1. Choose ONE of the four ways to manage and develop integrated systems as listed below;
2. Summarise your understanding and describe its relevance (250 words max) in either your study at university or in your work environment;
3. Edit TWO similar versions (include bibliography) of that summary to CSU Interact:
a. post version A as a wiki page contribution;
I have posted a version of the below post on the wiki page at the following link:
http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ITC594_201030_W_D/page/6d759d71-73ac-4a65-8047-d7a3e38c1953
b. add version B as a final entry to close your developer’s blog.
I have chosen Business Process Analysis (BPA) to examine as one of the ways to manage and develop integrated systems. A business process is a set of logically related business activities that combine to deliver something of value to a customer. Increasingly, organisations are realising that the first step in almost any major project is to analyse and define their business processes, and then communicate those processes to those who need them whether the project involves integrating standalone IT systems; using Web Services to connect partners and suppliers or making best use of the new Business Process Management tools (Pedrinaci, Domingue and Medeiros, 2008). As stated by Cousins and Stewart (2002) the aim of BPA is to understand how the processes of a business function and interact. The functions of BPA are as follows:
- understand the organisation and its purpose or “mission” and relate this to the organisation’s current business processes.
- identify and analyse the collection of processes and activities currently operational within the organisation, and ascertain how far they achieve the business’s objectives.
Clearly, by employing BPA a company can define their business processes. This is a crucial step required to understand how an organisation works, how that organisation wants or needs to work, and how to go about bridging the gap between the two (Pedrinaci, Domingue and Medeiros, 2008). From a systems integration perspective, BPA is a process which can assist in mapping out all present operational processes which can assist with enabling selection of an ERP vendor whose standard modules are most closely aligned with the established organisation, or alternatively inform the development of a new integrated system to support those operational processes. This is certainly what has occurred in Defence recently with Joint Project 2077 which attempts to integrate all Logistics Support Systems under one single system provided my MINCOM. In order to shape this integrated solution a detailed BPA was required to ensure that the integrated solution was able to support the operational processes within Defence.
In terms of closing remarks for this blog, noting that this is the final exercise (although I still have one elevator pitch to complete) I have captured most of my comments under Workshop 8 in terms on some thoughts on the subject and what to improve. Unfortunately I have had to complete the exrecises and and workshops ahead of time due to an up and coming work committment. In most cases I would have liked to have taken more time in completing these exercises, but unfortunately time has caught up with me and I have no real choice but to submit now, although if I am able, I will go back and edit some of my posts in order to improve this. My work and personal circumstances aside, I have found this subject very interesting and extremely useful. I particularly liked how the workshops were geared such that everyone started as a developer, and then the option was presented to change roles to an IT Manager. For me, this was a Godsend as I would have seriously struggled from the developers perspective as I have a very limited programming background. Further, given that I am studying this subject under an MBA, my area of interest is more IT management, rather than development. I trrust that, for those who read this blog, that it was useful and interesting. I have certainly enjoyed putting it together, depsite my compressed timeframe, and various challenges in wrestling with programming.
Cheers
Ricko
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