MODULE:

INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
SOLID SYSTEMS

DECEMBER 2012
Important Notes:
Please refer to the Assignment Presentation Requirements for advice on how to set out your
assignment. These can be found on the NCC Education Campus. Scroll down the left hand
side of the screen until you reach Personal Support. Click on this, and then on Policies and
Advice. You will find the Assignment Presentation Requirements under the Advice section.
You must familiarise yourself with the NCC Education Academic Dishonesty and
Plagiarism Policy and ensure that you acknowledge all the sources which you use in your
work. The policy is available on Campus. Follow the instructions above, but click on
Policies rather than Advice.
You must complete the Statement and Confirmation of Own Work. The form is
available on the Policies section of Campus. Scroll down the left hand side until you reach
Personal Support. Click on this and then click on Policies and Advice.
Please make a note of the recommended word count. You could lose marks if you write 10%
more or less than this.
You must submit a paper copy and digital copy (on disk or similarly acceptable medium).
Media containing viruses, or media which cannot be run directly, will result in a fail grade
being awarded for this module.
All electronic media will be checked for plagiarism.
Marker's comments:

Moderator's comments:

Mark:

Information Systems Analysis

Moderated
Mark:

December 2012

Final
Mark:

Final

NCC Education 2012

Scenario
Solid Systems is a company that has been producing components for cars for over twenty years. It has
been a very successful business, however, due to increased competition from a rival company, it has seen
orders for its parts fall in the last two years. The Managing Directors have decided that they need to
overhaul the organisations operations, and one of the systems that they want to improve is the companys
information system.
The current information system is used for many business processes and functions; for example, the stock
control system processes orders for components from car assembly firms, produces invoices that are
passed to the Finance department, notifies the Production and Logistics departments and updates stock
levels at the companys warehouse. It is accessed by staff at all levels, for example, engineers,
administration, sales, management, and warehouse operatives who work in various departments of the
company. These departments include Management, Production, Sales and Marketing, Human Resources,
Logistics, Finance, Research and Development, Technical Support and the Warehouse.
There are often problems with the system and it has been described by some staff as out-dated and
inefficient as they often experience problems with it, for example it crashes frequently and data is lost, it
often runs slowly. However, some staff have told their managers that they dont have problems using the
system and wont have the time to learn how to use a new one.
If the company wants to regain and maintain its position as a market leader in the car components
industry, it is vital that one of its most important assets, its information system, is efficient, reliable,
secure and usable. You have been consulted to help the company analyse its current information system
with a view to developing a new one and the Managing Directors have requested you to produce a formal
report on the following.

Task 1 - 25 Marks
Information Systems Analysis and Methodologies
a)

Explain the purpose of SSADM and describe each of the steps that you will be working through as
part of this methodology.
(13 Marks)

b) Describe two types of information gathering methods that you will be using when analysing the
information system and explain the benefits of using each of these methods.
(6 Marks)
c)

Explain what is meant by an Executive Support System and describe the advantages of implementing
such a system at Solid Systems.
(6 Marks)

Information Systems Analysis

December 2012

Final

NCC Education 2012

Task 2 25 Marks
Hard, Soft and Combined Approaches to Information Systems Analysis
a)

Produce a rich picture that illustrates the information you have been provided with so far on the
information system at Solid Systems.
(15 Marks)

b) Use the rich picture to formulate a root definition of the information system.
(5 Marks)
c)

Produce a conceptual model of the information system.

(5 Marks)

Task 3 25 Marks
Stakeholder Analysis and CATWOE
a)

Explain the purpose of CATWOE and identify each of the CATWOE elements in your analysis of the
information system at Solid Systems.
(13 Marks)

b) Evaluate the benefits and constraints of using CATWOE as part of your analysis.
(12 Marks)

Task 4 25 Marks
People-Oriented and Process-Oriented Analysis
a)

Explain why you have decided to use the ETHICS methodology to help you analyse the information
system at Solid Systems.
(11 Marks)

b) Produce a data flow diagram that illustrates order processing at Solid Systems.
(10 Marks)
c)

Explain which analysis technique, people-oriented or process-oriented, you think would be the most
effective to use in your analysis of the Solid Systems information system.
(4 Marks)

Information Systems Analysis

December 2012

Final

NCC Education 2012

Guidance
Consult with your tutor/lecturer if you are uncertain about any aspects of the assignment.

Submission Requirements

A word-processed formal report that contains all the written components of the assignment.
The word-processed report must be 1250 words in length (+/- 10%). You will lose marks if you go under
or over this word count.
Save your report as: ISA_Assignment_YourName_StudentNumber_Date

Warning: All media must be virus free!

Media containing viruses, or media which cannot be run directly, will result in a FAIL grade being
awarded for this module.
You must read and understand NCC Educations policy on Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism.
You must complete the Statement and Confirmation of Own Work form and attach the completed
form to your assignment.

Information Systems Analysis

December 2012

Final

NCC Education 2012