How to Set Up Information Systems
by Bell, Simon; Wood-Harper, Trevor; Wood-Harper, A. T.Edition: 2nd
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2003-09-01
Publisher(s): Routledge
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Summary
A spectacular dialogue of the deaf has been on-going for many years. Information systems are as misunderstood today as they have been for a decade. The designers who make them, the managers who commission them and the stakeholders who use them consistently fail to communicate with each other resulting in the inevitable plethora of systems failures which appear in the media every week. This book seeks to address the key problem of transforming organizational need into information systems delivery. Using understandable language, real world examples and user-focused tools and techniques it aims to deliver sustainable information systems in even the most complex contexts. This is important reading for all concerned with making information systems sustainable, especially professionals in IT. It should also be of interest to environment and development organizations, business schools and software developers.
Author Biography
Trevor Wood-Harper is Professor of Information Systems at thye University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), a Professor at the University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Table of Contents
| List of Figures and Tables | p. ix |
| Preface | p. xii |
| Acknowledgements | p. xiii |
| List of Acronyms and Abbreviations | p. xiv |
| Introduction to the Book | p. xv |
| Purpose | p. xv |
| Tools and methodology | p. xv |
| Structure | p. xvi |
| Chapters | p. xvi |
| Appendices | p. xvii |
| Glossary of buzzwords | p. xvii |
| Suggested reading and references | p. xvii |
| Information Systems and Organizations | p. 1 |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Information systems: A catalogue of failures? | p. 7 |
| Conclusions | p. 12 |
| Exercise | p. 13 |
| What is Systems Analysis and Systems Design? | p. 15 |
| Introduction | p. 15 |
| Basics of a systems analysis and systems design methodology | p. 15 |
| Example of a systems analysis and systems design methodology in action | p. 17 |
| The reductionist | p. 20 |
| The systemic | p. 21 |
| What is the research approach and methodology of this book? | p. 21 |
| Conclusion | p. 24 |
| Exercise | p. 25 |
| The Role of the Systems Planner or Systems Analyst | p. 26 |
| You the analyst: First thoughts | p. 26 |
| The history of the analyst | p. 31 |
| You the analyst: Second thoughts | p. 33 |
| Present reflection and self analysis | p. 33 |
| Reflecting on the development of the analyst | p. 33 |
| Conclusions | p. 37 |
| Exercise | p. 38 |
| Terms of Reference and Selecting our Planning/Development Tools: Sequence and Schedule | p. 39 |
| The reality of analysis: Terms of reference | p. 39 |
| Understanding the information environment: Information audit | p. 40 |
| The context of an analysis methodology: Selecting the right tools | p. 43 |
| The soft systems approach | p. 44 |
| Information modelling | p. 44 |
| Social and technical requirements | p. 44 |
| Human-computer interface | p. 45 |
| Technical aspects | p. 45 |
| Ways of using Multiview | p. 46 |
| Conclusion | p. 49 |
| Exercise | p. 49 |
| What is the Problem? The Human Activity System: Making a Model | p. 50 |
| Introduction to the human activity system | p. 50 |
| The rich picture | p. 52 |
| Preparation | p. 52 |
| The primary components of the rich picture: Structures | p. 54 |
| The primary components of the rich picture: Processes | p. 58 |
| Putting together the rich picture | p. 59 |
| The root definition | p. 67 |
| Introduction | p. 67 |
| Three examples of CATWOE | p. 68 |
| The new system (in concept) | p. 71 |
| Introduction | p. 71 |
| Conceptual model/systems model | p. 73 |
| Conceptual model: Main activities for the information system project | p. 73 |
| Systems model: Main systems involved in the information system | p. 74 |
| Final considerations | p. 78 |
| Conclusions | p. 78 |
| Exercise | p. 79 |
| The human activity system phase | p. 79 |
| On root definitions and systems models | p. 80 |
| Developing a systems model | p. 81 |
| Information Modelling: Making a Workable System | p. 82 |
| Introduction to information modelling | p. 82 |
| Entities, attributes, functions and events | p. 85 |
| Entity models/tables | p. 87 |
| Attributes | p. 91 |
| Functional decomposition | p. 93 |
| Double checking on entities and functions | p. 96 |
| Events | p. 98 |
| Tying it all together | p. 99 |
| Conclusions | p. 99 |
| Exercise | p. 100 |
| Technical Needs, Social Needs: Getting the Right Balance | p. 102 |
| Introduction to socio-technical systems | p. 102 |
| Predict future environment analysis | p. 105 |
| Outline social and technical objectives | p. 107 |
| Social objectives of the proposed information system | p. 107 |
| Technical objectives of the proposed information system | p. 108 |
| Generate social and technical alternatives | p. 108 |
| Rank the alternatives | p. 109 |
| Cost-benefit analysis | p. 111 |
| Tabulate and grade | p. 112 |
| List major factors | p. 112 |
| Human and computer tasks | p. 113 |
| People tasks | p. 113 |
| IT tasks | p. 114 |
| Conclusions | p. 115 |
| Exercise | p. 116 |
| The Human-Computer Interface | p. 117 |
| Introduction to the human-computer interface | p. 117 |
| The nature of the interface | p. 119 |
| Some interfaces | p. 120 |
| The technical interface | p. 120 |
| Social issues | p. 123 |
| Security | p. 125 |
| Considering the technical interface | p. 125 |
| The case study: Specific issues | p. 127 |
| Considering the social interface | p. 130 |
| The case study: Specific issues | p. 130 |
| Considering the security interface | p. 131 |
| The case study: Specific issues | p. 132 |
| Implementing the interface design | p. 133 |
| Conclusions | p. 134 |
| Exercise | p. 134 |
| Technical Aspects: What is Needed? | p. 135 |
| Introduction | p. 135 |
| The application area: What we want to do | p. 137 |
| The case study | p. 139 |
| The database area: The data store | p. 140 |
| The case study | p. 140 |
| The retrieval area: What we want from the system | p. 141 |
| The case study | p. 142 |
| The management area: How to control the system | p. 142 |
| Controlling your system with the operating system | p. 143 |
| Job priority control | p. 144 |
| Security | p. 145 |
| User support | p. 148 |
| The maintenance area: Keeping the system going | p. 149 |
| Preventative maintenance | p. 150 |
| Corrective maintenance | p. 150 |
| The monitoring and evaluation area: Learning about the system | p. 151 |
| Rule of thumb | p. 152 |
| Key indicator | p. 152 |
| The logical framework | p. 153 |
| An issue of risk? | p. 153 |
| Assessing risk value | p. 154 |
| Prioritizing the risks | p. 155 |
| Putting it all together: The technical package | p. 155 |
| Conclusions | p. 156 |
| Exercise | p. 156 |
| The Total Design, Training, Hardware, Software and Implementation | p. 157 |
| Introduction to implementation issues | p. 157 |
| Training | p. 158 |
| The communication of skills | p. 158 |
| Repetition of skills out of the training room context: Self confidence and self reliance | p. 159 |
| Specific training issues to be aware of | p. 160 |
| Software selection | p. 161 |
| Case study | p. 163 |
| Hardware selection | p. 164 |
| Case study | p. 165 |
| Implementation | p. 165 |
| Conclusion | p. 166 |
| The Multiview methodology | p. 166 |
| The learning organization methodology | p. 167 |
| Appendices | |
| Systems analysis and systems design: Methodologies in relation to each other | p. 169 |
| The project cycle: Seeing the task in perspective | p. 172 |
| Some thoughts on answers to the exercises | p. 176 |
| Glossary of Buzzwords | p. 193 |
| Suggested Reading | p. 199 |
| References | p. 203 |
| Index | p. 215 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
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