Information Systems

Philip Bird

The Northern College Diploma Programme – Computer Studies

The history of computing is littered with examples of costly mistakes. Mistakes made in the design and implementation of information systems that are intended to solve business problems. Since 1997 the cost of scrapped or over-budget UK Government projects has topped £1 billion. There is a long list of high profile, failed, late or over-budget projects that includes the computerisation of the London Ambulance Service, the Passport Office, the register of asylum seekers, the Criminal Records Bureau etc.

This is not a new problem – it has existed throughout the history of computerisation of business functions. When designing data processing systems there are many pitfalls that must be avoided. This unit examines some of these issues and looks at methods of designing systems that attempt to solve them.

Week	Topic	Activity	Powerpoint
Week 1	The Software Crisis and Life Cycle		Life Cycle
Week 2	An Order Processing System	A Payroll System	Order Processing
Week 3	Databases	Assessed Task 1	Databases
Week 4	Travelling Salesperson	Salesperson Activity
Week 5	SSADM – Data Flow Diagrams	Assessed Task 2	SSADM
Week 6	SSADM – Entity Modelling	Assessed Task 3	SSADM
Week 7	Drawing DFD’s and EM’s
Week 8	SSADM – Entity Life Histories and Normalisation		SSADM
Week 9	SSADM – Entity/Function Matrix	Assessed Task 4	EF Matrix
Week 10	Review

To qualify for accreditation for this module you must be able to demonstrate that you meet the assessment criteria for this module. A printable Word version of these notes can be found here.