Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design

Joseph S. Valacich is an Eller Professor of Management Information Systems in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. He has had visiting faculty appointments at Buskerud College (Norway), City University of Hong Kong, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Riga Technical University (Latvia), and Helsinki School of Economics and Business. He received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Arizona (MIS), and M.B.A. and B.S. (computer science) degrees from the University of Montana. His teaching interests include systems analysis and design, collaborative computing, project management, and management of information systems. Professor Valacich cochaired the national task forces to design IS 2010: The Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems. He also served on the Executive Committee, funded by the National Science Foundation, to define the IS Program Accreditation Standards and on the Board of Directors for CSAB (formally, the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board), representing the Association for Information Systems (AIS). He was the general conference co-chair for the 2003 International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), and the co-chair for the Americas’ Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) in 2012.  Prior to his academic career, Dr. Valacich worked in the information systems field as a programmer, systems analyst, and technical product manager. He has conducted numerous corporate training and executive development programs for organizations, including AT&T, Boeing, Dow Chemical, EDS, Exxon, FedEx, General Motors, Microsoft, and Xerox.  Dr. Valacich is the co-Editor-in-Chief for AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, a senior editor at MIS Quarterly and was formerly an associate editor for Information Systems Research. He has published more than 200 scholarly articles in numerous prestegious journals and conferences. His scholarly work has had a tremendous not only on the field of information systems, but also on a number of other disciplines, including computer science, cognitive and social psychology, marketing, and management. In February 2014, Google Scholar lists his citation counts over 13,800, with an H-index of 54. He is also a coauthor of the leading Modern Systems Analysis and Design (Seventh Edition) and Information Systems Today (Seventh Edition). Joey F. George is professor of information systems and the John D. DeVries Endowed Chair in Business at the Iowa State University College of Business. Dr. George earned his bachelor’s degree at Stanford University in 1979 and his Ph.D. in management at the University of California at Irvine in 1986. He was previously the Edward G. Schlieder Chair of Information Systems in the E. J. Ourso College of Business Administration at Louisiana State University. He also served at Florida State University as Chair of the Department of Information and Management Sciences from 1995 to 1998.  Dr. George has published dozens of articles in such journals as Information Systems Research, Communications of the ACM, MIS Quarterly, Journal of MIS, and Communication Research. His research interests focus on the use of information systems in the workplace, including computer-based monitoring, computer-mediated deceptive communication, and group support systems.  Dr. George is coauthor of the textbooks Modern Systems Analysis and Design, Seventh Edition, published in 2014, and Object-Oriented Systems Analysis and Design, Second Edition, published in 2007, both from Pearson. He has served as an associate editor and senior editor for both MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research. He served three years as the editor-in-chief of the Communications of the AIS. Dr. George was the conference cochair for the 2001 ICIS, held in New Orleans, Louisiana; conference chair for the 2012 ICIS held in Orlando, FL; and the doctoral consortium cochair for the 2003 ICIS, held in Seattle, Washington. He is a Fellow of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) and served as President of AIS in 2010—11.  Jeffrey A. Hoffer is the Sherman—Standard Register Professor of Data Management for the Department of MIS, Operations Management, and Decision Sciences in the School of Business Administration at the University of Dayton. He also taught at Indiana University and Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Hoffer earned his B.A. from Miami University in 1969 and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1975.  Dr. Hoffer has coauthored all editions of three college textbooks: Modern Systems Analysis and Design, with George and Valacich; Managing Information Technology: What Managers Need to Know, with Brown, DeHayes, Martin, and Perkins; and Modern Database Management, with Ramesh and Topi, all published by Pearson Prentice Hall. His research articles have appeared in numerous journals, including the MIS Quarterly—Executive, Journal of Database Management, Small Group Research, Communications of the ACM, and Sloan Management Review. He has received research grants from Teradata (Division of NCR), IBM Corporation, and the U.S. Department of the Navy.  Dr. Hoffer is cofounder of the International Conference on Information Systems and Association for Information Systems and has served as a guest lecturer at the Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, and the Helsinki School of Economics and Business in Mikkeli, Finland.

• Preface xixPART I FOUNDATIONS FOR SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT 2Chapter 1 The Systems Development Environment 2What Is Information Systems Analysis and Design?  4Systems Analysis and Design: Core Concepts 4Systems 6Definition of a System and Its Parts 6Important System Concepts 7A Modern Approach to Systems Analysis and Design 10Your Role in Systems Development 11Developing Information Systems and the Systems Development Life Cycle 12Phase 1: Systems Planning and Selection 14Phase 2: Systems Analysis 14Phase 3: Systems Design 15Phase 4: Systems Implementation and Operation 15Alternative Approaches to Development 18Prototyping 18Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Tools 18Joint Application Design 19Rapid Application Development 19Participatory Design 21Agile Methodologies 21Key Points Review 21Key Terms Checkpoint 22Review Questions 23Problems and Exercises 23Discussion Questions 24Case Problems 24  Chapter 2 The Sources of Software 26Introduction 27Systems Acquisition 27Outsourcing 28Sources of Software 29Choosing Off-the-Shelf Software 33Reuse 36Key Points Review 39Key Terms Checkpoint 39Review Questions 40Problems and Exercises 40Field Exercises 40Case: Petrie’s Electronics 40  Chapter 3 Managing the Information Systems Project 42Pine Valley Furniture Company Background 44Managing the Information Systems Project 45Initiating the Project 49Planning the Project 53Executing the Project 60Closing Down the Project 63Representing and Scheduling Project Plans 64Representing Project Plans 66Calculating Expected Time Durations Using PERT 67Constructing a Gantt Chart and Network Diagram at Pine Valley Furniture 68Using Project Management Software 71Establishing a Project Starting Date 72Entering Tasks and Assigning Task Relationships 72Selecting a Scheduling Method to Review Project Reports 73Key Points Review 74Key Terms Checkpoint 75Review Questions 76Problems and Exercises 76Discussion Questions 78Case Problems 79Case: Petrie’s Electronics 80  PART II SYSTEMS PLANNING AND SELECTION 82Chapter 4 Systems Planning and Selection 82Identifying and Selecting Projects 84The Process of Identifying and Selecting Information Systems Development Projects 84Deliverables and Outcomes 87Initiating and Planning Systems Development Projects 88The Process of Initiating and Planning Systems Development Projects 88Deliverables and Outcomes 89Assessing Project Feasibility 90Assessing Economic Feasibility 92Assessing Other Feasibility Concerns 98Building the Baseline Project Plan 99Reviewing the Baseline Project Plan 105Pine Valley Furniture WebStore: Systems Planning and Selection 108Internet Basics 108Pine Valley Furniture WebStore 110Key Points Review 113Key Terms Checkpoint 114Review Questions 116Problems and Exercises 116Discussion Questions 117Case Problems 117Case: Petrie’s Electronics 119  PART III SYSTEMS ANALYSIS 122Chapter 5 Determining System Requirements 122Performing Requirements Determination 124The Process of Determining Requirements 124Deliverables and Outcomes 125Requirements Structuring 126Traditional Methods for Determining Requirements 126Interviewing and Listening 126Directly Observing Users 131Analyzing Procedures and Other Documents 132Modern Methods for Determining System Requirements 135Joint Application Design 136Using Prototyping during Requirements Determination 139Radical Methods for Determining System Requirements 140Identifying Processes to Reengineer 141Disruptive Technologies 142Pine Valley Furniture WebStore: Determining System Requirements 143System Layout and Navigation Characteristics 143WebStore and Site Management System Capabilities 144Customer and Inventory Information 145System Prototype Evolution 145Key Points Review 146Key Terms Checkpoint 147Review Questions 148Problems and Exercises 148Discussion Questions 148Case Problems 149Case: Petrie’s Electronics 150  Chapter 6 Structuring System Requirements: Process Modeling 152Process Modeling 154Modeling a System’s Process 154Deliverables and Outcomes 154Data-Flow Diagramming Mechanics 155Definitions and Symbols 156Developing DFDs: An Example 158Data-Flow Diagramming Rules 161Decomposition of DFDs 162Balancing DFDs 164Using Data-Flow Diagramming in the Analysis Process 166Guidelines for Drawing DFDs 166Using DFDs as Analysis Tools 168Using DFDs in Business Process Reengineering 169Logic Modeling 171Modeling Logic with Decision Tables 172Pine Valley Furniture WebStore: Process Modeling 175Process Modeling for Pine Valley Furniture’s WebStore 175Key Points Review 177Key Terms Checkpoint 178Review Questions 179Problems and Exercises 179Discussion Questions 183Case Problems 184Case: Petrie’s Electronics 185  Chapter 7 Structuring System Requirements: Conceptual Data Modeling 188Conceptual Data Modeling 190The Process of Conceptual Data Modeling 191Deliverables and Outcomes 191Gathering Information for Conceptual Data Modeling 195Introduction to Entity-Relationship Modeling 197Entities 197Attributes 199Candidate Keys and Identifiers 199Multivalued Attributes 200Relationships 201Conceptual Data Modeling and the E-R Model 201Degree of a Relationship 202Cardinalities in Relationships 203An Example of Conceptual Data Modeling at Hoosier Burger 206PVF WebStore: Conceptual Data Modeling 209Conceptual Data Modeling for Pine Valley Furniture’s WebStore 209Selecting the Best Alternative Design Strategy 213The Process of Selecting the Best Alternative Design Strategy 213Generating Alternative Design Strategies 214Developing Design Strategies for Hoosier Burger’s New Inventory Control System 216Selecting the Most Likely Alternative 218Key Points Review 220Key Terms Checkpoint 221Review Questions 222Problems and Exercises 222Discussion Questions 225Case Problems 225Case: Petrie’s Electronics 229  PART IV SYSTEMS DESIGN 232Chapter 8 Designing the Human Interface 232Designing Forms and Reports 234The Process of Designing Forms and Reports 234Deliverables and Outcomes 236Formatting Forms and Reports 238Designing Interfaces and Dialogues 246The Process of Designing Interfaces and Dialogues 246Deliverables and Outcomes 247Designing Interfaces 247Designing Dialogues 258Pine Valley Furniture WebStore: Designing the Human Interface 262General Guidelines for Designing Web Interfaces 262General Guidelines for Web Layouts 262Designing the Human Interface at Pine Valley Furniture 263Menu-Driven Navigation with Cookie Crumbs 264Lightweight Graphics 265Forms and Data Integrity 265Template-Based HTML 265Key Points Review 266Key Terms Checkpoint 267Review Questions 267Problems and Exercises 268Discussion Questions 268Case Problems 269Case: Petrie’s Electronics 270  Chapter 9 Designing Databases 272Database Design 274The Process of Database Design 274Deliverables and Outcomes 276Relational Database Model 279Well-Structured Relations 280Normalization 281Rules of Normalization 281Functional Dependence and Primary Keys 282Second Normal Form 282Third Normal Form 283Transforming E-R Diagrams into Relations 284Represent Entities 285Represent Relationships 286Summary of Transforming E-R Diagrams to Relations 288Merging Relations 289An Example of Merging Relations 289View Integration Problems 290Logical Database Design for Hoosier Burger 291Physical File and Database Design 293Designing Fields 294Choosing Data Types 294Controlling Data Integrity 296Designing Physical Tables 297Arranging Table Rows 299Designing Controls for Files 303Physical Database Design for Hoosier Burger 304Pine Valley Furniture WebStore: Designing Databases 306Designing Databases for Pine Valley Furniture’s WebStore 307Key Points Review 309Key Terms Checkpoint 311Review Questions 312Problems and Exercises 312Discussion Questions 314Case Problems 314Case: Petrie’s Electronics 315  PART V SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION 318Chapter 10         Systems Implementation and Operation 318Systems Implementation and Operation 320The Processes of Coding, Testing, and Installation 321Deliverables and Outcomes from Coding, Testing, and Installation 321The Processes of Documenting the System, Training Users, and Supporting Users 322Deliverables and Outcomes from Documenting the System, Training Users, and Supporting Users 323The Process of Maintaining Information Systems 323Deliverables and Outcomes from Maintaining Information Systems 324Software Application Testing 325Seven Different Types of Tests 325The Testing Process 327Acceptance Testing by Users 329Installation 330Planning Installation 330Documenting the System 333User Documentation 334Preparing User Documentation 335Training and Supporting Users 336Training Information System Users 336Supporting Information System Users 338Support Issues for the Analyst to Consider 340Why Implementation Sometimes Fails 341Project Closedown 342Conducting Systems Maintenance 343Types of Maintenance 343The Cost of Maintenance 344Measuring Maintenance Effectiveness 345Controlling Maintenance Requests 346Configuration Management 347Role of Automated Development Tools in Maintenance 348Web Site Maintenance 348Maintaining an Information System at Pine Valley Furniture 349Pine Valley Furniture WebStore: Systems Implementation and Operation 350Systems Implementation and Operation for Pine Valley Furniture’s WebStore 351Key Points Review 353Key Terms Checkpoint 354Review Questions 356Problems and Exercises 356Discussion Questions 357Case Problems 357Case: Petrie’s Electronics 358  Appendix A         Object-Oriented Analysis and Design 361The Object-Oriented Modeling Approach 361Use-Case Modeling 362Object Modeling: Class Diagrams 365Representing Associations 366Representing Generalization 368Representing Aggregation 370Dynamic Modeling: State Diagrams 371Dynamic Modeling: Sequence Diagrams 372Designing a Use Case with a Sequence Diagram 374Moving to Design 375Key Points Review 376Key Terms Checkpoint 377Review Questions 378Problems and Exercises 378  Appendix B         Agile Methodologies 381The Trend to Agile Methodologies 381Agile Methodologies 382eXtreme Programming 384The Heart of the Systems Development Process 385Requirements Determination 386Design Specifications 389Implementation 391What We’ve Learned about Agile Methodologies 391Key Points Review 392Key Terms Checkpoint 393Review Questions 393Problems and Exercises 393References 395Glossary of Acronyms 401Glossary of Terms 403Index 409