Saturday, March 5, 2011
Pirates of Silicon Valley is a movie about the Making of Personal Computer. It is a made-for-television docudrama written and directed by Martyn Burke which documents the rise of the home computer (personal computer) through the rivalry between Apple Computer and Microsoft. The film is the semi-humorous documentary about the men who made the world of technology what it is today, their struggles during college, the founding of their companies, and the ingenious actions they took to build up the global corporate empires of Apple Computer Corporation and Microsoft Inc.
Reflection:
Pirates of Silicon Valley is a nice movie wherein we see how personal computer rise from two of most powerful company, and along the way, we are shown how deeply power and wealth corrupts. The movie really gives me an insight of a true technology revolution, taking the computers out of the hands of corporate types, and giving them over to the people to use. The film is more focus to Steven Jobs not to all pioneers of the computer industry specially to Bill Gates which I think contributed much of what we are using today.
The film is about how people lives and interacts in a society that are controlled by humanoid robots (surrogates) - fit, good-looking and a physically perfect mechanical representation of themselves. The movie is also about the two FBI agents trying to figure out how the users of the robot surrogates are dying when their surrogates "die" and who is behind the murders.
Reflection:
In the movie, however, it takes the psychology to the next level where people are not interested anymore in being who they are but a more perfected version of themselves: younger, in-shape, adorned with super-human strength and abilities. Actually, I really don't like the idea of letting the robots do what a human must do. Robots being programmed to be intelligent is completely different from a robot being programmed to learn. Human must not rely on what robots can do for them because in the end, their lifestyle gets affected. We must not let the robots take over our job as human because we might lose the chance of enjoying the life given and forget our purpose why we are created in this world.
Eagle eye is techno action thriller movie. There is a lot of technology involved. The main character (LeBouf) has been "targeted," and has the FBI and the SWAT team come after him. He keeps getting phone calls from a unknown caller, that tells him exactly where to go in order to avoid being caught, and eventually decides to go ahead and listen. He finds out that a Super Computer is telling him where to go, and what to do. It monitors his every move, and can control all electronics.
Reflection:
Eagle Eye is one of the techie movie I've watched and it is a exciting film. Throughout the movie I constantly had to think what might be happen next and what the movie was leading up to.The power of technology really manipulates everything. The movie simply illustrates how computers control humans based on what is gathered and monitored.
Based on the movie, there are three laws that govern all robots.
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
Reflection:
I thought the story could have been stronger and better explained, but the look of the film, combined with the action, humor and CGI effects made the movie quite entertaining. The last part of the film attempts to explore the three laws of robotics in more detail. The film also has something to say about the spread of technology and the interaction between man and robots. The movie just made me realize that robots are harmful when they enter humans life. They have the potential to take over the world. I really don't want to live in a world where everyone has there own personal robot. We would be come lazy and rely on robots to do everything for us.
WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class)
Earth was abandoned centuries due to excessive waste. To clean up our planet, hundreds of Wall-E robots were sent to Earth to clear up the mess we left. But after a long period of time all the robots have been destroyed and only one Wall E robot remains. Wall-E is a robot designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. He eventually falls in love with another robot named EVE, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity.
Reflection:
Technology has taken over the world, to the extent that humans are so reliant on it that they don't speak,interact, move, without the help of a computer. The movie gives a realization that too much dependency to the machines is not good. I cant imagine myself living in the future with less work and more dependent to the technology in order to survive. The moral of the story is that us humans should take care and save the Earth because it provides us all the things we need in our daily life.
Monday, December 6, 2010
In my 22 years of existence, Technology has been part of my life. From the time my mother gave birth to me technology plays a great role for me to live and see the beauty of the world. Until now that I'm still studying and hope to graduate soon- Technology is always with me. I wake up holding my cellphone, go to school and uses the computer for learning, my mp5 for great music and my camera for great pictures. Obviously, I'm technology inclined person. (Hehe! :D)
Why do we need to study technology? Simply because it makes the work done easier and we rely to the technology available and make use of it for some purposes. The world needs IT and IT is us- people. We need to study technology because people and technology works together. Though there are technologies that are fully automated but there are some that needs the hands of the People to manipulate the technology available. People also make the technology we had now, from the first invention up to the latest. (See how great we are because we are also the Technology) We need to learn how to make use of the technology properly because the time will come that the Technology made by the people will be destroyed also by the people.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Leaders and managers continually make efforts to accomplish successful and significant change in their work environment. Some are very good at this effort probably more than we realize, while others continually struggle and fail. That's often the difference between people who thrive in their roles and those that get shuttled around from job to job, ultimately settling into a role where they're frustrated and ineffective.
To really understand organizational change and begin guiding successful change efforts, the change agent should have at least a broad understanding of the context of the change effort. This includes understanding the basic systems and structures in organizations, including their typical terms and roles. This requirement applies to the understanding of leadership and management of the organizations, as well.
Organizational change should not be conducted for the sake of change. Organizational change efforts should be geared to improve the performance of organizations and the people in those organizations. Therefore, it's useful to have some understanding of what is meant by "performance" and the various methods to manage performance in organization. Changes in the workflow and overall operation of the business will be based on how people in the organization manage the work and how the business flows. Nowadays, with the complex challenges faced by organizations and the broad diversity of values, perspectives and opinions among the members of those organizations, it's vital that change agents work from a strong set of principles to ensure they operate in a highly effective and ethical manner.
Typically there are four types of changes in the spectrum of organizational change. They are automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts. To understand more of this changes, let me discuss them.
Automation
Automation is the replacement of man power with machine power, as man would no longer be needed to run it as there are machines that can do a man's job for no pay, and therefore save a boatload of money. Automation is the use of control systems (such as numerical control, programmable logic control, and other industrial control systems), in concert with other applications of information technology (such as computer-aided technologies [CAD, CAM, CAx]), to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the muscular requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well. Processes and systems can also be automated. Automation plays an increasingly important role in the global economy and in daily experience. Engineers strive to combine automated devices with mathematical and organizational tools to create complex systems for a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. Human-machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-machine interfaces, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers, such as entering and monitoring temperatures or pressures for further automated control or emergency response. Service personnel who monitor and control these interfaces are often referred to as stationary engineers. Automation refers to the use of computers and other automated machinery for the execution of business-related tasks. Automated machinery may range from simple sensing devices to robots and other sophisticated equipment. Automation of operations may encompass the automation of a single operation or the automation of an entire factory.
Types of Automation
Although automation can play a major role in increasing productivity and reducing costs in service industries—as in the example of a retail store that installs bar code scanners in its checkout lanes—automation is most prevalent in manufacturing industries. In recent years, the manufacturing field has witnessed the development of major automation alternatives. Some of these types of automation include:
* Information technology (IT)
* Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
* Numerically controlled (NC) equipment
* Robots
* Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS)
* Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM)
Information technology (IT) encompasses a broad spectrum of computer technologies used to create, store, retrieve, and disseminate information.
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) refers to the use of computers in the different functions of production planning and control. CAM includes the use of numerically controlled machines, robots, and other automated systems for the manufacture of products. Computer-aided manufacturing also includes computer-aided process planning (CAPP), group technology (GT), production scheduling, and manufacturing flow analysis. Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) means the use of computers to generate process plans for the manufacture of different products. Group technology (GT) is a manufacturing philosophy that aims at grouping different products and creating different manufacturing cells for the manufacture of each group.
Numerically controlled (NC) machines are programmed versions of machine tools that execute operations in sequence on parts or products. Individual machines may have their own computers for that purpose; such tools are commonly referred to as computerized numerical controlled (CNC) machines. In other cases, many machines may share the same computer; these are called direct numerical controlled machines.
Robots are a type of automated equipment that may execute different tasks that are normally handled by a human operator. In manufacturing, robots are used to handle a wide range of tasks, including assembly, welding, painting, loading and unloading of heavy or hazardous materials, inspection and testing, and finishing operations.
Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) are comprehensive systems that may include numerically controlled machine tools, robots, and automated material handling systems in the manufacture of similar products or components using different routings among the machines.
A computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) system is one in which many manufacturing functions are linked through an integrated computer network. These manufacturing or manufacturing-related functions include production planning and control, shop floor control, quality control, computer-aided manufacturing, computer-aided design, purchasing, marketing, and other functions. The objective of a computer-integrated manufacturing system is to allow changes in product design, to reduce costs, and to optimize production requirements.
There are many different reasons to automate. Increased productivity is normally the major reason for many companies desiring a competitive advantage. Automation also offers low operational variability. Variability is directly related to quality and productivity. Other reasons to automate include the presence of a hazardous working environment and the high cost of human labor. Some businesses automate processes in order to reduce production time, increase manufacturing flexibility, reduce costs, eliminate human error, or make up for a labor shortage. Decisions associated with automation are usually concerned with some or all of these economic and social considerations.Right now, man uses machines to do work, but soon automation might replace man altogether, and many people believe that is bad.
Rationalization Procedure
The actual procedure divides the product line in to four zones: The least profitable products would be dropped. Products that need to be in the catalog would be outsourced, thus simplifying the supply chain and manufacturing operations.
The cash-cows would remain and the balance would be improved with a better focus in product development, operations, and marketing. Because these products no longer need to subsidize the "losers," they can now sell for less.
The combination of better focus and lower overhead changes will soon restore the "lost" revenue from the dropped products.
The Value of Product Line Rationalization. Eliminating or outsourcing low-leverage products will immediately:
* Increase profits by avoiding the manufacture of products that have low profit or are really losing money because of their (unreported) high overhead demands and inefficient manufacture/procurement
* Improve operational flexibility because, typically, low-leverage products are inherently different with unusual parts, materials, set-ups, and processing. Often, these are older products that are built infrequently with less common parts on older equipment using sketchy documentation by a workforce with little experience on those products.
* Simplify Supply Chain Management. Eliminating the products with unusual parts and materials will greatly simplify supply-chain management.
* Free up valuable resources to improve operations and quality, implement better product development practices, and introduce new capabilities like build-to-order & mass customization.
Business Process Reengineering
Business process reengineering (BPR) is, in computer science and management, an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the business process that exist within and across organizations. The key to BPR is for organizations to look at their business processes from a "clean slate" perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conduct business.
Business process reengineering is also known as BPR, Business Process Redesign, Business Transformation, or Business Process Change Management. Reengineering is a fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, speed, and service. BPR combines a strategy of promoting business innovation with a strategy of making major improvements to business processes so that a company can become a much stronger and more successful competitor in the marketplace.
.Re-engineering is the basis for many recent developments in management. The cross-functional team, for example, has become popular because of the desire to re-engineer separate functional tasks into complete cross-functional processes. Also, many recent management information systems developments aim to integrate a wide number of business functions. Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, knowledge management systems, groupware and collaborative systems, Human Resource Management Systems and customer relationship management systems all owe a debt to re-engineering theory.
The impact of BPR on organizational performance
The two cornerstones of any organization are the people and the processes. If individuals are motivated and working hard, yet the business processes are cumbersome and non-essential activities remain, organizational performance will be poor. Business Process Reengineering is the key to transforming how people work. What appear to be minor changes in processes can have dramatic effects on cash flow, service delivery and customer satisfaction. Even the act of documenting business processes alone will typically improve organizational efficiency by 10%.
How to implement a BPR project
The best way to map and improve the organization's procedures is to take a top down approach, and not undertake a project in isolation. That means:
* Starting with mission statements that define the purpose of the organization and describe what sets it apart from others in its sector or industry.
* Producing vision statements which define where the organization is going, to provide a clear picture of the desired future position.
* Build these into a clear business strategy thereby deriving the project objectives.
* Defining behaviours that will enable the organization to achieve its' aims.
* Producing key performance measures to track progress.
* Relating efficiency improvements to the culture of the organization
* Identifying initiatives that will improve performance.
The types of attributes you should look for in BPR software are:
* Graphical interface for fast documentation
* "Object oriented" technology, so that changes to data (eg: job titles) only need to be made in one place, and the change automatically appears throughout all the organization's procedures and documentation.
* Drag and drop facility so you can easily relate organizational and data objects to each step in the process
* Customizable meta data fields, so that you can include information relating to your industry, business sector or organization in your documentation
* Analysis, such as swim-lanes to show visually how responsibilities in a process are transferred between different roles, or where data items or computer applications are used.
* Support for Value Stream mapping.
* CRUD or RACI reports, to provide evidence for process improvement.
* The ability to assess the processes against agreed international standards
* Simulation software to support 'what-if' analyses during the design phase of the project to develop LEAN processes
* The production of word documents or web site versions of the procedures at the touch of a single button, so that the information can be easily maintained and updated.
The software we use by choice is Protos, a very comprehensive Dutch system that has been translated into English. Protos meets all the above requirements, and many more, and is better than any system originated in English that we have seen.
Conclusion
To be successful, business process reengineering projects need to be top down, taking in the complete organization, and the full end to end processes. It needs to be supported by tools that make processes easy to track and analyze.
Paradigm Shift
A paradigm shift is a radical change of pace in our Paradigms -- a fundamental change in our unconscious view of reality, the addition of The Fifth Element into our world. Looming on the horizon in this regard is one identified with the ideas of Zero-Point Energy (ZPE), Connective Physics, and other state-of-the-art science. Paradigm shift (or revolutionary science) is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science. It is in contrast to his idea of normal science.
The term paradigm shift, as a change in a fundamental model of events, has since become widely applied to many other realms of human experience as well, even though Kuhn himself restricted the use of the term to the hard sciences. According to Kuhn, "A paradigm is what members of a scientific community, and they alone, share." (The Essential Tension, 1977). Unlike a normal scientist, Kuhn held, "a student in the humanities has constantly before him a number of competing and incommensurable solutions to these problems, solutions that he must ultimately examine for himself." (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions). Once a paradigm shift is complete, a scientist cannot, for example, posit the possibility that miasma causes disease or that ether carries light. In contrast, a critic in the Humanities can choose to adopt a 19th-century theory of poetics, for instance.Since the 1960s, the term has been found useful to thinkers in numerous non-scientific contexts. Compare as a structured form of Zeitgeist.
Which is more radical? Amongst the four I think the most radical is the paradigm shift. Paradigm shift is more revolutionary than the others. In paradigm shift one really tends to move away from old habits, processes and traditions and seeks to create new and improved processes, tasks and functions. It turns out that the organization engage into something new. There’s actually a renovation happened. Well it is said to be radical since organization don’t have the power to fight against this change.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automation
http://www.managementhelp.org/mgmnt/orgchnge.htm
http://www.halexandria.org/dward171.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift
http://www.build-to-order-consulting.com/rationalization.htm
http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/business-process-reengineering.html
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The waterfall development model has its origins in the manufacturing and construction industries; highly structured physical environments in which after-the-fact changes are prohibitively costly, if not impossible. Since no formal software development methodologies existed at the time, this hardware-oriented model was simply adapted for software development.
The spiral model is a software development process combining elements of both design and prototyping-in-stages, in an effort to combine advantages of top-down and bottom-up concepts. Also known as the spiral lifecycle model (or spiral development), it is a systems development method (SDM) used in information technology (IT). This model of development combines the features of the prototyping model and the waterfall model. The spiral model is intended for large, expensive and complicated projects.
Agile software development refers to a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. The term was coined in the year 2001 when the Agile Manifesto was formulated. Agile methods generally promote a disciplined project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Models
1. Waterfall Model
• The dynamic flow or systematized flow of processes that are easily understood.
• There is a little chance if incorporating to changes once the work begins.
If changes are tried to be corrected it cause so much delays.
2. Spiral Method
• The model is realistic and can be understand most development teams
and customers.
• The model is risky and needs to have proper experience and expertise.
3. Agile
• In Agile projects, if the project runs to completion with no changes
then the business or the client will get projected returns.
• The model involves customer early that can cause constant requirements
and sometimes lead to product never completed.
Based on what I’ve searched and read from some authors of the different process models, it is clear that in software engineering various models are used in order to come up with a good project having excellent output that can be delivered to clients. It applies various stages to implement all the components needed to satisfy the requirements in order to obtain software. According to Scharch, there are several characteristics that can represent the Waterfall Model. He said, “Inherent in every phase of the Waterfall Model is testing. Testing is not a separate phase to be performed only after the product has been constructed; it is not to be performed only at the end of each phase. Instead...testing should proceed continuously throughout the software process." He’s right. Testing must be done in the overall process. It will always be present since it plays a major part. A software engineer cannot come up to have a good output if testing isn’t present. By testing, they would know what those things to be changed and improved are. With testing, verification and validation is a key point. According to him, verification deals with building the software right and validation deals with the right software. They are connected with each other. Spiral Model according to Barry Boehm, it is the first model that discuss iteration. It has the same steps with Waterfall process model. Its requirements and design are evolving as time goes by. Well this model is intended for large and complicated projects because it combines the feature of prototyping and waterfall process model. Thinking of a big project well this model will fit the requirements needed by the software engineer or computer scientist. Since it is intended for big projects then it will probably cost much. The Agile model according to Scott Ambler, is the collection of practices that are meant to be applied by software professionals on a day-to-day basis. The main concept of this model is that it is not a complete software process thus only focus on effective modeling and documentation. In this model, it explores critical issues such as the communication and documentation practices by just using simple tools to model. The best thing I like about Agile process model is that the project team emphasizes on sharing information and performing analysis, design and coding with a team rather than individual basis. It is good to know that within a team there is a good relationship with one another whether the project is large or a simple one.
Among the process models, I would prefer to use the Agile method when I’ll be dealing with a project. With Agile method, there is a disciplined project management process. The tasks are being break into small increments with minimal planning and don’t require a long term planning. This method will also help minimize overall risk, and let the project adapt to changes quickly. Using Agile method, higher quality projects may be produced. An agile project merely emphasizes sharing of information and performance analysis with the team at the same time designing and coding with a team. The best thing I liked about Agile method is that there is a reduced dependence within the group at the same time the flexibility is increased. There is a good communication with other another and eventually the project will be successful. Every members of the team had a brief discussion on what they might do for today and what are those achievements yesterday. With that, it’s easy for the team to adjust and solve problems that occurs. There is also a balanced flow of work since the task is divided according to his expertise. One could be good in documentation and observing providing input and strategic advice while the other one is skilled in programming coding. If the method is done successfully, then the team can produce good output and deliver good product to the clients as well.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model
As what I’ve read, planning for information systems begins with the identification of needs. In order to be effective, development of any type of computer-based system should be a response to need--whether at the transaction processing level or at the more complex information and support systems levels. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. The plan must be specific enough to enable understanding of each application and to know where it stands in the order of development. Also the plan should be flexible so that priorities can be adjusted if necessary. A strategic information system planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Although strategic information systems planning are a major concern, most organizations find it difficult to undertake it. It is possible that the advances in Information Technology and their applicability in organizations have outpaced all formal methodologies evolved in past years.
Moreover, Information-based enterprises must be planned in an integrated way whereby all stages of the life cycle are engaged to bring about agility, quality, and productivity. This integration is similar in nature to the integration of product life cycle for an enterprise. The existing methodologies, however, tend to support information planning as an island separated from the wealth of the enterprise’s information resources. A needed new approach would tap into these resources, which capture and characterize the enterprise to allow for integration of the planning stage with information systems development stages and support a shortened and adaptive
cycle.
If given a chance to prepare an Information System plan for the university, there are some characteristics of ISP to be considered. These characteristics are all helpful when implementation part is mainly the concern.
The Information System Plan is Timely:
An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. Since its timely, well I would be more critical in dealing the plan because it is for the good of the university the time the plans are put into action.
The Information System Plan is Useable:
The ISP is useable in a way that when the implementation part is in action, the system that is planned can be used as a means to achieve the concerns of the university.
The Information System Plan is Maintainable:
The ISP must support quick changes to the estimate technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Well this point takes place on the latter part when the plan system runs eventually.
The Information System Plan is a Good Quality:
The ISP must be a quality product since no ISP ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed in the university, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new technologies, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports the system implemented. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly.
The Information System Plan is Reproducible:
The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same and can merely adapt to changes.
If we are talking about the how to expedite the plan to the university, there is also some steps to be considered. Some of them are the following.
Project Management
The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goalsand objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints. In this step, the project must be well planned in order to have a harmonious flow when implementation takes place. It is likewise important to plan so that we can prepare and to make it much easier for us to handle the foreseeable and unexpected issues that would come up during the process.
Data Conversion
What data, if any, will need to be transferred to the new system? This is intended for organizations who have their previous system and want to replace it with a new one. All the data from the past system must be properly transferred to the new one. This requires skilled personnels that knows the previous system and persons that are also trained for the new system.
Training of Personnel
People is the basic equipment of an IS Plan since they're the one's using the systems or they're the one involve in the plan. They must be well trained so that they have the knowledge on how the system works and how to deal with the changes might occur.
Refences:
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf
In today’s modern and hectic world of technology, we tend to look for an immediate solution to solve such problems that arise. Technology is fast arising and obviously we are coping for the vast changes that happen in the society, as technology is concern. We cannot deny the fact that the latest trend nowadays brought so much impact in every aspect of our lives. Nothing is constant except for change. I’ve been wondering what would happen to my life as years goes by. Every now and then there is changes and improvements. What would I’d be after I graduated this course? Do I have some plans in order to achieve those goals I’ll be setting in? What path would I take in order to achieve my goals? What would be my possible work if I’m going to be an IT professional?. Those are some of the questions that I have in my mind. Eventually and hopefully in god’s time I’ll be able to understand what’s really happening in a real life scenario and eventually answer those questions.
After I graduate, there are lots of career waiting for me I guess. I could be a programmer, database administrator, IT consultant, IT instructor and a System Analyst maybe. System Analyst, such a good and challenging job I guess. What is a System Analyst? What are his roles in the organization?
System Analyst is responsible for the operating system and associated subsystems. Provide system-level support of multi-user operating systems, hardware and software tools, including installation, configuration, maintenance, and support of these systems. Identify alternatives for optimizing computer resources. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process. A successful systems analyst must acquire four skills: analytical, technical, managerial, and interpersonal.
Systems analysis is a process with an eye towards understanding and improvement. This requires interviewing users and management to gather insight of the process and discern how it fits into the organization's mission and operational needs. After this comes re-engineering and change. And all the while customers want to be involved with alternatives and decisions.
Responsibilities of an Analyst
Collect information to analyze and evaluate existing or proposed systems.
Research, plan, install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain and upgrade operating systems.
Research, plan, install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain and upgrade hardware and software interfaces with the operating system. Analyze and evaluate present or proposed business procedures or problems to define data processing needs.
Prepare detailed flow charts and diagrams outlining systems capabilities and processes.
Research and recommend hardware and software development, purchase, and use.
Troubleshoot and resolve hardware, software, and connectivity problems, including user access and component configuration.
Select among authorized procedures and seek assistance when guidelines are inadequate, significant deviations are proposed, or when unanticipated problems arise.
Record and maintain hardware and software inventories, site and/or server licensing, and user access and security.
Install, configure, and upgrade desktop hardware and peripherals to include; network cards, printers, modems, mice and add-in boards.
Work as a team member with other technical staff, such as networking to ensure connectivity and compatibility between systems.
Write and maintain system documentation.
Conduct technical research on system upgrades to determine feasibility, cost, time required, and compatibility with current system.
Maintain confidentiality with regard to the information being
processed, stored or accessed by the network.
Document system
problems and resolutions for future reference.
Assist personnel of other departments as a computer resource.
Provide on-the-job training to new department staff members.
Provide computer orientation to new company staff.
Characteristics of a System Analyst
We have interviewed Engr. Val Quimno, the dean of the Institute of Computing of the University of Southeastern Philippines. We have just asked him about what are those skills and characteristics a system analyst develop in order to be more effective in any design modeling process. He just stated it as follows:
A system Analyst must be logical. Logical in a way that he can easily think of the probable solutions to some problems. He doesn’t only limit his knowledge I just one area.
A system analyst is analytical. Know how to analyze any business transactions and functions of the organization.
Fast and Efficient. Can easily produce some ideas that can be implemented for the success of the organization.
Quick Thinker. Can easily think of some solutions in any problem that arise.
Good team player. The system analyst works with a group. He must act a good team player to have a harmonious flow in the workplace at the same time they can produce good output to their clients.
Basic soft skills. An analyst must possess a good behavior to his superior and colleagues.
Have a good understanding on how system works. Well, part of his job is to analyze the system that runs in an organization. He’s must be aware of the flow of the system.
Good Administrator.
Have a good Project Management. An analyst must be good in many ways. He can manage the whole team and project in an organized way. He can easily plan and think of new concepts.
He must have a good understanding of System Development Process.
Reference:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_System_Analyst_an_its_responsibilities
Business varies in character, as in being simpler or more complex. The varying complexity entails that the parties need different amounts of information from each other. Thus, it also inflicts on the possibilities and outcome of how information technology can be employed as well as how it impacts on business.
Information technology has certain distinguishing characteristics in a business setting, mainly as it provides the ability to increase efficiency due to the reduction of time needed to get information, the facilitation of rapid response and reaction, and the ability to handle both simple and complex content.
For companies involved in business of higher complexity, information technology can provide many solutions that can be used to enhance the flow or management of data and information. It can be anything from making orders on email to systems for order-delivery-payment or product development through shared databases.
Before an organization achieves the direction they wanted for their business, it all started with setting up some plans. That exist a business plan. A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals. Setting up goals really takes the companies go up high. Being globally competitive is just one of those goals they set in. But thinking of the current status of business companies over the world, it’s clear that technology advancement plays a big part in their success. There exists a relationship between businesses into information systems. It involves planning as it was the first step. Since business plan is about the goals of the organization and it may be internally or externally focused. Externally focused plans target goals that are important to external stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders. They typically have detailed information about the organization or team attempting to reach the goals while internally focused business plans target intermediate goals required to reach the external goals. They may cover the development of a new product, a new service, a new IT system, a restructuring of finance, the refurbishing of a factory or a restructuring of the organization. It was mentioned of having a new IT system. So what would be the role of IT as information systems are being used? What is Information System Plan? Information System brings life to the overall operation of the business. Organisations typically develop rolling business plans, they are constructed by taking into account the current business, the external influences on the business (e.g. the economy, government policy and technological advances), and the aims and objectives of the most senior levels of management. The strategic business plan describes how the organisation will strive to move from the current business to the target business.Information Systems support is necessary to achieve the strategic business plan, so the business plan feeds into a Strategic Information Systems Plan (SISP), which describes how the current IT systems are intended to evolve into the target IT systems. A 'big bang' approach is infeasible, therefore a project based approach is used. The output of the SISP is a series of development projects which will either involve modifying existing systems or developing new systems which are likelty to have to interface or integrate with exisiting systems. Information systems were developed simply to improve the efficiency of specific business functions. More recently information systems have been viewed as tools for obtaining competitive advantage. :lol!:
Reference:
http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/tdhutchings/chapter1.html
What is System Analyst?
The system analyst is the person (or persons) who guides through the development of an information system. In performing these tasks the analyst must always match the information system objectives with the goals of the organization. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process. An analyst also uses techniques to solve business problems using Information Technology. The role of system analyst differs from organization to organization. Systems analysts start their work by asking people what they need their computers to do. Then, they plan a computer system that can do those tasks well. A system can include many computers working together and different types of software and tools. After analysts understand what the system needs to do, they break down the task into small steps. They draw diagrams and charts to show how information will get into the computers, how that information will be processed, and how it will get to the people who need it. Analysts experiment with different computer system plans. They try various tools and steps until they find the system that is fastest, easiest, and least expensive. Analysts decide which computers, software, and tools to buy. They also tell computer programmers how to make any new software that is needed. They give the programmers step-by-step instructions. Some analysts help make the software, too.
The main job for some systems analysts is getting computers to work together. They connect them into a network. Analysts decide how to get information from one computer to another. Many help people get data from the Internet.
After planning a system, analysts test it to make sure it works. They check to make sure that information is processed quickly and without mistakes. They also watch to see if the system is easy to use. Often, they have to change their plans to make the systems better.
Most common responsibilities of System Analyst are the following:
System Analysis
It includes system's study in order to get facts about business activity. It is about getting information and determining requirements. Here the responsibility includes only requirement determination, not the design of the system.
System Analysis and Design
Apart from the analysis work, Analyst is also responsible for the designing of the new system/application.
System Analysis, Design and Programming
An Analyst is also required to perform as a programmer, where he actually writes the code to implement the design of the proposed application. Due to the various responsibilities that a system analyst requires to handle, he/she has to be multifaceted person with varied skills required at various stages of the life cycle. In addition to the technical know-how of the information system development a system analyst should also have the following Knowledge.
Business knowledge: As the analyst might have to develop any kind of a business system, he should be familiar with the general functioning of all kind of businesses.
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Interpersonal skills: Such skills are required at various stages of development process for interacting with the users and extracting the requirements out of them.
Problem solving skills: A system analyst should have enough problem solving skills for defining the alternate solutions to the system and also for the problems occurring at the various stages of the development process.
An Analyst must be able to communicate in writing and orally since they deal with people always. Analysts need good speaking and writing skills, too, so that they can explain their systems and give good instructions to the client. Logical thinking skills is also important to posses by an Analyst since most of the time they will be engaged with some mathematical problems.
Do I have the capability of being a System Analyst?
Hmm assuming that I’m a professional now I guess I’m capable enough. I know I can do the job well and eventually be an asset to the company I’m involved with. The person behind the success of an organization not only limits to the manager or the president but also to those people whom actually the brain of the company that gives so much contribution.
Reference:
http://www.bls.gov/K12/computers06.htm
http://www.freetutes.com/systemanalysis/role-of-system-analyst.html
Friday, February 12, 2010
MIS 2 Assignment 1: As an IT professional 10 years from now..
0 comments Posted by vanessa may at 7:53 AMHmmn imagining myself 10 years from now makes me feel a bit excited and nervous. Probably I’m 31 years old that time and have a family on my own. I’m a graduate of BSIT and definitely reached the stage of being a professional. That’s also the time wherein I can pay back all the hard works my
parents did for a couple of years I stayed in the university. Right after graduation, I’ll be part of the corporate and prestigious world of IT environment wherein I can contribute the knowledge I had which is a big help to the company I’ll be engaging in. I’ll be an IT Analyst, a Web Designer or maybe owns a big company hopefully. Well with regards to my profession that time, I guess I’m worthy to be called as an IT professional. With so much effort and strategies I made, well it wouldn’t hard for me to achieve my desired goals in life.
What would be the strategies I made in order to achieve the goals I set in? First, I may not able to have a work if I didn’t study for a couple of years in the university. That really requires so much patience and determination. It really involves planning. Proper plans to set so that I had a path to follow and basically end up with good result. As I reached the time where I’m engaging to the work environment I choose, planning is definitely plays an important role. I may have a set of workloads to be made on that day and for the rest of years I stayed in the company. There would be some steps I will follow to accomplish the task I had. Planning is not only the strategy I may have. Yeah there is a plan but I think planning would not be successful alone if I don’t possess the traits of being a good employee. I must be competitive enough in the workplace since I’ll be dealing with different people and somehow had a different idea with my colleagues. One of the greatest strengths I may possess is taking the initiative to do something when no one else will. When I see that something needs to be done, even if that part was not my task I must simply do it. I must be flexible enough in the workplace. Moreover, a communication skill is one of the traits I must bare in mind since there are some differences of ideas between employees. Proper communication in the workplace will lead to a successful work and can help the organization achieve their goals. I cannot able I must be updated of the latest trend since technology nowadays is fast moving and is adaptable to changes. That really needs the strategic planning a company must take into. Well being part of the company, I will play an important role in making the organization go in the flow.
Another strategy I may have is that knowing my strengths and weaknesses. Learning to follow your bliss is a critical component in managing a career and I guess that’s the greatest strength I may possess. Nailing down the self-knowledge that leads to career fulfillment comes from a process of exploring interests, skills, personality, learning style, and values. With regards to the weaknesses, I must know and consider those areas in the work field where I could improve. An evaluation from the employer is a big help to improve the weakest side of me and with that I’ll be motivated to show some improvements.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Hmmn imagining myself 10 years from now makes me feel a bit excited and nervous. Probably I’m 31 years old that time and have a family on my own. I’m a graduate of BSIT and definitely reached the stage of being a professional. That’s also the time wherein I can pay back all the hard works my
parents did for a couple of years I stayed in the university. Right after graduation, I’ll be part of the corporate and prestigious world of IT environment wherein I can contribute the knowledge I had which is a big help to the company I’ll be engaging in. I’ll be an IT Analyst, a Web Designer or maybe owns a big company hopefully. Well with regards to my profession that time, I guess I’m worthy to be called as an IT professional. With so much effort and strategies I made, well it wouldn’t hard for me to achieve my desired goals in life.
What would be the strategies I made in order to achieve the goals I set in? First, I may not able to have a work if I didn’t study for a couple of years in the university. That really requires so much patience and determination. It really involves planning. Proper plans to set so that I had a path to follow and basically end up with good result. As I reached the time where I’m engaging to the work environment I choose, planning is definitely plays an important role. I may have a set of workloads to be made on that day and for the rest of years I stayed in the company. There would be some steps I will follow to accomplish the task I had. Planning is not only the strategy I may have. Yeah there is a plan but I think planning would not be successful alone if I don’t possess the traits of being a good employee. I must be competitive enough in the workplace since I’ll be dealing with different people and somehow had a different idea with my colleagues. One of the greatest strengths I may possess is taking the initiative to do something when no one else will. When I see that something needs to be done, even if that part was not my task I must simply do it. I must be flexible enough in the workplace. Moreover, a communication skill is one of the traits I must bare in mind since there are some differences of ideas between employees. Proper communication in the workplace will lead to a successful work and can help the organization achieve their goals. I cannot able I must be updated of the latest trend since technology nowadays is fast moving and is adaptable to changes. That really needs the strategic planning a company must take into. Well being part of the company, I will play an important role in making the organization go in the flow.
Another strategy I may have is that knowing my strengths and weaknesses. Learning to follow your bliss is a critical component in managing a career and I guess that’s the greatest strength I may possess. Nailing down the self-knowledge that leads to career fulfillment comes from a process of exploring interests, skills, personality, learning style, and values. With regards to the weaknesses, I must know and consider those areas in the work field where I could improve. An evaluation from the employer is a big help to improve the weakest side of me and with that I’ll be motivated to show some improvements.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Nowadays, the rise of information technology plays a vital role in every organization and major businesses. Competition is indeed a mere challenge to all organizations. The use of the so-called technology brings life to them not just because they need to have one but also by showing to others what they’ve got. The fast growing technology ruled over the world and influenced the industry level of businesses. Information technology is a powerful tool for meeting environmental objectives and promoting sustainable development. Information technologies are unique not just because of their growing use in decision-making and knowledge management systems, important as that is. Their use has also yielded significant improvements in the efficiency of energy and materials used by certain companies. This has contributed to economic expansion without the increases in environmental impacts that would have resulted had the efficiency improvements not occurred.
Advances in information technology are likely to continue to provide opportunities for the development of improved and new products and services offered by some organizations. The advances of technology nowadays certainly help in building a skilled workforce within the organization that definitely makes the company grow and produced quality services to customers.
Due to the rapid development of technology, information is acquired anytime, anywhere and everywhere. Likewise, all medium to large organizations depend on Information technology for their continued survival. Information systems were developed simply to improve the efficiency of specific business functions. More recently information systems have been viewed as tools for obtaining
competitive advantage.
An information systems environment is an area in which professionals make use of the systems developed within the environment of the organization. An environment that doesn’t focused on one field but instead represents an ecosystem where information systems are employed and then used. The environment that both information systems and workforce work together to build a competitive and progressive organization they aim to have.
As an aspiring IT professional, soon I’ll be a part of the corporate world and prestigious IT environment or organization equipped with many knowledge. I take up IT because I want to be a part of the IT environment that is nowadays-latest trend. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish this course. The time I finished this course, I want to work in a big company such as Davao Light and Power Company, Ayala Group of Companies, PLDT, Philippine Airlines and San Miguel Corporations. The mentioned companies surely have the best job suited for me, I guess. I really dreamed of becoming a business analyst of one of the said companies. I want to become an Information Technology Business Analyst. IT business analyst plays a vital role in their organizations' technological direction. IT business analysis responsibilities can reside in various corporate functions and departments, such as operations, product development, information systems and finance. No matter what organization or title owns the function, the business analyst's primary responsibilities are gathering requirements for designing business information systems, modifying systems to improve production or workflow, deploying new applications or expanding systems to serve new purposes. The bottom line for business analysts is to help make the companies more efficient, effective and profitable. Being an IT business analyst soon, I must able to think logically and should probably work with many ideas since the work is dealing with number of tasks simultaneously. That’s really a challenging one, I guess. Another thing is that analyst often work independently since there are some cases that the work is done with a team for large projects. I must be able to communicate with technical personnel such as programmers, managers and clients who don’t have enough background with computers. My job is really important in the company. As what I’ve heard, IT business analyst is the brain of the company since the business relies on the technology.
Upon working in a company, there are lots of things to consider since we are not working alone. We will work and deal with different kinds of people, which is a means in creating a special workforce in a company that would surely help the organization. The time I’ll be working, I must also consider the ideas of my colleagues since we are the brain of the company. Doing that role requires great passion. The work is quiet challenging since it will be done under pressure. There are lots of challenges I may face in performing my role in that company. Managing the time, balance the work and the competition within the organization. That challenged me so much because that would probably an aid for me in becoming competent and effective personnel. Another thing is that the technology nowadays is fast moving and with that I must able to formulate some ideas that surely fit to what the technology had that moment of time. Facing those challenges would simply means that I have to be strong and competitive enough so that the role I’m portraying fit to what the organization wishes me to portray.
For now since I’m just a student, I would probably make sure that all my dreams will be come true. Though the pressure is there still I have to manage myself well so that the time I graduate, those I’ve mentioned will surely happen. Hopefully and in God’ time. 
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Information is the lifeblood of any organization. Damaged or lost data can cause disruptions in normal business activities leading to financial losses and lawsuits. Information systems, which comprise hardware, software, data, applications, communication and people, help an organization to better manage and secure its critical corporate, customer and employee data. Information systems also improve integration and work processes.
The role of information system in an organization is to monitor and document the operations of systems, which are called target systems. An information system owes its existence to the target system. For example, production activities would be the target system for a production scheduling information system; human resources would be the target system of a human resource information system. It could be that every reactive system may have a subsystem that can be considered as an information system whose objective is to monitor and control such a system. The main functions of an information system may be input, processing, output, storage and control.
Outsourcing vs. Insourcing:
Outsourcing began in the early eighties when organizations started delegating their non-core functions to an external organization that was specialized in providing a particular service, function or product. In outsourcing, the external organization would take on the management of the outsourced function.
Most organizations choose outsourcing because outsourcing offers a lot of advantages. When organizations outsource to countries like India, they benefit from lower costs and high-quality services. Moreover organizations can concentrate more on core functions once they outsource their non-core functions. Outsourcing can also help organizations make better use of their resources, time and infrastructure.
In outsourcing, the outsourcer and the outsourcing partner have a greater relationship when compared to the relationship between a buyer and a seller. In outsourcing, the outsourcer trusts the outsourcing partner with vital information. Outsourcing is no longer confined to the outsourcing of IT services. Most organizations are opting to outsource because outsourcing enables organizations to access intellectual capital, focus on core competencies, shorten the delivery cycle time and reduce costs significantly. Organizations feel outsourcing is an effective business strategy to help improve their business.
The opposite of outsourcing can be defined as Insourcing. When an organization delegates its work to another entity, which is internal yet not a part of the organization, it is termed as insourcing. The internal entity will usually have a specialized team who will be proficient in the providing the required services. Organizations sometimes opt for insourcing because it enables them to maintain a better control of what they outsource. Insourcing has also come to be defined as transferring work from one organization to another organization which is located within the same country. Insourcing can also mean an organization building a new business centre or facility which would specialize in a particular service or product.
Organizations involved in production usually opt for insourcing in order to cut down the cost of labor and taxes amongst others. Organizations who have been dissatisfied with outsourcing have moved towards insourcing. Some organizations feel that they can have better customer support and better control over the work outsourced by insourcing their work rather than outsourcing it. According to recent studies, there is more wok insourced than outsourced in the U.S and U.K. These countries are currently the largest outsourcers in the world. The U.S and U.K outsource and insource work equally.
If an organization has a number of non-core processes which are taking plenty of time, effort and resources to perform in-house, it would be wise to outsource these non-core functions. Outsourcing in this case, would help save on time, effort, and manpower and would also be aid in making quicker deliveries to customers. For reducing costs and making faster deliverables, outsourcing is again a good option.
If the work involves production, then it would be more ideal for the organization opt for insourcing, as it can save on transportation costs and exercise a better control over your project.
If given a chance to point out my opinion regarding outsourcing or insourcing in our university,I may choose to have it insource. We all know that the university is a public institution. Money is kinda a big issue when it comes to some implementations. Since outsourcing cost much, it would be a lot better if the university had an insource system since it lessens cost. . The university has good programmers that can do all the systems needed by the university. Why not give them the responsibility to do such system that definitely helps the university. They are competent enough and thus have enough knowledge when it comes in making and maintaining the Information Systems. They are definitely familiar with the flow of the system they come up with. So when problem arise, they can easily solve it since they are the ones who made it. They can always do better and develop their ideas. We all know that in outsourcing the time the system’s down, security and data integrity is then lost. Since the one using that system doesn’t have the knowledge to solve the problem, then it’s a hassle on their part because they cannot solve it alone. With in sourcing of course they surely deal with the problems easily and can secure the data thoroughly.
Reference:
http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/articles/outsourcing-versus-insourcing.asp