Davao Light and Power Company is the third largest privately-owned electric utility in the Philippines. It holds the franchise for distributing electric power to Davao City, the largest city in the world in terms of land area, as well as Panabo City and the municipalities of Carmen, Dujali, and Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte.
Last December 11, 2009 together with my classmates we went to Davao Light and Power Company at Bajada Davao City to interview a system analyst.
During the interview he told us that a system analyst
Must have communication skills
* a system analyst must know how to deliver soothing to the user
* a system analyst must know how to deal with the people
* a system analyst must know how to deal with the clients
Must have technical skills
a system analyst must know all about the system of the company
it includes system application, administrative work, business functions, and lastly technical functions
And the last thing he said a system analyst must know how to model process not necessarily good in programming.
Systems analysts are the architects, as well as the project leaders, of an information system. It is their job to develop solutions to users' problems, determine the technical and operational feasibility of their solutions, as well as estimate the costs to develop and implement them.
They develop prototypes of the system along with the users, so that the final specifications are examples of screens and reports that have been carefully reviewed. Experienced analysts leave no doubt in users' minds as to what is being developed, and they insist that all responsible users review and sign off on every detail.
Systems analysts require a balanced mix of business and technical knowledge, interviewing and analytical skills and a good understanding of human behavior.
According also to the book Systems Analysis And Design In A Changing World, 4th Edition, by Satzinger, Jackson, Burd, analysts must certainly know about computers and computer programs. They possess special skills and develop expertise in programming. But they must also bring to the job a fundamental curiosity to explore how things are done and the determination to make them work better. A systems analyst also is a business problem solve.
The book also said that a systems analyst must also have Technical Knowledge and Skills, Business Knowledge and Skills and People Knowledge and Skills.
Technical Knowledge and Skills-
A systems analyst should understand the fundamentals about the following:
• Computers and how they work
• File database, and storage hardware and software
• Input and output hardware and software
• Computer networks and protocols
• Programming languages, operating systems, and utilities
• Communication and collaboration technology such as digital telephones, video-conferencing, and Web-based document management systems
A system analyst also needs to know a lot about tools and techniques for developing systems.
Tools are software products that are used to develop analysis and design specifications and completed system components. Some example tools are software packages, integrated development environments, and CASE tools or support tools.
Techniques are strategies for completing specific system development activities. Some examples of techniques include following:
• Project planning techniques
• Cost/benefit analysis techniques
• Interviewing techniques
• Requirements modeling techniques
• Architectural design techniques
• Network configuration techniques
• Database design techniques
Business Knowledge and Skills-
The analysts need to know:
• Business functions
• Organizational structure
• Management techniques
• Functional work processes
People Knowledge and Skills:
Understand how people
• Think
• Learn
• React to Change
• Communicate
• Work
According to wikipedia:
A systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process. A successful systems analyst must acquire four skills: analytical, technical, managerial, and interpersonal. Analytical skills enable systems analysts to understand the organization and its functions, which helps him/her to identify opportunities and to analyze and solve problems. Technical skills help systems analysts understand the potential and the limitations of information technology. The systems analyst must be able to work with various programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms. Management skills help systems analysts manage projects, resources, risk, and change. Interpersonal skills help systems analysts work with end users as well as with analysts, programmers, and other systems professionals.
Because they must write user requests into technical specifications, the systems analysts are the liaisons between vendors and the IT professionals of the organization they represent. They may be responsible for developing cost analysis, design considerations, and implementation time-lines. They may also be responsible for feasibility studies of a computer system before making recommendations to senior management.
A systems analyst performs the following tasks:
• Interact with the customers to know their requirements
• Interact with designers to convey the possible interface of the software
• Interact/guide the coders/developers to keep track of system development
• Perform system testing with sample/live data with the help of testers
• Implement the new system
• Prepare High quality Documentation
A system analyst is the person who selects and configures computer systems for an organization or business. His or her job typically begins with determining the intended purpose of the computers. This means the analyst must understand the general objectives of the business, as well as what each individual user's job requires. Once the system analyst has determined the general and specific needs of the business, he can choose appropriate systems that will help accomplish the goals of the business.
When configuring computer systems for a business, the analyst must select both hardware and software. The hardware aspect includes customizing each computer's configuration, such as the processor speed, amount of RAM, hard drive space, video card, and monitor size. It may also involve choosing networking equipment that will link the computers together. The software side includes the operating system and applications that are installed on each system. The software programs each person requires may differ greatly between a user, which is why it is important that the system analyst knows the specific needs of each user.
Computer systems analyst is a general job title. Alternate, general titles include computer systems developer and computer systems architect. Specific job titles vary by organization.
Computer systems analyst job duties also vary by organization. But, generally, they customize computer systems to meet specific information-technology needs.
Broadly, computer systems analyst job duties include:
-Planning, designing, installing and developing new computer systems
-Revamping existing computer systems for new tasks
-Networking computer systems with others
-Preparing cost-benefit and return-on-investment (ROI) reports for management
-Testing and debugging new or revamped computer systems and the networks on which they communicate.
A computer systems analyst typically performs his or her job duties by coordinating with other information-technology professionals.
A systems analyst solves business problems using information systems technology. Systems analyst has broad knowledge and variety of skills, including technical, business, and people. Systems analyst encounters a variety of rapidly changing technologies. Integrity and ethical behavior are crucial to success for the analyst.
Systems Analyst must have knowledge in fields of business such as entrepreneurship, marketing, banking, commerce, finance and the like. Also he/she must have skills on accounting which it is the essential part of business skills. In what the instructor has mentioned about the difference of accounting and account, these differences are based on way of using business skills. Aside from that, money is the important thing in doing analysis in the business systems. Examples of systems which require business skills are e-commerce, banking system, payroll and the like.
In becoming a good systems analyst, you must have to understand the organizational structures, and its functions. This will help to get the opportunity to find the best solutions for the particular organizations. To understand the structure of the organization, you have to know the overview, vision, mission and objectives of a particular organization. You have to know also the history and the people behind the organization. You have also needed more data in the said organization in order to come up with the right organization structure which will be the basis for the particular solution. The said skills requires statistical ability which it computes the particular data. Examples of systems which require analytical skills are population control and monitoring system, whether control and the like.
An Information System Professional has many tasks which are the following:
1. Strategic Consulting
2. Project & Program Management
3. Network Infrastructure
4. Systems Infrastructure
5. Application Development, Integration & Deployment
With the responsibilities of the an Information System Professional it has a possibility that sometimes the Information System Professional is frustrated and can’t work well.
Computer systems analysts start their work by asking people what they need their computers to do. Then, they plan a computer system that can do those tasks well. A system can include many computers working together and different types of software and tools. After analysts understand what the system needs to do, they break down the task into small steps. They draw diagrams and charts to show how information will get into the computers, how that information will be processed, and how it will get to the people who need it. For example, analysts might decide how sales information will get into a store's computers and how the computer will add up the information in a way that makes it useful for store managers. Analysts experiment with different computer system plans. They try various tools and steps until they find the system that is fastest, easiest, and least expensive. Next, analysts decide which computers, software, and tools to buy. They also tell computer programmers how to make any new software that is needed. They give the programmers step-by-step instructions. Some analysts help make the software, too.
During the interview he told us that a system analyst
The nature of relationship includes:
-cost process
-grow of business process
-IS plan
-its framework
-business plan of IP management
-support of the business owners
-efficient on one way or another
-and lastly technological advance
We also ask about his frustrations: (he told us that it is a case to case basis)
-hiring developers
-product deliverables should satisfy
-
About the Success factors:
-project cost(budget constraints)
-resources
-people
-time
-support from the top management
-resistance of the users
A systems analyst performs the following tasks:
- Interact with the customers to know their requirements
- Interact with designers to convey the possible interface of the software
- Interact/guide the coders/developers to keep track of system development
- Perform system testing with sample/live data with the help of testers
- Implement the new system
- Prepare High quality Documentation
A Systems Analyst works directly with different departments in a company to make work sharing, and communication easier, as well as streamlining processes through optimizing systems. To do so, a Systems Analyst needs an intimate knowledge of computers, as well as the ability to work directly with a non-technical audience in their own language.
Systems Analysts are often seen overseeing large projects to make sure that all of the internal elements are running as smoothly and as effectively as possible, and to make them as close to the specification as possible. A Systems Analyst's work is seen anytime a job is completed ahead of schedule, and more effectively than it was previously possible to do so.
A good example of a Systems Analyst is in the evolution of high-tech factories. In many cases, factories started out smaller, with much of the work being done at a high cost to the company and to the consumer because of inefficient assembly lines or badly organized teams. A Systems Analyst will optimize the factories to save their company money and time so they can produce a better, cheaper product for the end user.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_analyst
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos287.htm
http://www.techterms.com/definition/systemanalyst
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/systems_analyst_job_description.jsp
http://www.ble.dole.gov.ph/jobdetail/system-analyst.htm
http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/computerjob13/a/systems_analyst.htm
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