MIS 2: Assignment 6

Identify and discuss the steps for “critical success factors” approach? (At least 1500 words)

Before identifying the steps for critical success factors approach, let me define first what critical success factors are. After surfing the internet, I have found various definitions about critical success factors. Reading different explanations and uses of Critical Success factors from different resources from the internet confuse me a bit. But I found some that would be reliable enough.

Critical Success Factors (CSFs) are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success your business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis and business analysis. Critical Success Factors have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organization should focus on to be successful. Critical Success Factors, as a definition, refer to “the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization”. Critical Success Factor is an element of organizational activity which is central to its future success. It may change over time, and may include items such as product quality, employee attitudes, manufacturing flexibility, and brand awareness. It is considered as any of the aspects of a business that are identified as vital for successful targets to be reached and maintained. These are normally identified in such areas as product processes, employee and organizational skills, functions, techniques, and technologies. It is a business term for an ingredient which is essential for a firm or project to achieve its mission. Critical Success Factors, according to Laudon &Laudon MIS (7th edition, page 10.1), are small number and easily identifiable operational goals, shaped by industry, manager, and environment, believed to assure firm’s success, and used to determine organizations requirements.

It is important in an organization to identify its Critical Success Factors because it allows firms to focus their efforts on building their capabilities to meet the recognized CSFs. It even permits organizations to make a decision if they have the capability to create the requirements needed to meet its Critical Success Factors. Whatever definition you would rely, it is important that you will always make sure that all the managers of the organization understand the definition.

Types of Critical Success Factor
There are four basic types of CSFs. They are: Industry, Strategy, Environmental and Temporal.

Industry CSF’s – resulting from specific industry characteristics
Strategy CSF’s – resulting from the chosen competitive strategy of the business
Environmental CSF’s – resulting from economic or technological changes
Temporal CSF’s – results from internal organizational needs and changes.

The following that was mentioned above are also considered as the main aspects of Critical Success Factors that was based on Rockart and Bullen’s idea. In the industry, some CSF’s are common to all companies within the same industry. Every industry defines its own CSF. The truth is that each organization has its own unique goals though there may be some standards but not all organizations will have duplicate CSF’s. Organizations have its own adopted strategy to gain market share. The quality of position in the marketplace will be bases to CSF. The organization’s strategy, resources and capabilities will classify its CSF’s. The value of organization in the market is a great impact on CSF at a given point in time.

In writing a Critical Success Factors, there are some premises that would be a great help. These principles are based on what my resources had given. This will simply serve as your guidelines in writing down the critical success factors that you have observed.
• Ensure a good understanding of the environment, the industry and the company – It has been shown that CSF's have five primary sources, and it is important to have a good understanding of the environment, the industry and the company in order to be able to write them well. These factors are customized for companies and individuals and the customization results from the uniqueness of the organization.
• Build knowledge of competitors in the industry – While this principle can be encompassed in the previous one, it is worth highlighting separately as it is critical to have a good understanding of competitors as well in identifying an organization's CSF's Knowing where competitors are positioned, what their resources and capabilities are, and what strategies they will pursue can have an impact on an organization's strategy and also resulting CSF's
• Develop CSF's which result in observable differences – A key impetus for the development of CSF's was the notion that factors which get measured are more likely to be achieved versus factors which are not measured. Thus, it is important to write CSF's which are observable or possibly measurable in certain respects such that it would be easier to focus on these factors. These don't have to be factors that are measured quantitatively as this would mimic key performance indicators; however, writing CSF's in observable terms would be helpful.
• Develop CSF's that have a large impact on an organization's performance – By definition, CSF's are the "most critical" factors for organizations or individuals. However, due care should be exercised in identifying them due to the largely qualitative approach to identification, leaving many possible options for the factors and potentially results in discussions and debate. In order to truly have the impact as envisioned when CSF's were developed, it is important to thus identify the actual CSF's, i.e. the ones which would have the largest impact on an organization's (or individual's) performance.

What are the Steps for critical success factor approach?
Based on what I have understood and read, I come up with some steps for critical success factors. These are the following steps.
1. Start with a vision and a mission statement.
2. Develop a high level and hierarchy of goals and their success factors
3. List of requirements, problems, and assumptions.
4. Analysis Matrices
5. Solid usage scenarios.
6. Result of the analysis

Start with a vision and a mission statement. Every organization has its own unique vision and mission that they want to follow. It is important to know what are the firm’s vision and mission before you can start pointing out the firm’s critical success factor.

Develop high level and hierarchy of goals and their success factors. It is always good to know the goals of the organization since critical success factor is a step in ensuring the organizations success. With critical success factor, you are focusing on what the company aims in the future and if the firm is able to achieve those goals and dreams that was already a success.

List of requirements, problems, and assumptions. It is necessary to gather all the data and information with regards to the organization, site all the problems that the organization are facing or might be facing in the future, and identify the following assumptions on how to the company will get over with those problems.

Analysis matrices. Part of these analysis matrices is the problem versus requirements matrix and the usage scenarios versus requirements matrix. You have to know if all the requirements you have gathered are consistent enough. Analyze if the requirements are completed and appropriate. Analyze the problems and set some solutions on how to solve those problems. Examine if the needs of the company has been cope up. And evaluate how the company gain success would in the future.

Solid Usage Scenarios. Usage scenarios or in other words “use cases” which is very much familiar when using unified modeling language. This provides an idea on determining if the requirements are aligned and self-consistent, if the needs of the user being met as well as those of the enterprise, and if the requirements are complete.
Result of the Analysis. After having a couple of analysis, you can now list what are the things that can be considered as critical for the success of the organization. You will know the factors that would benefit and affect for the success of the firm.

Every firm has its own critical success factors. It depends on their strategy on how they can obtain success. Example of a critical success on an organization are the training and education, quality data and reporting, management commitment, customer satisfaction, staff orientation, role of the quality department, communication to improve quality, and continuous improvement. There may be several of critical success factors but it is necessary that you have to make sure that it is in line with the organizations vision, mission and goals. If the organization has achieved its goals, you can already declare that the organization has succeeded. In some cases, companies want to complete a project successfully that could be a big benefit for the company’s success. As what I have read, there has been a research that shows that there are critical success factors that should be applied to complete a project successfully. This includes the following: Match changes to vision, Define crisp deliverables, Business need linked to vision, have a formal process to define vision, and organizational culture supports project management. Critical Success factor is necessary for an organization in order to fulfill its mission. Without critical success factor, it will definitely cause organizational and/or mission failure. No one wants an organization to fail, everyone aims to succeed.

References:
http://rapidbi.com/created/criticalsuccessfactors.html
Laudon & Laudon MIS, 7th Edition. Pg. 10.4

SAD 1: Assignment 4

Identify and discuss at least 3 systems development models .. discuss each phases ... (at least 3000 words)

One thing that never changes in the information systems field is that things are always changing. New tools and techniques are continually emerging and system developers are always looking for new and better ways to work. There are numerous system development methodologies that the system developers might adapt from each techniques and life cycles when appropriate. There are various methods and techniques exercised to direct the life cycle of a software development project and most real world models are customized adaption of the basic and standard models. Building an information system for an organization would be very effective in supporting business process objectives. System development process models are employed by the developers to direct the project’s life cycle and would ensure that they would be able to develop a cost-effective and quality systems. System Development life cycle is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application.

Whenever I search about system development models, I always encounter software life cycle models. As what I have read, software life cycle models describe phases of the software cycle and the order in which those phase are executed. There are different models and the company chose and adopts their own model. But in general, usually, the basic of every model is that it requires some important phases. It includes the requirements, design, implementation and testing. Each phase produces deliverables required by the next phase in the life cycle. As what I have understood, all the requirements gathered are then translated into design. On the other hand, the coding part is already produced during the implementation phase that was actually obsessed by the design. Testing verifies the deliverable of the implementation phase against requirements.

There are also some activities that were performed in system development. Typically, include are the following: System conceptualization, Systems requirements and benefits analysis, Project adoption and project scoping, System design, Specification of software requirements, Architectural design, Detailed design, Unit development, Software integration and testing, System integration and testing, Installation at site, Site testing and acceptance, Training and documentation, Implementation, and Maintenance.

As what I have read in one of my resources which is an article entitled, A Survey of System Development Process Models (CTG.MFA - 003) and this paper was based upon the work supported in part by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission under Grant No. 96023. It was mentioned there that most system development Process models in use in the present have evolved from three primary approaches. These are Ad-hoc Development, Waterfall Model, and the Iterative Process.

Ad-hoc Development
The Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University states that with the use of Ad-hoc Process Model all the process capability is unpredictable because the software process is constantly changed or modified as the work progresses. As of the present time, there are still organizations that are practicing Ad-hoc Development Process Model either for the whole development or just a part of it. With Ad-hoc Development, it focuses on the performance which depends on the capabilities of the person and differs with their individual skills, knowledge, and motivations. In Ad-hoc Development, the performance of the software processes can be predicted only by an individual rather than the capability of an organization. The success of the projects is through the stout effort of a dedicated team. Some individual software projects produce excellent results.

Waterfall Model
The Waterfall Model is the earliest method of structured system development. This is the most common and classic of life cycle models. In recent years, it has been under criticize because it is too rigid and unrealistic when it comes to instantly meeting customer’s needs but still the Waterfall Model has been widely used. It is very simple to understand and use.

The Waterfall Model consists of the following steps:

•System Conceptualization.
System Conceptualization refers to the consideration of all aspects of the targeted business function or process, with the goals of determining how each of those aspects relates with one another, and which aspects will be incorporated into the system.
•Systems Analysis.
This step refers to the gathering of system requirements, with the goal of determining how these requirements will be accommodated in the system. Extensive communication between the customer and the developer is essential.
•System Design.
Once the requirements have been collected and analyzed, it is necessary to identify in detail how the system will be constructed to perform necessary tasks. More specifically, the System Design phase is focused on the data requirements (what information will be processed in the system?), the software construction (how will the application be constructed?), and the interface construction (what will the system look like? What standards will be followed?).
•Coding.
Also known as programming, this step involves the creation of the system software. Requirements and systems specifications from the System Design step are translated into machine readable computer code.
•Testing.
As the software is created and added to the developing system, testing is performed to ensure that it is working correctly and efficiently. Testing is generally focused on two areas: internal efficiency and external effectiveness. The goal of external effectiveness testing is to verify that the software is functioning according to system design, and that it is performing all necessary functions or sub-functions. The goal of internal testing is to make sure that the computer code is efficient, standardized, and well documented. Testing can be a labor-intensive process, due to its iterative nature.
Here is an Illustration of a waterfall model:



In a waterfall model, each phase must be completed in its whole before it can proceed and begin with the next phase. And every end of each phase, a recap must be done to identify if a certain project is on the right path and to analyze whether to continue or discard the project. Each phase are processed and completed one at a time. This type of model works well for smaller projects wherein all the requirements are very well understood.

There are also disadvantages in using a waterfall model: Adjusting scope during the life cycle can kill a project, No working software is produced until late during the life cycle, High amounts of risk and uncertainty, Poor model for complex and object-oriented projects, Poor model for long and ongoing projects, and Poor model where requirements are at a moderate to high risk of changing.

Iterative Development
Because of the seen problems with the Waterfall Model, system developers are looking for a new method of developing systems in which it could produce a quick output, requires lesser up-front information, and could give a greater flexibility. In Iterative Development, the project is divided into small parts. With this model, the developers are allowed to establish and demonstrate the results ahead of time while the process is ongoing and they obtain comments from its end-users. Often times, iteration is actually similar with a mini-waterfall process wherein the comments and feedbacks from the end-users from each phase will provide vital information for the accomplishment of the next phase.

Here is an illustration of an Iterative Development:


There are actually various system development models. Some are variations and evolved from the iterative and incremental approach or even in the waterfall model. I’ll be discussing some that are also used by the organizations.

Prototyping Model
Sometimes, in developing a system, it is difficult to know all the requirements needed at the beginning of a project that is why prototyping model was developed. There are some customers knows all the objectives that they want their system to be but they do not know what are detailed features and capabilities needed for their system. When the developer used a prototyping model, they build a simplified version of their proposed system and present it unto their clients as part of the development process. The clients will give then their comments and reaction which will be additional information for the system requirements.

There are a few different approaches that may be followed when using the Prototyping Model: Creation of the major user interfaces without any substantive coding in the background in order to give the users a “feel” for what the system will look like,Development of an abbreviated version of the system that performs a limited subset of functions; development of a paper system (depicting proposed screens, reports, relationships etc.), or Use of an existing system or system components to demonstrate some functions that will be included in the developed system.

On my source of information, it elaborate some steps that comprises prototyping. They are:
•Requirements Definition/Collection.
Similar to the Conceptualization phase of the Waterfall Model, but not as comprehensive. The information collected is usually limited to a subset of the complete system requirements.
•Design.
Once the initial layer of requirements information is collected, or new information is gathered, it is rapidly integrated into a new or existing design so that it may be folded into the prototype.
•Prototype Creation/Modification.
The information from the design is rapidly rolled into a prototype. This may mean the creation/modification of paper information, new coding, or modifications to existing coding.
•Assessment.
The prototype is presented to the customer for review. Comments and suggestions are collected from the customer.
•Prototype Refinement.
Information collected from the customer is digested and the prototype is refined. The developer revises the prototype to make it more effective and efficient.
•System Implementation.
In most cases, the system is rewritten once requirements are understood. Sometimes, the Iterative process eventually produces a working system that can be the cornserstone for the fully functional system.

Every model has its criticism. For prototyping model, there are two possible advantages when using it. First, Prototyping can lead to false expectations. And the other one is that Prototyping can lead to poorly designed systems.

Spiral Model
The Spiral Model was designed to include the best features from the Waterfall and Prototyping Models, and also to introduce a new module which is the risk assessment. The Spiral Model is similar to the incremental model, with more emphasis on the risk analysis. The word “spiral” is used to describe the process that is pursued as the development of the system takes place. Now, how does the best features of Waterfall and Prototyping models include in the Spiral model? In Spiral Model, similar with the Prototyping, they also develop an initial version of the system, and afterwards it was modified repetitively based on the suggestions, comments and criticism given by the costumer as they evaluate the system. However, progress of each version of the proposed system is carefully designed through the use of the steps that were involved in Waterfall Model.

Here is an illustration of a Spiral Life Cycle Model for System Development Process Models:


The Spiral Model has four phases: Planning, Risk Analysis, Engineering and Evaluation. In a software project, it passes repeatedly through the different phases in iterations. The iteration starts in the center. From the baseline spiral, which is part of the planning phase, the requirements needed for the development of the system are gathered and also the possible risks are assessed. The requirements are always gathered during the planning phase. Another phase is the risk analysis. In this phase a process is assumed to identify all the risk and the alternate solutions. And in every end of the risk analysis phase, a prototype is then produced. In the engineering phase software is then produced. At every end of the engineering phase there is always a testing that should be implemented. The evaluation phase focuses on the costumer. On the last phase, it allows the costumers to evaluate the output of the project and give there feedback on it before the developer will continue the next spiral.

I have found another figure of a spiral model. This is partly different from the other illustration that I gave earlier.

If we would try to observe well the Spiral Model is made to follow some steps:
•Project Objectives.
It is similar to the system conception phase of the Waterfall Model. Objectives are determined, possible obstacles are identified and alternative approaches are weighed.
•Risk Assessment.
Possible alternatives are examined by the developer, and associated risks/problems are identified. Resolutions of the risks are evaluated and weighed in the consideration of project continuation. Sometimes prototyping is used to clarify needs.
•Engineering & Production.
Detailed requirements are determined and the software piece is developed.
•Planning and Management.
The customer is given an opportunity to analyze the results of the version created in the Engineering step and to offer feedback to the developer.

Risk assessment is always included as a step in the development process as a means of evaluating each type of the system to determine whether development should continue or discard. The decisions will be on the costumer’s hand. If ever the client decides that there are great risk that would be identified, there is a possibility that the project would be stopped.

The advantages of using spiral model are: High amount of risk analysis, Good for large and mission-critical projects, and Software is produced early in the software life cycle. But on the other hand, there are also drawbacks that we should consider in using this type of model. Include on its shortcomings are: Can be a costly model to use, Risk analysis requires highly specific expertise, Project’s success is highly dependent on the risk analysis phase, and it does not work well for smaller projects.

V-Shaped Model
The V-Shaped model is just like the waterfall model. It is a sequential path of execution of processes. The same with the waterfall model, each phase of the V-Shaped model must be done and completed before the next phase could begin. In this model, testing is more emphasized and implemented always in this type of model.

Here is an illustration of a V-Shaped Life cycle model.

If we would be very observant, the testing procedures are developed earlier in the life cycle before the coding or programming is done. And during each phases there is a preceding implementation. The requirements are gathered similar with the Waterfall Model. A system test plan is created before the development started. The test plan focuses on meeting the functionality specified in the requirements gathering. The high-level design phase focuses on system architecture and design. An integration test plan is created in this phase as well in order to test the pieces of the software systems ability to work together. The low-level design phase is where the actual software components are designed, and unit tests are created in this phase as well. The implementation phase is, again, where all coding takes place. Once coding is complete, the path of execution continues up the right side of the V where the test plans developed earlier are now put to use.
There are also countable advantages in using V-Shaped Life Cycle Model. It is simple and easy to use similar with the waterfall model. Each phase has specific deliverables. There is a higher chance of success over the waterfall model due to the development of test plans early on during the life cycle. And another advantage of using this model is that it works well for small projects where requirements are easily understood. There are also shortcomings that you could encounter in using this model. One disadvantage is the same with the disadvantage of the Waterfall; V-shaped is very rigid. It has little flexibility and adjusting scope is difficult and expensive. Software is developed during the implementation phase, therefore there are no early prototypes of the software are produced. Model doesn’t provide a clear path for problems found during testing phases.
Reuse Model
The basic principle in using the reuse model is that systems should be built using existing components. The reuse model is definitely suited and appropriate to object-oriented computing environments. As of today’s system development industry, Object-oriented environments have become one of the premier technologies.
Within the Reuse Model, libraries of software modules are maintained that can be copied for use
in any system. These components are of two types: procedural modules and database modules.
When building a new system, the developer will “borrow” a copy of a module from the system
library and then plug it into a function or procedure. If the needed module is not available, the
developer will build it, and store a copy in the system library for future usage. If the modules are
well engineered, the developer with minimal changes can implement them. A general criticism of the Reuse Model is that it is limited for use in object-oriented development environments. Although this environment is rapidly growing in popularity, it is currently used in only a minority of system development applications.

The Reuse Model consists of the following steps:
• Definition of Requirements.
Initial system requirements are collected. These requirements are usually a subset of complete system requirements.
• Definition of Objects.
The objects, which can support the necessary system components, are identified.
• Collection of Objects.
The system libraries are scanned to determine whether or not the needed objects are available. Copies of the needed objects are downloaded from the system.
• Creation of Customized Objects.
Objects that have been identified as needed, but that are not available in the library are created.
• Prototype Assembly.
A prototype version of the system is created and/or modified using the necessary objects.
• Prototype Evaluation.
The prototype is evaluated to determine if it adequately addresses customer needs and requirements.
• Requirements Refinement.
Requirements are further refined as a more detailed version of the prototype is created.
• Objects Refinement.
Objects are refined to reflect the changes in the requirements.

There may be various models and as our fast changing environment grows, more and more models and techniques would be developed and implemented and even used by the developers to make their work well. It’s really on the developer and the organizations hand on what model would they use. The capability and assurance of success in every model depend on how big or how small the project is. Every model has its criteria on what type of project it is much useful. Mostly, developers would take parts and procedures from those various process models and then integrate it to support system development. The evolution of the system development process models has replicated the changing needs of the costumers.


References:
http://codebetter.com/blogs/raymond.lewallen/archive/2005/07/13/129114.aspx
Posted 07-13-2005 8:13 AM by Raymond Lewallen
http://www.ctg.albany.edu/publications/reports/survey_of_sysdev/survey_of_sysdev.pdf

SAD 1 : Assignment 3

Discuss the role of a systems analyst as a project manager. (at least one thousand words) .... you need to interview an analyst/project manager ..

Before I discuss the role of systems analyst as a project manager, let me define first what are systems analyst and a project manager. Enumerate the task and responsibilities on the said fields and identify the skills and characteristics needed on both sides. In addition, identify their individual roles in the organization.

Systems Analyst
As what Wikipedia said, “Systems Analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process”. The primary purpose of a systems analyst is to analyze administrative, reporting and statistical systems and develop methods for adapting these systems to electronic data processing. Traditionally, they define and maintain databases and files, logical sequence of information flow, requirements for programming and systems control parameters. They serve as the team leader for the development and implementation of system. They do this through proper planning, directing project activities, and providing work assignments to its technical personnel that was also assigned for the same project. Another important job of a systems analyst is that they are responsible in designing the software and hardware for the organization. Installations and configurations of new systems and hardware are also part of it. A systems analyst makes sure that all the company and the costumers’ needs will be catered. One of their main responsibilities is to come up with the most efficient computer solutions for the organization. They are the one in charge with the decisions on the different hardware, software and settings for the organization. That is why a systems analyst should be up-to-date with the new trends of information technology.

If we try to look back my older post on the second assignment of the said subject, I elaborated the skills and characteristics that a systems analyst must have based on what I have surf in the internet and based on our interview with the MIS supervisor of Sta. Ana Multipurpose Cooperative. From what I have surf, there are four skills and characteristics that are mentioned. They are technical skills, analytical skills, management skills and interpersonal skills. Based on what I have understood from our discussion with the SAMULCO’s MIS supervisor, he mentioned six skills and characteristics in which for him is necessary to be present in a systems analyst: Enough knowledge on systems integration or systems development, Must have a wholestic and detailed approach, Partially have a skill in calculating risk, People person with good communication skills, Must have an AQ or Adversity Quotient, and Flexible.

Project Manager
The project manager’s role is the overall responsibility for the successful planning, execution, monitoring, control and closure of a project. The project manager is the one who looks into the application of the knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to describe, organize and control the various project processes. He has the overall responsibility for the successful planning and execution of a project. He must be able to acquire combination skills including the ability to detect unstated statements, ask sensitive questions and determine interpersonal conflicts as well as more organized management talents. For some reasons, the roles of a project manager should be easy to describe but the challenging part is that the roles and responsibilities of a project manager depends on the company. Its different roles vary from company to company. In general, he is responsible for the overall success of the project.

I have surf the internet for some responsibilities of a project manager. Once the project starts, the project manager must successfully manage and control the work, including:

• Identifying, tracking managing and resolving project issues
• Proactively disseminating project information to all stakeholders
• Identifying, managing and mitigating project risk
• Ensuring that the solution is of acceptable quality
• Proactively managing scope to ensure that only what was agreed to is delivered, unless changes are approved through scope management
• Defining and collecting metrics to give a sense for how the project is progressing and whether the deliverables produced are acceptable
• Managing the overall schedule to ensure work is assigned and completed on time and within budget

The following responsibilities that are mentioned above doesn’t necessarily mean that the project manager must perform all, but he must make it sure that everything will happen. In addition to process skills, a project manager must have good people management skills. This includes:

• Having the discipline and general management skills to make sure that people follow the standard processes and procedures
• Establishing leadership skills to get the team to willingly follow your direction. Leadership is about communicating a vision and getting the team to accept it and strive to get there with you.
• Setting reasonable, challenging and clear expectations for people, and holding them accountable for meeting the expectations. This includes providing good performance feedback to team members
• Team building skills so that the people work together well, and feel motivated to work hard for the sake of the project and their other team members. The larger your team and the longer the project, the more important it is to have good team-building skills.
• Proactive verbal and written communicator skills, including good, active listening skills.

The role of system analyst as a project manager
Based on what I have searched and what I have understood in our interview with the MIS supervisor, a systems analyst also plays the role of a project manager. I can still remember that our interviewed personnel asked if we have a subject, project management. In our curriculum, we do not have a separate subject that focuses on project management because it was discussed in our software engineering discussions. He told us that it is important that we have a project management subject in preparation for our systems analysis and design subject. Going back on the role of systems analyst as a project manager, as what I have mentioned earlier and in my previous post, a systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements while on the project manager’s role is the overall responsibility for the successful planning, execution, monitoring, control and closure of a project. Both fields focus on the development and success of a project that would also be developing new information systems. A systems analyst, if compared with project manager, is also part of the project management. These means, a systems analyst can also play the role of a project manager. A project manager may assist with the gathering of business requirements, which is also a responsibility of a systems analyst. Therefore, in developing a project or a system, both systems analyst and a project manager are needed on the team and can lead the team. Both should be a part of every part in the success of the project.

References:
http://www.lifecyclestep.com/open/407.1TheRoleoftheProjectManager.htm
http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/role-of-the-project-manager.html
www.wikipedia.com

SAD 1 : Assignment 2

Interview a System Analyst and ask what skills and characteristics must a System Analyst develop in order to be more effective in any design modeling process.

Before we proceed with the skills and characteristics of a Systems Analyst, let us have a refresh of what a Systems Analysts are. Base from my previous post and according to Wikipedia, “A systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process.” Therefore, a systems analyst plays a vital role in an organization. A systems analyst make sure that all the company and the costumers’ needs will be catered. One of their main resposibility is to come up with the most efficient computer solutions for the organization. They are the one in charge with the decisions on the different hardwares, softwares and settings for the organization. That is why a systems analyst should be up-to-date with the new trends of information technology.

As I surf the internet, the Wikipedia gave me an idea of what would be the skills that a systems analyst must acquire to be successful. These are analytical skills, technical skills, management skills and interpersonal skills. As what I have understood, these four elaborated skills should be present in a systems analyst. Skills that would help a systems analyst be good and expert with his field. An analytical skill is helpful because it enable a systems analyst understand the organization and its functions and lead him/her to identify the opportunities for the organization and to analyze and solve the firm’s problems. Developing a technical skill for a systems analyst would be a great advantage. Information Technology blooms in every part of the world. Almost everything are automated. Rapid changes in our environment can not be stop. So, if a systems analyst have this type of skill, he would be able to figure out the potential and limitations of information technology. Every systems analyst must know how to supervise different projects, risk, resources, and change. For this reason, we can conclude that a systems analyst must have a management skills. Interpersonal skills help out a systems analyst’s work with its end users and its staff, which includes the programmers, analysts, and other systems professionals.

Last December 16, 2009, me and some of my fellow classmates went to look for a company that will allow us to interview their Systems Analyst. Luckily, one of them allows to cater our needs for the said subject. The Managment Information System Supervisor of the Sta. Ana Multi-purpose Cooperative, which is located at Monteverde St., Davao City., shared some of his time to answer some of our questions that would solve our second assignment is Systems Analysis and Design.

Before we begin with the interview, he asked us one by one our first names. Then, with no hesitation, we asked him what are the skills and characteristics must a Systems Analyst develop in order to be more effective in any design modeling process. Considering that he is not prepared with our question, he asked for five minutes to meditate. We patiently waited for him to be ready to answer our question. Then, suddenly, he asked us what is a Systems Analyst. One of us responded and said “Systems Analyst analyzes and solve business problems using information technology”. And as the MIS supervisor elaborated that a systems analyst not only solve but they also plan and think for a future scalablity purposes. He explained scalability purposes by citing an exmple. According to him, its like when you build a system, soon or later you would probably think to add something to. A systems analyst is the one who analyzes the problem for a certain system and then solving the problem or certain issue.

Now going on with the skills and characteristics that a systems analyst must develop in order to be more effective in any design modeling purposes. The MIS supervisor of SAMULCO shared his idea as he elaborate some skills and characteristics. And they are as follows:
- Enough knowledge on systems integration or systems development
- Must have a wholestic and detailed approach
- Partially have a skill in calculating risk
- People person with good communication skills
- Must have an AQ or Adversity Quotient
- Flexible

One by one, he explained every skills and characteristics that he have mentioned. For us to understand well why those skills and characteristics are needed.

Enough knowledge on system integrationa or systems development
As what the MIS supervisor had explained, usually a good systems analyst are also programmers. There are a lot of systems analyst but mostly are usually programmers. An experience on how to develop a system is an advantage because once you have that, you will have an idea of how to do it, what to do, what’s there, what’s not there, what’s there to think. A systems analyst should start would something small. Small scales like programming because when you do systems analysis you interact with group of people. Usually, you have a programmer, developer, documentation team and any other who are needed in the team. I would like to quote a line that the MIS supervisor shared, “A systems analyts is a part of every part.” As what I have learned, a systems analyst must have quite experience of everything. He/she should have some idea about programming, documentations, how to develop a systems and everything because if he lack idea, how would he/she understand a process, how would he/she identify what are the things that needs to be done and what lacks on the databases and etc.

Must have a wholestic and detailed approach
In systems analysis, especially if we are looking to the system, you have to identify the whole nd specific information needed for the analysis. Its like when you put yoursel in the center of the platform you will never see the whole system, what you would acutally see is the detailed or specific part of the system but if you put yourself on the top of the platform, that time you would see the whole. Consequesntly, a systems analyst must have both the wholestic and detailed approach. Though it is required to have both, it is a mistake if you go detailed first before the whole. You should think the wholestic first before you dig deeper on its detailed part. Remembering the two ways of learning which is the wholestic approach and the systematic approach. A systems analyst is a wholestic learner and a systematic learner also because if you don’t do both ways you will miss some important things that is needed in designing modeling process. You failed to align with the organizations vision, mission and goals.

Partially have a skill in calculating risk
This skill is also very important. A systems analyst is a risk taker in a very smart way. A risk is a possibility of a loss. Every systems analysis must have a skill in calculating the risk. In every move your taking there are so many risk involved. You can never stop the risk from coming but you can prepare on how it will affect you. You have the control on it. There will always be risk that something will go wrong. According to the MIS supervisor, a good systems analyst are familiar with the Murphy’s Law,which states that, “if something will go wrong, it will and it will weaken you most in an appropriate time” and believe that it would last forever. Everytime a system analyst had a project he/ she must eager and skilled o identify the risk involved in his/her project. He/she must analyze, detect and face the risk involvedin view of the fact that you can’t attain change if the analyst will not take the risk (the calculated risk). There are actually four ways on how to treat the risk: tolerate, terminate, treat, and transfer risk. Tolerate the risk, let it come. There are kinds of risk that will slightly affect you so let it come. There are also risk that you have to stop it from coming. You can do that by terminating the risk. In treating the risk you have to prepare yourself of the possible effects of the risk that you have calculated. The fourth one is transfer. So how would you tranfer the risk? Some companys transfer the risk by getting an insurance company. It is for the systems analyst to decide on what he/she would with the risk, either he/she would tolerate, terminate, treat or transfer the risk. But there are also instances that you can’t control. The usual problems that the developers or the systems analyst encounter is that the company wont allow. Resistance to change. Even though you know how to solve the problem and your sure that this solution would benefit the company but the company won’t allow for changes. Budget constraints is also a risk. No matter how good your proposal is but if the company can’t give you enough budget or don’t want to invest for that would be a big risk. Another risk is that the company’s direction is not set out for changes. If its already not on their IT plan to automate their system you can’t force the organization.A systems analyst plan, implement the plan and then identify your risk.

People person with good communication skills
Another skill or characteristic of a system analyst is a people person. It is important that a system analyst know how to interact with everybody and be familiar with good communication skills both orally and written. A people person is the one who can work together with the people around, just anybody. If you dont have a good communication skills you will ba having a hard time explaining your work and you cannot present your ideas and you will miss up with everything else. The market has changed. People would lok into number right now. They are not satisfied with a slide to present your ideas or proposals. A systems analyst must show figures, numbers on the top management to explain the company’s problems and needs. You need to explain well the reasons why the company will be needing a certain hardwares and softwares.

Must have an AQ or Adversity Quotient
Everyone of us are familiar with IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient). But these two can never be use in business. What’s important now is AQ or the Adversity Quotient. A systems analyst must have an high adversity quotient skills so that when problems came in you are able to break the problem. Not only the systems analyst but every one.A high in EQ and low in IQ can go along with everybody and a high in IQ with low EQ is a man in an island. When we talk about adversity, it is another word for problem. A high in AQ signifies on how he/she could cope up when problem arises. Typically, in developing a system, more problems frequently occur on the implementation phase. So when a problem comes up, a system analyst should be able to have a strategy on how to deal with it.

Flexible
A good systems analyst should be flexible to be able to adapt with the rapid changes in the environment. He/she should know how to handle things in a certain circumstances. Not only the analysis should be flexible but also the Systems analyst.

After that interview, I really learned a lot. New ideas and learnings was shared in a short period of time. One thing that I always remember in the words that the MIS supervisor shared is that, “Systems Analyst are made not born”. Yes, his right. Its on the experience that mold an individual to be a master on his field. No one become who he/she is now and no one have the knowledge and the position he have now at birth. He/She was not born to be a systems analyst. Its the experience that he/she had encountered to reach that far. Everyone can be a systems analyst though you are not an IT degree or a graduate on accounting because according to him(MIS supervisor), “You just have to obsess”. If you aim to be that kind of person in the future, do evrything in a smart way. Try to reach that goal. Another thing that I have learned from this experience is that if I can graduate with an IT degree (hopefully) and I would be able to have a degree also in accounting shall be considered as a greater advanage if I want to be a Systems analyst someday. We can make it up. We can be what we want to be.

References:
www.wikipedia.com

Evidences:
-still waiting for the copy of our picture-
-sorry for the inconvenience-

SAD 1 : Assignment 1

Based on your learning of Chapter 1, identify and discuss some characteristics you have as a good Systems Analyst. (at least 2500 words)

Last December 9, 2009, we had our last meeting in our Systems Analysis and Design for this year. Also, the first two group reporters are able to present there reports. The first group of presenters discuss the Chapter 1 – “The world of Systems Analyst” and followed by the group who shared about the 2nd chapter which is all about the “”. In chapter 1, the discussions was all about a Systems Analyst. They mentioned different information about a system analyst like: skills, characters, role, and etc. They did a good job in sharing their ideas on what they have understood about their reports. Listening to their presentation and being present on that day was already a plus. So, by now, I have some ideas and key points about what a Systems Analyst and how this kind of job look like. But to have a further knowledge about this kind of job, I surf the internet to gather more data or information. Combining those facts from my resources would be a great idea so that I could come up with a good answer for this assignment and I could compare myself if I have those qualities, characteristics and skills of a good Systems Analyst.

Let me define first a Systems Analyst. According to Wikipedia, “A systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process.”

Because of the rapid growth of technologies nowadays, in reality most of the companies rely on computers. That is why every computer in every company has to be set up properly and needs to be maintained in order to accommodate it’s users. A systems analysts are responsible in choosing the most efficient computer solutions for a business or organization. They make sure that the systems meet all the company’s needs. Mostly, they are in charge for deciding what software, hardware and settings that would be needed for each computer and even the different methods necessary in maintaining them. This kind of job plays a vital rle in a system development in an organization because they plan, implement and even manage multi-computer systems that’s within an organization. Thus, if you want to be a System Analyst you must have a solid understanding on computer software and hardware. You have to make sure that you are update with all the latest technologies. And lastly, you must be willing to listen to the needs and even complaints of the end-users.

The Wikipedia also elaborate four skills that a Systems Analyst must acquire to be successful. They are as follows:

• Analytical Skills
- enable systems analysts to understand the organization and its functions, which helps him/her to identify opportunities and to analyze and solve problems.

• Technical Skills
- help systems analysts understand the potential and the limitations of information technology.

• Management Skills
- help systems analysts manage projects, resources, risk, and change.

• Interpersonal Skills
- help systems analysts work with end users as well as with analysts, programmers, and other systems professionals.

These four skills must be present in a Systems Analyst. A Systems analyst needs to have an analytical skills because it is his/her duty to analyze and be aware of the organization and its functionality so that he would be able to come up with a solution that the company and the user will benefit. He/She must have this type of skill since the job of a System Analyst starts in determining the general and specific needs of the company. In terms of technical skills, a Systems Analyst should be updated with the different innovations and the purpose, uses and functionality of the different hardware components given that they are the one responsible in the maintenance and system development.They must also have an enough knowledge with different programming languages, operating systems and computer hardware. A Systems Analyst do the feasibility study in an organization. They study the following possible risk that the company may encounter when a new system is implemented or a new hardware or software was installed. They plan for projects that the organization will benefit and also planning for the organization be competitive and be able to adapt the enormous changes in its environment. That is why a systems analyst must learn to manage himself/herself and also the organization. And lastly, an interpersonal skill. Though systems analyst have a lot of responsibilities, it is essential that he/she has a good communication and personality. He/She must know how to interact with the different persons that would be involve or connected with his job like the end users, programmers and etc.

If I would be a Systems Analyst someday, is it necessary that I should be a graduate of a computer related courses like having a bachelor degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Science, or Management Information System? It is also been a question in our first reporting session in this said subject since the one interviewed by the sharers was a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. Weighing which is better a graduate of business related courses or a computer related one. Doubts comes up in my mind. I couldn’t think of what to choose. Again, I browse the internet to gain some ideas. And luckily, I found some. According to what I have read and comprehend, there are different ways in preparing yourself and get ready to become a Systems Analyst. There are several types of analyst : Systems Analyst, Business Analyst, Computer Systems Analyst and etc. Usually, many computer systems analyst earned a bachelor’s degree in computer related courses like Computer Science or Information Technology. There are also some analyst who finished with it’s bachelor degree in other field and then, they pursue computers classes just to gain computer experiences. A number of analyst increase their knowledge by having a Master’s degree in business for them to understand better the types of computers and businesses needs. What is essential for an Analyst to have is that he/she must know computers, math and planning, and also a logical thiking skills are very important. They need to be good on speaking and writing skills so that it would be much easier for them to explain their systems and be able to give a good and reliable instructions.These are just the minimum requirement for you to be get ready if you aim to be a Systems Analyst someday. But, it would be preferable if you have both business and technical education because combining both work or educational experiences would be a great advantage for you.

After discussing what a Systems Analysts are and what are some of the skills that this person must have, the next thing to know is what would be or what should be the characteristics of a good Systems Analyst. I tried to surf for possible ideas but unfortunately, I have a hard time doing so but I still found some that would help me. But I guess having those informations that I have mentioned above is enough to construct the characteristics of a good Systems Analyst. These characteristics give important clues about the nature of the work and its work environment. Hence, here are some of my ideas of what a Systems Analyst must be.

Responsible.

A Systems analyst play a vital role in system devlopment processes. Engage with different, critical and essential responsibilities. Responsibilities like planning, documentation, research, and analyzing and choosing the most efficient computer solutions.For these some reasons, I conclude that as a Systems Analyst you should be responsible with your work. As a Systems Analyst you are also considered one of the professionals that is why you should be able to do not just your work but more than your work. Its essential to be responsible in this field beacuse one single mistake would be considered a big risk for the organization.

Knowledgeable of technology.

As I mentioned above, it is one of the minimum requirement needed for your to become a Systems Analyst that you are a graduate in technical field. Recalling that some of the responsibilities of a Systems Analyst are related with computers. Computer hardwares, softwares, operating systems and even networking computers are part of their duties. And looking back with the four specified skills of a Systems Analyst, it also mentioned about technical skills. Therefore, it is considered as one quality to a Systems Analyst to be knowledgeable on technologies. Tha fact that there is a rapid growth of breakthroughs and it is not easy to adapt with the fast-evolving changes in our environment. People are more becoming technical in other words we mostly rely on the technologies that we have. A systems Analyst is responsible to keep up-to-date with the new trends of technologies and system developments.

Knowledgeable of business.

As a Systems Analyst, it is an advantage that you are knowledgeable not only in the technical field but also in the business area. Organizations nowadays are on business. If you have this intelligence, you can be either a business analyst or a system analyst. Though business analyst and systems analyst are different roles and perform different task throughout the software development lifecycle, both roles are needed and both are very important in an organization. The business analyst do primarily the documentation and gathering of the business requirements while on the other hand, systems analyst are challenge to provide a link between those business requirements with IT solutions. That is how important for an analyst to be intelligent in the field of business because there are opportunities to choose what type of analyst you want to be.

Easily get along with people.

The end-users are one of the things that a Systems Analyst must consider and gave importance. A Systems Analyst also interacts with the programmers, designers for the software interface, and also their client or the end-users. Hence, it is necessary that a Systems Analyst knows how to negotiate with the people around him. It is a good practice that you know how to get along with others so that for some circumstances or if you need some assessment for the completion of your project you will not be hesitate to approach someone. And the end-users will be comfortable in telling their complaints and other needs.

Able to communicate in writing and orally.

Systems Analyst should be able to communicate both in writing and oral. For the reason that their are informations and ideas presented in writing that you have to read and understand or for some instances you have to write your ideas so that others will understand. Often times, you have to speak and discuss your system, the process and even explain the functionalities of your system. Talking with others is also a tool to convey information effectively.

Good listener and sensitive with what people say.

In terms of software programs, every user has its own requirements. They usually differ in their needs and complaints. That is why it is important that the systems analyst must be a good listener for him/her to know the specific needs of each end user.He/She must be sensitive with their complaints. Accept all the criticism and complements from your users to be able to make your project work well and fit the needs of everyone.

Trusthworthiness

Another quality of a systems analyst is that it is trusted. Systems Analyst plays a vital role in the development of the systems so, if you are tasked as a Systems Analyst, the company trust you and looking forward for your recommendations and observations. If the company trust you, you should also show the organization and to your fellow workers that you deserve to be trusted. Worthy to be trusted is not only a quality of a Systems Analyst but also as a professional. If people saw that you are responsible and trusted, people will appreciate your work.

If those characteristics are present on you, then you will be proud and worthy to be called a good and professional systems analyst. Honestly speaking, some of those characteristics that I mentioned are not present in me so I still cannot consider myself as a good System Analyst. But I am still on the preparation and still aiming to fit on the minimum requirement of a systems analyst. I am not that responsible as of now. Often times I’m careless and do things later. But I guess, if I motivate myself and practice do things as early as I could would help me be a responsible one. Its just a matter of determination. Thinking that I am a BS in Information Technology student, I’m proud to say that I fit a bit on the second mentiond quality of a Systems Analyst. Being knowledgeable of technology doesn’t mean you should master programming. What is essential is that you have a proper general knowledge of its concepts and terms. I am not an expert in business but a systems analyst is not expected to be an expert with that field. You just have to understand decently so that you can accomodate your client who is in the field of business. In school, we have two accounting subjects so I already have some information about business. If I aim to be a System Analyst someday, I should study hard my accounting subjects. I cas assure myself that in the fourth and fifth characteristics I fit.  It would be not that hard to get along with other people. If you do good, I guess it would not be that difficult to interact with others. And I can communicate both in writing and oral way. So, I can conclude that I pass the fourth and fifth declared trait. On the sixth feature, everyone can be a good listener if they would be interested. On the last characteristics stated, Everyone can be trusted if you show to them that you can be.

Aiming to be a Systems Analyst would not be that easy. The skills that was cited above are just few of the the numerous skills that a System Analyst usually have. Analyzing is not an effortless task. It needs enough knowledge and time. A Systems Analyst is required to come up with a successful IT project. It is very important in a company to have it’s own systems analyst to help the organization in their decisions especially on the technical part and even the business field. Changes in the environment are fast-evolving that is why a company needs this person to help the organization cope up and be able to adapt this rapid changes. Be competitive in the world of global market is what all business organizations goal or objective. Hiring a Systems Analyst in an organizations is a good way and a great help to be competitive in this type of world. As of now, I can’t picture out myself be a systems analyst but maybe soon I can fill those requirements, skills and qualities and I can be a good System Analyst.


References:

http://orion.kent.edu/steinberg/sys3.htm
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.techterms.com/definition/systemanalyst
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/preedman/business-analyst-and-systems-analyst-they-are-different-677

MIS 2: Assignment 5

In the spectrum of organizational change ,which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts? (You are expected to read an article about this question) .. at least 3000 words

Organization, as defined by Wikipedia, is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment. One thing that never change is that things are always changing.Change is a thing that we must all face. Other chnges are caused by advances in technology, particularly information technology. Orgnizations nowaday wants to create an organizzational environment that is accessible to change. The fast change in our environment affects every organization. In the range of organizational change, there are different manner of change in an organization. As elaborated from the given question, they are automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shifts.

The world is rapidly changing into something that no one can easily predict and rather difficult to calculate. Hundreds of opportunities and drawbacks passed every now and then. Many business companies today are thinking of what would be the best thing to do in order to survive and grow and be competitive with the others. There are numerous techniques, solutions and methods that was declared helpful enough in improving the productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in a business. To really understand organizational change, it would be much recommended that you willl begin by understanding the basic systems and structures in organizations. This also includes the typical terms and roles in an organization.

Discussing the effect of automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shifts would be a great help for us to know its role in organizational change. Elaborate their effects on the organization. In automation, there are two factors that are basically responsible for this change. This is based on the Air University Review of Lieutenant Colonel J.R Brown ( July-August 1967 ). First is the totalsystem concept, which is on input and data-base oriented, and the other is the improvement in computer communication links. There are numerous tactics to the subject of automation and its effect on organization. These approaches are concern with: assignment of programmers and systems analyst, management of the data processing functions, the possible change in organizational structure resulting from advancementsin the design and development of informationsystems and the speed. Automation uses the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks. It is a common form of Information Technology enabled change. With automation, it enable to assist the employees perform their tasks more effieciently and effectively. Rationalization of procedures is the streamlining of existing operating procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks so that automation makes operating procedures more efficient. It follos quickly from the early automation. Example of rationalization of procedures is the Toshiba who had rationalize its procedures down to the level of installation manuals and software instruction and had to create standard names and formats for the data items in its global data warehouse. If we would try to think deeper, without a large amoutn of business process rationalization, computer technology would have been useless. Business reengineering or business process reengineering, as defined from my resources, is the main way which organizations become more effecient and modernize. Business process reengineering (BPR) transforms an organization in ways that directly affect performance. It is the key to transforming how people work. To be successful, BPR projects needs to be top down.Business Process Reengineering is the radical redesign of business processes, combining steps to cut waste and eliminating repetitive, paper-intensive tasks to improve cost, quality, and service and to maximize the benefits of information technology. Involves radical rethinking, can change the way organization conducts its business and it strikes fear, its expensive, very risky and its extremely difficult to carry out and manage. BPR builds a prototype of the new process, identify the opportunities in applying Information Technology, and understan and measure the performnce of existing processes. Paradigm Shift is a radical reconceptualization of the nature of busniess and the nature of the organization. Example of a paradigm shift is the e-business. Paradigm shift is new for me. So I surf the internet to know more about paradigm shift. Paradigm shift is defined as a means of revolutionary change in methodologies, systems and structures. It focuses more on the people’s movement. I have read a journal article excerpt that talks about organizational change as paradigm shift:analysis of the change process in a large, public university by Hasan Simsek and Karen Seashore Louis. According to what I have read, the term “paradigm” and “paradigm shift” are part of the popular language of change at the present time. The concept of paradigm is typically used to refer to any set of beliefs that swifts action. The article shares that organizations are defined by their paradigms and the radical change in organizations may be constued or a discontinous shift in this socially constructed reality.

I have read two articles from Yogesh Malhorta, the founder and chief knowledge architect of @Brint.com (a leading online sponsor of high-profile worldwide knowledge management and E-business events), which is entitled “Knowledge Management and New Organizational Forms: A Framework for Business Model Innovation” and “Knowledge Management for E-business Performance: Advancing Information Strategy to ‘Internet Time’”. Both articles discussed about the four type of change in the field of organizational change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shifts and both piece focuses on knowledge management.

As what I have understood, the impression about knowledge management is common and familiar in an information systems practice and research. Many companies use models of knowledge management that will match the industrial era. In the earlier period of information system, changes are relatively slow and predictable that most formal information system can translate and control. The traditional organizational business model aims to guarantee optimization and efficiencies that was based on developing agreements, junctions and observations. Throughout this age, information systems that was based on programs that will convey effectiveness based on the given business contexts.

Mentioned on the two articles of Malhorta, automation, rationalization of procedures and business reengineering is under the information-processing paradigm of knowledge management. Over the last few decades, information-processing view of knowledge management has been established and common in information systems practice and research. The evolution of the information-processing paradigm during the past four decades to build intelligence and manage change in business functions and processed over three phases: Automation, Rationalization of Procedures, and Reengineering.

The three phases are defined as follows:

Automation
- Increased efficiency of operations.
Rationalization of procedures
- Streamlining of procedures and eliminating obvious bottlenecks that are revealed by automation for enhanced efficiency of operations.
Reengineering
- Radical redesign of business processes that depends upon information technology intensive radical redesign of work flows and work processes.

The following three phases of information-processing paradigm are characterized by technology-intensive, optimization-driven, and efficiency-seeking organizational change. The operation of information technologies in each phases are build on a relatively predictable view of products and services as well as contributory organizational and industrial procedures.

If there is change, there is also risk. So, in an organizational change risks are always associated. Here is a figure that will show the three phases and its risk and relevant return.

If we will observe the figure given, in every phase there is an increase on the risk. In spite of the increase risk and the corresponding returns applicable to the three kinds of information technology allowed organizational change, there was a bit emphasis on business model innovation. The figure illustrates the old world of business. Most Net-based start-ups have realized that although technology is important, business model innovation is the key lever for global market share. Business model innovations represent paradigm shift that characterized not only the transformation at the level of business process and process workflows.

In the new world of business, achievements or disappointment for most project depends on the organization’s ability to continually question and adapt their programmed logic of the way things are done. The new world of business was described as a ‘world of re-everything’. The old world’s guidelines to achieve success would still exist side by side with the new world or world of re-everything. In this new world of business is more on understanding and adapting the unstoppable changing of environment.

I have to illustrations from the two article of Malhorta. And if we will try to observe them both you will see its similarities.

From the article entitled “Knowledge Management for E-Business Performance: Advancing Information Strategy to Internet Time”

From an article entitled “Knowledge Management and New Organization Forms: A Framework for Business”

As what I have observed on the two figures, new business models serve Paradigm shifts. The nature of business and the nature of the organization itself characterize paradigm shifts that are the trademark of business model innovation. An example of a new business models include Amazon.com and eToys, which are relatively new applicant that can threaten the traditional business models personified in organizations. Such business model innovations represent paradigm shifts that are characterized not on the transformation of the level of business process and process workflows but on the fundamental rethinking of the business as well as the dividing lines between an organization and the industry. The paradigm shift gives a bigger risk and larger returns than the combination of the automation, rationalization of procedures and business reengineering, which is part on the old world of business. The estimated risk and returns would be 70 percent.

Essentially, the corporate world is now encountering not only unprecedented pace of change but also radical discontinuities in such change that make yesterday’s best practices tomorrow’s core rigidities. In the new world of E-business, literally everything is up for grabs, including traditional concepts of industries, organizations, products, services, and channels of marketing, sales and distribution. The new world imposes a greater need for ongoing questioning of the programmed logic and for a very high level of adaptability to incorporate dynamic changes into the business and information architecture and grow systems that can be readily adapted for the dynamically changing business environment.

If we check the exhibit 4: From the “old world” to E-World Business: Knowledge Management for “Paradigm Shifts”, from automation wherein we replace humans with machine which means the work of the human is programmed into machine, then points into rationalization, a streamlining bottlenecks, and then point into reengineering, defined as information-technology-intensive radical redesign. These three are categorized as part of the old world, which then point towards the new world, or E-World of Business, a knowledge management for paradigm shifts.

If I were to choose which of the four, automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shift, is considered as the most radical type of change I guess all of them are radical but if I were to choose only one that would be the automation. As what I have understood the three first mentioned are all part on the old world of business and paradigm shifts belongs to the world of re-everything. The old world of business is still present on the today’s modern world of business. As the years increase, changes also escalate. However, what I considered as the fundamental or the original type of change is the automation. Why I choose automation? It is because the rapid changes in an organization are caused when human is changed with machines and information technology is always appearing now and then. In addition, without automating everything, there is still change but not that rapid. As what we have observed, everything is automated, computerized and work are becoming easy because of these innovations. Technology nowadays is fast evolving and throughout the years many new inventions and technologies are appearing. Therefore, I assume that the radical type of change in an organization is the automation.



Reference:
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/jul-aug/brown.html
http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/business-process-reengineering.html
http://www.jstor.org/pss/4105562
Articles:
Malhorta, Y. (2000). Knowledge Management for E-Business Performance: Advancing Information Strategy to Internet Time. @Brint.com LLC, USA.
Malhorta Y. (2000). Knowledge Management and New Organization Forms: A Framework for Business Model Innovation. @Brint.com LLC, USA.

MIS 2: Assignment 4

You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS plan. (at least 5000 words)

Being invited by the university’s president to prepare for an Information System plan for our university is a priviledge but it would not be that easy to conduct and create an IS plan. But having this chance is an advantage and opportunity for me ,as an Information Technology student of the said university, to be able to know and examine the processes of the university’s infomation system.

But before hand, let us have some review of some key points that was already discussed and defined in the previous assignments. Let’s define Information System, Planning, Strategice planning and Strategic Information System plan.

Information System.
As I explore the internet for definitions, I have gathered different ideas about information system. As what I have understand, Information Systems were thought to be similar with corporate data processing and was considered as some back-room oepration in support of day-to-day ordinary task.

Planning.
As described by the wikipedia, “Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them”.

Strategic Planning.
According to a very reliable source, which is the Wikipedia, Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.It is the formal consideration of an organization’s future course. Various techniques can be utilized in strategic planning. This include SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opprtunities, and Threats), PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological), STEER analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors) and EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal).

Information System Planning.
Refering to what I have understand on my researches and looking back to what I have post in the previous assignment, Information System Plan can also be compared as a strategic planning in a management or organization. In developing an IS plan you need to formalized your objectives, priorities and authorization and must identify what specific project you wnat in the future and especially, it should be flexible so that for some circumstances it can be adjusted if necessary. An IS plan should be useable, timely, maintainable, quality and reproducible.

Strategic Information System Planning.
According to an article of Somendra Pant and Cheng Hsu entitled “Strategic Information System Planning: A review” that I have read after surfing the internet, Strategic Information System (SISP) is the analysis of a corporation’s information and processes using business informationmodels together with the evaluation of risk, currentneeds and requirements. They noted that SISP is a management function and not a technical one. SISP is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its information Technology investment. It is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Another definition that I have read about SISP is from the article of Albert L. Lederer and Vijay Sethi entitled “The Implementation of Strategic Information System Planning Methodologies”. On the abstract of there documentation, they are able to define SISP. It says that Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) is the process of deciding the objectives for organizational computing and identifying potential computer applications which the organization should implement. This article gives a thorough definition of SISP and then illustrates it with three methodologies.

Planning for an Information System always start by identifying with what the customers and the organization needs. So, in planning for an Information System in the university it is necessary to equate with what the university, the faculty and staff and especially the students’ needs. And as what I have observed after staying in the university for almost four years, there are numerous of complaints from the student. Even I, I have some moan that the university will soon listen and be implemented if possible. I do agree that the university gave quality education and are able to produced competitive gradutes but there are some things that the university are not able to give to the student, faculty and staff. Not enough facilities and classrooms are just few of the things the university must look after for the benefit of everyone.

If I will be invited to prepare an IS plan, I would recommend that I’m going to make a Strategic Information System Planning. Planning is very vital for an organization. Doing a strategic way of planning is more reliable because of the fast-evolving changes in our environment. An information system plan is mostly similar with strategic planning. It is important to formulized your goals, vision, mission and objectives first. And since the university has its own vision, mission and goals, we can now procede with our strategic information system planning.

As the years had passed, numerous information technologies, methodologies for system development and new ideas of information system are appearing. The only thing that never change is that things are always changing. In fact, more and more new hardwares and softwares are emerging. Everyone are aiming to be updated with what is the new trend in technologies, softwares, programming languages and others because we want to. That is why when we plan, we have to make sure that it is flexible enough to be able to adapt and be competitive with the rapid changes in our environment. That is why I want to organize a Strategic Information System Planning to our university.

On the article of Pant and Hsu, they have mentioned there that the evolution of information system deals with the three-era model of John Ward,et al.(1990). They said that these eras are related and significant. The three eras are as follows and is defined with its characteristics:
60s : Data Processing (DP) – standalone computers, remote from users, cost reduction function.
70s & 80s : Management Information systems (MIS) – distributed process, interconnected, regulated by management services, supporting the business, user driven.
80s & 90s : Strategic Information Systems (SIS) – networked, integrated systems, available and supportive to users, relate to business strategy, enable the business – business driven.

The overall applications of the three mentioned era model of Information System are need to be planned and managed for its future contribution to the business. This applications are categorized as strategic (applications which are critical for the future success), Turnaround (applications which may be of future strategic importance), Factory (applications which are critical to sustaining existing business) and support (applications which improve management and performance but are not critical to the business).

It is not an easy task to make a Strategic Information System Planning, which is in the present SIS era, because different processes are inserted in the organization’s business processes. Bear in mind that these systems are required to accommodate all the demands of the organization, serving the goals, complaints of the costumers, and as well as gathering the organization’s data processing and MIS needs. The point is that planning an Information System is not merely about aiming to cut the cost but it is essential to weigh all the benefits that the organization may have.

Strategic Information System Planning Methodologies.
Often times, an organization dont know how to act the tasks in Strategic Information System Planning because it is difficult and complex. According to Pant and Hsu, Vitale, et al.(1986) classify SISP methodologies in to two categories: impact and alignment. Those SISP methodologies that helps construct and align new uses of Information Technology belongs to impact category. While on the alignment category are those methodologies that support Information System objectives and organizational goals.

Impact metthodologies consist of Value Chain Analysis and Critical Success Factor Analysis. While reading on the article of Hsu and Pant, it was stated there that “According to Michael Porter (1984), every firm is a collection of activities that are performed to design, produce, market, deliver, and support its product. All these activities can be represented using a value chain.” Current rapid technological change in information system and information technology is a competitive advantage in an organization who have a better technology than its competitors. Value chain analysis is a form of business activity analysis that helps in formulating information system that would probably increase the organization’s profit. As what I have understood, the core potency of this type of methodology is that it concentrates on direct value adding activities of an organization and in this way throws the right of information system into domain of adding value than cutting the cost. Though it sound useful enough in an organization,there are few drawbacks in a value chain analysis method. Its good to hear that value chain analysis provides higher information for the organization but it fails deliver the development and implementation issues that may occur and fails to identify the firm’s data structure. Critical success factor analysis is considered as an impact methodology but it can also be an alignment tactic. It focuses on the core information requirements in an organization and business unit. And the best thihg with a critical success factor analysis is that it is easy to implement and can be done with a lesser number of resources. Still, there are some weaknesses in this method. It fails to classify the data architecture of an organization and do not draw attention with value added features of an information system.

Business System Planning (BSP), Strategic System Planning (SSP), and Information Engineering are categorized as part of alignment methodology. Business System Planning was developed by IBM and it combines top down planning and bottom up implementation. We already recognize that in an organzation or every orgainzation has its own vision, mission, goals and objectives. In this methodology, it mainly focuses on the business processes of an organization. Every business processes are analyzed for their data needs and after that data classes are then identified. And if there are similar data classes, they are combined to develop a database. There are several steps in Business System Planning that needs to be followed orderly: Gaining Executive Commitment, Preparing for the Study, Starting the Study, Defining Business Processes, Defining Data Classes, Analyzing Current Systems Support, Determining the Executive Perspective, Defining Findings and Conclusions, Defining the Information Architecture, Determining Architectural Priorities, Reviewing Information Resources Management, Developing Recommendations and Action Plan,and Reporting Results. The study produces vast amount of information. Usually, BSP places more importance on the top management and the executive involvement on their analysis. When we look at the top down strategy of a Business System Planning, it looks similar with the Critica Success Factor Analysis method. It is for the reason that it build up an overall knowledge on business plans and supports the Information System needs through discussions. The disadvantages of having this methodology is that it solemnly expect a degree experience in Information Technology within its planning team, there would be risk in connecting the gap of the top down planning and bottom up implementation, and it is timely and needs more effort for its successful implementation. Strategic Systems Planning was developed by Robert Holland which is almost similar with Business Systems Planning. It is also called PROplanner. With this method, it characterized a business functional model through investigating the major functional areas in business. After definign the business function model, you will be able to derived your data architecture and new systems with its implementation schedule will be derived having the data architecture as its basis. One thing that SSP is different from BSP is its automated way of storage, manipulation, and presentation and handling of the datas being collected during the SISP process. SSP has its own steps that should be followed accordingly: Analyze major functional areas, Develop a business functional model, Determine information requirments, Combine information requirements into generic data entities and subject databases, Derive IS architecture, and Define new systems and their implementation schedule. Information Engineering (IE) was a method developed by James Martin (1982). This method offer several techniques that would help in building enterprises, data and process models. As what I have observed, Information Engineering is more on technical approach than any other SISP methodologies that I have mentioned earlier. All its task are relying on the structured techniques which relates on the planning, analysis, design and construction of enterprise information system. IE differs from other methodologies because of its automated tools that would link to the output of the methodology to the succeeding systems development efforts. This reason is considered as the major strength of Information Engineering methodology. Its weakness would be long time planning exercise and the difficulty of finding a team leader that would perfectly fit to its criteria.

An organization generally apply one out of a number of methodologies in order to perform a Strategic Information System Planning studies. But whatever we choose, we cannot dehy the fact that risks are always there. You may encounter problems in the analysis or implementation phase. Certain problems may occur on the structure and implementation part. But the commonly identified problem of the IS managers in the implementation of one of these three alignment methodolgies is the failure to secure the top management commitment for executing the outputs, the requirement of substantial further analysis and the difficulty in looking for a good team leader.

If I were to decide what motehodology I would use is that I prefer to have a method that have both as impact and alignment categorization. Probelm are always there. Risk can never be changed because risk are always coming. One thing that I would focus with is to be able to find a way that will help me face the risk and pursue my IS plan. Technologies today are evrywhere that is why I need to have a method that is willing to adapt with the rapid growth of breakthroughs. Comparing the different methodologies, I guess I would be using a Strategic System Planning. I choose this because out of the three, it focuses with the ddata, define a data architecture and it has an automated support ,which the BSP lacks. SSP is almost the same with IE but I prefer to choose this because I am aiming to expedite the implementation of my Information System plan. If I would go with IE, it is defined that it needs longer time to be finished. So it takes time on the implementation. With regards to steps in Strategic System Planning, it is quite the same with a Business System Planning. What differs is the word automated. Business System Planning dont have an automated support while on the other hand, Strategic System Planning uses automated design tools. With this method, users are guided with the on-line data collection and maintenance. In this model, there is already a software that would produce the reports and provides a data dictionary interface for sharing SSP data. And comparing to its individual steps, the Strategic System Plannig has the lesser steps that needs to be followed.

Improving a Strategic Information System Plan is onee of the major challenge that an Information System executives are facig until the present days. That is why, there is always a need of effective planning ahead of time so that as early as it would take, you will be able to realize the potential collision of computer-based information systems. Problems and risk may come in the middle of your ongoing Strategic Information System Plan or on its implementation but you can never avoid it. Actually, there are four ways on how to treat the risk. It includes: tolerate the risk, terminate the risk, treat the risk , and transfer the risk. If risk would come you must know how to face it. Its up to you if what would you do with the risk. Either you tolerate it, terminate, treat or transfer. There are some risk that is not applicable to be tolerated so you have to look for another way on how you could face it. But, every plan would be pursued and be fastly implemented if evryone would cooperate. I think that would be the best and number one step. What part would you be in the implementation or even in the analysis phase of Strategic Information System Plan, you must be cooperative to avoid more conflicts. There are some instances that the organization had a problem with resistance to change. Even if you already know how to solve the organization’s problem, you know what would be the best solution for the company to be more competitive with the rapid change in information but if the company resist to accept that possible or recommended solution everything would end up nothing. That is why there is a need for a cooperation between the top management, the users, the IS executives, the systems analyst and everyone who will be involved.The influence of new information technology has been one reason why organizations want to have their own Information System.

Adapting to changes is not an easy task especially in an organization. In changes there are risk. With new information technologies, the risk in an organization is the budget or cost. If the university will be more cooperative and aggressive to adapt with the rapid changes and wants to have an Information System of its own, it would be a lesser effort if they will be willing to give the required resources, enough cost and will be eager to give time for this would be a good thing to be able to ake your Strategic Information System Plan applicable, successful and reliable. If the university want to be globally competitive and aims to be the premier university in the South-east Asia, then they should be supportive and updated with what is new in the world of Information Technology.


References:
Pant, S. & Hsu, C.,1995. Strategic Information System Planning: A review. In: 1995 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, May 21-24, 1995, Atlanta, Georgia.

Article from Albert L. Lederer & Vijay Sethi : “The Implementation of Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies”

www.wikipedia.com