FIS - Chapter 7 & 8

Intelligence stage

This stage identifies and defines potential problems or opportunities

Design stage

Develop alternative solutions to the problem and evaluate their feasibility

Choice Stage

Select a course of action

Problem Solving

Includes and goes beyond decision making

Monitoring stage

Stage that decision makers evaluate the implementation

Programmed decision

Made using a rule, procedure, or quantitative method. Easy to computerize using traditional information systems

Nonprogrammed decision

Decision that deals with unusual or exceptional situations

Optimization model (best solution)

Finds the best solution, usually the one that will best help the organization meet its goals

Satisficing Model

Finds a good, but not necessarily the best, problem solution

Heuristics

Commonly accepted guidelines or procedures that usually find a good solution

Decision support systems

Organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to help make decisions that solve problems

Problem complexity

Depends on how hard the problem is to solve and implement

Ad hoc DSS

is concerned with situations or decisions that come up only a few times

Institutional DSS

handles situations or decisions that occur more than once

Dialogue manager

Allows decision makers to easily access and manipulate the DSS and to use common business terms and phrases

Data-driven DSS

Performs qualitative analysis based on the company’s databases

Model-driven DSS

Performs mathematical or quantitative analysis

The User Interface

Allows users to interact with the DSS to obtain information

Group support system (GSS)

Consists of most elements in a DSS, plus software to provide effective support in group decision making

GSS Software

Helps with joint work group scheduling, communication, and management

Executive support system (ESS)

Includes hardware, software, data, procedures, and people used to assist senior-level executives

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The overall process for developing information systems from planning and analysis through implementation and maintenance

Systems Development Process

a standardized methodology defines a set of activities, methods, best practices, deliverables, and tools for system developers and project managers to develop and continuously improve information systems and software.

Backlog

a repository of project proposals that cannot be funded or staffed because they are a lower priority than those that have been approved for system development.

Planned Projects

An information systems strategy plan has examined the business as a whole to identify those system development projects that will return the greatest strategic (long-term) value to the business

Unplanned projects

Triggered by a specific problem, opportunity, or directive that occurs in the course of doing business

Problem

An actual undesirable situation that prevents the organization from fully achieving its purpose, goals, and/or objectives.

Opportunity

a chance to improve the organization even in the absence of an identified problem

Directive

a new requirement that is imposed by management, government, or some external influence/parties

System owners

an information system’s sponsors and executives advocate, usually responsible for funding the project of developing, operating, and maintaining the information system.

System users

use or are affected by an information system on a regular basis – capturing, validating, entering, responding to, storing, and exchanging data and information.

System designers

translate system users’ business requirements and constraints into technical solution

System builders

constructs information systems based on the design specifications from the system designers.

Systems analysts

study the problems and needs of an organization to determine how people, data, processes, and information technology can best accomplish improvements for the business.