Modern Systems Analysis and Design 8th Edition Ch. 1-7 Terms, CSE58 Final

Level-n diagram

A DFD that is the result of n nested decompositions from a process on a level-0 diagram.

Level-0 diagram

A DFD that represents a system's major processes, data flows, and data stores at a high level of detail

Tangible benefit

A benefit derived from the creation of an information system that can be measured in dollars and with certainty.

Intangible benefit

A benefit derived from the creation of an information system that cannot be easily measured in dollars or with certainty.

Project management

A controlled process of initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project.

Tangible cost

A cost associated with an information system that can be measured in dollars and with certainty.

Intangible cost

A cost associated with an information system that cannot be easily measured in terms of dollars or with certainty.

One-time cost

A cost associated with project start-up and development or system start-up.

Recurring cost

A cost resulting from the ongoing evolution and use of a system.

Network diagram

A diagram that depicts project tasks and their interrelationships.

Project scope statement (PSS)

A document prepared for the customer that describes what the project will deliver and outlines generally at a high level all work required to complete the project.

Request for proposal (RFP)

A document provided to vendors that ask them to propose hardware and system software that will meet the requirements of the new system.

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

A facilitated process that supports idea generation by groups. At the beginning of the process, group members work alone to generate ideas. The ideas are then pooled under the guidance of a trained facilitator.

Top-down planning

A generic ISP methodology that attempts to gain a broader understanding of the information systems needs of the entire organization.

Gantt chart

A graphical representation of a project that shows each task as a horizontal bar whose length is proportional to its time for completion.

Internet

A large, worldwide network of networks that use a common protocol to communicate with each other.

Object class

A logical grouping of objects that have the same (or similar) attributes and behaviors (methods).

Baseline project plan (BPP)

A major outcome and deliverable from the project initiation and planning phase that contains the best estimate of a project's scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements.

Project

A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a beginning and an end

Technical feasibility

A process of assessing the development organization's ability to construct a proposed system.

Economic feasibility

A process of identifying the financial benefits and costs associated with a development project.

Critical path scheduling

A scheduling technique whose order and duration of a sequence of task activities directly affect the completion date of a project.

Objective statement

A series of statements that express an organization's qualitative and quantitative goals for reaching a desired future position.

Project charter

A short document prepared for the customer during project initiation that describes what the project will deliver and outlines generally at a high level all work required to complete the project.

Systems development methodology

A standard process followed in an organization to conduct all the steps necessary to analyze, design, implement, and maintain information systems.

Mission statement

A statement that makes it clear what business a company is in.

Incremental commitment

A strategy in systems analysis and design in which the project is reviewed after each phase and continuation of the project is rejustified.

Object

A structure that encapsulates (or packages) attributes and methods that operate on those attributes. An object is an abstraction of a real-world thing in which data and processes are placed together to model the structure and behavior of the real-world object.

Joint Application Design (JAD)

A structured process in which users, managers, and analysts work together for several days in a series of intensive meetings to specify or review system requirements.

Feasibility study

A study that determines if the proposed information system makes sense for the organization from an economic and operational standpoint.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems

A system that integrates individual traditional business functions into a series of modules so that a single transaction occurs seamlessly within a single information system rather than several separate systems.

Project manager

A systems analyst with a diverse set of skills-management, leadership, technical, conflict management, and customer relationship-who is responsible for initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project.

Program evolution review technique (PERT)

A technique that uses optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic time estimates to calculate the expected time for a particular task.

break-even analysis

A type of cost-benefit analysis to identify what point (if ever) benefits equal costs.

Deliverable

An end product of an SDLC phase.

Functional decomposition

An iterative process of breaking the description of a system down into finer and finer detail, which creates a set of charts in which one process on a given chart is explained in greater detail on another chart.

Prototyping

An iterative process of systems development in which requirements are converted to a working system that is continually revised through close work between analysts and users.

Rational unified process (RUP)

An object-oriented systems development methodology. RUP establishes four phases of development: inception, elaboration, construction, and transition. Each phase is organized into a number of separate iterations

Corporate strategic planning

An ongoing process that defines the mission, objectives, and strategies of an organization.

Project workbook

An online or hard-copy repository for all project correspondence, inputs, outputs, deliverables, procedures, and standards that is used for performing project audits, orienting new team members, communicating with management and customers, identifying future projects, and performing post-project reviews.

Information systems planning (ISP)

An orderly means of assessing the information needs of an organization and defining the systems, databases, and technologies that will best satisfy those needs.

Context diagram

An overview of an organizational system that shows the system boundaries, external entities that interact with the system, and the major information flows between the entities and the system. Only has ONE process

Value chain analysis

Analyzing an organizations activities to determine where value is added to the products and/or services and the costs incurred for doing so; usually also includes a comparison with the activities, added value, and costs of other organizations for the purpose of making improvements in the organizations operations and performance.

Resources

Any person, group of people, he said the Quitman, or material used in accomplishing an activity.

COCOMO (Constructive Cost Model)

Automated software estimation model that uses historical project data and current as well as future project characteristics to estimate project costs.

Application software

Computer software designed to support the organizational functions of processes.

Data store

Data at rest, which may take the form of many different physical representations

Business-to-consumer (B2C)

Electronic commerce between business and consumers.

Business-to-business (B2B)

Electronic commerce between business partners, such as suppliers and intermediaries.

Business-to-employee (B2E)

Electronic commerce between businesses and their employees.

Bottom-up planning

Generic information system planning methodology that identifies and defines IS development projects based upon solving operational business problems or taking advantage of some business opportunities

Electronic commerce (EC)

Internet-based communication to support day-to-day business activities

Logical design

Part of the design phase of the SDLC in which all functional features of the system chosen for development in analysis are described independently of any computer platform

Walk-through

Peer group review of any product created during the systems development process; also called a structured walk-through.

Computer-aided software engineering (case) tools

Software tools that provide automated support for some portion of the systems development process.

Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD)

System development methodologies and techniques based on objects rather than data or processes.

Disruptive technologies

Technologies that enable the breaking of long-held business rules that inhibit organizations from making radical business changes.

Slack time

The amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the project.

Information systems analysis and design

The complex organizational process whereby computer-based information systems are developed and maintained.

Time value of money (TVM)

The concept that money available today is worth more than the same amount tomorrow.

Balancing

The conservation of inputs and outputs to a DFD process when that process is decomposed to a lower level.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The cost of owning and operating a system, including the total cost of acquisition, as well as all costs associated with its ongoing use and maintenance.

Present value

The current value of a future cash flow.

DFD completeness

The extent to which all necessary components of a DFD have been included and fully described.

DFD consistency

The extent to which information contained on one level of a set of nested DFDs is also included on other levels

Maintenance

The final phase of the SDLC, in which an information system is systematically repaired and improved.

Project closedown

The final phase of the project management process that focuses on bringing a project to an end.

Planning

The first phase of the SDLC in which an organization's total information system needs are identified, analyzed, prioritized, and arranged.

Key business processes

The structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market.

Closed-ended questions

Questions in interviews that ask those responding to choose from among a set of specified responses.

Open-ended questions

Questions in interviews that have no prespecified answers.

Implementation

The fourth phase of the SDLC, in which the information system is coded, tested, installed, and supported in the organization.

Business case

The justification for an information system, presented in terms of the tangible and intangible economic benefits and costs and the technical and organizational feasibility of the proposed system.

Competitive strategy

The method by which an organization attempts to achieve its mission and objectives.

Formal system

The official way a system works as described in organizational documentation.

Systems analyst

The organizational role most responsible for the analysis and design of information systems.

Source/sink

The origin and/or destination of data; sometimes referred to as external entities.

Physical design

The part of the design phase of the SDLC in which the logical specifications of the system from logical design are transformed into technology-specific details from which all programming and system construction can be accomplished.

Scribe

The person who makes detailed notes of the happenings at a joint application design session.

Affinity clustering

The process of arranging planning matrix information so that clusters of information with a predetermined level or type of affinity are placed next to each other on a matrix report.

Legal and contractual feasibility

The process of assessing potential legal and contractual ramifications due to the construction of a system.

Operational feasibility

The process of assessing the degree to which a proposed system solves business problems or takes advantage of business opportunities.

Schedule feasibility

The process of assessing the degree to which the potential time frame and completion dates for all major activities within a project meet organizational deadlines and constraints for affecting change.

Work breakdown structure

The process of dividing the project into manageable tasks and logically ordering them to ensure a smooth evolution between tasks.

Political feasibility

The process of evaluating how key stakeholders within the organization view the proposed system.

Inheritance

The property that occurs when entity types or object classes are arranged in a hierarchy and each entity type or object class assumes the attributes and methods of its ancestors, that is, those higher up in the hierarchy. Inheritance allows new but related classes to be driven from existing classes.

Cloud computing

The provision of computing resources, including applications, over the Internet, so customers do not have to invest in the computing infrastructure needed to run and maintain the resources.

Discount rate

The rate of return used to compute the present value of future cash flow's.

Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

The search for, and implementation of, radical change in business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in products and services.

Analysis

The second phase of the SDLC in which system requirements are studied and structured.

Project planning

The second phase of the project management process that focuses on defining clear, discrete activities and the work needed to complete each activity within a single project.

Critical path

The shortest time in which a project can be completed.

Design

The third phase of the SDLC in which the description of the recommended solution is converted into logical and then physical system specifications.

Project execution

The third phase of the project management process in which the plans created in the prior phases (project initiation and planning) are put into action.

Systems development life cycle (SDLC)

The traditional methodology used to develop, maintain, and replace information systems.

JAD session later

The trained individual who plans in Leeds joint application design sessions.

Reuse

The use of previously written software resources, especially objects and components, in new applications.

Electronic data interchange (EDI)

The use of telecommunications technologies to directly transfer business documents between organizations.

Informal system

The way a system actually works

Process

The work or actions performed on data so that they are transformed, stored, or distributed.