Chapter 12

Information Systems Analysis and Design

Developing information systems can be a lengthy process and can be done in different ways. Poorly constructed systems will not work properly causing major damage to organizations. Chapter 12 is describes the first steps of the system development life cycle: problems identification, system analysis, and determination of information requirements.

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Update

Watch out! User-Nerds on the loose!

Back in the olden days—say ten or fifteen years ago—IS managers were like priests of the mystical world of the corporate data center. Users humbled themselves before the representatives of the almighty mainframe when asking for ever-so-slight changes to monthly reports or data entry screens. Well, times have changed and the priesthood of IS is in disarray. Now, the hallways are filled with user-nerds singing "Glory to the Desktop" as IS managers are relegated to custodians of increasingly irrelevant mainframe computers.

In Dream Team, CIO’s Miryam Williamson describes how "user-centered design" is forcing IT professionals to rethink their approach to building systems. According to Datamation (Desktop Suites Moonlight as Development Tools), end-users are turning to increasingly powerful integrated desktop packages to build throwaway applications that the IS folks don’t have the time or the inclination to build.

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Exercises

Surf the Internet and find material on the topic of how to prepare a feasibility study for electronic commerce applications.
National Semiconductor Corporation installed an Internet/Intranet for the use of their engineers and customers (see opening case in the Supplement). One problem they faced was finding out the informational needs of their customers. This is an important issue in preparing any Web site. Surf the Internet and find information on the topic.

IT@Work

Baxter - AHS

Hallmark

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