KENT STATE UNIVERSITY 

College of Business Administration 

Administrative Sciences 24042

"Systems Analysis I"

INSTRUCTOR: Geoff Howard

TERM: Summer III 1998

OFFICE: A434 Business Administration

CLASSES: 9:45 - 11:40 M, T, W, Th 208 BSA

CALL NUMBER: 12758

PHONE: 672-2750 x342

EMAIL: ghoward@kent.edu

What Is Systems Analysis ??

"Computers are simply tools that offer the opportunity to collect and store enormous volumes of data, process business transactions with great speed and accuracy, and provide timely and relevant information for management. Unfortunately, this potential has not been fully or even adequately realized in most businesses. Business users may not fully understand the capabilities and limitations of modern computer technology. Likewise, computer programmers and technicians frequently do not understand the business applications they are trying to computerize. Worse still, some computer professionals become overly preoccupied with computer technology. A communications gap has always existed between those who need the computer and those who understand the technology. The systems analyst bridges that gap. You can (and probably will) play a role as either a systems analyst or one who works with systems analysts. In simple terms, systems analysts are people who understand both business and computing." (Whitten, Bentley, and Barlow)

COMMUNICATING: Everyone in the class has been given an E-Mail account (if you don't already have one). This is the main way we will communicate in the course. Not that you can't come to office hours, but the E-Mail is usually faster and more efficient. Also, it is good practice for the time-displacement and place-displacement work world of the 21st century.

OFFICE HOURS: Office hours will be before class -- we're very informal in the summer. Meetings can be arranged anytime by appointment. You're strongly encouraged to use E-Mail, at the address above.

COURSE MATERIALS:

TEXT: Whitten, Jeffrey L.; Bentley, Lonnie D.; and Barlow, Victor M. Systems Analysis & Design Methods, Fourth Edition. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill, 1998. ISBN: 0-256-19906-X. The older Third Edition will NOT work for this course.

SOFTWARE: ADW - Application Development Workbench, KnowledgeWare Corporation, Atlanta, GA. Provided to KSU by KnowledgeWare through the support of Ameritech Corporation, Brecksville, OH. (You don't need to buy anything for ADW -- it's all provided.)

READINGS PACKET: This is a collection of articles and other materials, mostly from the trade press, that are required reading for the course. Most of the readings in this "packet" are available on the Worldwide Web, and are clickable directly from the online Course Schedule. The small number of articles that must be distributed in paper form will be handed out in class, day by day. 

COURSE CONCEPT: This course serves four distinct groups:

1. IS Majors (with preference for technical work) -- This is the most technically oriented of the four groups. For this group, nearly all of whom will become full-time IS professionals, Systems I provides a broad overview of all the fundamental tools and concepts of systems analysis. Accordingly, this course provides all the needed background to succeed in the Systems II course, which is considerably more technical than Systems I, and is highly project-oriented. Combining these two courses with other systems courses will equip you to design and build all types of information systems in commercial settings.

2. IS Majors (with preference for support work) -- If you are in this group, you will probably become a full time IS professional, but will work mainly on supporting systems rather than on designing and building them. Your job will be primarily business-centered, rather than technology-centered. Systems I is of value to you because you will frequently be called upon to work side-by-side with an IS technical specialist (the above group) in laying out the design of systems, creating testing plans for systems, and specifying ongoing improvements to computer software. You must be conversant in the tools and techniques of systems analysis if you are to be successful working with the system-builders. Systems I will equip you to fulfill this role. It is not necessary to take Systems II.

3. IS Minors (from within the College of Business) -- Systems thread their way intricately into all aspects of modern business activity. The most marketable and valuable employees, whether their main discipline is Marketing, Tax, Finance, or some other, are those who also have considerable computer system training. Systems I, as a standalone course, provides a comprehensive understanding of the system-building process, regardless of your primary area of study.

4. IS Minors (from outside the College of Business) -- All occupations and professions use various aspects of Information Systems technology. Nurses, architects, composers, writers, travel agents, teachers, retailers, fashion designers all need a solid understanding of how information systems are developed. They can then use that understanding to intelligently guide their organizations in the purchase of computers and computer software, to interface with consultants and contractors who will build systems for their organizations, and to actively participate in the selection and hiring of full-time systems professionals for their organizations. Systems I is designed to serve this student group in that it is a self-contained course that presupposes zero knowledge of computer systems, and provides solid grounding in the topic, even if it is the only systems course a person ever takes. In that sense, it will serve a diversity of IS Minors.

READINGS: The Course Schedule (attached) lists all reading assignments, which include chapters from the text, trade press articles, and some miscellaneous materials. All of the lectures are available via the Worldwide Web. Many of the other reading materials are available electronically on the Worldwide Web. You can access both the lectures and the readings by clicking on hot links in the Course Schedule. All non-WWW readings are in the Xeroxed packet. You will benefit the most from these if you read them prior to the day they appear in the schedule. The topics of the readings are carefully selected to correlate with the lecture material on most dates. In the main Whitten, Bentley, and Barlow text, read everything connected with each assigned chapter -- that means the base text, Minicases, the SoundStage episodes, and the questions and exercises. It is not necessary to explicitly do the exercises or answer the questions at the end of the chapters.

QUIZZES: There will be twelve quizzes. (See the Course Schedule for exact dates.) These will take no more than 20 minutes, and will be in multiple-choice and true-false format. The quizzes will cover all material since the prior quiz, not including the material for the day of the quiz itself. Quiz coverage will include the reading and lecture material, and any ADW lab assignments that might have come due within the period of the quiz. Questions may also be drawn from the Minicases, the SoundStage case, and from the ancillary readings. If you study properly, you will learn a LOT more from the reading material than from the limited lecture time available to us in class. Again, all reading material, including the articles from industry publications, is fair game for the quizzes.Your lowest two quiz grades will be dropped at the end of the semester when final grades are calculated.

MIDTERMS: Except for the final, there will be no large tests during the semester.

FINAL: The final exam is comprehensive. Knowledge is retained best when you look at the material intensively at the time it is learned, and again after some time has passed. The purpose of the comprehensive final is to force you to do a broad review of all the material to improve long-term retention.

ADW: Application Development Workbench (ADW) is an extremely complex and expensive CASE tool from Sterling Software Corporation. ADW is one of the two or three CASE tools that dominate the commercial data processing industry. Because it is so costly, CASE software of this sort is seldom available in college/university settings. Thanks to our special relationship with the Ameritech Corporation, however, arrangements have been made to have ADW available in the labs on campus. In Systems I you will get limited exposure to ADW, partly to cement certain important system-building modeling concepts, and partly to provide you with an intuitive "feel" for the capabilities of a high-end CASE tool. ADW will be covered in extensive depth in the Systems II course. Arrangements for sharing the ADW hardware and software, the signup system, and so forth, will be covered in class.

ADW ASSIGNMENTS: You will do four ADW lab assignments, as shown in the Course Schedule. The results will be turned in on a diskette. Grades will be on a 2.0 point scale and then weighted as shown below when figured into the final grade. Don't split up the work, because the people who do not participate in these assignments will have trouble on the midterms and the final.

THE BAD STUFF: Cheating will not be tolerated, and may result in penalties such as grades of zero on assignments, an "F" in the course, or removal from the university. Beyond the obvious definition of cheating such as copying answers on tests, turning in of duplicate group assignments is considered cheating. We do not object to people in different project groups collaborating with each other – sharing ideas and perspectives enhances learning. But groups are NOT to turn in milestones or ADW assignments or portions of these that are exact duplicates of work done by other groups.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: In accordance with University policy, if you have a documented disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester or when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required. Students with disabilities must verify their eligibility through the Office of Student Disability Services (SDS) in the Michael Schwartz Student Service Center (181 MSC) (672-3391).

GRADING:

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. Understand the role and responsibility of the systems analyst in the information system development environment.

2. Understand the evolving role of the analyst in the client/server and prototyping environment. Detail the skills portfolio needed by such a person.

3. Be able to describe the main features of a typical information system.

4. Develop an appreciation of the level of complexity and investment connected with mid to large-scale information systems.

5. Be aware of the various career tracks and job roles available to persons trained in systems analysis.

6. Know and understand the phases of the systems life cycle and the fundamentals of contemporary structured methodology-based approaches to system building.

7. Understand what a system development methodology is, and how it aids the system-building process.

8. Explain the main features of a typical CASE tool. Be able to explain how CASE tools speed development and improve system quality.

9. Develop moderate familiarity with ADW, particularly the data modeling and process modeling tools, as a representative high-end commercial CASE tool.

10. Be able to explain how information systems can create competitive leverage for organizations, and to relate particular systems to Michael Porter's conceptual framework. Cite examples of real-world systems that have successfully generated competitive advantages for their creators.

11. Understand the key steps involved in planning for individual systems and for systems of systems. Be able to illustrate why systems planners in corporations need to be in close communication with top-level strategic planners.

12. Be able to describe and justify the key phases and steps connected with the Analysis phase of the life cycle. Explain why the Analysis phase is necessary.

13. Learn the fundamentals of why data modeling is an essential step in system-building. Use ADW as an aid in creating data models. Understand why JAD techniques are valuable in developing data models.

14. Learn the technical fundamentals of how to create a set of process models. Be able to explain the importance of process-modeling, and how it differs fundamentally from data modeling. Be able to use ADW to support process modeling.

15. Experience the fundamentals of object modeling and be able to describe how the objec-oriented approach differs from earlier system-buliding techniques.

16. Be able to draw a typical client/server system architecture and explain how it differs from conventional systems architectures. Explain the main problems that arise from networked system architectures, especially with respect to distributed databases. Understand what cooperative computing means.

17. Explain why a central project repository is necessary to support a system design team. Explain the main architectural arrangements of CASE tools that support project repositories.

18. Learn to build and use decision tables.

19. Explain what the Design phase of the life cycle entails and how it is distinct from the phases before and following it. Explain the key steps of the RFP cycle. Be able to illustrate the difference between logical design and physical design.

20. Be able to explain the data analysis design activity and to justify why it is necessary.

21. Be able to list and briefly explain the seven steps involved in process analysis.

22. Appreciate why indexes are critical components to fast file and database performance.

23. Explain and illustrate the principles of normalization, and understand the anomalies that occur when using non-normalized data.

24. Be able to reiterate the steps connected with physically implementing databases, especially relational tables that are joined by common attributes.

25. Learn all the dimensions of the design of system input techniques, and of the relationship between input processing and edit/validation rules.

26. Learn to design output in a form that is most appropriate to the users of that output. Experience how ADW aids analysts in input and output design.

27. Determine what features on available terminal and PC displays can be used for effective user interface design.

28. Learn to create and use a state transition diagram to plan, coordinate, and document a user interface for an information system.

29. Use CASE-based display and layout tools to format the user interface screens in a system.

30. Describe some of the do's and dont's connected with GUI/windows user interfaces.

31. Appreciate the importance of the principles of coupling and cohesion in program design. Learn how designs are transformed into structure charts using manual and automated techniques based on transaction centers and central transforms.

32. Explain what the Implementation phase of the life cycle entails and how it is distinct from the phases before it.

33. Be able to outline the basic types of testing that new systems must undergo before actual production implementation.

34. Be able to define "system support" and relate it to its activities. Differentiate clearly among maintenance, enhancement, reengineering, and design recovery. Be able to explain how CASE-based systems reduce the costs of ongoing system maintenance.