44221: Information Systems Lecture 5 (Week 6) Review & Ass 1 Requirements By Ian Perry

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Always Remember this! “Data is only potential information; information is potential knowledge; and knowledge is potential competitive advantage if it is used in a creative, flexible, and above all, accurate way.” Adrian M (1990) Let’s Get Serious. Focus News. Winter.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Data, Information & Knowledge Data = ? A series of observations, measurements, or facts (transactions/events). [Collins Concise English Dictionary] Information = ? Data + Structure + Context The same data can give different information if a different structure and/or context is applied. Knowledge = ? that which is gained by the possession of information that enables people to have a ‘better’ understanding of a situation and/or make ‘better’ decisions.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements What is an Information System? Information System  Computer System Need to take a holistic view of: Organisation, People, and Technology. People Technology Organisation

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements What is a System? A set of interrelated components which act together in an organised way in order to achieve an objective. System, Sub-system, Element: System Sub-system Element

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Boundary & Identity All systems must have a boundary; to define which components are a part of this system. All systems must have an identity; to distinguish them from other similar systems.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Environment? A System ‘exists’ within other Systems”. These “other Systems” are the Environment of the System. Must make a distinction between: External Environment - over which we have little or no control. Internal Environment - which we may be able to control to some extent.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Components Systems are an organised whole, consisting of a number of component parts, i.e.: Concrete/Hard Components => quite easy to identify, as they: tend to ‘appear’ the same to different individuals. AND are easy to define/quantify/measure. Abstract/Soft Components => often very difficult to identify, as they: may ‘appear’ differently to different individuals. AND are difficult to define/quantify/measure.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Components, Holism, Emergent Property Order Processing Customer Requirements Product Knowledge Customer Satisfaction Soft/Abstract Example Hard/Concrete Example

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Connection & Interaction Systems do not exist in isolation; they are both ‘connected to’ and ‘interact with’ other systems. Connection between systems may be Permanent or Ad-hoc. Interaction between systems is, in most cases; a two-way process.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Connection & Interaction (continued) Naming Sub-systems may make the Connections & Interactions easier to understand. Competitors Government System Customer Services Warehousing Manufacturing Element Customers Suppliers Element

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Connection & Interaction (continued) Concentrate (i.e. ‘zoom-in’) on ONE of the original Sub-systems at a time; and ‘view’ it as a System (naming its Sub-systems & Elements), in order to explore the Connections & Interactions in more detail.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Input -> Process -> Output ‘Zooming-in’ results in the ‘discovery’ of a ‘chain’ of individual Processes. Interaction between Processes occurs via: Inputs i.e. what is required by the Process MUST know where these come from. many potential Inputs, e.g. Data, People, Machines, Raw Materials, etc. (depends upon the nature of the Process) Outputs i.e. what is produced by the Process MUST know where these go to. two main Outputs, i.e. Products & Information.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements An Example Process? A Process ‘transforms’ Inputs to Outputs e.g. the ‘Check Stock’ Process Check Stock Receive Request Need to identify this Process, or Processes? Warehousing Warehouse Checking Input? How much is required of this/these Products? Output? How many of this/these Products are in the warehouse? Request Manufacture Input? Currently have this many of this/these Products. Output? Need to Manufacture this many more of this/these Products. Output? Have enough. Will be a delay.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Why are Processes important? Because it is only at the Process level that you might suggest; “… where Information Technology might be used to improve the efficiency and/or effectiveness of 2 of the processes that you have identified within The General Insurance Company’s information system.” Therefore, at least TWO of the GIC Processes are VERY important for you; as they represent 30% of the marks for Assignment 1.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Feedback & Control Don’t really need to fully understand this yet; i.e. in order to complete Assignment 1. Environmental Disturbances Input(s) ActuatorSensor Goal Output(s) Comparator Feed-back Process The ‘Feedback Control Loop’; The basic unit of Control for any Process.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Elements of Control Sensor Monitor/Measure the Output(s) of the Process. Feed-back Communicate the Sensor Measurement to someone/something. Comparator Compare the Sensor Measurement to the Goal. Goal The desired state of this Process. Actuator Some means of ‘doing something’ in order to effect a change in the Input(s) to the Process.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Assignment 1 Deadline = Friday, the 10 th of November Weighting = 50% of Module Marks Requirements: Describe a business situation, as presented by the case study scenario, using appropriate systems language. Identify specific processes (i.e. TWO of them) within the case study organisation that might benefit from the development of computer- based Information Systems tools.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements GIC – Case Study The General Insurance Company (GIC), is based in Manchester, and was originally set-up in 1996 by David and Jane Cowper, who had just completed their undergraduate degrees. Since then the company has experienced modest growth, and they now employ a staff of 6 Insurance Clerks (based at the Head Office in Manchester) and 12 Insurance Advisors who deal directly with Customers in one of 4 Regions of the UK. GIC offer a range of general insurance products, including Motor, Home, Travel and Life Insurance, which are sold to Customers by one of the Insurance Advisors for the Region in which they live.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements GIC – Case Study (continued) The 4 Regions of the UK, and the number of Insurance Advisors operating in each Region, are as follows: The South-East4 The South-West2 The Midlands3 The North3 All of the Insurance Products offered by GIC are sourced (from major Insurance providers) by the Head Office, who; let the Insurance Advisors know which products can be sold to their Customers, and provide a range of Brochures (which describe the products) Forms (to be completed and signed by the Customers).

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements GIC – Case Study (continued) It is the job of the Insurance Advisors to; visit Customers in their homes in order to ascertain their insurance requirements, and to help them fill in the Insurance Forms (some of which are quite complex) that must be completed in order to provide an accurate Insurance Quotation. Two ‘types’ of Customer: Existing Customers (i.e. those who have already bought insurance products from GIC) often contact one of the Insurance Advisors for the Region in which they live to arrange such a visit when they need advice on other insurance products. Insurance Advisors might also instigate a visit (usually on an annual basis) to review the insurance products already held by the Customer. New Customers might be visited by invitation (i.e. having been introduced to friends/family of existing Customers) or as a result of advertisements in local/regional newspapers, or even by cold calling (which the Insurance Advisors do not like doing). First thing every morning, each Insurance Advisor sends any Insurance Forms that they helped their Customers to complete the previous day back to the Head Office in Manchester.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements GIC – Case Study (continued) When the Insurance Forms arrive at the Head Office, the Insurance Clerks set about the task of interpreting the data on the forms in order to calculate Insurance Quotations. GIC deal with a wide variety of Insurance Providers, and will ‘shop- around’ on behalf of their Customers in order to find the best deal on offer. Once an Insurance Quotation has been calculated it is sent by post directly to the Customer. Upon receipt of an Insurance Quotation, the Customer must then decide if they wish to go ahead with the insurance, in which case they must sign an Acceptance Form and send this, together with a cheque for the full amount of the premium back to GIC’s Head Office. If they do not want to go ahead, then they simply do nothing. Upon receipt of a signed Acceptance Form, and accompanying payment, the Insurance Clerks send out the relevant Insurance Certificate to the Customer.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements GIC – Case Study (continued) GIC are having particular problems with the following areas of their business activity: Building up their customer base – they want more people who require general insurance to know they exist and what they have to offer. Supporting new and existing customers with information – to help them decide on the right type of insurance to match their requirements. Insurance Advisors often spend a great deal of their time, travelling to visit customers, and answering the same, predictable, questions. Capturing the data for insurance calculations – some of the data that needs to be gathered before an Insurance Quotation can be calculated is quite extensive, and often involves filling in quite complex Insurance Forms. The completed forms then have to be sent by post back to the head office, which delays things by up to 3 days. Calculating accurate insurance quotations – which often requires a number of quite time-consuming, and hence error prone, manual calculations to be performed. The forms are often difficult for the Insurance Clerks to read/interpret, as some of the Customers do not fill them in very legibly.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Marking Guidelines Describe the current information system, as presented by The ‘General Insurance Company’ Case Study, using appropriate systems concepts. (70 Marks) Try to include as many of the following systems concepts as you can in your description of the current information system:  System  Sub-system  Element  Component  Holism  Emergent Property  Boundary  Identity  Internal Environment  External Environment  Connection  Interaction  Input  Process  Output  This document should be around 1,750 words in length.  Make sure everything that you include is directly relevant to GIC; i.e. DO NOT include general descriptions, which could be applicable to any elements, of any information system, for any organisation.  No description of an information system would be complete without the use of diagrams (which are not included in the word count). You MUST, however, only use ‘Bubble’ Systems Diagrams to illustrate/explore the system that is GIC.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Marking Guidelines (continued) Identify where Information Technology might be used to improve the efficiency and/or effectiveness of 2 of the processes that you have identified within GIC’s information system. (30 Marks) To do this, you MUST have first described the information system down to the level of individual processes. i.e. you MUST understand: What the Process is/does? What the Inputs/Outputs of the Process are? Where the Inputs/Outputs come from/go to? This document should be around 750 words in length.

Ian PerrySlide : Information Systems: Review & Ass 1 Requirements Don’t Miss the Deadline! The Assignment 1 Deadline is; Friday, the 10 th of November. There will be No Lecture next week; Lectures will re-commence after you have handed-in Assignment 1; i.e. on Monday, the 13 th of November. If you want any help with Assignment 1; then make sure that you come along to the next two Workshop sessions. Good Luck!