IS-207: Systems Analysis and Design


Spring 2007

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Instructor

Yale Braunstein (yale<at>sims.berkeley.edu)


Note: 207 will be taught during the first half of the semester.  The first class meets Thursday, January 18.

FAQ: Frequently-asked Questions (and Answers) about IS-207 and the Project Management requirement

 

Course Philosophy

Information systems analysis, design, and development are expensive and difficult to do well.  The implementation of complex systems requires complex organizations and teams.  Pressures of budget, schedule, and technology add to the chaos.  Risks abound.

 

But building systems is fun.  The harder, the more “1.0”, the more out-of-the-norm-and-innovative, the more fun it can be.  Making end-users happy is fun.  Learning obscure details of a new application space is mind-expanding.

 

This course will explore the issues that surround information systems analysis, design and implementation. The skills required to lead a project (or even to just contribute effectively as a member of a project team) are a combination of technical practices and interpersonal communication techniques.  This course will present some of these technical skills (process analysis, data flow design, statistical analysis, budgeting and costing) within an overall framework of process and communication.  Our focus will include the organizational framework in which these activities take place: who are the players on a large systems project, and what are their responsibilities to the project and the team?  How are requirements derived and communicated to the individuals responsible for design and implementation?  How does Project Management make all this happen, on-time and on-budget?  How much will this system cost, and will it succeed economically?

 

Through analysis of existing systems and the design of new ones, students will come to understand both the process and practice of systems analysis, design, and implementation.

 

 

Class Meetings & Office Hours

Class meets on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 10:30-12:00 in 202 South Hall. The format of the class will be a mix of lectures, class discussions and a large project exercise. 

Office Hours:

- Yale, on Thursdays, 203B South Hall, 3:00-4:00 p.m. or by appointment.

 

 

Grading

Grades will be derived from a combination of 80% for written assignments, and 20% for in-class participation, oral presentations, and etc.

 

 

Readings and Books

This course will use the third edition of the Dennis & Wixom text "Systems Analysis & Design", (John Wiley Publishers).  The text is available in a package, along with the latest available versions of SPSS (Student Edition) and MS Project software (Windows versions only) and has the ISBN of 0-470-041846-X. The ISBN for the text alone is 0-471-72257-X; The main advantage of the package is to make full versions of the programs available to you at a "low" price.

The publisher's website for this textbook is:

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047172257X.html

Other readings may be assigned as the course progresses.