Week 5: Business Processes and Process Modeling MIS 2101: Management Information Systems

Week 5: Business Processes and Process ModelingMIS 2101: Management Information Systems

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Learning Objectives

Introduction to business process

Describe each major phase of the system development process

Understand the concepts of Business Process Modeling

Describe process characteristics and design tradeoffs

Understand development options

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Examining Business Processes

Business process - a standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer’s order

Business processes transform a set of inputs into a set of outputs (goods or services) for another person or process by using people and tools

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Examining Business Processes

Customer facing process - results in a product or service that is received by an organization’s external customer

Business facing process - invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management of the business

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Process Redesign

Why change processes?

Process Improvement Incremental improvements to existing

processes

Process Reengineering (BPR) Discard old processes and adopt new ones

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Business Process Design

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Learning Objectives

Introduction to business process

Describe each major phase of the system development process

Understand the concepts of Business Process Modeling

Describe process characteristics and design tradeoffs

Understand development options

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Steps in the Systems Development Process

Systems development life cycle (SDLC) Arrows flowing down represent flow of information Arrows flowing up represent the possibility of returning to a prior

phase

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Phase 1: Systems Identification, Selection and Planning

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Evaluation Criteria for Systems Projects

Usually multiple criteria examined for each project

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Phase 2: Systems Analysis

• Designers gain understanding of current processes

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Phase 3: System Design

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Phase 4: System Implementation

Transformation of design into a working information system

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System Conversion and installation

What are advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches?

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Learning Objectives

Introduction to business process

Describe each major phase of the system development process

Understand the concepts of Business Process Modeling

Describe process characteristics and design tradeoffs

Understand development options

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Why Business Processes?

An understanding of business processes indicates where Information Technology can fit in

How to understand business processesProcess modelingProcess characteristics

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Process Model – Part of Analysis

Business process model - a graphic description of a process, showing the sequence of process tasks, which is developed for a specific As-Is process model To-Be process model

Illustrates processes or activities performed and how data moves among them

Can use process mode to document current system or proposed system

Identifying business processes and breaking them down Can help identify inefficiencies Can help identify where Information Technology can improve efficiency

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Data Flow Diagram - DFD

Data Flow Diagram: graphical display of component processes, flow of data

Defines system inputs, processes, outputs

Partitions system into subsystems or modules

Logical, graphical model of information flow

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DFD Symbols

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DFD Components - Process

Process: activity or function performed for specific business reason May be manual or computerized Starts with verb and ends with noun i.e. Create

Appointment, Register Patient

1 process relates to 1 activity

Every process must have 1 output data flow

Each process USUALLY has at least one input data flow since normally need input to create output

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DFD Components – Data Store

Data Store: Collection of data stored in some way which is described in the physical model Noun

Depiction of data added to or retrieved from data stored: If data flow coming from data store, shows information

retrieved from data store If data flow going into data store, information added to data

store When a process updates a data store (retrieve record from

data store, update information, store update), data flow in and out of store

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DFD Component – External Entity

External entity: person organization, or system external to system that interacts with it – normally someone who uses the info from the system to perform other processes or decide info added to the system Noun with name May or may not be part of the organization

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Data Flows

A data flow connects the output of an entity or process to the input of another process or entity.

It represents intermediate data within a computation. The value is not changed by the data flow.

Flows on the boundary of the DFD, (from or to an external entity) are inputs and outputs.

All data flows MUST be labeled (indicate what data is flowing)

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Illegal Construction

Data may not flow from a data storeto another data store unless there is aprocess box in between.

An external entity may not read or write directly in to

a data store.

Data may not flow directly from one external entity to another.

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Context Diagram

Context Diagram display context of business process

Always depicted as 1 process with data flows and and from external entities

Data stores not shown

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Simple DFD Example

Buying CDs - Context diagram

Shopper UPSOrder CDs

CD title / Account InfoShipping List

Invoice

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Level 0 Diagram

Displays all the process at the first level numbering including:Data storesExternal entitiesData flows

Depicts high level process and how interrelated

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Data Flow Diagram

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Compute order total

EE2 UPSEE2 UPS

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Prepareshipping list

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Prepareinvoice

2Update

customer credit account balance

EE1 ShopperEE1 Shopper

CD title

Customer Acct number

Order data

Old balance

Newbalance

D1 Customer credit Order data

Invoice

Shipping listInvoice

Invoice

D2 Invoice File

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A Simple DFD Example: Customer Order Process for CD On-Line

Customers select the CDs they would like to order and communicate their selected CD item numbers and their customer account number to CD On-Line. Based on the customer’s selection, the order is processed by calculating the order total amount.

The order total and customer account number as well as the customer’s old credit balance (from the customer credit database) are used to update the customer’s new credit balance. The new balance should be recorded on the customer credit database.

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A Simple DFD Example: Customer Order Process for CD On-Line (cont’d)

The detailed order data from order processing and updated customer credit balance information are used to prepare a customer invoice and updated into the invoice file. The invoice is sent to the customer on-line and the invoice data is used to prepare a shipping list and . The shipping list information is sent to UPS. (Based on a partnership relationship between CD On-Line and UPS, UPS warehouses the CDs and ships the CDs to the customers based on the shipping list).

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Translating into DFD Vocabulary

External Entities Customer UPS Internal Entity: CD On-Line

Data Store Customer credit Invoice File

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Translating into DFD Vocabulary

Process Compute order total Update customer credit account balance Prepare invoice Prepare shipping list

Data Flows CD item numbers Customer account number Old/New balance Order data

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Data Flow Diagram

1

Compute order total

EE2 UPSEE2 UPS

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Prepareshipping list

3

Prepareinvoice

2Update

customer credit account balance

EE1 CustomerEE1 Customer

CD item numbers

Customer Acct number

Order data

Old balance

Newbalance

D1 Customer credit Order data

Invoice

Shipping listInvoice

Invoice

D2 Invoice File

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Learning Objectives

Introduction to business process

Describe each major phase of the system development process

Understand the concepts of Business Process Modeling

Describe process characteristics and design tradeoffs

Understand development options

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Process Characteristics – Some Key Decisions Required

Degree of structure

Range of involvement

Complexity

Degree of reliance on machines

Attention to errors and exceptions

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Degree of Structure

Imposing structure via Information Technology easier when the task is structured Computers are not as effective with unstructured

tasks (Decision Support Systems)

Too high: can be stifling and hamper productivity

Too low: can lead to poor quality and chaos

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Range of Involvement

Organizational span of people involved in a business process

Do people just “do their jobs” or is their effect on other participants considered?

Too high: decisions never get made because everyone has input

Too low: decisions aren’t made with the “big picture” in mind

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Complexity

How many elements a system contains and the number and nature of their interactions

Manage complexity through standardization

Too high: difficult to understand and manage

Too low: not flexible enough to accommodate needs of the system

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Degree of Reliance on Machines

Too high Participants no longer understand the business

process When mistakes occur, there is no recourse

Too low Leave participants with mundane work Missed opportunities for greater efficiency through

automation

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Attention to errors and exceptions

Too high Catering too much to all possible conditions can be

a waste of resources Increases system complexity

Too low Every time something unexpected happens it can

shut down the process Unexpected conditions simply never get

processed, resulting in poor quality

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Learning Objectives

Introduction to business process

Describe each major phase of the system development process

Understand the concepts of Business Process Modeling

Describe process characteristics and design tradeoffs

Understand development options

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External Acquisition vs building

Purchasing an existing system is similar to the process of deciding which car best meets your needs

When is it appropriate?

When is it not appropriate?

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Outsourcing Turning over responsibility for some or all of an

organization’s IS development and operations to an outside firm

Your IS solutions may be housed in their organization Your applications may be run on their computers They may develop systems to run on your existing

computers (within your organization) They may replace functions in your organization. . . .

Even the CIO!

When is outsourcing appropriate?

When is it not?

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Questions!