SYSTEMS OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT

The learning material includes…

  1. Define systems operations and support.
  2. Describe the relative roles of a repository, program library, and database in systems operations and support.
  3. Differentiate between maintenance, recovery, technical support, and enhancement as system support activities.
  4. Describe the tasks required to maintain programs in response to bugs.
  5. Describe the role of benchmarking in system maintenance.
  6. Describe the systems analyst’s role in system recovery.
  7. Describe forms of technical support provided by a systems analyst for the user community.
  8. Describe the tasks that should be and may be performed in system enhancement, and the relationship between the enhancement and original systems development process.
  9. Describe the role of reengineering in systems enhancement. Describe three types of reengineering.

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SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION AND IMPLEMENTATION

The learning material includes…

  1. Explain the purpose of the construction and implementation phases of the systems life cycle.
  2. Describe the systems construction and implementation phases in terms of your information building blocks.
  3. Describe the systems construction implementation phases in terms of major tasks, roles, inputs and outputs.
  4. Explain several application program and system tests.
  5. Identify several system conversion strategies.
  6. Identify those chapters in this textbook that can help you actually perform the tasks of systems construction and implementation.

Download PDF19_SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION AND IMPLEMENTATION (size 512 KB)

OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN AND MODELING USING THE UML

The learning material includes…

  1. Differentiate between entity, interface, and control objects.
  2. Understand the concept of a dependency relationship and the circumstances under which it is used.
  3. Describe association navigability and explain why it is used.
  4. Define visibility and explain its three levels.
  5. Explain the difference between a behavior and a method.
  6. Understand the basic concept object responsibility and how it is related to message sending between object types.
  7. Explain the importance of considering object reuse during systems design.
  8. Differentiate between design patterns, object frameworks, and components.
  9. Describe three activities involved in completing object design.
  10. Differentiate between a design use-case narrative an an analysis use-case narrative.
  11. Construct an object robustness diagram.
  12. Describe CRC card modeling.
  13. Construct statechart and sequence diagrams.
  14. Construct a class diagram that reflects design specifics.
  15. Construct component and deployment diagrams.

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USER INTERFACE DESIGN

The learning material includes…

  1. Distinguish between different types of computer users and design considerations for each.
  2. Identify several important human engineering factors and guidelines and incorporate them into a design of a user interface.
  3. Integrate output and input design into an overall user interface that establishes the dialogue between users and computer.
  4. Understand the role of operating systems, web browsers, and other technologies for user interface design.
  5. Apply appropriate user interface strategies to an information system. Use a state transition diagram to plan and coordinate a user interface for an information system.
  6. Describe how prototyping can be used to design a user interface.

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INPUT DESIGN AND PROTOTYPING

The learning material includes…

  1. Define the appropriate format and media for a computer input.
  2. Explain the difference between data capture, data entry, and data input.
  3. Identify and describe several automatic data collection technologies.
  4. Apply human factors to the design of computer inputs.
  5. Design internal controls for computer inputs.
  6. Select proper screen-based controls for input attributes that are to appear on a GUI input screen.
  7. Design a web-based input interface.

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OUTPUT DESIGN AND PROTOTYPING

The learning material includes…

  1. Distinguish between internal, external, and turnaround outputs.
  2. Differentiate between detailed, summary, and exception reports.
  3. Identify several output implementation methods.
  4. Differentiate among tabular, zoned, and graphic formats for presenting information.
  5. Distinguish among area, bar, column, pie, line, radar, donut, and scatter charts and their uses.
  6. Describe several general principles that are important to output design.
  7. Design and prototype computer outputs.

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DATABASE DESIGN

The learning material includes…

  1. Compare and contrast conventional files and modern, relational databases.
  2. Define and give examples of fields, records, files, and databases.
  3. Describe a modern data architecture that includes files, operational databases, data warehouses, personal databases, and work group databases.
  4. Compare the roles of systems analyst, database administrator, and data administrator as they relate to databases.
  5. Describe the architecture of a database management system
  6. Describe how a relational database implements entities, attributes, and relationships from a logical data model.
  7. Transform a logical data model into a physical, relational database schema.
  8. Generate SQL code to create the database structure in a schema.

Download PDF:  14_DATABASE DESIGN (size 983 KB)

APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE AND MODELING

The learning material includes…

  1. Define an information system’s architecture in terms of KNOWLEDGE, PROCESSES, and COMMUNICATION—the building blocks of all information systems. Consistent with modern trends, these building blocks will be distributed across a network.
  2. Differentiate between logical and physical data flow diagrams, and explain how physical data flow diagrams are used to model an information system’s architecture.
  3. Describe both centralized and distributed computing alternatives for information system design, including various client/server and Internet-based computing options.
  4. Describe database and data distribution alternatives for information system design.
  5. Describe user and system interface alternatives for information system design.
  6. Describe various software development environments for information system design.
  7. Describe strategies for developing or determining the architecture of an information system.
  8. Draw physical data flow diagrams for an information system’s architecture and processes.

Download PDF:  13_APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE AND MODELING (size 1604 KB)

SYSTEM DESIGN

The learning material includes…

  1. Describe the design phase in terms of your information building blocks.
  2. Identify and differentiate between several systems design strategies.
  3. Describe the design phase tasks in terms of a computer-based solution for an in-house development project.
  4. Describe the design phase in terms of a computer-based solution involving procurement of a commercial systems software solution.

Download PDF: 12_SYSTEM DESIGN (size 1518 kb)

OBJECT-ORIENTED ANALYSIS AND MODELING USING THE UML

The learning material includes…

  1. Define object modeling and explain its benefits.
  2. Recognize and understand the basic concepts and constructs of object modeling.
  3. Define the UML and its various types of diagrams.
  4. Evolve a business requirements use-case model into a system analysis use-case model.
  5. Construct an activity diagram.
  6. Discover objects and classes, and their relationships.
  7. Construct a class diagram.

Download PDF11_OBJECT-ORIENTED ANALYSIS AND MODELING USING THE  UML (size 1313 KB)

FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS AND THE SYSTEM PROPOSAL

The learning material  includes…

  1. Identify feasibility checkpoints in the systems life cycle.
  2. Identify alternative system solutions.
  3. Define and describe four types of feasibility and their respective criteria.
  4. Perform various cost-benefit analyses using time-adjusted costs and benefits.
  5. Write suitable system proposal reports for different audiences.
  6. Plan for a formal presentation to system owners and users.

Downlaod PDF: 10_FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS AND THE SYSTEM PROPOSAL (size 975 KB)

PROCESS MODELING

The learning material includes…

  1. Define systems modeling and differentiate between logical and physical system models.
  2. Define process modeling and explain its benefits.
  3. Recognize and understand the basic concepts and constructs of a process model.
  4. Read and interpret a data flow diagram.
  5. Explain when to construct process models and where to store them.
  6. Construct a context diagram to illustrate a system’s interfaces with its work environment.
  7. Identify use cases, external and temporal business events for a system.
  8. Perform event partitioning and organize events in a functional decomposition diagram.
  9. Draw event diagrams and merge those events into a system diagram.
  10. Draw primitive data flow diagrams and describe the elementary data flows and processes in terms of data tructures and procedural logic (Structured English and decision tables), respectively.
  11. Document the distribution of processes to locations.
  12. Synchronize data and process models using a CRUD matrix.

Download PDF: 9_Process Modelling (size 2217 KB)

DATA MODELING AND ANALYSIS

The learning material includes…

  1. Define data modeling and explain its benefits.
  2. Recognize and understand the basic concepts and constructs of a data model.
  3. Read and interpret an entity relationship data model.
  4. Explain when data models are constructed during a project and where the models are stored.
  5. Discover entities and relationships.
  6. Construct an entity-relationship context diagram.
  7. Discover or invent keys for entities and construct a key-based diagram.
  8. Construct a fully attributed entity relationship diagram and describe all data structures and attributes to the repository or encyclopedia.
  9. Normalize a logical data model to remove impurities that can make a database unstable, inflexible, and nonscalable.
  10. Describe a useful tool for mapping data requirements to business operating locations.

Download PDF: 8_Data Modelling and Analysis (size 3155KB)

 

MODELING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS WITH USE CASES

The learning material includes…

  1. Describe the benefits of use-case modeling.
  2. Define actors and use cases and be able to identify them from context diagrams and other sources.
  3. Describe the relationships that can appear on a use-case model diagram.
  4. Describe the steps for preparing a use-case model.
  5. Describe how to construct a use-case model diagram.
  6. Describe the various sections of a use-case narrative and be able to prepare one.
  7. Define the purpose of the use-case ranking and priority matrix and the use-case dependency diagram.

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REQUIREMENTS DISCOVERY

The learning material includes…

  1. Define system requirements and differentiate between functional and nonfunctional requirements.
  2. Understand the activity of problem analysis and be able to create an Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram to aid in problem solving.
  3. Understand the concept of requirements management.
  4. Identify seven fact-finding techniques and characterize the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  5. Understand six guidelines for doing effective listening.
  6. Understand what body language and proxemics are, and why a systems analyst should care.
  7. Characterize the typical participants in a JRP session and describe their roles.
  8. Complete the planning process for a JRP session, including selecting and equipping the location, selecting the participants, and preparing an agenda to guide the JRP session.
  9. Describe several benefits of using JRP as a fact-finding technique.
  10. Describe a fact-finding strategy that will make the most of your time with end-users.

Download PDF6_Requirement Discovery (size 1240 KB)