Skills on Sale

Computer Science covers different attributes and skills to perform the specified goal for this field. As a computer science student, I tend to focus in system analyzing, system designing, system engineering and web designing. Below are additional skills that I can offer:

• Database Design
• Database Administration
• Multimedia Design
• Content Writing
• Image Processing

Enterprise Resource Planning

Note: Assignment 12 of System Analysis and Design

ERP System

ERP System or Enterprise Resource Planning System is a complete solution package including the software and hardware utilities provided for the business organizations and institutions. This system is developed for the enterprise-wide systems which supports all the operational functions of an entire organization.

The introduction of ERP systems into organizations is very successful due to the fact that it is produced for enterprise-wide systems. And because it is enterprise-wide, it is a major undertaking and would need longer time to install and is very costly.

The advantage for having an ERP system is that the new system is obtained at a lower cost and risk compared to having an in-house software development. The cost is lower because major functions of the system are already present on the base system. The risk is lower because the base system is well-developed and tested, and a lot of other organizations are already using it making it have a successful track record.

SAP

SAP is one of the software developing companies that provide ERP systems to many enterprise-wide organizations. Large corporations such as IBM and Microsoft use SAP products to run their businesses.

SAP applications provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents. The latest technology SAP offers to business organizations is called the R/3 system.


R/3 is a comprehensive set of integrated business applications that uses the client/server model and provides the ability to store, retrieve, analyze, and process in many ways corporate data for financial analysis, production operation, human resource management, and most other business processes.

Kodak
Kodak is one of the customers of SAP. Kodak uses SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW) to improve its business. Eric Hunt, the ERP global data warehouse project manager at the worldwide leader in imaging, says that “We’re using a single instance of an R/3® global design to run all of our business processes worldwide. Then we use SAP® BW to merge crucial data from R/3 and non-SAP systems to provide us with easy access, through a user-friendly graphical interface, into the critical issues that drive our business.”

               

ERP Development Model

According to Ahituv, Neumann, and Zviran (Spring 2002), the following is the ERP life cycle model based on case studies identified during their literature research and system implementation methodologies developed by system vendors.

ERP Life Cycle Model

1.       Selection Phase

The objective of this phase is to identify the ERP package most appropriate for the organization and the technological infrastructure needed for it. In this phase, the standard activities and those unique to the organization are reviewed in order to determine the project boundaries.

2.      Definition Phase

This phase includes all the preparatory activities for the implementation phase that follows. The system components that will be included in the implementation are defined and the implementation plan is prepared.

3.       Implementation Phase

As the main phase of the ERP life cycle, its objective is to link the ERP system to the organizational processes so that when the system moves to the operation phase, its contribution to the organization would be at the maximum. During this phase, the organizational processes are redesigned to work with the ERP system, the system is implemented, user training and acceptance testing is performed. This phase is iterative and the iteration begins at the conclusion of the acceptance tests of the previous iteration.

4.     Operation Phase

In this phase, the ERP system is in operation, is maintained, and is upgraded, if needed. This is the longest phase of the ERP life cycle and can last for several years.

Comparison to SDLC

The major phases of SDLC include Definition, Development and Implementation, and Operation. On the other hand, ERP has Selection, Parallel Definition Development and Implementation, and Operation.


The selection phase is not part of the SDLC model because the systems are developed internally. In ERP, selection phase takes place at the start.


In SDLC, the definition phase is performed before the development and implementation phase. Unlike in ERP, the definition phase takes place in parallel to the process of development and implementation since the essence of ERP model is the mutual fit of the system and organization.

Source:

http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=onoxYRropMoC&pg=PA311&lpg=PA311&dq=From+a+news+article+or+internet+information,+find+an+example+of+an+organization+that+is+installing+an+ERP+package.&source=bl&ots=Xiow5qPgbZ&sig=PmTj3WdEH8YXtrQ6jnQNZZ6zWxc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CwxGT8zUJeyviQfstPiEDg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=From%20a%20news%20article%20or%20internet%20information%2C%20find%20an%20example%20of%20an%20organization%20that%20is%20installing%20an%20ERP%20package.&f=false

http://www.sap.com/belux/platform/netweaver/businessintelligence/pdf/Kodak_50036402_e.pdf

http://searchsap.techtarget.com/definition/SAP

http://searchsap.techtarget.com/definition/R-3

http://paul-hadrien.info/backup/LSE/IS%20470/litterature%20review/CSF%20ERP%20(old).pdf

Choosing A Good Deployment Environment

Note: Assignment 11 of System Analysis and Design

By the definition of Satzinger, Jackson, and Burd in their book entitled “Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World”, application deployment environment is the configuration of the computer hardware, system software, and networks, in which the new application software will operate. Thus, to ensure that the application software for the system will run efficiently, choosing the right deployment environment is really important. The deployment environment must be defined in a way that it has to match the specific requirements of the application. 

In defining the deployment environment, some factors are considered by a system analyst:

·   Compatibility with system requirements

The system analyst must be able to know and determine what would be the best requirement such as the user locations, speed of access and update, security, and transaction volume would best fit the defined requirements of the system. Each task of the system must be functional in a way that it would result to the desirable output. 

·   Compatibility among hardware and system software

This refers to the effective combination of hardware and software choices for the application system. Considering that the development of hardware and software are made only by two or three companies, then there would be efficiency issue when you try to use a combination of hardware or software from different developers. But there are also instances that other combinations result to a better performance than the package set by a company. Thus, the system analyst should be able to determine the arrangement between the hardware and software that are compatible to each other.

·  Required interfaces to external systems

There are systems that require interactions to external systems. It is when the external system needs an input data from the current system or either the current system needs to process the data from the external system. And so to enable the efficient communication between the two systems, there should be a good interface that is compatible between the two systems.

·   Conformity with the IT strategic plan and architecture plan

If the system software does not conform to the strategic and architecture plan of the company, then there would be a failure on the project because the goal of the system is not met.

·   Cost and schedule

The cost of the deployment environment should also be kept in mind. The cost of the deployment environment, if possible, should be low so that the company will have to spend only a low amount. The schedule is also considered. It means that the time to gather and assemble the deployment environment should be conforming to the schedule plan of the system.

     To sum it up, the analyst must be able to define an application deployment environment that would enable the application software to meet the requirements of the system, fits the IT strategic plan and architectural plan of the organization, and should be acquired and configured within the accepted limits of budget and schedule.

Source:
http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=onoxYRropMoC&pg=PA292&lpg=PA292&dq=application+deployment+environment+system+analysis+and+design&source=bl&ots=Xiow0iRfeW&sig=FK9_tHj82Teff1iGBVWuXZr5L7U&hl=tl&sa=X&ei=8jk9T6mbOefmmAWkpr2tBw&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=true

Evaluating High-Quality DFD

Note: Assignment 10 of System Analysis and Design

In systems analysis and design, there are a lot of tools used to understand fully the structure and the different processes of the system being studied. One of the tools used to recognize the structure of the system is by the use of visual diagrams. Visual diagrams help people to know the general overview of the system, which eventually would lead to the understanding of the whole system when presented with more types of the visual diagrams. There are many types of diagrams to model the systems. They may be diagrams that show the structure of the system or diagrams that depicts what happens in the system. There are also diagrams that depict the flow of data. One of them is the data flow diagram or DFD.

Data Flow Diagram

Data Flow Diagram or DFD is a structural diagram that illustrates the flow of data from external entities into the system, shows how the data moved from one process to another, as well as its logical storage (Ambler, 2009). Data Flow Diagram shows how the data is processed by a system in terms of inputs and outputs (SmartDraw). In short, DFD’s illustrates how the data flows and how it is handled by the system.

Data Flow Diagram Symbols

In Gane and Sarson notation of a Data Flow Diagram (Ambler, 2009), there are four symbols used to illustrate the flow of data.

· Squares for External Entities

Squares represent the external entities of the system. These external entities may be the source or the destination of the data. For example, in an enrolment system of a university, a student gives his or her basic information to the University for Them to have a record on him. Therefore, the student is a source of information and thus is drawn inside a square or a box.

External entities are named appropriately. Squares of the same name can be duplicated one or more times to avoid line crossing on the diagram. With this, the diagram would be much cleaner or organized well. In identifying an external entity, one must determine first the system boundary. The system boundary is the limitation of what the system is able to process. The external entities should be outside of the system being studied. External entities are usually beyond the area of influence of the system developer. Meaning, there are instances that some external entities could be omitted unintentionally. Thus, identifying external entities should be done carefully.

· Rounded Corner Rectangles for Processes

The rounded rectangles represent the processes of the system. Inside the rounded rectangle, there is a two-partitioned space or sometimes there are three. The top partition shows a number that depicts its process number or its order on the system. In the middle is the name of the process that is to be used. And on the bottom partition, it is written there the actor or the person involved on that particular process. It is him or her that receives the data and processes it. The processes we are talking about are the processes that take data as an input and do something to it; example is outputting it or storing it to a database.

Processes show that there is a change or transformation of data happening. So when there is a transformation, then it is obvious that there is an input data and an output data. Naming of the process should also be done rightfully. In naming the process, it should consist of a verb and an object of the verb. There is no subject on the name of the process and the word “process” should not be present on the process name. Each process should also represent only one function or action. So if there is an “and” on the name, then there are already two or more processes or functions. That process should be separated then.

On a system, there could be leveling of processes. With leveled processes, there are some processes that are sub-processes of a process. So to identify them easily and clearly, numbering the process is allowed. For the sub-process, one could identify them by using a decimal notation. For example, a main process has 3 sub-processes. So the main process, assuming it is the first process, would be 1 and the sub-processes would be 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3.

The arrangement of processes in a data flow diagram is generally from top to bottom and left to right. This is done to have a uniformity of the diagrams. It would also help to read and understand efficiently the flow of the data.

· Open-ended Rectangles for Data Stores

These open-ended rectangles are the data stores or storages. When we mean data stores, it could be physical or logical. Logical data stores are the databases or the XML files of the system while the physical data stores are the filing cabinets or the stacks of papers. Data stores are important because it has the summary of all the information gathered and to be used by the system.

· Arrows for Data Flows

Arrows represent the direction of the data flow. It shows where the data comes from and where the data goes into. It connects the three other shapes mentioned earlier. The data that we refer in the system may be the electronic data or the physical items such as the documents and papers.

When there are two or more processes that output data that flows to the same destination, then the arrows could be joined. This also means that when same data goes to two or more separate destinations, then the arrow could be forked or divided into multiple arrows going to multiple paths.

One thing to mind about the arrow or the data flow is that it should represent data only and not the control. To show the control of data, one can do that by using another type of diagrams. For in data flow diagram, it only shows how the data flows in the system.

In naming the arrows or data flow, it should be done by labeling it with the specific data that is passed either as an input or as an output. The name should not contain the word “data” for it is obvious already that the arrow represents a data.

Figure 1. Symbols on a Data Flow Diagram or DFD

Constructing Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

To construct a quality data flow diagram, a procedure should be followed so that we could be ascertained that the diagram we are making is correct and understandable even by a person that does not know a data flow diagram.

1. Identify and list external entities.

The first thing to do, and one of the most crucial parts in constructing a data flow diagram, is to identify all of the external entities. As what have mentioned previously about external entities, these are the objects that are beyond the system boundary. They are usually the source of data that goes into the system.

2. Identify and list input and output data.

The next step is to list down all the input data from the external entities to the system and all the output data from the system to the external entities.

3. Create the context diagram.

After identifying the external entities and the different input and output data, a context diagram could now be drawn. A context diagram is a diagram that shows the flow of data between the system and the external entities. The system is on the center and surrounding it are the external entities. The system is represented as one process that receives data from the external entities and outputs data to the external entities.

4.       Identify business functions.

Now that we have the context diagram, we could now delve deeper on the specifics functions and actions on the system. So we have to list down all the processes of the system.

5. Identify data connections between business functions.

As we are in knowledge that processes are done sequentially, we now have to identify the correct sequence of the processes. We also have to determine the data that flows between them.

6. Confirm data distribution and reception.

Next is to confirm that the data from the external entities goes into the system and is received by the correct process that needs the data.

7. Trace and record the data flows of the system.

Tracing and recording the data is done to ensure that the data flow is correct and there is no data that strayed to different process.

8. Connect diagram segments.

If there would be segmented diagrams, then we should find the connection between those diagrams. If possible, there should be no segmented processes on the system. All processes should be connected to each other.

9. Verify data flow source and destination.

We should now verify that in every process, the data that goes in must go out, even if there is no transformation of data that happened. In this step, we should check if there is an existing diagramming mistake such as a black hole, grey hole, or a miracle.

Black holes are processes that have input flows but do not produce output flows. Grey holes, on the other hand, are processes that produce output that could not possibly be produced given a certain input. And lastly, a miracle pertains to process that does not have any input but was able to produce an output flow.

10. Simplify and redraw the diagram.

After checking that there are no errors on the diagram, we could now simplify the diagram and redraw it to finalize.

11. Repeat step 1 if needed.

If still not sure on the finished diagram, we could go back to step 1 and verify for any changes that occurred in the new diagram that did not appear on the previous diagram.

Characteristics of a High Quality DFD

A high quality Data Flow Diagram should be:

· Accurate

A DFD’s accuracy is measured in terms of the number of the diagramming mistakes present such as the black holes, grey holes, and miracles. A high-quality DFD should not have any of these mistakes. To avoid the mistakes, one should follow carefully the guidelines on how to construct a data flow diagram.

· Readable

A Data Flow Diagram is readable when it is not too complex. Too much complexity could result to hard time in tracing the flow of data. Following the rule of arranging the processes from top to bottom and left to right would really help to decrease the complexity of the diagram. Numbering of the processes would also increase the readability of the DFD. Proper naming of the components of the system should also be done rightly.

Sources:

http://www.agilemodeling.com/artifacts/dataFlowDiagram.htm

http://www.smartdraw.com/resources/tutorials/data-flow-diagrams/

http://spot.colorado.edu/~kozar/DFDtechnique.html

http://faculty.babson.edu/dewire/Readings/dfdmistk.htm

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/69651149/Chapter-6

USEP Pre-Enrollment Data Flow Diagram

Note: Assignment 9 of System Analysis and Design

Context Data Flow Diagram

Logical Data Flow Diagram

Physical Data Flow Diagram

USEP Pre-Enrollment Activity Diagram and Fully Developed Use Case Description

Note: Assignment 8 of System Analysis and Design

USEP Pre-Enrollment Use Case

Note: Assignment 7 of System Analysis and Design

Use Case:	Secure USEPAT Application Form
Actors:	Student, UGTO
Scenario:	The student goes to UGTO office to inquire for the requirements for the examination. The UGTO faculty would then give the list of requirements, application form, and a pay slip. The student would then fill up the form and pay slip.
Use Case:	Pay USEPAT Examination Fee
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student presents the pay slip and pay the examination fee to the cashier.
Use Case:	Issue USEPAT Examination Fee Receipt
Actors:	Cashier
Scenario:	The cashier would issue the examination fee receipt to the student paying.
Use Case:	Submit USEPAT Requirements
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student submits all the requirements for the USEPAT examination including the examination fee receipt.
Use Case:	Confirm USEPAT Schedule
Actors:	Student, UGTO
Scenario:	The UGTO faculty would schedule the student’s examination date and then issue the student his or her examination permit.
Use Case:	Take USEPAT Examination
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student would present the examination permit for his or her to take the exam. An UGTO official will facilitate the exam and would also issue the permit to get the result of the exam.
Use Case:	Verify USEPAT Result
Actors:	Student, UGTO
Scenario:	The student presents the permit to get result to the UGTO faculty. The UGTO faculty would then verify the permit and gives the result to the student.
Use Case:	Undergo Interview
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student would then go to his or her chosen college to undergo an interview under a faculty staff.
Use Case:	Verify Admission
Actors:	Student, College Faculty
Scenario:	The student would go back to the college faculty to receive his or her admission slip if successfully admitted or not.
Use Case:	Secure EBP Application Form
Actors:	Student, Institute of Language Faculty
Scenario:	The student who got a rating of 7 or below in English in the entrance examination would request an application form for the English Bridge Program to the Institute of Language faculty. The faculty would then issue the student the application form and a pay slip.
Use Case:	Pay EBP Fee
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student presents the pay slip and pay the EBP fee to the cashier.
Use Case:	Issue EBP Fee Receipt
Actors:	Cashier
Scenario:	The cashier would issue the examination fee receipt to the student paying.
Use Case:	Undergo EBP
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student goes to a class for 10 days to improve his or her skills in English.
Use Case:	Undergo Medical Examination
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student would undergo a medical examination in the University Clinic to be examined by the University Doctor.
Use Case:	Issue Medical Examination Result
Actors:	Medical Examiner
Scenario:	The medical examiner would then give the student his or her medical examination result.
Use Case:	Secure Medical Examination Result
Actors:	Student
Scenario:	The student gets the examination result and keep it for the enrollment.

John Juan and Peter Pedro

Note: Assignment 6 of System Analysis and Design

When it comes to the communication between two or more people from different fields of work and specialty, there is a tendency that they will not understand each other and most probably there will be misunderstanding and argument to decide who is right or who is wrong or whose idea or proposal is better than the other. Misunderstanding happens mostly to people who discusses all about highly critical issues that needs careful and, if possible, the highest attention. This happens as for the reason that the topic they talk over is very important to each other due to the huge effect on both sides. One wrong decision may lead to a loss of business, lowering of the level of integrity of a person, and other discouraging events. At some point in time, one person may think that his solution is better than the other who believes that his way is the better way out. Both of them may be right anyhow, but what is being weighed in here is of which consequences would solve the problem, yield far better results, and lesser expenditure and risks. The most important thing to consider is that the benefits should outweigh the costs.

The Situation
By understanding the situation between John Juan and Peter Pedro, we could assume that the condition needed to happen or to meet is the call for a change or improvement in the information systems of the department which is managed by Peter Pedro where the systems professional assigned is John Juan. It seems that Juan aims to investigate first the processes of the whole system, reviewing and observing the details of how the old system functions, and after that, determine which parts really needs improvements and are targeted for renovation or should be kept. On the other hand, Pedro believes that Juan’s style is just like any other he had experienced where the professional team suggests to make similar steps as mentioned by Juan then after all they (Pedro’s department) only gets the same old system but just slightly customized. Pedro now does not want to be confined in the old system so he recommends that they better identify a list of requirements for their system and let Juan and his team develop it.
This paper aims to answer the following questions or problems: 

1. Obviously these two workers have different views on how the systems analysis phase should be conducted. Comment on whose position you sympathize with the most.
2. What method would you propose they take? Why?

To understand more of the situation and to answer the above mentioned questions and problems, it seems right to understand first the nature of the two characters involved in the dialogue, the system analyst John Juan and the department manager Peter Pedro.

John Juan

John Juan, as stated in the situation, is a system professional working on a project for the company managed by Peter Pedro. Specifically, John Juan can be called as a system analyst based on the conversation of two people concerned. To know the duties and responsibilities of John Juan, we should first define and understand what a system professional, more specifically a system analyst is. So what is the work of a system analyst?

Based on the previous assessments, and by my own understanding, a system analyst is a specialist in formulating or designing solutions, specifically by developing information systems, for a wide variety of businesses and other organizations that needs support in technological aspect. A system analyst is married to the concept of system development life cycle (SDLC). He or she does the following:

• A system analyst investigates the problem.
• The first step of the system development life cycle is to investigate the current status of the client company or what is the problem all about. System analyst gathers basic information of everything the system is all about. He or she interviews some of the employee who are going to be the users of the system, or asks the person who truly understands the whole process or the flow of the business (for example, in an enrollment system, a system analyst should know what would be the different steps of the enrollment, who are the people involved in this step, or how long will the operational time be). The system analyst would also ask the client to define his or her basic requirements that the to-be-system must have.
• A system analyst analyzes the situation.
• After the system analyst gathers enough information, he or she would now analyze the situation. He or she would work on understanding everything that happens during the operation of the system. The system analyst studies the problem, what is the possible reason why such problem arises, and what would be the best way to solve the problem considering many things such as efficiency, cost, and other components critical to a business. In analyzing, a system analyst would still be in constant communication to the client for it would be faster to understand the unique process of the business.
• A system analyst designs the solution.
• By fully understanding the problem, the system analyst could now design the system. He or she creates the database design, the user interface, and other important parts of the system while still considering the wants and needs of the client company. The system analyst also decides what tools and approaches he or she must use for the system to be finished on time and efficiently.
• A system analyst develops what he designed.
• In this step, the system analyst now uses different tools such as programming tools and other utilities needed in developing systems. The system analyst now may also be called a system developer. He or she develops the system based on the design created, where he displays his or her skills in programming, constructing the system by modules for an easier approach.
• A system analyst installs the system.
• In this stage, the system has now attained the defined requirements of the client. The system is now to be deployed in the operation area ready to be tested by the users. The system analyst should train the users on how to use the finished system or how it works.
• A system analyst evaluates the installed system.
• Even though the system has finished developing, the system analyst should now evaluate how the users reacted to the system or how are they with the system. He or she should know if the client is happy with the resulting system the system analyst has developed. If there are any requirements failed to meet, the system analyst should handle the failure and continue developing it until the client is satisfied.
• A system analyst should maintain the system.
• There is no perfect system. Eventually, bugs and malfunctions will occur and as a system analyst, he or she should be prepared for the worst. Thus, a system analyst should know how to maintain the system where possible bugs and malfunctions will be prevented.

So basically, a system analyst is a specialist who creates an information system as a solution or an answer to any business problem that another person have and unable to solve by himself or herself.

Peter Pedro

While John Juan is a system professional specifically in the area of system analysis who deals with clients to solve their problems, Peter Pedro is the client who hires systems analyst like John Juan. Based on the conversation or dialogue between John Juan and Peter Pedro, he (Peter Pedro) is a manager of a department of a company. To understand the part of Peter Pedro, let us define what a manager of a department does.

A department manager aims to improve the outcome of a business using solutions created by successful management of integrated workforce. Specifically, the department manager can do the following on a department:

• Add new users within the department

o   A department manager can decide who can be a worker in his or her department. He makes sure that his or her co-workers are skilled enough to generate better work and choose persons who he or she thinks that are easy to be managed.

• Reassign users to another department.

o   A department manager can reassign an employee to another department if he or she thinks that his or her (employee) specialty is not really on the current department residence but to another department of the company. With this, the efficiency of the other department may be improved and also is the department managed by the one who decided to transfer the worker to another department.

• Change Job Titles for users within the department.

o   On a specific department, there are also different types of work could be found; and if the department manager can see that the skills of the employee or worker is not suitable to his or her original assignment, and is better to be working on another job, the department manager can reassign the worker’s job title.

• Assign users in their department as Document Owners and/or Document Reviewers

o   Some specific works on a department deals with documents. Specifically, an employee can be a document owner or a document reviewer. And as a department manager, he or she must know who to assign or who has the skill to become a document owner or a document reviewer.

• Assign users in the department as Proxy Authors.

o   Proxy authors are persons who can sign some documents for specific persons (being absent or on a leave) who are unable to do so. By persons who are absent or on leave, one of them is the department manager. So when that happens, a certain employee must be authorized to sign a document if a signature is really in need. And with that, the department manager must assign a person who can become a Proxy Author.

To become a department manager, one should have the following basic skills:

• The ability to lead and motivate the team
• Excellent communication and ‘people’ skill
• A strong commitment to customer service
• The ability to work under pressure and handle challenging situations
• Confidence, drive, and enthusiasm
• Decision-making ability and a sense of responsibility
• Sound business sense
• An understanding of retail laws, security, and health and safety

 

Peter Pedro, who is a department manager, should basically have the skills and ability to do his roles in a company specifically in his department.

Now that we already know and understand the different roles of John Juan, who is a system professional, and Peter Pedro, who is a department manager, this time, we will dwell on the system development life cycle which is a framework of how an information system is created.

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

As how I defined a while ago what systems development life cycle (SDLC) is, it is a framework used by system analysts and developers in creating different information systems, and is composed of different phases.

• Feasibility

o   The feasibility study is used to determine if the project should get the go-ahead. If the project is to proceed, the feasibility study will produce a project plan and budget estimates for the future stages of development.

• Requirement Analysis and Design

o   Analysis gathers the requirements for the system. This stage includes a detailed study of the business needs of the organization. Options for changing the business process may be considered. Design focuses on high level design like, what programs are needed and how are they going to interact, low-level design (how the individual programs are going to work), interface design (what are the interfaces going to look like) and data design (what data will be required). During these phases, the software's overall structure is defined. Analysis and Design are very crucial in the whole development cycle. Any glitch in the design phase could be very expensive to solve in the later stage of the software development. Much care is taken during this phase. The logical system of the product is developed in this phase.

• Implementation

o   In this phase the designs are translated into code. Computer programs are written using a conventional programming language or an application generator. Programming tools like Compilers, Interpreters, and Debuggers are used to generate the code. Different high level programming languages like C, C++, Pascal, and Java are used for coding. With respect to the type of application, the right programming language is chosen.

• Testing

o   In this phase the system is tested. Normally programs are written as a series of individual modules, these subjects to separate and detailed test. The system is then tested as a whole. The separate modules are brought together and tested as a complete system. The system is tested to ensure that interfaces between modules work (integration testing), the system works on the intended platform and with the expected volume of data (volume testing) and that the system does what the user requires (acceptance/beta testing).

• Maintenance

o   Inevitably the system will need maintenance. Software will definitely undergo change once it is delivered to the customer. There are many reasons for the change. Change could happen because of some unexpected input values into the system. In addition, the changes in the system could directly affect the software operations. The software should be developed to accommodate changes that could happen during the post implementation period.

 

John Juan and Peter Pedro on System Analysis Phase

In a situation where an old system is about to be replaced with a new one, examining the former is an important part in the system analysis phase for the reason that this step will be able to help the systems professional to know more about the old system. If the existing information system’s features and functional requirements are made known to the systems professional, then it will not be difficult for him to discover the real problem about that particular system and will be able to help him find more ways or alternatives which he may apply for the new information system.

In the situation of John Juan and Peter Pedro, both of them are really concerned with the systems analysis phase, where in the system development life cycle or SDLC is composed of the feasibility study and requirement analysis and design.

Peter Pedro’s concern is that on the previous development life cycle of their system, he thinks that it is unsatisfying to have a new system that only few modifications were made by the systems professional. And this time, he really wants to have a whole lot different system where his wants would be met but still not forgetting about the needs for the system to function well. Peter Pedro requests that he and John Juan should allot a specific time where they try to define and understand well the requirements of Peter Pedro and the company.

And on the side of John Juan, the system professional, he assures Peter Pedro that their job would be just to have a thorough analysis of the system, determining the things that work well and not. They do this by first examining the old system and observing the general and specific flow of the system they are trying to enhance.

On my opinion, and as a defense to the previous system professionals who analyzed and created the system (where the department manager is unsatisfied with), they have conducted the system development life cycle traditionally or just followed the framework. And the resulting system is really just what they think that is the best system for the company of Peter Pedro. But as Peter Pedro was dissatisfied, we must assume that some of their requirements of were not met by the system professional. And as John Juan enters on a new timeline, I think that he thinks that the problem with the last system development process is that there was a lack of communication that resulted to a dissatisfying system for the client. And so now, he assures Peter Pedro that the new system would be different from the last. And as in choosing sides, I would sympathize on John Juan.

Systems analysis is done to determine where the problem is. Essentially, John Juan is trying to analyze the situation and project goals (as what a systems analyst would do based on the systems analysis life cycle or SDLC), so in breaking down the elements of the system, the particular part which needs to be targeted can be recognized. In this way definite requirements can be defined and requirements gathering sometimes call for the individuals or team who are involved in developing the information system in the organization. This is where Peter Pedro, the manager of the department where the new information systems be developed comes into view.

Peter Pedro must also be right on saying that they should start on listing of the requirements needed. But, he must know that evaluating the old system is not constraining them from the old one, instead giving them a clear picture of a more perfect system.

Requirements shall be well determined and defined so to give an accurate list of what should be aimed to develop, change, or improve in a system. In constructing or repairing a house, you must first then identify which parts you need to build, hammer, saw, or paint and prompt for the materials and equipment you needed. Just like in solving any problem, you first identify the scope, the given, the steps you have to take before implementing the solution.

Gathering the right and accurate data is crucial in defining the requirements. It is because the specifications of the system to be developed depend largely on the requirements you have elicited. That is why, Mr. Pedro asserts to have a list of requirements to tell exactly what they wanted their system to do with their department.

Method of System Development

When we talk of System Development Life Cycle, there are a lot of methods (or known as models to system analysts) that a system analyst can perform. The approaches on these models differ in a way that some are predictive and some are adaptive. And based on the conversation of John Juan and Peter Pedro, I think that the method or model they would take is the waterfall model which is a traditional model and is focused on completing and, if most possible, perfecting each phase so that there would be no need to conduct again the previous phases.

The main focus or concern on the situation of John Juan and Peter Pedro is the system analysis phase. Though all models conduct analysis, I can say that they would propose the waterfall model because of what John Juan said that they would conduct a thorough understanding of what is working well and what is not. There is this assurance that the system analysis must be conducted only once, and when we say once, we always think that the analysis is a one shot where it would be slowly and surely, meaning almost perfecting it with one try only. And as what I have stated on the qualities of the waterfall model, the concept of analysis in the situation matches with the waterfall model. And as such, I can say that waterfall model is the method John Juan would perform in the development of the system for Peter Pedro.

Sources:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_job_role_of_department_manager

http://www.policytech.com/support/help/ppm45/Administrator_Topics/Setting_Preferences/HR_Users_Groups/Departments/Department_Manager_Responsibilities.htm

http://www.totaljobs.com/Content/Job-descriptions/Retail/Department-manager.html

Information Systems in the University

Note: Assignment 5 of System Analysis and Design

The Need for Information System

Now that we are in a great age of technology where information can be gathered anywhere, many businesses and organizations take advantage of all these free and accessible knowledge. With these, businesses needs and get to become more competitive to each other. They do this by solving all of their problems and improving the efficiency of all the processes the business undergo. And one of the methods to improve the efficiency of a business task or process is by translating business process to information technology done through with systems development. The result of systems development, which as what information specialists and computer literates all know as information system, is the solution to those business problems that really needs to be addressed for the business to become more successful.

When we talk of business, it is everything that deals with the circulation of money. And I think, almost all the things in the world involve money, which includes the schools and universities. The universities’ main goal is to educate people, but to do that, they still need to have the financial support from the government or from the students themselves for them to continue learning. Money is needed to have the facilities and resources needed for the students to learn in school. As we are now studying in a premier state university, University of Southeastern Philippines attracts a lot of students due to its cheaper tuition as a result of the support by the government. In USeP, there is really a large population needed to be managed well, which is a very hard task. To do that, the university must have systems that must be really good and capable enough for it to satisfy the needs and wants of each student of the school.

Information Systems in the University

There are a lot of information systems found in University of Southeastern Philippines; and one of the systems that students directly deal with is the Student Account Management Information System (SAMIS) or more known to students as enrollment system, which is actually the process as what Dr. Randy Gamboa said in our class discussion one time. The flow of the Student Account Management Information System or enrollment system in USeP is actually just simple – simple in a way that you just have to do this or that, go here and there. To understand more about the process, here are the following steps of the enrollment process:

     1. Scholarship Renewal (for scholars only)

o   In this step, students with different scholarships go to the Office of Student Services to have their ‘blue cards’ be certified as renewed in their respective scholarships. Different scholarships, such as Nograles, Garcia, CHED, and DOST, have different ways of renewing the scholarship of the students. The common thing is that they need their blue cards signed or certified by Prof. Susan D. Villarente, the OSS Director.

o   This step is one of the most hassle steps of the enrollment process, for there are also a lot of students who have scholarships. I think that three fourths of the population of USeP is scholars, and most of them are Nograles and Gracia scholars. With almost the same process to get renewed in OSS, a very long queue would really make a student lose the patience and get frustrated with the slow process.

     2. Payment of miscellaneous fees

o   This is where students pay their fees on different academic clubs and organizations, local council, and the school publication.

o   This step is the first for those students who do not have any scholarships. But for the scholars, in actuality, paying of the different fees could be interchanged with the renewal of scholarships in the Office of Student Services.

     3. Advising

o   Advising is the step where the students go to their respective colleges and approach their corresponding adviser, which depends on the year level of the student. In the Institute of Computing, and probably also to the other colleges, the student gives his or her passbook to let the teacher encode the grades to his or her records. The adviser would then tell the student which subjects to enroll and not allowed to enroll. Then the student would be given the Pre-registration Form or PRF to write the subjects and the schedule. He or she would go back to the adviser to check the subjects written by the student and to verify if the subjects written are allowable to enroll. If satisfied, the adviser would then sign the student’s PRF.

o   Students cannot be advised by the adviser if he or she cannot present the official receipts from the payment of the miscellaneous fees.

     4. Encoding of Subjects

o   This step is the start of the raw data being entered to the computer and being processed to become information. Each college has its own encoder so in this step, there is no really hassle. In the Institute of Computing, Ma’am Jo encodes the subject by entering the subject code. The system then automatically loads the information about the subject and the schedule assigned for the subject. When the encoding of the subject is done, the encoder would then print the temporary Certificate of Registration (COR) that contains the subjects enrolled, their respective schedules and room assignments, some number of units, the and the fees to be paid.

o   Encoding of subjects cannot be done if the students do not present his or her Pre Registration Form (PRF) and the certified blue card for the students having scholarships.

     5.  Bookkeeper (for scholars only) / Cashier (for non-scholars only)

o   For the student without scholarships, they would go to the cashier to pay for the tuition fees. The cashier would take the temporary Certificate of Registration Form and keep it as their copy. And as for students with scholarships, they would also give the temporary Certificate of Registration to the Bookkeeper and present also the blue card signed by the Office of Student Services.

     6. Registrar

o   The last step of the enrollment process is to go to the registrar. This step is where the longest line of student is found. All the students from the different colleges would fall in one line to get their official copy of the Certificate of Registration (COR). There may be six registrar windows, and originally with each registrar window is dedicated to a specific college but now changed to everyone can go to different registrar windows, but there is only a single queue.

o   To get the official Certificate of Registration (COR), the student must present the receipts of the miscellaneous fees paid on the second step. He or also would have his or her identification card to get a sticker that proves that the student is a certified one for the current school year and semester, signed by the registrar in charge.

The real problem of the enrollment process is the fact that the university has a large population and with the number of people serving in different stages of the enrollment process that is very small. There is no problem with the software and hardware of the system. The problem, as how I observed on the Student Account Management Information System, is in the people ware. The number of personnel serving the students is too small and unable to handle well the large population of the university. The performance of the service of the authority of the university is unsatisfying for us, having slow movements for some, late start of the service, or too much break for others.

Another information system found on the university is for the employees, the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS). I really don’t know much about this system.  But basically, the core functions of this system are about the payroll, work time, benefits, and information of the employees. When we talk of Human Resource, we also talk about recruitment. The people behind Human Resource are the ones responsible for the decision of who can be employed on the university or organization.

Systems Development Life Cycle

A “life cycle” can be defined differently in various fields of discipline but generally speaking, a life cycle is the complete process of change and development during somebody's lifetime or during the useful life of something such as an organization, institution, or manufactured product.

In our university, we assume that the life cycle used in the different is the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) as this is the traditional way to systems development. And as a premier university, there is a really big possibility to use the said method of systems development due to the integrity of having a reliable method.

Before we talk about the main question of this paper, we should know first the overview of systems development life cycle. SDLC has the following phases:

• Project Planning and Feasibility Study

o   Generally, this is the phase where we define the problem and establish a high-level view of the intended project and determines its goals and objectives.

o   Specifically, we should be able to define the necessary feasibility studies such as the technical, economic, legal, operational, and schedule feasibility in order to assess the achievability of the project.

• Requirement Analysis

o   This is the stage where we literally analyze the requirements needed by the users for the system. Generally, this is the phase where we refine the project goals into defined functions and operation of the intended application. The gathering of data for this stage can be performed in many ways. One method is by interviewing the staff from different levels – from end users to senior management. Another method that can be used in this phase is examining the current business and systems documents and output. The documents and outputs may include current order documents, computer systems procedures and reports used by operations and senior management. Observation of current procedures can be also done as a method in generating requirements for the system because through observation, bottlenecks of the system can be detected.

• System Design

o   This is the phase where we describe the desired features and operations in detail, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, and other documentation.

o   The details needed for this phase can include the hardware platform, software, outputs, user interface, modular design, test plan, conversion plan or the documentation.

• Implementation

o   This is where the actual system code is written.

• Integration and Testing

o   This is the stage where we bring the various modules together into a testing environment to check for functionality, errors, bugs, and interoperability.

• Deployment

o   This is where the software is put into production and executes actual business processes. The actual installation of the hardware and software; training of personnel; and conversion of master files to new system are some of the processes done in this phase.

• Maintenance

o   This is where changes, correction, additions are done if there are still errors undetected during the whole process of development.

How do you know that the life cycle was developed specifically for the university?

If you would ask me if the life cycle that I showed above is specifically for the university, I can say that it is. Why? Because every system developed for the university should generally undergo feasibility study; requirements analysis; system design; programming; integration and testing; implementation and maintenance and then back to feasibility study if ever a new problem in the system comes up.

Does the general SDLC meet our needs for the university?

Yes. Why do I say so?

It is because every system in the university should undergo the phases that I mentioned one way or another. Every system should undergo those phases at some point in time during development in order to proceed with the proper and organize way and to avoid project failure.

The type of system development model can be different among developers but all the phases that I mentioned are inherent in all models. Those phases may overlap or maybe repeated on some models but what’s important is that those phases exist and should be properly performed to ensure success.