-represents the system as a single process, with all the related entities and the data flows in and out of the system. Since the data stores of the system are conceptually inside the one process, no data stores appear on a context diagram.
Current physical Data Flow Diagram
-often show the people and technology used within a system, showing who does what and the media on which data are stored.
Current logical Data Flow Diagram
-is a model of the current information system in which the physical aspects of the system are removed as much as possible so that the current system is reduced to its essence, to the data and the processes that transform them, regardless of actual physical form.
New logical Data Flow Diagram
-is a model of the target information system that depicts the functionality and data flows of the target system without regards to how the system will be physically implemented.
The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly, especially changes involving information technology. Using your crystal ball, identify and discuss three changes likely to have substantial impact on your school services in the next three years. (1500 words)
There is a saying that goes “the only constant thing on earth is change”. In the field of information technology, change is constant as well because from time to time, new discoveries and trends are coming out and replaces the old ones. Regarding the university I am enrolled in, the current technologies used are always being modified from time to time so students would make use of them more effectively and efficiently. Even students like us continue to seek for new innovations for us to make use and help the university to be more progressive and do processes as easy as possible with the use of the latest technologies.
Seeing the university three years from now, I have thought of these three changes that would make an impact on the school services and they are the following.
Automated School Processes What I mean about school process are those different procedures a student of the university does within their stay in the university. One example is the enrollment system which every student would have to undergo before being admitted to the university. A change in a procedure would make an impact to a student for they would have to adjust with it. Automating some of these processes would ease the life of the students. Currently, Information Technology students as well as the Computer Science students are developing the University Integrated System or the UniiSys. This is a collection of systems made by the students from the Institute of Computing of the university which would automate some services of the different offices and organizations of the university. If this project would be implemented hopefully in the future on the university, it would make a big impact on the students and those who are within the university who could make use of this system. This system is an ease to some services offered in the university. The subsystem of UniiSys are, e-benta, e-dikit, U-pahibalo, Iskolar, Alumnay sa USeP, Share-It, e-tudlo and e-scheduler.
Educational Approach Educational approach refers to the type or a standard of teaching that a university follows for the education of their clients who are the students. If ever there would be a change on the educational approach in the university, there would definitely be a big impact to the students. On my experience as a students if this university, I think I the change on the curriculum of our college could be considered as one. When the ladderized curriculum was implemented starting school year 2008-2009 on the Institute of Computing there are changes that we students have to cope to. There are subject that have been added and some are removed in the new curriculum which made it hard for us to adjust. If changes like these would come out in the future it would somehow help improve the quality of education of the university but then could make confusions for the students.
Infrastructure Infrastructure defined by Wikipedia is the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. Having a change on the infrastructure of the university specially the IT infrastructure could also have a big impact on the university services. If there would be changes I hope these would be additions on the facilities that the students would make use of not deduction of this.
To wrap it up changes would not mean there would be additions all the time it could sometime mean removing some services. Changes could have positive impact to which it concerns but not all the time it could be for improvement, there are times negative outputs come out of the new implementations or changes that are made.
fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.
So if I were hired to develop a strategic information system plan for a company, what would I ask them to discuss on the development to be done. Now what is SISP? I got this definition of SISP or strategic information system plan from an article on the net. “SISP is the analysis of a corporation’s information and processes using business information models together with the evaluation of risk, current needs and requirements. The result is an action plan showing the desired course of events necessary to align information use and needs with the strategic direction of the company.” (Battaglia, 1991)
It would be ideal to first identify what kind of company you’ll be developing an SISP for. It is not necessary that one have to ask it for the company. As the developer of the SISP, I could observe and see what kind of company am I working for. I could also observe the processes and past strategies of the company to be able to start the planning by identifying questions to be asked during the meeting. It would be better if you yourself will observe the practice of the company rather than asking it directly so you yourself could see the real thing or the real situation. So here are questions I have formulated in order for me to develop a strategic information systems plan.
What are the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the company? I have mentioned that observing is a good tactic to identify the companies goal but it could also be good if I as the developer ask them their goals and objectives for me to clarify if it suits with my observation of their business processes. It would be helpful to ask this question to know the company you are developing an SISP for.
What are the company’s needs? Any systems plan always include with identifying the needs of the company being assessed. So in order to create an effective and efficient strategic information systems plan, another step is to identify and assess the needs of the company.
Why develop a strategic information system plan? It would be best to ask why the company would want me to develop this SISP for them. With this I would know why they needed me to develop this SISP fro them. The time frame could also be discussed within this question. I could also ask them of their perspective or what do they see in the future when SISP is developed. Developing SISP for the company would be useless if the company itself does not know why they want this.
What are the strategies and priorities of the company? This question would be useful for identifying how the company deal with handling priorities and what should be prioritized.
What are the past trends of the company regarding SISP? This is for me to know the past strategies of the company. To identify what would be retained and what should be modified and be developed.
What are the existing systems of your company? After dealing with the objective part of the meeting, now this question would recognize the company’s currents systems and services and how would these affect the business process. Identifying the current system would help me know how Information System helps the company and what are its significance to them.
After identifying the needs and gathering necessary information from the interview, the developer could know start doing an action plan for the company. This includes identifying risks and factor that may affect the company’s business processes and IS.
