• An Information System is a man-made system that facilitates an organization’s operational functions and supports management decision making by providing information that managers can use to plan and control the activities of the firm.
• is the collection of technical and human resources that provide the storage, computing, distribution, and communication for the information required by all or some part of an enterprise.
• Management Information System (MIS) is a planned system of collecting, storing, and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management.

Purpose of information Systems

1. Supporting information processing ~ by enhancing tasks such as data collection, processing and communication
2. Helping in decision making ~ by collecting operational data, analyzing it and generating reports that can be used to support the decision making processing
3. Enable sharing of information

Why develop new information systems?

1. New opportunities ~ a chance to improve quality of internal processes and services delivery in the organisation
2. Problems ~ Need to solve problems at hand
3. Directives ~ Change in policy or rules buy the company or Government

Role of a System analyst

A systems analyst is an IT professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. System analysts assess the suitability of information systems in terms of their intended outcomes and liaise with end users, software vendors and programmers in order to achieve these outcomes.

1. Examine existing IT systems and business models;
2. Analyses systems requirements;
3. Implement, configure and test feasible solutions.
4. Liaise and report to internal and external clients and stakeholders, including colleagues and developers.
5. Is involved throughout the development process. The analyst acts as liaison between the client and the developers.
6. Conduct a cost analysis and agree the time frame to implement the proposed solution. They specify and shape the system requirements and operations, the user interface and output and present the proposal to the client.
7. Is the overall project manager of the information system being implemented

System Development-Introduction