WEEK 5

This is the Fifth week of my journey and i am finding it hard to link all what i have learnt so far.In the lecture i was finding it quite difficult to understand how to make those diagrams and what each element of the diagram was about. The lecture titled: "The traditional or structured approach to analysis" was regarding the context diagrams, data flow diagrams and the event tables. I really felt blank maybe because it was a morning class in which my attention span is not at the highest.... or probably i was not able to make those diagrams by hand at that particular moment in the lecture and was also not actually thinking about those elements.

But thankfully the lecturer told us that we just need to get an idea of these concepts and we will actually be drawing them and thinking about those diagrams and tables in the upcoming tutorials of the semester. I was relieved and was looking forward to the tutorials to make todays lecture on diagrams..... CRYSTAL CLEAR!!!

So i attended the tutorial 5 and found myself making an event table for the operation of a lift ..... Thankfully my tutor guided us step by step in the whole process of making "Event tables".... i actually when through the book to get some more detail on the elements of the Event table namely: Event Name, Trigger,Source, Activity,Response & Destination.

In my own words, I describe the elements as the following:

1. Event Name: Name of the particular event occuring
2. Trigger: Signal sent to tell that an event has occured
3. Source: The one who has entered the data to activate the event or is the reason the event occured
4. Activity: the steps or process are done to get the event done
5. Response: the actual step/ action taken to get the event done
6. Destination: to ensure the intended person gets the result or is affected by the event being completed

Once i drew the event table, i did some questions related to the object oriented approach.... about identifying the number of attributes and objects by reading the class diagram.

As far as i remember tha last part of the question was a quite stressful for me as i had to put a lot of strain in my brain.... mainly due to not understanding the question properly and sadly even the tutor's explanation couldn't clarify the question. I ended up answering it according to what i felt was right rather than it being the right answer.

So i hope to get the answers to those questions and the event table soon and get my understanding right on objects and event tables.... since i need to understand them properly now and not have a hard time doing my assignment which is due in my sixth week of my journey.

WEEK 4 Lecture & Tutorial Experience

As oppose to my past experience in my Fit2001 journey, this day was the most bizzarre of them all. Building up to the lecture i was so confused about not only the week 4 lecture but also about the week 4 tutorial. I was told by my tutor to prepare a set of questions regarding any company, product or brand to interview in tutorial and i show up this morning in lecture to find out that we were actually told to prepare questions regarding the case study.

I felt shattered and could not believe that all the effort to make those interview questions should be thrown in the waste bin in that instant. So i had to make an urgent meeting with my group members to make a new set of questions on the case study. I had to do all the research and thinking with my group members in the space of 3 hours before our tutorial class to only face another confusion and utter disappointment.

Our tutor says that interview is based on not any unknown company..... not on any case study but on Gladwells presentation and the Pepsi ad..... At that particular moment i when i heard that announcement i felt like banging my head on the desk but i chose not to since i needed my head safe and sound to make the new set of questions. Again in a rush and with enormous amount of stress hitting me, we somehow got the job done in the allocated time given to us to start making a new set of interview questions.

Then the tutor engaged in a one-on-one discussion with each group to answer questions and clarify things. Once that was done i had a sigh of relief that this tutorial is done with.

But i was again sad and unsatisfied that the additional tutorial question which i worked so dilligently to come up with answers was done in a rush and the question on drawing the activity diagram was not explained properly since the tutor was in rush as class had already ended by then. Thus i hope i get the solution in the coming weeks so i verify that my concepts are clear and strong.

Ooops! In all this confusion and stress i forgot to mention about the new topics introduced in week 4 lecture called "Beginning Analysis" . WEEK 4 lecture was about defining events, understanding objects, classes, attributes and methods. It also mentioned about the types of events, the reasons for modeling and their respective types. Class diagrams, event tables, and types of things were also shown to get a better idea of them. But i still felt after the lecture that i have a vague idea about things and would hope that some reading and tutorials in the next few days will clear that concept.

This sums up my week 4 experience and i am looking to the next few weeks to be able to link all the information i know so far about Fit2001 so I would be able to tackle my assignments with greater ease...... :)

Tutorial 3

Once again an fit2001 tutorial started out in a rather peculiar fashion. We were suppose to see a presentation on Gladwell reporting about his research & findings customer's preferences and views on the "ideal armchair" but only to find out that there is a problem in the speakers which led to another delay just like what happened in last week's tutorial.

Anyways while the problem was being fixed by the I.T technician we were taught about the differences between a podcast and a blog.

By definition Podcast is a digital media file (either audio/video) or related collection of such files which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds fro playback on portable media players & personal computers. Whereas a blog is simply an online personal diary where the layout is already provided and you just give an account of whatever subject you want to talk about. You get freedom to express yourselves in anyway you can.

We were told about the differences between a blog and podcast which i would like to share.

Characteristics of a Blog:

• online diary
• Social Network- provides online connection with friends, co-workers & family
• usually written in first person and often contain subjective information
• designed for reading
• file formats are html, .asp, xhtml
• viewed through internet

Characterisitics of Podcast:

• Ipod broadcast
• Social media-uses audio & video tools for broadcasting & sharing information
• used as means of interviewing an expert in a gien field or creating an online audio seminar on a given topic
• designed for listening & viewing
• File formats are.mp3, .mov
• Listened & viewed through Pod catcher. Client application software is used to access & check for updates
• Mainly viewed in devices such as ipod, mp3 player, some latest mobile phones

Once these valuable information was shared to us all students the speakers got fixed and we started watching the presentation. And believe me gladwell's presentation was SUPER LONG!!! I couldn't stop tears of sleepiness from my eyes trickling down my cheek. My attention span could only last till half of the presentation and the rest i had to look back at home. Then we started watching the "Pepsi and Coke" ad as part of our tutorial exercise.

In the end we were told to prepare a set of questions to interview our tutor in the next class and guess what i wasn't sure according to what topic was the questions going to ask about. Sadly i ended my tutorial 3 with a confusion..... :(

WEEK 3 LECTURE

2 Weeks gone and here we are in the 3rd week of my journey. The title of this week lecture is "Requirements gathering" and we basically go into greater detail on the Analysis Phase. The activities of Analysis phase are: Define System Requirements, Prioritize requirements, prototypes for feasibility & discovery, Generate and evaluate alternatives & review recommendations with management.

To begin with we must know what is actually "System Requirements". Basically, they are specifications that define the functions to be provided by a system. System requirement is divided into 2 parts:

1) Functional Requirements: are activities that the system must perform which are usually business functions or processes.

2) Non-functional requirements: are characteristics of the system other than activities it must perform. Such as usability, security, performance, technical and reliability.

But to acquire system requirements you need to know about their source in greater detail as well. Source of System requirements are usually the stakeholders, users, clients and technical staff who all have a genuine interest and are affected with the implementation of a new system or changes made to an existing system. Another new concept has been mentioned in week 3 lecture was "Business Process Reengineering". The objective of this technique is to streamline internal processes to be as effective and efficient as possible.

Then i learned about the information gathering techniques namely:

1. Review existing reports, forms, and procedure descriptions
2. interview and discussion processes with users
3. Observe and document business processes
4. Build prototypes
5. Distribute and collect questionnaires
6. Conduct joint application design (JAD)
7. Research vendor solutions

Then we must know how to validate these requirements. Now i'm looking forward to the tutorial 3 since i understood most of the things in the week lecture.... :)

WEEK 2 Material GRASPED!!!!

*SHEESH* Studying the material week 2 felt almost like torturing myself to the maximum. Week 2 lecture told us to read chapter 2 and 3, study guide and do the online quiz. To go through all of them needed a lot of motivation and determination from my inner side and thankfully somehow i did it.

Week 2 material was just full of key terms that i will memorize properly as the semester progresses. Firstly the key terms i learnt were System development lifecycle (SDLC), and Project. SDLC involves the entire process of building, deploying, using & updating an information system. Project is a planned undertaking that has a beginning & an end & that produces a desired result or product.

SDLC is divided into Phases. A SDLC usually has 5 phases:

1. Project planning activities: a group of activities that plan, organize & schedule the project.
2. Analysis: a group of activities which focus on understanding business problem that needs to be solved & on defining the business requirements
3. Design activities: use requirements defined earlier to develop the program structure & algorithms for new system.
4. Implementation activities: include programming, testing & installing the system for business users.
5. Support phase: activities needed to upgrade & maintain system.

The next important key term is System methodology. Basically this concept is about providing comprehensive guidelines to follow for completing every activity in the SDLC including specific models, tools & techniques. Models are representations of an important aspect of the real world. E.g. of models are: Flowcharts, Data-Flow Diagrams, Entity Relationship Diagram, Structure Chart, Use Case diagram, pert chart, gant chart, financial analysis, etc.

Tools are software supports that help create models or other components required in the project. Example of tools: project management application, word processor, code generator tool, database management application, CASE, IDE, etc.

Techniques is a collection of guidelines that help an analyst complete a system development activity or task. Examples are: data modeling techniques, object oriented analysis & design techniques, project management techniques, etc.

And then came the topic on 2 approaches to System Development:

1) Structured approach: which uses structured analysis, structured design and structured programming technique. It also has a modified methodology called information engineering which deal with refining the process.

2)Object oriented approach: which view an information system as collection of interacting objects that work together to accomplish tasks

Then i learnt about the new system methodologies being used namely: Unified process, Extreme programming, Scrum, Spiral Model and Agile Modeling.

Last major concept of week 2 were based on Project Mangement. Project Management "is defined as the organizing & directing other people to achieve a planned result within a predetermined schedule". Every project has a Project Manager who has a set of internal and external repsonsibilities that are mentioned below:

Internal Responsibilities:

1. Identify project tasks & build work breakdown structure
2. develop project schedules
3. recruit & train team members
4. Assign tasks to team members
5. Assess project risks
6. Monitor & control project deliverables & milestones
7. Verify quality of project deliverables

External responsibilites:

1. Report project status & progress
2. Work directly with client & other stakeholders
3. Identify resource needs & obtain resources
4. Establish good working relationship

Project Managers just needs to have good communication, planning & organizing skills with a good know-how on technology but doesn't need to be a very technical person. They are in high demand in the I.T industry since there are many projects being taken place all the time. Now i will briefly tell the major reasons behind project failure and success.

Reasons for Project Failure:

• Incomplete/ changing requirements
• limited user involvement
• lack of executive support
• lack of technical support
• poor project planning
• lack of required resources
• unclear objectives

Reasons for Project Success:

• Clear system requirements definitions
• Substantial user involvement
• Support from upper management
• thorough & detailed project plans
• realistic work schedules & milestones

Project Managers life has been made easy nowadays with this software called Microsoft Project and its available at the back of the SJB textbook. It generates project schedules quickly, accurately and neatly!!

A Project Manager needs to also conduct a project feasibility to identify all potential risks that could jeopardize the success of the project. Project Feasibility includes methods such as: Risk management, organizational & cultural feasibility, technological feasibility, schedule feasibility, resource feasibility and economic feasibility.

Once this step is done project manager can proceed to step of staffing the project, i.e. finding right people with correct skills & managing them throughout the project and then finally launching the project.

Thus this ends my idea on week 2 material..... :)

Week 2 tutorial

After a rather boring lecture which was so wordy making it difficult for me to grasp the main concepts, I was looking forward to this tutorial to help clear things. But to my disappointment tutorial 2 was just a continuation of last week's tutorial and had nothing to do with the concepts mentioned in week 2 lecture. Furthermore, there was a 15 minute delay before our tutorial actually started because all students were not able to get access to the PC through their authcate username and password. Once that problem was fixed i faced another disappointment. This time it was me who was chosen to present even though i was reluctant to do so.
In this tutorial my group was assigned to analyze the "Standards authorities" component of the "Food Chain System". Initially i was nervous because i didn't know what to present. So i kept reminding myself that there is a famous saying: "Where there is a will, there is a way" and this quote certainly made me feel better with the passage of time. Eventually, i started looking for information on the unit website and links given on tutorial to analyze my part so i would at least have a "Face-saving presentation".... :)

Like last week i analysed the Standards and authorities component in detail and came up with a few points to use in my presentation. Then my group member made the 5 presentation slides according to what i instructed them to do so. After that was done i waited patiently for my turn to come. Luckily it came it the last so i was able to verify whether what work i have done was correct and how it linked to other components of the "Food Chain System."

When my turn came i just spoke about "Standard Authorities" being so crucial to any system because there are certain rules and regulations that all companies within the Food industry must follow to ensure fairness and justice being served. It ensures high quality control, competition and no monopolies are formed. I gave some examples on the types of standards that could be implemented such: Size check, freshness check, ripening check, quota check, & damage check. So its a win-all situation for both consumers and the Food manufacturers.

Thus, everyone appreciated my presentation which i never thought would be quite good and i ended my tutorial 2 experience on a high.... :)

My 1st tutorial of SAAD.... on the same day of the lecture.... :(

A long lecture followed by a long tutorial.... i almost felt like an information overload after the lecture and since my sleep was not enough that day made the thought of attending a tutorial made it feel quite terrifying.
But i somehow showed up for it and i was on time for the tutorial. And guess what my tutor happened to be friendly and was making me feel welcome in the class.
Then he gave a brief introduction of himself and was willing to help us in any way he can during the course of this unit. Our first task in this tutorial was to make a new blogger id for ourselves which we would use to write our blogs regarding the unit to get additional bonus marks for our assignments!!! .... which is 3%....
The thought of writing a blog made me excited that i started making a blogger during the tutorial while my tutor was explaining the task for the tutorial.
Once i got that done i started having a look at the tutorial and formed a group with my past semester friends to work on the tutorial.
Our group was given the task of working out the disposable component of the water supply system. Firstly we followed the web links given on the tutorial and googled for some addtional facts and information. Then we decided who was going to present..... luckily it was not me..... :).... as i was too sleepy all of a sudden to conduct a brief presentation on what we did for this task.

Next,when all the groups in the tutorial had done their task a speaker was called from each group to present and i found everyone's information to be useful and interesting.

After all presentations was done, I came to this conclusion that what we learned in tutorial just reinforces the notion on System Analysis..... that it means going deep into a particular system, which in this case was Water Supply System, and gathering all sorts of information through any means to know how the system works and what improvements can be brought to it. I also realized that all components working together as a unit are essential to the overall system producing good outcomes.

Another thing i realize that there is too much detail on this unit and requires me to study early on this subject so i won't be left behind. But the fact that my lecturer and tutor are friendly and make the subject look interseting just makes me eager to learn more about this subject.... :)
So far a good start to the unit and i hope it continues that way...... :).......

My first perception about SAAD

It was a morning class and i was excited to attend this class that i could not sleep all night. System Analysis & Design was my favourite topic in I.T from childhood and now i was getting an opportunity to study this subject in greater detail.

Then i entered the lecture theatre where the lecture was held and found myself surrounded with familiar faces that made my day even more better. The Lecturer began telling us about the importance of this unit to all I.T professionals and the heavy workload we may encounter during the course of this unit.

Now moving on to what i grasped from my 1st lecture on system analysis and design was firstly knowing what "System Analysis and System design" is all about.

Basically System Analysis is "Understanding in detail what an Information System should do to achieve something". Whereas System Design is "specifying in detail how the components of information system should be physically implemented." Another topic that caught my great attention from this lecture was the word: "System Analyst". Yes, this was the word that from my childhood my teachers have been telling me is the person who is good in doing system analysis and design and since this was my favourite topic.....i just could not wait to know all about the work that a System Analyst does.

According to the chapter 1 of SJB Book a System Analyst is defined as "An I.T professional who uses System Analysis and Design techniques to solve business problems using I.T". In other words, System Analyst is more considered a business problem solver than a technical programmer.

But to be a System Analyst requires a unique set of skills and from time to time has to play different roles to get his job done. Skills & knowledge of technical, business, people and integrity and ethics are all crucial to their success in an organization. The basic skills required by a System Anlayst is:

• having technical know how of computer technology and programming expertise
• Thorough understanding of business problems
• Have an inquiring mind and approach to things
• Must bring fresh attitude toward a problem
• Use logical methods for solving problems

When we say technical knowledge, we mean "being competent enough to handle computer/periperal devices (hardware), programming languages, operating systems & utilities, networks and Database management system". While business knowledge refers to "knowledge about business functions performed, organizational structure, functional work processes and organizational management techniques". And People knowledge and skills refers to "understanding the human psychology of people at your workplace". Because when you do system analysis you dig deep into a problem and you need lots of information. So by being able to understand how people think, learn, react to changes, communicate makes gathering information a whole lot easier.

At the same time, a System Analyst needs to "possess excellent interpersonal skills to be an effective communicator to inspire and motivate people, get co-operation, gain necessary support and get a thorough understanding of the complexities of the organization". Lastly, an Analyst must show full integrity and be very ethical because they gather lot of information that is considered confidential and should be kept private.

Apart from all these set of skills a System Analyst has link with all levels (top, middle & bottom) of the organization. Thus, the System Analyst can be involved in strategic planning and special projects that are for the long-term cause which means their experience and feedback is really valued by the top level management, mainly Executives.

So this sums up what i have learned from attending the lecture and reading all the material related related to this which is the study guide and the book. Now i will talk about the tutorial in my next blog which was also another good learning experience..... :)