IMR652 : MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS RECORD

BUSINESS SYSTEM ANALYSIS

by

Nurfarahin Binti Abd Rashid

Abstract

The purpose of this article is as an introduction that helps in better understanding the introduction of Business System Analysis, this article gather the definition about business system analysis, system analyst and subjects that related to business system analysis in order to understand the definition before jump to another deep topics about business system analysis. This article likely will focus on basic business analysis and help in understanding why is system involved in business analysis. I hope this article will help as many students and readers out there in order to have a better understanding regarding business system analysis and for me, myself to achieve a good writing in distribute information.

Keywords

Business analysis, system analyst, system thinking, system elements, elements of system

 Introduction

1.0  What is business analysis

Business analysis is a research discipline. According to business analyst experts, the development of business analysis as a professional discipline has extended the role and responsibilities of the business analyst (BA). Increasingly, BAs are engaged at an early point. They investigate ideas and problems, formulate options for a way forward and produce business cases setting out their conclusions and recommendations. As a result, the responsibility for advising organizations on effective courses of action lies with BAs, and their work precedes that of the project manager. (Business Analysis 2^nd Ed., Debra Paul and Donald Yeates (eds), BCS, 2010).

Business Analysis is the discipline of identifying business needs and formulating workable solutions to business problems. The development of business analysis as a profession has extended the role and responsibilities of the business analyst who now needs the widest possible array of knowledge, skills and tools to be able to use each when and where it is needed. (Business Analysis 2^nd Ed., Debra Paul and Donald Yeates (eds), BCS, 2010).

1.1  What is business analyst

 In larger organizations, System Analysts make the communication between IT and Business departments possible, to evaluate a company’s procedures and systems in order to develop insights into how to make changes to assist the business in operating more efficiently.

Business analyst refers to any person who is responsible for performing the business analysis functions for IT system development projects such as analyzing business needs, facilitating the elicitation of user requirements, documenting and prioritizing the business requirements, verifying the major project deliverables, business reengineering opportunities and work flow from business perspective, and facilitating effective communication between business and IT sides. (Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, March 2015)

“A business analyst works as liaison among stakeholders in order to elicit, analyze, communicate, and validate requirements for changes to business processes, policies, and information systems". The set of tasks and techniques used to :

• .     Work as liaison among stakeholders
• .     To understand the structure, policies and operations of an organization
•       To recommended solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals

Source : International Institute of Business Analysis

Figure 1 : Business Analysis Fundamentals, 2012

As shown above is an example how putting business analysts in context. A business context model is needed in order to express the current business problem and the need to propose goodness and scope of a project. “The business context model should identify the actors (people, organisations, systems) who play a significant role in the business process or in the business domain, and the business areas of interest relevant to the scope of the work and potential change which may require exploration and further analysis.” (Suzanne Jane Maxted, The Business Context Model; As Good As It Gets, 2008)

          2.0 What is a system?

A perceived whole whose elements ‘hang together’ because they continually affect each other over time and operate toward a common purpose. Systems consist of sub-systems or functions, processes, activities and tasks. Examples of systems can be found everywhere. A flower is a system, which stays alive through the relationship between the roots and the stem, the petals and the seeds. A computer is a system, which operates because the central processing unit, the keyboard and the monitor ‘hang together’, operating toward a common purpose. A car is a system, where the engine, wheels, and chassis work together to provide a particular means of transportation. The ocean is a system; fish, mammals, algae coral, and water continually affect each other and change the nature of the ocean over time. (International Records Management Trust and International Council On Archives, 2009)

Using system, a responsible group of workers usually do task to determining solutions that usually carried out using software system development or management. The person who carries out this task is called a business analyst or system analyst. According to the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) the role of business analyst or system analyst is a liaison among stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and to recommend solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals.

By definition, business system is to do things to challenge the current way that an organization works. Business people do what they can to create project which often contain technical and logical mistakes.  ‘Business analysis’ is a study of what the business is supposed to do, while ‘systems analysis’ is a study of the business’ systematic behavior.

 2.1 Business analysis requirements

Criteria	Definition
Dependency	Prioritize requirement if it support higher requirement, for example requirement that have dependency on it, needed early implementation
Urgency	Important consideration that needed prioritize implementation.
Business Value	Business value are requirements with the highest value that should be considered for development first.
Impact on Users	There are requirements that cause high impact on users requiring additional staff effort.

3.0 What is Business System Analysis?

3.1 System thinking

Figure 2 : (Tim Joshi, The Next Generation of Business Analysis Methodologies, 2009)

Systems thinking which an understanding of a system by look the linkages and interactions between the elements of the system. It is based on the belief that the component parts of a system that will act differently when isolated from the system's environment or other parts of the system. System thinking focusing on integrating information from different sources and different types.

3.2 Moving to systems thinking

Figure 2.1 : (Tim Joshi, The Next Generation of Business Analysis Methodologies, 2009)

These are experts that share the same view

Michael Goodman, 2016

“Systems thinking often involves moving from observing events or data, to identifying patterns of behavior overtime, to surfacing the underlying structures that drive those events and patterns.” “The whole system is a systems thinking view of the complete organisation in relation to its environment. It provides a means of understanding, analysing and talking about the design and construction of the organisation as an integrated, complex composition of many interconnected systems (human and non-human) that need to work together for the whole to function successfully.”

4.0 Elements of system

Figure : Systems analysis and design, 2015

Outputs and Inputs

• .      The main aim of a system is to produce an output which is useful for its user.
•        Inputs will be the information that enters into system for processing.
•   .   Output will be the outcome of processing.

     Processors

• .     The processor is the element of a system that involves the actual transformation of input into output.
•       It is the operational component of a system. Processors may modify the input either totally or partially, depending on the output specification.
•  .    As the output specifications change, so does the processing. In some cases, input is also modified to enable the processor for handling the transformation.

Control

•  .    The control element guides the system.
•       It is the decision–making subsystem that controls the pattern of activities governing input, processing, and output.
•       The behavior of a computer System is controlled by the Operating System and software. In order to keep system in balance, what and how much input is needed is determined by Output Specifications.

Feedback

•  .    Feedback provides the control in a dynamic system.
•        Positive feedback is routine in nature that encourages the performance of the system.
•  .    Negative feedback is informational in nature that provides the controller with information for action.
  

Environment

•  .    The environment is the “supersystem” within which an organization operates.
•  .    It is the source of external elements that strike on the system.
•  .    It determines how a system must function. For example, vendors and competitors of organization’s environment, may provide constraints that affect the actual performance of the business.
  

Boundaries and Interface

• .    A system should be defined by its boundaries. Boundaries are the limits that identify its components, processes, and interrelationship when it interfaces with another.
  

System.

•        Each system has boundaries that determine its sphere of influence and control.
•  .    The knowledge of the boundaries of a given system is crucial in determining the nature of its interface with other systems for successful design.

Source : Systems analysis and design, 2015


Conclusion

In a conclusion, business analysis is a research discipline. It is contribution of experts such business analyst, system analyst. They have their own rules and responsibilities which are to investigate ideas and problems, formulate options for a way forward and produce business cases setting out their conclusions and recommendations.

Business system analysis consists of system, IT technology in development to investigate ideas and problems. In larger organizations, System Analysts make the communication between IT and Business departments possible, to evaluate a company’s procedures and systems in order to develop insights into how to make changes to assist the business in operating more efficiently. By using system, there are responsible group of experts, workers do task to determining solutions using software system development.  By generating and investigating information and data that existed, they can find possible solutions for the organization and also they can help organization to achieve their goals and objectives.

It is important to know the function of system thinking, to have a system thinking in order to manage business analysis using system. Systems thinking which an understanding of a system by look the linkages and interactions between the elements of the system. It is based on the belief that the component parts of a system that will act differently when isolated from the system's environment or other parts of the system. System thinking focused on integrating information from different sources and different types.

There are important elements in system, which are outputs, inputs, processors, control and feedback. For output and inputs, the aim of system to produce an output for its user, and input will be the outcome of processing. Processors is a hardware or component in computer which is use to transform input to output. Control is the guide the system, it is to control the activities input, processing and output. Lastly, feedback provides the control in a dynamic system. There are two types of feedback which are positive and negative feedback. Positive feedback encourages the performance of the system, and negative feedback is to provides the controller information for their actions to overcome with solutions and possible decision making.

References

(18 April 2017)  Business Analysis 2^nd Ed., Debra Paul and Donald Yeates (eds), BCS, 2010.

Retrieved from : http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/business-analysis-techniques.pdf

(18 April 2017) (Suzanne Jane Maxted, The Business Context Model; As Good As It Gets, 2008)

 Retrieved from : https://www.batimes.com/articles/the-business-context-model-as-good-as-it-gets.html

(18 April 2017) Michael Goodman, SYSTEMS THINKING: WHAT, WHY, WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW? 2016 Retrieved from : https://thesystemsthinker.com/systems-thinking-what-why-when-where-and-how/

(19 April 2017) Analysing Business System. Retrieved from :  

http://www.irmt.org/documents/educ_training/public_sector_rec/IRMT_analyse_sys.pdf

(20 April 2017) What is System?  Harry, Frank and Batell, Mark. F

Retrieved from

 : https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/24489/0000765.pdf?sequen