Information Systems and Stakeholders

• A system is a collection of components working together to achieve a common goal.
• An information system (IS) uses people, data, processes, and IT to collect, process, store, and output information to support an organization.
• Information technology combines computer hardware/software with telecommunications like data, image, and voice networks.
• A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in an existing or proposed information system, including technical and non-technical staff, both internal and external.
• Information workers create, collect, process, distribute, and use information in their jobs.
• Knowledge workers are specialized information workers whose roles rely on a specific body of knowledge.

System Owners

• System owners are the sponsors and executive advocates for an information system, responsible for funding its development, operation, and maintenance.

System Users

• System users regularly interact with an information system to capture, validate, enter, respond to, store, and exchange data and information.

Internal System Users

• Include clerical staff, service workers, technical and professional staff, supervisors, middle managers, and executive managers.

External System Users

• Include customers, suppliers, partners, and remote or mobile employees.
• Remote users access information systems off-site, while mobile users require access from various locations.

System Designers

• Translate business needs into technical solutions, designing databases, inputs, outputs, screens, networks, and software.

System Builders

• Construct information systems based on the design specifications from system designers.

System Analysts

• Study an organization's problems to determine how people, data, processes, and IT can improve the business.

• A programmer/analyst combines the roles of computer programmer and systems analyst.

• A business analyst focuses on the non-technical aspects of systems analysis and design.

Systems Analyst as Problem Solver

• Problems might include real or anticipated issues that need fixing, opportunities for improvement, or directives for change.

Essential Skills for Systems Analysts

• Include IT knowledge, programming experience, business acumen, problem-solving skills, interpersonal communication, flexibility, and ethical conduct.

Other Stakeholders

• External Service Providers (ESPs) offer their expertise in purchasing, developing, or integrating information systems.
• Project managers oversee project planning, monitoring, and control regarding schedule, budget, deliverables, customer satisfaction, and system quality.

SDLC Traditional Waterfall Problems

• This model involves sequential phases, making it hard to go back, narrowly defining user roles, and focusing heavily on deadlines.

Agile Methodologies

• Agile principles emphasize adaptive methods, people over roles, and self-adjusting processes.
• Agile approaches suit projects with dynamic requirements, motivated developers, and involved customers.

Differences Between Agile and Traditional Approaches

• Agile methods are adaptive, people-oriented, and change-embracing, delivering working software frequently, while traditional methods are predictive, process-oriented, and change-averse with comprehensive documentation.

eXtreme Programming (XP)

• This methodology features short development cycles, automated tests by programmers, paired programming, and customer involvement.
• XP merges planning, analysis, design, and construction into one and uses unique ways to capture requirements. Coding and testing are continuous.
• Benefits include better communication, higher productivity, code quality, and reinforcement of disciplined practices.

Scrum

• Scrum is popular Agile framework using Scrum teams with defined roles, events, artifacts, and rules.

Scrum Team Roles

• Product Owner, Development Team, and Scrum Master.

Scrum Applications

• Designed for rapid development and multiple functional releases.
• The primary unit is the Sprint (2 weeks - 1 month). Sprints begin with an 8-hour planning meeting.

Sprint Meetings

• Daily stand-ups are 15-minute meetings to review progress. Sprint reviews (4 hours) focus on the product, while sprint retrospectives (3 hours) improve team performance.

Scrum Artifacts

• Product Backlog: lists potential requirements
• Sprint Backlog: lists items for a specific sprint
• Increment: represents completed Product Backlog items during a sprint.

Agile in Practice

• Critical success factors include a continuous delivery strategy, following agile practices, and having a capable team.
• Agile methods provide more choices in producing on-time and on-budget systems.

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD)

• OOAD uses objects containing attributes (data) and methods (processes). Objects are single entities that combine data and behavior.

Object-Oriented Concepts

• Inheritance is a hierarchy of classes allowing subclasses to inherit properties from superclasses. An object class is a group of objects sharing the same attributes and behaviors.

Rational Unified Process (RUP)

• Object-oriented system development methodology based on iterative development.

RUP Phases

• Inception, elaboration, construction, and transition.

Development Operations (DevOps)

• Combines development and operations by integrating processes, tools, and data, and applies agile methods with continuously integrated deliverables.

Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM)

• Emphasizes the repetitive nature of data science projects, independent of industry or technology.

CRISP-DM Phases

• Business understanding, data understanding, data preparation, modeling, evaluation, and deployment.

Data Science Process Model (DASC PM)

• DASC PM outlines the phases, tasks, and roles required for a data science project.
• DASC-PM involves data provision, data management, exploratory analysis, application of existing or new analysis methods, suitable analysis results and monitoring.

Business Drivers for Information Systems Today

• Globalization of the economy, electronic commerce, security and privacy, collaboration, knowledge asset management, continuous improvement, and business process redesign.

Globalization of the Economy

• Globalization leads to new markets and competitors.
• IT systems must support multiple languages, currencies, international data consolidation, and multilingual communication.

Electronic Commerce and Business

• E-commerce involves buying and selling goods online. E-business uses the internet to support daily activities.

E-Commerce and E-Business Examples

• Include marketing, business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) transactions.

Impact on Information Systems

• Most new systems are designed for internet architectures, making the client OS less crucial.

Security Considerations

• Need to ensure business continuity and data protection against breaches and threats.

Privacy Considerations

• Must meet rising consumer demands for privacy while protecting digital assets.

Collaboration and Partnership

• Systems facilitate internal and external collaboration.
• This requires secure external access and data exchange between different systems.

Knowledge Asset Management:

• Data: raw facts
• Information: processed and reorganized data
• Knowledge refined data based on experiences.

Continuous Improvement (CPI) & Total Quality Management (TQM)

• Business Processes are tasks responding to business events.
• Continuous process improvement (CPI) monitors processes for cost reduction.
• Total Quality Management (TQM) enhances quality improvements.

Business Process Redesign

• Business process redesign (BPR) restructures fundamental processes to cut costs and enhance value.
• Used in conjunction with continuous process improvement

Technology Drivers

• Networks, mobile devices, object technologies, collaborative tools, and enterprise apps.

Networks and the Internet:

• Technologies include XHTML, XML, scripting languages, intranets, extranets, portals, and web services.

Mobile and Wireless Technologies

• Include PDAs, smartphones, Bluetooth, and wireless networking.
• Requires systems to accommodate wireless connectivity and device limitations.

Object Technologies

• Define systems in terms of reusable objects, combining data and behaviors. OOP languages include C++, Java, and .NET.

Collaborative Technologies

• These technologies enhance communication and teamwork: E-mail, Instant Messaging, Groupware, Work Flow.

System Integration

• Creates unified systems from diverse software, hardware, and networking components.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

• Integrates information systems across business functions via a shared database.

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)

• EAI links applications to support data flow, using middleware to translate data between different applications.

System Development Process Definition

• System development processes have defined activities, automated tools that stakeholders use to continuously improve IS software.

Simple System Development Processes

• System Initiation (identify the problem), Analysis (understand it). Design (choose a solution), and Implementation (evaluate results).

System Development Process Overview

• System initiation defines the project scope. system analysis identifies the requirements. System design creates the solution. System implementation delivers the solution.

Project and Process Management

• Project management controls systems development projects. Process management defines and improves the methodology used.

Sources for System Development Projects

• From problems, opportunities, or directives. Planned projects support business strategy.

Project Types

• Derived from an overarching information systems strategy that assesses the entire business to prioritize projects offering long-term strategic benefits
• Unplanned projects arise from specific problems manage by a steering committee that prioritizes and approves projects.

Problem Categorization with the PIECES Framework

• Performance, Information, Economics, Control, Efficiency, and Service.

FAST (Framework for the Application of Systems Thinking)

• A hypothetical methodology outlining systems development.

Project Phases

• Problem Statement, Candidate Solution Evaluation (assessed via T.O.E.S.R) followed by logical and physical design.
• Installation = User Training + Documentation.
• Maintenance = User technical help support + Continual Updates.

Cross Life-Cycle Activities

• Include fact-finding, documentation, repository management, and feasibility analysis.

Development Approaches and Modeling

• Waterfall: Sequential phases.
• Iterative: Incremental development.
• Model-Driven: Using modeling for design including business requirements.

Rapid Application Development (RAD)

• Focuses on speed through user involvement prototypes and time boxes periods often with 60-90 days for working versions).

Computer-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) and Application Development Environments (ADEs)

• CASE tools automate model drawing and code generation. ADEs provide integrated software development tools(programming, interfacing.

Information System Applications

• Front office information systems support customer-facing functions; back office systems handle internal operations.

Information Systems Architecture

• Framework for stakeholders to organize and view fundamental system building blocks.

High-Level Goals of System Owners and Users

• Improve business knowledge, processes, and collaboration.

Technology Perspectives of System Designers and Builders

• Database, software, and interface technologies.

Building Blocks Focus

• Knowledge - Raw Data. Process - Activities & Communication -How System interfaces.

Knowledge Building blocks

• Database design, business data requirements to improve business knowledge.

Views of Knowledge

• System owners focus on information (high-level)
• System users view data as something recorded and focus on business issues as they pertain to data.
• System designers focus on data structures
• System builders focus on SQL, DBMS data technologies.

Process Building Blocks

• Functional scope, business process requirements and design to improve business processes.

Views of Process

• System owners focus on business functions. A cross-functional system supports multiple functions.
• System users see work fulfilling business events.
• System designers automate processes with software
• System builders code programs using prototyping.

Communications Building Blocks

• Communication scope and design to improve business communication.

Views of Communication

• System owners want to know who uses the system and where they're located and what other systems it has to interface with.
• System users care about system inputs and outputs.
• System designers design the user and system interfaces.
• System builders construct interfaces using middleware.

System Development Processes Explained

• Multiple variations exist and should be consistent so resources can be shifted, producing consistent documentation.

Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

• Capability Maturity Model for assessment of system (process and system) quality consists of 5 levels of maturity: initial, repeatable, defined, managed, and optimizing.

Process Management

• Activity to manage and oversee the chosen methodology ("process") and should be consistently applied.

Project Management

• Scoping and directing projects to develop IS at a minimum cost within a specified time frame.

Where Systems Development Projects Come From

• Originate from problems, opportunities, or directives.

Planned Projects

• Planned Projects Derived from an overarching information systems strategy that assesses the entire business to prioritize projects offering long-term strategic benefits.

Unplanned Projects

• Unplanned projects arise from specific problems, opportunities.

PIECES Framework

• Performance, Information, Economics, Control, Efficiency, and Service.