System Analysis and Design

Qualification

Qualification is an association which involves an association and a qualifier which uniquely identifies certain features of one of the associated classes. Below example explains it. Multiplicity of association changed from many – many to many to 1.

Stock exchange + Ticker symbol = Company

Object Modeling Technique (OMT)

Object Modeling Technique used in object oriented modeling and design which use the usual principles of system development like analysis, design an implementation but applying object oriented software design. Using OMT, we model design and implement the system in terms of real-world objects in the application domain. This involves the use of three different system models each representing specific aspects of the system. These models when combined or incrementally added on the other, gives a complete picture of the system. The three system models used in OMT are – the object model developed during the analysis stage, the dynamic model developed during the design stage and the functional model developed during the implementation stage.

We shall see the distinguishing features of the three models from the following table –

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Balance sheet and Income Statement? – Another baisc stuff that IT manager need to know

Balance Sheet gives the snapshot of the business’s financial position at a particular instance. It basically measures the wealth of a business firm at that instance. On a Balance sheet, the main accounting formula is Owner’s Equity = (Assets-Liabilities). The Income statement on the other hand is the summary of the revenue and the expenses for a specified time period. Income statement actually measures the change in wealth. The main accounting formula on an Income statement is Net Income = (sales revenue + other income) – (sales returns/allowances + cost of goods sold + total operating expenses + interest expense + income tax). Assets such as Property, Plant and Equipment are included in a balance sheet, but not on an Income statement. Income Tax paid is included in the Income Statement but not on a Balance sheet.

Article Copyright – Deepesh Joseph (2003-2020)

Research Reference:
1. Williams C. (2007). Management (4th ed., ). Thomson South Western.

Personal SWOT Analysis

Personal SWOT analysis is a good “data collection and analysis method” that we can use to arrive at high performance goal oriented plans. I feel that this is something that we do unintentionally, many times, during turning points in our life. We don’t do this process theoretically and we might be interested in deriving it in writing. Below is a sample SWOT analysis that one would probably do before completing any major educational endeavour. One’s educational and career background, outlook of life, personal and family values, current opportunities and trends in IT and possible risks that one may face in upholding his/hervalues and executing his/her responsibilities in raising his/her family and being wise and informed human being – would be the major factors in the SWOT analysis. A sample SMART goal, as described below is based on the above analysis.

Specific Goal: Deliver High quality services as a knowledgeable Information Management professional, focusing on business systems redesigns, process improvements and value addition.

Measurable: The goal is measurable from the tasks and projects that he/she is assigned – whether it leads to continuous process improvements and the customer is highly satisfied. It can be directly compared to whether it supports my strengths as derived in SWOT analysis.

Attainable: The goal is attainable considering one’s current educational and career background and the particular course content/program. The goal will provide options of being flexible by constantly reviewing the IT developments in various sectors and being prepared to switch to any sector as the job requirement comes up. This increases the attainability of the goal.

Realistic: The goal is realistic from one major view point. From one’s experience, goal oriented educational program will shape one’s mind and will-power to reach his goal. Another factor that makes the goal realistic is the increased need of businesses to be stable by focusing on reengineering efforts.

Timely: The goal is timely in the way that it supports one’s current intellectual level of understanding and comprehending systems with focus on quality and value addition. Considering the current IT scenario, all business firms focus on quality, value addition and process redesigns. Customer is at the forefront. This further supports the timely nature of the goal.

As the major part of making a plan successful, is developing commitment, one would need to constantly update his/her skills and being open to change as far the flexibilty allows to do.

(c) Deepesh Joseph, 2006-2008
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UML example

UML or Unified modelling language is the best tool for modelling object oriented systems. As we know, in objet oriented modelling and design, we identify objects (entities)within the system and analyze how they interact with each other and thus design an interactive model preserving their individual properties, behavior as well as publicizing their public attributes and behaviors. The interaction of objects is of importance rather than just mere data flow as in traditional system development. Object oriented systems supports encapsulation and protection of data and behaviors, better code maintainability and reusability.

Below is an example UML, which is actually a class diagram for a simple customer appointment model -

Below is an Activity Diagram for Making a customer appointment:

(c) Deepesh Joseph, 2006
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ERD examples

ERD or Entity relationship diagram is the most common database design and modelling tool used in System Design phase. The diagram basically represents all data entities of the targeted system, their attributes and relationships. Database modeller represents ERD in various levels of details such as Context Data Model, Key based model and Fully attributed model. Fully attributed model could be used as the blueprint logical model for implementing the physical database design. Below are some sample ERDs for an IT shop that provide service for its client -

Entity Definition (This is developed first prior to any modelling):

Context Data Model:

Key Based Model:

Fully Attributed Model:

DFDs example

Data Flow Diagram is the widely used system design tool which aids in depicting flow of logic and data (commonly called process flow) within the targeted system, in various levels of detail. Level 0 DFD is usually called ‘Context Diagram’ and it gives the highest level view. Starting from the black box in Context Diagram, we explode out into further detail as level 1 and level 2 DFDs. We combine detailed DFDs (also called primitive diagram) of various system components and create the System Diagram (are actually considered as level 1 data flows since they show flows at a much higher level). An event decomposition diagram (EDD) is usually drawn after context diagram, to identify major system functionalities as a hierarchical diagram. It is generally considered as a level 1 data flow. Below is the depiction of sample Context Diagram, EDD, DFD and system diagram. The designed system is a typical IT call management system, which is titled here as CTTS.

Context Diagram:

Even Decomposition Diagram:

Detailed DFD (Primitive Diagram for Service Request Function):

System Diagram (Collection of detailed DFDs representing a whole system):

(c) Deepesh Joseph, 2006
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Use Case Building – An example

Use cases are one of the excellent tools for representing functional requirements of a system. Use case modelling refers to modelling of system’s functions in terms of business events (use cases), who initiated the events (actors) and how does system reacts to those events (Whitten J.L, 2007). Use case models are usually represented as use case diagrams in conjunction with use narratives which describe each event in detail and how does user interact with the system in course of that event.

Below is an example of a use case which describes a common technology tracking system in a company. The approach followed is pure system analysis and representation of requirements in terms of business requirements and use case models.

References:

1. Whitten, Jeffery L., and Bentley, Lonnie D. (2007). System Analysis
and Design Methods (7th ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. ISBN 0–07–305233

(c) Deepesh Joseph – The concepts are allowed to be used only for research/academic purposes only.
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