Week 11: Clear

This week we learned about Information Systems Development. At first this topic seemed really easy but I was surprised how much information there was to learn. Overall though I feel that I got a good understand of the material presented. I have a background as a programmer and this is in my opinion is closely related to system development.

There are five phases in the system development cycle; all of which are also used in programming. Planning, Analysis, Design, Implementation, and Operation, Support, and Security. It is important to understand these steps because without this you can not build on more material.  Planning covers making, reviewing project requests, allocating resources, and forming a team. Planning is the most important step to me and I am glad that the lectures stressed the importance of this. Although it can take time, it really is necessary. Analysis consists of conducting an investigated and detailed analysis. Design consists of acquiring hardware/software and figuring out the details. I feel that I do not have the best grasp on design. One questions which I am unsure of is why you would be acquiring hardware if you have yet to figure out all the details? Perhaps I am misunderstand some detail here. The next step is Implementation is when stuff actually happens and is built. Lastly operation, support and security are very vital. Operation is basically maintenance. Supporting is monitoring to make sure its ok, and security is making sure the system is secure. Security is really important in my opinion and definitely ties in with previous lectures regarding physically where data is stored.

This week in the material was a lecture with Christine Schoaff who is a UF Systems Analyst. She gave an interesting presentation. It was easy to tell that she had a lot of experience working with people and managing them. She joked that her job was to nag people. I completely agree with her that if you do not plan ahead with all parties involved everything will fall through. This goes along with the fact that if she does a good job it will look like she is actually doing nothing. One of the topics which Schoaff talked about which I was not familiar with was making people feel good. I have never been a manger before and she talked about how it is important to make sure that everyone feels happy and accomplished at the end of the day. Schoaff said her job sometimes requires her to smile even at stupid idea. This make me think back to my job experiences as a worker and not a manager and question a few decisions managers made differently. I also enjoyed her comment on how workers are much less efficient late at night or under stress.

In some of the previous projects and group projects that I have been involved in I wish that I had of known the information presented here. It really is valuable to have a project manager in every group project. I think overall though the most important thing for all parties is thinking ahead and making logical decisions. I really enjoyed the material presented in this topic. I feel that in the future it will help me think more rigidly when faced with projects, groups and of course time! Until next week!