Systems Analysis and Design: Looking at Systems within an Organisation.
17/10/2005
Within an organisation there mat be several different types of system; it almost goes without saying! But seen as we're in the r3alm of I.T. (and I've a great whopping book in front of me I'll continue). I'm going to be, necessarily brief here.
Let's wade right in with some love 'em or hate ‘em good old acronyms.
Aside everyone's[?] favorite acronym TWAIN: or Technology Without an Interesting Name (although this is debatable see Wiki for more).
TPS: Transaction Processing Systems
A Typical example is a payroll system.
OAS: Office Automation Systems and Knowledge Work Systems
These systems support workers who do not create new knowledge, these workers may analyze information from the systems and perhaps, manipulate is in some fashion; for example, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, electronic scheduling, or email.
Management Information Systems
MIS: these include transaction processing systems. They support a broader spectrum of organisational tasks than TPS. Users of this system would share a common database of information, which includes both data and models. I suppose this would depend largely on the organisation in question. For example, while working for Agillisys, I was part of a team whose project was to implement o new software system on over 3000 P.C.s. Part of the new system to be implemented was ‘ Centennial Discovery Agent '. I think this may be classes as a MIS as only certain members of the company had access to this software.
Decision Support Systems
DSS: similar to MIS, but with the emphasis on DECISIONS J . The actual decision is exclusive to the user, these systems are closely tailored to the situation and or user or group.
Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence
AI: overarching field for expert systems. An example of AI research is understanding natural language ( ALICE for example), or recognising speech as in MSWORD. Another area is AI reasoning, which may be used in conjunction with natural language technologies. In short, within an organisation these systems may be used to solve problems put to the by the business users.
ES?: an expert system captures and uses the knowledge of an expert for solving a problem. Unlike a DSS, which leaves the decision to the user this system selects the best solution to the problem. Components of a ES are:
- the knowledge base;
- an inference engine (connecting the user with the system by processing queries via languages such as SQL, and
- the user interface.
It is entirely possible that building and maintaining these systems could be the future work for systems analysts.
Group Decision Support Systems And Computer-Supported Collaborative Work Systems
GDSS: when groups need to make semi structured or unstructured decisions, then these system may be apt.
- Enable groups :) to work together with electronic support
- Techniques used include: polling, questionnaires, brainstorming, and scenario creation
These systems can be designed to negate negative factors traditionally encountered as part of group work. Such as: lack of participation (due to fear of reprisal), and domination by 'vocal' group members.
CSCWS: might include software support called groupware. I've also heard of these referred to as CMCS, or Computer Mediated Communication Systems [whether they by Synchronous or not]
Executive Support Systems
These should help executives :) make decisions at a strategic level. Should help users address unstructured decision problems in an informed way. These systems rely on information from TPS MIS
All notes taken from K, Kendal et al. Systems Analysis and Design. 2005. 6th ed. Chapter 1.
