Three Recurring Themes. In Business, Information. 1: Origins of System Analysis. Great dreams Management Generalist.

Transcription

1 Business Processes & Systems Analysis i303, Session 4 Three Recurring Themes 1. Integration of information technology with organizational processes how to? 2. Information what is it? Gets trickier the harder you look at it! 3. Who should be in charge of it? Skills? Training/Experience? I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 1 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 2 In Business, Information was never talked about before the 1950s. was invented by people who claimed to be experts in information systems and information engineering was associated from the beginning with computer technology. But was supposed to make it more managerial I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 3 1: Origins of System Analysis I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 4 The Systems Men Systems and Procedures Association Chartered 1947 (informally 1944) Spread very rapidly in early 1950s Managerial Technicians Corporate Staff role advisory, not supervisory Aspire to true managerial power World War II was genesis of movement Administrative innovation for wartime production Seek to apply rational, scientific, systems approach Great dreams Management Generalist Technocratic mandate from top executive Audit departmental effectiveness Reorganize departmental structure to unlock efficiency, reengineering and replanning the entire system (1958 presidential address) I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 5 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 6

2 but limited respect Management Engineers Write manuals Improve clerical procedures Find a niche, but a constraining one. Authority of engineers clearly limited to technical sphere Systems men claim management itself as their technical sphere Generalist case hard to make Executives respect technologies, specialists more than managerial generalists Design forms I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 7 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 8 Relationship to Computer Prominent Well-funded Emblematic of modernity The ultimate form of automation Systems Men Look Down Is the analyst turning into an artisan making application of punched card and magnetic tape equipment? Systems and Procedures Journal, 1960 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 9 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 10 Systems vs. Data Processing Systems meets Computer Who does what for whom? Systems and DP often different departments, mandates unclear DP grows very rapidly Both groups usually under the Controller focus on accounting I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 11 Embrace the computer But redefine it! Centerpiece of a new kind of management system Process information, not data For management decisions, not payroll slips Integrate everything (yes, everything) I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 12

3 Management Information Systems Information, not Data Processing Totally Integrated Management Information System Provides all information instantly, all managers, whole firm System include models, forecasts, projections Used directly by top executives Idea promoted by systems men from 1959 A lot of discussion in managerial circles Even successful data processing squanders potential of computer Don t automate clerks, automate managers! Bigger savings because bigger activity High status, closer to power Results can t be measured because apply to whole company I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 13 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 14 Information Technology New Ideas 1958 Harvard Business Review Management in the 1980s. First use of phrase Information Technology for computers. Extremely influential Business school professors and computers as new managerial elite During 1950s, talking about computer, we have first use in business of terms Information System Information Technology Information Engineering Management Information I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 15 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 16 A New Idea? "only in the past dozen years has the concept of information--as distinct from the papers, forms, and reports that convey it--really penetrated management's consciousness. That is has done so is largely due to recent breakthroughs in cybernetics, information theory, operations research, and the electronic computer. Dun s Review and Modern Industry, 1958 Information in the 50s Information Theory fashionable & novel during late 1940s, early 1950s I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 17 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 18

4 Information Debut of Information in business culture Fortune, December 1953 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 19 The Information Pyramid Information turns control of low-level administration into a claim to strategic centrality in a new vision of management The whole pyramid must be tackled together! I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 20 MIS Will Realize Potential of computer while elevating systems men Systems and Procedures Harvard Business Review I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 21 Harvard Business Review I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 22 You Need a New Computer third generation hardware Terminals Random Access Storage (hard disk drive) Sold as key to MIS I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 23 Univac Advertisement, Business Week 1965 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 24

5 Early MIS in Practice Many boasts through early and mid-60s of great systems under construction Phase I here already Hardware, techniques hopelessly inadequate Storage capacity Processing power Analyst time and skill MIS more of a goal than a plan for many firms Word of disasters leaks out circa 1968 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 25 Backlash Begins: 1968 Idea of total system loses credibility Controllers, accountants begin to fight back Claim information as what they did all along I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 26 Influence of Remains Strong Anticipates Many Recent Trends MIS as term for business school group Remains true to this day MIS as new name for computer dept Peaks in 1980s, but many firms still use Allure of Information remains strong New names for top-management computing Decision Support, EIS, etc. I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 27 Data Warehouse Huge repository of information Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) Integration of all operational systems Boom in consulting firms Promise to integrate technology and business Business Process Reengineering (BRP) I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 28 Key Issues from Textbook 2: Review of System Analysis Issues from Textbook I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 29 Very dense chapter As table 2.9 shows, will return to each part later Work System vs. Information System Diagrams of each The principles of work system design The pitfalls for each element (table 2.5) Elements and purpose of Data Flow Diagram I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 30

6 The Work System Concept Steps of Systems Analysis Goes beyond information system He sees IS as a kind of WS in some cases, a component in others Several per organization Includes customers On top! I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 31 The Mickey Mouse Version: Define the Problem Describe the Current System Design Potential Improvements Decide What to Do Repeat if necessary Break big system into smaller subsystems if necessary Pretty much goal of Systems Men in 50s. I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 32 Creating a System is Textbook Puts it This Way Part project management Scheduling Setting resource levels Part technical system building Programming Integrating & configuring components Part architecture & systems analysis Setting overall structure of information system Defining new work system Part general/ financial management Justifying project on cost basis Working out how projects serve business strategy I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 33 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 34 Does Not Address (yet) The Principles How to build the final system Some methodologies integrate analysis and design Role of prototyping will be discussed later Technical constrains hard to handle Making tradeoffs between principles More applicable to custom software than packaged Of Principles Based Systems Analysis Please the Customers Perform the work Efficiently Serve the Participants Create Value from Information Minimize Effort Consumed by Technology Deploy Infrastructure as a Genuine Resource Minimize Unintended Impacts and Conflicts I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 35 I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 36

7 Methodologies Programming & Analysis Many different kinds Try to integrate design & construction Some very formal E.g. the European SSADM Hundreds of activities Common elements such as DFDs Some less formal, code focused Extreme or Pair programming concepts I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 37 Originally conceived of as separate Systems analysis existed before programming In recent decades increasingly merged Programmer/analyst still common job title Many questions not fully resolved Do you need to know programming to be good analyst? What is architecture and how can it be separated? Is managing a computer project like managing anything else? I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 38 Data Flow Diagram One Big System? One tool to describe system in terms of information flows Elements: Process Data Flow Data Store External Entity Quite old fashioned Assumes batch architecture, hard to apply to data base system Note symbols for punched cards, tape files, etc. I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 39 Problems with separate systems obvious Processes don t cross boundaries Data can t be integrated from different places High costs of training, maintenance Today, integration through enterprise suites Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) software Integration has its own problems Huge cost & technical complexity Loss of local flexibility May lock into standard software More on this later I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 40 Problems (will return to) Who controls system design? Who decides where IT gets applied? How to understand existing system? How to measure results? How to keep system flexible and growing with business I303, Fall 2003, Session 4 41