IT5103 Lec02 Business Systems

8/3/2019 IT5103 Lec02 Business Systems

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IT103 1

Business Systems

&Information Systems



IT103 2

Business Systems

Before looking at business systems – let us

consider what jobs you can aim for in thecomputer industry.

Think about the jobs you have seen advertised.



IT103 3

Why do we need to know about Business

Systems in a BInfoTech course?

As an IT Professional you may:

business systems in large and smallorganisations

plan

investigate analyse

develop

install

evaluate maintain

communicate with users of



IT103 4

As an IT professional you need:

• a sound understanding of an organisation’s

business activities.

• a understanding of what businesses do.

• along with a good technical background.



Understanding The Business

• Business Process Modeling

• Business Profile

• Business Models

– Business model

– Business process

– Business process reengineering (BPR)

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What is a Business?

“ a business is a combination of personnel,materials, facilities and equipment that

work together to achieve defined goals ”



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Business Activities

What businesses do you know of?

Now identify what business activity they are

engaged in.

Write down the name of a business or

organisation that you are aware of.e.g. Toyota

e.g. makes cars, trucks



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Types of Business

• Manufacturing companies

• Service companies

• Combined service and production companies• Government organisations

• Internet based companies (dot.coms)



Understanding Type of Business

• New Kinds of

Companies

– Production-oriented – Service-oriented

– Internet-dependent

– Dot-com (.com)

– Brick-and-mortar

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Impact of the Internet

• E-Commerce or I-Commerce

• B2C (Business-to-Consumer)

• B2B (Business-to-Business)

– EDI

– Extensible markup language (XML)

– Supplier relationship management (SRM)

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Types of Businesses

For the companies named earlier, identify whichtype of business they are engaged in.

Toyota

Company Activity Type of Business

makes

cars,

trucks

Manufacturing



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All organisations use business systems.

A business system is often made up of a set

of interacting sub-systems or modules,

such as:

– purchasing – production

– marketing

– finance system – human resources

– receivables



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These subsystems communicate witheach other by the movement of dataeither as output data or input data.

e.g. What data would a payroll system need?

And where would it get this data from?

Employee name, hourly rate, hours worked ...

Human resources, employee timesheet …



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Information Systems

What are they?

“ … systems that combine: • hardware

• software• people• data• procedures

to achieve specific results thatsupport an organisation’s business

objectives ”



Information System Components

• Hardware

– Is the physical layer of

the information system – Moore’s Law

• Software

– System software

– Application software

– Enterprise applications

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• Software

– Horizontal system

– Vertical system

– Legacy systems

• Data

– Tables store data

– By linking the tables, the system can extract

specific information

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• Processes

– Describe the tasks and

business functions thatusers, managers, and

IT staff members

perform to achieve

specific results

• People

– Stakeholders

– Users, or end users

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IT103 18

Investigating Information

Systems

An IT professional needs to understand:

– organisational levels – roles of personnel

– organisation charts

– corporate culture

– types of IS



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Organisational Levels

Operational staff

Lower management

Middle management

Top management



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Roles of Personnel

• Systems analysts – plans, analyses anddesigns and implements information

systems• Programmers – designs, codes, tests and

implements information systems

• Users – end users include employees,customers, suppliers, managers, technicians,sales force



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Organisation Charts

Are used to show:

• Department Names

• Job Titles/Roles

• Who reports to whom

• May include peoples names (but not always)

http://www.chartexample.com/chart_example/orgchart.php





IT103 22

Organization Chart – An ExampleNuts and Bolts Company

Personal

Assistant

PlanningManager

Big BoltsCutter

Small BoltsCutter

Supervisor

Bolts Division

Supervisor

Nuts Division

Shop Floor

Manager

Distribution

Manager

ProductionManager

DirectorOperations

DirectorMarketing

DirectorHuman Resources

DirectorFinance

CEO



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Corporate Culture

• The set of beliefs, rules, traditions,values,and attitudes that define a company

and influence its way of doing business.• Mission statements contain clues about

corporate culture

• Analysts must understand this culture andhow it affects the way information ismanaged.



IT103 24

Types of Information Systems

1. Enterprise Computing Systems - ERP

2. Transaction Processing Systems – TPS

3. Management Information Systems – MIS

4. Decision Support Systems – DSS5. Executive Information Systems – EIS

6. Knowledge Management Systems – expert

systems7. Office Systems



How Business Uses Information

Systems• In the past, IT managers divided systems

into categories based on the user group the

system served – Office systems

– Operational systems

– Decision support systems – Executive information systems

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Systems• Enterprise computing

systems

– Support company-wide

operations and datamanagementrequirements

– Enterprise resourceplanning (ERP)

– Many hardware andsoftware vendors targetthe enterprise computingmarket

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Systems• Transaction

processing systems

– Involve large amountsof data and are

mission-critical

systems

– Efficient because they

process a set of

transaction-related

commands as a group

rather than individually27




Systems• Business support systems

– Provide job-related information to users at all

levels of a company – Management information systems (MIS)

– Radio frequency identification (RFID)

– What-if

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Systems• Knowledge management systems

– Called expert systems

– Simulate human reasoning by combining aknowledge base and inference rules

– Many knowledge management systems use a

technique called fuzzy logic

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Systems - DSS• used by management• what-if analysis, predictive

• analyses internal and external data

• systems may include: – statistical analysis modules

– database query languages

– spreadsheets

– graphics

– modeling tools



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7. Office Systems

• powerful systems made up of interacting sub-

systems

• office worker’s aids -> improve productivity,

communication and information sharing• may include - Internet, intranet, database

management, email, fax, voice-mail,

teleconferencing, WP, calenders, document

management, spreadsheets, DTP, presentation

graphics...



IT103 32

Other Systems

• specialised information systems

– systems designed to handle special functions

eg. timetable scheduling in a school, insurance

billing in a hospital

• integrated information systems

– systems that combine elements of office

systems, MIS, DSS – systems that do not fit into any neat category




Systems• User productivity systems

– Technology that improves productivity

– Groupware

• Information systems integration

– Most large companies require systems that

combine transaction processing, businesssupport, knowledge management, and user

productivity features

33



Information System Users and Their

Needs

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At different levels of the organisation:

• different types of decisions are made

• different types information are required

• different information systems are required



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What is a system?

By this definition, is the computer a system?

A set of interrelated components that work

together for a common purpose.

The Computer as a System



IT103 37

What are the characteristics of a system?

Inputs

Outputs

Control

Boundaries

Feedback

From lecture 1:

By this definition, is the computer a system?



IT103 38


The simple model of a system:

SYSTEM

INPUTS

OUTPUTS

can be re-labelled: Inputs can be called DATA

System becomes PROCESSING

Outputs become INFORMATION

DataProcessing

Information

S



IT103 39


This simple model can then be expanded to include allthe components of an information system.

Data Information

Hardware

People

Procedures

Software Data

Processing

Summary -



IT103 40

Summary

• Business systems

• Information systems

• The computer as a system

Reading:

Shelly Cashman Rosenblatt

• Chapter 1- Systems Development Life Cycle page19-24,

• Chapter 4 – Fact-finding page 160-165



IT103 41

Information Gathering Techniques

Fact-Finding Techniques• Software developer normally uses several

fact-finding techniques during a software

development project including:examining documentation,

Interviewing staffs,

observing organization in operations,

research on business requirements,

questionnaires.



IT103 42

Examining Documentation

• Can be useful:

– to gain some insight as to how the need for a

database arose;

– to identify the part of the organization

associated with the problem;

– to understand the current system.

E l f f d i



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Examples of types of documentation

that should be examined



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Interviewing

• Most commonly used, and normally mostuseful, fact-finding technique.

• Enables collection of information from

individuals face-to-face.• Objectives include finding out facts,verifying facts, clarifying facts, generatingenthusiasm, getting end-user involved,

identifying requirements, and gatheringideas and opinions.



IT103 45

INTERVIEWS

Advantages of Interviewing.

A useful way of verifying information

May produce information from knowledgeable

people not otherwise available

Breaks down barriers and establishes personal

relationships

Shows interest in those most likely to be affectedby change and enlists their support



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INTERVIEWS

Disadvantages. There is A danger of 'leading' the interviewee

The interviewer may only hear what they want to

hear

Bias, prejudice and other psychological 'noises'

can hinder fact gathering

Information gained from an interview must be

verified from other sources



IT103 47

Observing the Organisation in

Operation

• Effective technique for understanding system.

• Possible to participate in, or watch, a person

perform activities to learn about system.• Useful when validity of data collected is in

question or when complexity of certain

aspects of system prevents clear explanationby end-users.



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OBSERVATION

Advantages of Observation. First-hand knowledge is gained

Gives accurate information

Demonstrates actual conditions Can show variations in workloads occurring

during short periods



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OBSERVATION

Disadvantages Very expensive in analysts time

Time consuming - can hold up system development

Can antagonise staff unless handled very carefully

Analyst may not see the true picture (ie. Staff behaviour

may change while under observation)

Results need to be checked (by discussion / interview)



IT103 50

Research

• Useful to research application and problem.

• Use computer trade journals, reference

books, and Internet (including user groups

and bulletin boards).

• Provide information on how others have

solved similar problems, plus whether or not

software packages exist to solve, or evenpartially solve the problem.



IT103 51

RECORD SEARCHING

Advantages of stored data sources Establish quantitative information; volumes, frequencies,

trends, ratios

Can be A short cut to fact gathering

Do not depend on extensive staff cooperation Usually provide more reliable data

Task can be delegated

For some purposes they can be the cheapest method of fact

gathering

Data is formalised and standardised and needs little

verification or interpretation



IT103 52

RECORD SEARCHING

Disadvantages. Documents eventually become out of date and of limited

use

Need to be selective - can be time consuming

Produce background information only

Do not give the complete picture

Cannot give information on attitudes, opinions

Can be expensive in terms of analysts time Often information not documented that only one person

knows how to do



IT103 53

QUESTIONNAIRES

Advantages of Questionnaires. Can gather a lot of data very quickly

Can be precisely targeted

Are relatively cheap Are exactly repeatable

Take up a minimum of busy staffs time

Can be used anonymously

Allow the respondent time to think about their

answer



IT103 54

QUESTIONNAIRES

Disadvantages.

Design is difficult

Often misunderstood

Danger of people only telling you what they think

you want to know

Analysis of results may take time and be costly

Normally A poor response rate which can give an

unrepresentative sample (20-30% return iscommonly considered good)

Nearly always A slow response rate