Week 12: Clear

Throughout this week, we learned about Information Systems Development. This seems to be one of the topics I knew least about, so it was refreshing to learn something new that will really help me understand the business world a bit better. Let's start off with the basics as this seems to be the most relevant information to me as a graduating senior.

In the business world, there are various careers and occupations that are solely responsible for the managment of system operations and information systems. First off, information systems is the overall culmination of every single input that produces information, such as hardware, software, data, personnel and business processes. Within information systems is a cycle called the System Development Cycle. The steps are as follows:

1. Planning
2. Analysis
3. Design
4. Implementation
5. Operation, Support and Security

Systems Analysts are responsible for making sure this cycle flows properly and each requirement of a certain task is executed. Some of their job taks are

• Alleviate Obstacles
• Determine necessary steps
• Define the parameters of the given project
• Control problems at hand and fix them

For the most part, system analysts are responsible for delegating and communication to everyone in the task force and are not responsible for producing or completing the given project. After listening to the interview with Miss Christine Schoaff, it is apparent that there is a multitude of job titles (systems analyst, project manager, etc.) and an infinite amount of job requirements depending on the depth and breadth of the project and company.

To delve a little further into systems analysis, it is important to realize the pros and cons of such a business design. Whether a system will fail or succeed varies greatly on how well designed the system is; some qualities associated with a well-designed system include: being cost effective (the outcome outweighs the input of capital and persons), easy to implement, and meet or exceeds expections and objectives. Deviations from this occur, but when the opposite tends to happen the design is likely to fail or be abandoned.

Many project managers utilize software in order to lay out the gridwork for a given project such as the estimated cost and time, required activites and a timeline. As mentioned earlier, there are five steps in the System Development Cycle. Planning and Analysis are the first two, respectively, and start the process by reviewing project requests, prioritizing activities and determing whether each request is feasible. The next step, design, works on gathering the necessary tools to execute the given task and set schedules to stay on task. Step four or implementation is the process of executing the tasks at hand being sure that goals are met in a timely manner and each aspect of a project is addressed. Operation, Support and Security or the final step includes the upkeeping, monitoring and securing the project while measuring effectiveness.

For more information on this imperative business operation please check here.