Management Information

System
Process Modeling
 What is Requirements Determination?

• Understand as-is (current) system to the to-be

system
• The goal of the analysis phase is to truly understand
the requirements of the new system and develop a
system that addresses them -- or decide a new
system isn’t needed.
• Systems analysis incorporates initial systems design.
• Requirements determination is the single most
critical step of the entire SDLC.
 What is a Requirement?

• A statement of what the system must do

• A statement of characteristics the system
must have
• Focus is on business user needs during
analysis phase
• Requirements will change over time as project
moves from analysis to design to
implementation
 Requirement Types
• Functional Requirements
– A process the system has to Performance – for example: response
perform time, throughput, utilization,
• Scalability
– Information the system must • Capacity
contain • Availability
• Nonfunctional Requirements • Reliability
• Recoverability
– Behavioral properties the • Maintainability
system must have • Serviceability
• Operational • Security
• Performance • Regulatory
• Security • Manageability
• Cultural and political • Environmental
• Data Integrity
– Non-functional requirements • Usability
may be more critical than • Interoperability
functional requirements. If
these are not met, the system
may be rendered useless
Differences
 Your Turn - Classify Requirements

• Be accessible to Web User

• Include company logo and color scheme
• Provide management reports
• Have a two-second response time for queries
• Include sales information updated daily
• System should support 300 simultaneous users in the network
• System should retain customer history for three years
• System includes all safeguards from virus, worms, Trojans Horses
etc.
• Personal information is protected in compliance with Data
Privacy Act
• Restrict Access to profitability information
• Provide monthly rankings of salesperson performance
 Your Turn - Classify Requirements
• Be accessible to Web User nonfunctional
• Include company logo and color scheme functional
• Provide management reports functional
• Have a two-second response time for queries nonfunctional
• Include sales information updated daily functional
• System should support 300 simultaneous users in the network
nonfunctional
• System should retain customer history for three years functional
• System includes all safeguards from virus, worms, Trojans Horses
etc. nonfunctional
• Personal information is protected in compliance with Data
Privacy Act nonfunctional
• Restrict Access to profitability information functional
• Provide monthly rankings of salesperson performance functional
 Documenting Requirements

• Requirements definition report

– Text document listing requirements in outline
form
– Priorities may be included
• Key purpose is to define the system scope:
what is and is not to be included.
 Requirements Determination –
Fact Finding Techniques
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Record (Document) Review
• Onsite Observation
Three Types of Questions
 Record Review
• Also known as Document Analysis

• Study of existing material describing the current

system

• Forms, reports, policy manuals, organization charts

describe the formal system

• Look for the informal system in user additions to

forms/report and unused form/report elements
 Onsite Observation

• Watch processes being performed

• Users/managers often may not accurately recall
everything they do
• Checks validity of information gathered other ways
• Be aware that behaviors change when people are
watched
• Be unobtrusive
• Identify peak and lull periods
 Determining Requirements

• Participation by business users is essential

• Three techniques help users discover their
needs for the new system:
– Business Process Automation (BPA)
– Business Process Improvement (BPI)
– Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
 Basic Process of Analysis (Determining
Requirements)
• Understand the “As-Is” system
• Identify improvement opportunities
• Develop the “To-Be” system concept
• Techniques vary in amount of change
– BPA – small change
– BPI – moderate change
– BPR – significant change
• Additional information gathering techniques
are needed as well
Business Process
Automation

Goal:

Efficiency
for users
Business Process
Improvement

Goal:

Efficiency
and
effectiveness
for users
 Business Process
Reengineering (BRP)

Goal:

Radical
redesign of
business
processes
 Your Turn
Suppose you are the analyst in-charge of
developing a new Website for a local dealer
who wants to be very innovative and try new
things. What analysis technique would you
recommend? What activities seem more most
promising? Why?
 Comparing Analysis Techniques

• Potential business value

• Project cost
• Breadth of analysis
• Risk
Project Characteristics
 Requirements Documentation
• Process Model

– Use Cases

– DFD
 Analysis Phase
Structure the Requirements
 How to structure requirements?
• Process model
– A formal way of representing how a business
system operates
– Illustrates the activities that are performed and
how data moves among them
• Use Diagrammatic Representation
– Use a common technique for creating process
models
 Process Modelling Techniques
• Activity Flow Diagram
• State Transition diagram
• Communication Flow Diagram
• Use Case Diagram
• Data Flow Diagrams (DFD)
 CASE
• Move from business process
representation to Software Development
with minimal coding
– Independent
• Eg. Visio, SmartDraw, Diagramming Studio
– Dependent
• System Architect, SilverRun
 Some other Tools…
• Rational Rose

• Poseidon

• Together Control Center

 Data and Processes
• Three key components of an information system
– Data
– Data Flows
– Processing Logic
• Data
– Understanding the source and use of data is the
key to good system design
– Various techniques are used to describe data and
the relationship amongst data
• Data Flows
– Groups of data that move and flow through the
system
 Data and Processes
• Data Flows (Continued)
– Include description of sources and destination for
each data flow
• Processing Logic
– Describe steps that transform data and events
that trigger the steps
 1. Use Case
• A formal way of representing how a business
system interacts with its environment.

• It is a modeling technique often showing the

external / functional view of the system
without going into details

• Is part of a the UML set of Diagrams

 Building Use Cases
• Identify the Use Cases
– Ask who, where, what
• Identify major steps in each use case
– Ask how
• Identify when, how many times [optional]
• Confirm Use Case
– Validate correctness
 Elements in a Use Case
•Actors: An actor portrays
any entity (or entities) that
performs certain roles in a
given system.

• A use case in a use

case diagram is a
visual representation
of a distinct business
functionality in a
system.
 Elements in a Use Case

System boundary
defines the scope of
what a system will
be.

A system boundary of
a use case diagram
defines the limits of
the system.
Sample Use Case - Diagram
 Try this
• Design a system as the Courseware Management System. The
Institution offers a variety of courses in a variety of areas such as
learning management techniques and understanding different
software languages and technologies.
• Each course is made up of a set of topics. Tutors in the Institution are
assigned courses to teach according to the area that they specialize in
and their availability.
• The Institution publishes and maintains a calendar of the different
courses and the assigned tutors every year. There is a group of course
administrators in the Institution who manage the courses including
course content, assign courses to tutors, and define the course
schedule.
• The training Institution aims to use the Courseware Management
System to get a better control and visibility to the management of
courses as also to streamline the process of generating and managing
the schedule of the different courses.
 Identifying Use Cases
• Manage topics for a course
• Manage course information
• View courses
• View course calendar
• View tutors
• Manage tutor information
• Assign courses to tutors
 Write / Draw the Use Case
View Courses

Manage Topics for a Course

Student

Manage Course Information

View Course Calendar

Course View Tutors

Administrator

Manage Tutor Information Tutor

Assign Courses to Tutor

Course Management System

 2. Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
• A picture of the movement of data between
external entities and the processes and data
stores within a system
 Why DFD?
• For modeling business processes
• To discover and document:
– the overall process-flow, the activities being
performed,
– the inputs & outputs to the activities,
– the events that trigger the activities,
– who performs the activities,
– where the activities are performed,
– where information is stored,
– who supplies information and
– who needs to receive information.
 Context Analysis Diagram
• First DFD in every business process
• Shows the context into which the business
process fits
• Shows the overall business process as just one
process
• Shows all the external entities that receive
information from or contribute information to
the system
A Context Diagram Example
Reading a DFD
 Elements of a DFD
• Process
– An activity or function performed for a specific
business reason
– Manual or computerized
• Data flow
– A single piece of data or a logical collection of data
– Always starts or ends at a process
 DFD Elements
• Data Store
– A collection of data that is stored in some way
– Data flowing out is retrieved from the data store
– Data flowing in updates or is added to the data
store
• External entity
– A person, organization, or system that is external
to the system – contextually - but interacts with it.
 Naming and Drawing DFD

Process

Data flow

Data store

External
entity
 Sub-division of a DFD

• Business processes are too complex to be

shown on a single DFD

• Decomposition is the process of representing

the system in a hierarchy of DFD diagrams
– Child diagrams show a portion of the parent
diagram in greater detail
 Relationship among Levels of DFDs
Context diagram

Level 0 diagram

Level 1 diagram

Level 2 diagram
DFD Diagramming Rules
Data Flow
Bidirectional flow
between process
and data store is
represented by two
separate arrows.

Forked data flow

must refer to exact
same data item (not
different data items)
from a common
location to multiple
destinations.
 DFD Diagramming Rules
Data Flow (cont.)
Joined data flow
must refer to exact
same data item (not
different data items)
from multiple
sources to a
common location.

Data flow cannot

go directly from a
process to itself,
must go through
intervening
processes.
 DFD Diagramming Rules
Data Flow (cont.)

• Data flow from a process to a data store

meaning - update (insert, delete or change).

• Data flow from a data store to a process

means retrieve or use.

• Data flow labels should be noun phrases.

A DFD Fragment Example
 Try this - 1
• Issuing a book from a library
• Returning a book to a library
• Getting a ticket reserved for a train journey
• Getting an item issued from a store
• Getting your marksheet from a University
 Try this - 2

A customer sends an email requesting some

information. If the request is about a product,
send a product brochure to the customer by
email. If the request is for something else, refer
to the request to a representative by forwarding
the email.
 DFD Example: Bus Garage Repairs

• Buses come to a garage for repairs.

• A mechanic and helper perform the repair, record
the reason for the repair and record the total cost of
all parts used on a Shop Repair Order.
• Information on labor, parts and repair outcome is
used for billing by the Accounting Department, parts
monitoring by the inventory management computer
system and a performance review by the supervisor.
 DFD Example: Bus Garage Repairs (cont’d)

• External Entities: Bus, Mechanic, Helper, Supervisor,

Inventory Management System, Accounting
Department, etc.
• Key process (“the system”): performing repairs and
storing information related to repairs
• Processes:
– Record Bus ID and reason for repair
– Determine parts needed
– Perform repair
– Calculate parts extended and total cost
– Record labor hours, cost
 DFD Example: Bus Garage Repairs (cont’d)

• Data stores:
– Personnel file
– Repairs file
– Bus master list
– Parts list
• Data flows:
– Repair order
– Bus record
– Parts record
– Employee timecard
– Invoices
 Bus Garage Context Diagram
Bus

Mechanical Fixed
problem mechanical
to be repaired problems

Repair Supervisor
Helper Labor Bus summary
Repair
Process List of
System parts used Inventory
Labor Management
Labor, System
parts cost
details
Mechanic

Accounting
Try this - 3
 CSUB Burger’s Order Processing System

• Draw the CSUB Burger’s context diagram

– System
• Order processing system

– External entities
• Kitchen
• Restaurant
• Customer

– Processes
• Customer order
• Receipt
• Food order
• Management report
 Process Specifications - Modeling

• Structured English
• Decision Tables
• Decision Trees
• State-transition diagrams
• Sequence diagrams
• Activity diagrams
 Modeling Logic with
Decision Tables
• A matrix representation of the logic of a
decision
• Specifies the possible conditions and the
resulting actions
• Best used for complicated decision logic
 3 Parts of a Decision Table
• Condition stubs
– Lists condition relevant to decision
• Action stubs
– Actions that result from a given set of conditions
• Rules
– Specify which actions are to be followed for a given set of
conditions

• Indifferent Condition
– Condition whose value does not affect which action is
taken for two or more rules
 Decision Table Format

Process ID:
Process Description:
Condition Stub Condition Entry

Action Stub Action Entry

 Procedure for Creating Decision
Tables

• Name the condition and values each condition

can assume
• Name all possible actions that can occur
• List all rules
• Define the actions for each rule
• Simplify the table
 Example
Bookstores get a trade discount of 23% for
order from libraries and individuals, 5%
allowed on orders of 6-19 copies per book
title, 15% on orders for 50 copies or more per
book title.
 Your Turn
Determine whether you need to wear a light
jacket, heavy jacket, or no jacket at all when
you leave the house. You need a heavy jacket
if the temperature is below 50 degrees. You
can make do with a light jacket if the
temperature is between 50 and 70. At 70 and
above you only need a light jacket if there is
precipitation.
 Your Turn
A life insurance company has the following criteria for deciding
whether or not the insurance for a person is to be accepted:

(a) If a person's health is good and the person is aged between 20 and 35 years,
lives in a town or city and is a male then the premium is charged is Rs. 20 per
thousand and the policy is written for an amount not exceeding Rs.10,00,000.
(b) If the person satisfies all the above conditions except that the person is a
female, then the premium charged is Rs. 25 per thousand and the policy is
written for an amount not exceeding Rs. 6,00,000.
(c) If a person's health is poor and the person is aged between 20 and 35 years,
lives in a village and is a male then the premium is charged is Rs. 40 per
thousand and the policy is written for an amount not exceeding Rs.2,00,000.
(d) If the person satisfies all the conditions in (c) except that the person is a female,
the premium rate charged and the maximum limit for writing a policy are the
same as above in ( c).
(e) In all other cases, the person is refused insurance.
Draw the decision tree or the table for the above given problem.
 Your Turn
A university has the following rules for a
student to qualify for a degree with physics. As
the main subject and Maths as the subsidiary.
– Marks should be 50% or more in physics and 40% or
more in Maths
– If marks in physics are less than 50% then marks in
Maths must be 50% or more. However, physics marks
must be at least 40%.
– If marks in Maths are less than 40% but those in
physics are 60% or more then only examination in
Maths has to be repeated.
– In all other cases the student fails.