The University of Michigan-dearborn Computer and Information Science Department College of Engineering and Computer Science Cis554 Information Systems Analysis and Design Winter 2004

We view an information system as a means of enhancing the ability of a complex system such as an organization to perform its functions. Thus, in our view a computerbased information system is essentially a software system designed to fulfill the information needs of a particular set of organizational functions. Clearly, the requirements of an information system capable of providing effective support to a particular set of organizational functions must be based on the information needs of these functions. This is actually the way in which the requirements of an information system are determined in the ASM. Recall that a specification of information needs describes the information flows that need to be maintained in order for a particular set of organizational functions to be performed appropriately. Relevant characteristics of the organizational units that realize the organizational functions in question must of course also be included in a specification of information needs. An information system that provides effective support to a particular set of organizational functions, on the other hand, must contribute to maintain these information flows so these functions achieve their goals. The requirements of such an information system must define the characteristics that it must have in order to contribute to maintaining these flows in an appropriate manner. This clearly implies the compatibility of an information system meeting this kind of requirements with the structure and dynamics of the functions being supported and with the adaptability of the organization. The goal of the synthetic approach is to design a software system that meets this kind of information system requirements and, consequently, provides effective function support.