ABSTRACT

The Information System Consultant's Handbook familiarizes systems analysts, systems designers, and information systems consultants with underlying principles, specific documentation, and methodologies.
Corresponding to the primary stages in the systems development life cycle, the book divides into eight sections:

  • Principles
  • Information Gathering and Problem Definition
  • Project Planning and Project Management
  • Systems Analysis
  • Identifying Alternatives
  • Component Design
  • Testing and Implementation
  • Operation and Maintenance
    Eighty-two chapters comprise the book, and each chapter covers a single tool, technique, set of principles, or methodology. The clear, concise narrative, supplemented with numerous illustrations and diagrams, makes the material accessible for readers - effectively outlining new and unfamiliar analysis and design topics.
  • part one|54 pages

    Principles

    chapter chapter one|7 pages

    The systems development life cycle

    chapter chapter two|6 pages

    Information engineering

    chapter chapter three|8 pages

    Structured analysis and design

    chapter chapter four|8 pages

    Structured requirements definition

    chapter chapter five|10 pages

    CASE

    chapter chapter six|4 pages

    Object-oriented concepts

    chapter chapter seven|8 pages

    Expert system analysis and design

    part two|89 pages

    Information gathering and problem definition

    chapter chapter eight|6 pages

    Interviewing

    chapter chapter nine|7 pages

    Sampling

    chapter chapter ten|9 pages

    Control charts

    chapter chapter eleven|5 pages

    Pareto Diagrams

    chapter chapter twelve|4 pages

    The problem statement

    chapter chapter thirteen|6 pages

    The feasibility study

    chapter chapter fourteen|7 pages

    Joint application design (JAD)

    chapter chapter fifteen|6 pages

    Problem analysis paradigms

    chapter chapter sixteen|5 pages

    Requirements analysis paradigms

    chapter chapter eighteen|6 pages

    Cause-and-effect diagrams

    chapter chapter nineteen|11 pages

    Simulation

    part three|28 pages

    Project planning and project management

    chapter chapter twenty|4 pages

    Gantt charts

    chapter chapter twenty-one|8 pages

    Project networks, PERT, and CPM

    chapter chapter twenty-two|7 pages

    Crash mode analysis

    chapter chapter twenty-three|6 pages

    Inspections and walkthroughs

    part four|104 pages

    Systems analysis

    chapter chapter twenty-four|14 pages

    Data flow diagrams

    chapter chapter twenty-five|6 pages

    The data dictionary

    chapter chapter twenty-six|10 pages

    Entity-relationship diagrams

    chapter chapter twenty-seven|4 pages

    Inverted-L charts

    chapter chapter twenty-eight|10 pages

    Data normalization

    chapter chapter twenty-nine|15 pages

    Object-oriented methods

    chapter chapter thirty|5 pages

    State transition diagrams

    chapter chapter thirty-one|5 pages

    Prototyping

    chapter chapter thirty-two|6 pages

    Rapid application development (RAD)

    chapter chapter thirty-three|6 pages

    Warnier-Orr diagrams

    chapter chapter thirty-four|9 pages

    Expert system problem-solving analysis

    chapter chapter thirty-five|8 pages

    The requirements specification

    part five|43 pages

    Identifying alternatives

    chapter chapter thirty-six|6 pages

    Automation boundaries

    chapter chapter thirty-seven|7 pages

    System flowcharts

    chapter chapter thirty-eight|7 pages

    Cost/benefit analysis

    chapter chapter thirty-nine|6 pages

    Risk-payoff analysis

    chapter chapter forty|6 pages

    Business function-task analysis

    chapter chapter forty-one|8 pages

    Competitive procurement

    part six|272 pages

    Component design

    chapter chapter forty-two|8 pages

    Hardware interface design

    chapter chapter forty-three|12 pages

    Data structures

    chapter chapter forty-four|8 pages

    Traditional file design

    chapter chapter forty-five|8 pages

    Database design

    chapter chapter forty-six|10 pages

    Data entry forms and screens

    chapter chapter forty-seven|6 pages

    Report design

    chapter chapter forty-eight|11 pages

    User interface design

    chapter chapter forty-nine|8 pages

    Dialogue design

    chapter chapter fifty|8 pages

    Window design

    chapter chapter fifty-one|12 pages

    Web page design

    chapter chapter fifty-two|10 pages

    Network models

    chapter Chapter fifty-three|6 pages

    Network analysis

    chapter chapter fifty-four|7 pages

    Network routing tools and techniques

    chapter chapter fifty-five|10 pages

    Logic (process) flowcharts

    chapter chapter fifty-six|6 pages

    Nassi-Shneiderman charts

    chapter chapter fifty-seven|6 pages

    Decision trees

    chapter chapter fifty-eight|4 pages

    Decision tables

    chapter chapter fifty-nine|8 pages

    Pseudocode

    chapter chapter sixty|5 pages

    Structured English

    chapter chapter sixty-one|6 pages

    Process design

    chapter chapter sixty-two|14 pages

    Structured program design

    chapter chapter sixty-three|4 pages

    Structure charts

    chapter chapter sixty-four|8 pages

    HIPO (hierarchy plus input-process-output)

    chapter chapter sixty-five|8 pages

    Action diagrams

    chapter chapter sixty-six|16 pages

    Object-oriented software design

    chapter chapter sixty-seven|10 pages

    Knowledge representation

    chapter chapter sixty-eight|5 pages

    Natural language processing

    chapter chapter sixty-nine|8 pages

    Customizing commercial software

    chapter chapter seventy|8 pages

    Documentation design

    chapter chapter seventy-one|10 pages

    Security

    chapter chapter seventy-two|8 pages

    General systems design principles

    chapter chapter seventy-three|8 pages

    Real-time system design

    part seven|29 pages

    Testing and implementation

    chapter chapter seventy-four|10 pages

    The test plan

    chapter chapter seventy-five|9 pages

    Test data

    chapter chapter seventy-six|7 pages

    Implementation

    part eight|51 pages

    Operation and maintenance

    chapter chapter seventy-seven|9 pages

    System controls

    chapter chapter seventy-eight|6 pages

    Performance analysis

    chapter chapter seventy-nine|10 pages

    Queuing theory

    chapter chapter eighty|6 pages

    Configuration management

    chapter chapter eighty-one|8 pages

    Maintenance

    chapter chapter eighty-two|9 pages

    Database administration