can become digital will become digital, and this means that all organizations will ultimately become irreversibly dependent on their information and automation systems and the people who design, develop and maintain them.

Review:

                This book discusses about systems analysis and design. Chapter 1 discusses about the systems development environment. It defines what does SAD stands for and what it means. SAD stands for system analysis and design.  SAD is a systematic approach to identify problem opportunities, Analyze the information in the organization and design a computerize information system to solve the problem. A system analyst acts as an outside consultant to business organization, supporting experts with in a business and they also act as change agent. They are the ones who bridges the communication gap bet those who need the computer and those who understand technology. This chapter also discusses the four basic skills that a system analyst must have. First is the technical skill. This skill helps the analyst to communicate with wide variety of technical experts. Second is analytical skill. We know that a system analyst is a problem solver. Analytical skills help them in identifying problems and finding solution for it. Third is managerial skill. A system analyst is also a team player who has developed expertise as technical and managerial member of the organization. Not only have they had knowledge on computer but also in management. The last skill that a system analyst should have is interpersonal skill. A system analyst must be a good communicator who can work effectively with all types of people. They should have this skill because they will need it to communicate information to other participants in the project. This chapter also discusses the five types of information systems and systems development. First is the transaction processing system. This is the most prevalent and oldest of the computer-based IS types. Its primary purpose is to automate the capture and recording of information about the transactions that occur during the course of conducting business. Second is the management information system. This is often characterized as an extension of TPS because it accepts as its input the raw date from a TPS and transforms it into reports that help the managers in managing business. Third is decision support system. This system is built to assist the activities that provide support to the decision process. Fourth is the office automation and workgroup management system. This facilitates the analysis and dissemination of information throughout the organization. Lastly, web-based system is designed to facilitate the conduct of business over the internet. The last topic that is being discussed in this chapter is the systems development life cycle. SDLC is the step on how to create an information system. It describes the steps in project development which are analysis, design, implementation, quality assurance and testing, deployment and the last step is maintenance.