Systems Analyst

Being an information system analyst, it’s not an easy task for you have to be flexible, good communicator to your team, good thinker, good problem solver and good in any computer programming and technical skills. An information system analyst must also consider some factors in handling the system and his team so that he can solve some business problems in this kind of discipline. According on what I’d read over the internet, an information system analyst can be a perfect presentor, perfect system developer, has a good skills, has a better management, and there association must be better. Whew! What a really tough job. An information system analyst must also not rely on his own knowledge. He must be curious and dynamic so that he can be able to know the problems around him and solve it. In this kind of job or work, you are more a problem solver than a technical programmer.

Modern businesses use information systems so that their products and services they rendered to their customers will be given gratifiable. That is why; some experts say that information systems are crucial in modern business organizations. These were developed to make business more competitive and give impact to profit and productivity to the organization. There are lots of information systems that were used by the companies and corporations all over the country and even outside the country in their business transactions such as course registration system, online order system, account management system, etc.. Being an information system analyst, you have to be keen observer in your environment. You have to understand how people think, learn, react to change, communicate and work so that you can be able to evaluate how people can interact to the system you are going to make.

Large companies and firms does have information system analysts so that it will be monitored those systems does the company or firm have. This system analyst by the companies required some skills such as skill in business, skill in technical and skill in handling people so that he can be able to foresee and predict some dilemmas that will be going to happen in the future when there is something wrong within the system whether it is hardware or software or within the organization. If you have the skill in business, you have the capacity to manage all the business works of the company. You don’t have to be static in your position but also to manage just like a certain manager that can face any waves of problems of the organization. Having also the skill in technical is important too. Information system analyst should have this kind of talent. If you have at least basic knowledge of technical, it is easier for you to cope up in troubleshooting and resolve of the problems of the system. Skill also in handling people of the organization is really important for human resource or manpower and it is considered as the heart of the organization. Without people or human resource of the organization especially in your team, it is difficult in the part of the system analyst to undergo a certain project and make it in his own. If you possess this kind of skill in handling your people, there is no doubt that your project and your organization will be successful.

An information system analyst should have the interpersonal and communication skills. These skills are critical in obtaining information, motivating people, getting cooperation and understanding the complexity of an organization in order to provide necessary support. When my classmates discussed the first chapter of our lesson in our subject, System Analysis and Design 1 (SAD 1), they shared the terms, soft skills and hard skills before the class. These terms were bizarre on my dictionary. Soft skills are skills in nontechnical areas such as interviewing, team management and leadership while the hard skills are skills in technical areas such as database design, programming and telecommunication. Having the skill of soft skill, you can be able to administer well your project and your team because team management and leadership are important in the organization. The more difficult is the hard skills. These are more on hard coding. Those people who are innate in programming and designing database, they are considered hard skilled men of the organization. If one of these skills doesn’t possess in you, there is a possibility of failure of project.

Last April 21, 2010, our classmates Charmaigne and Ida shared on us about the world of the information system analyst. They tackled some points on what are the roles of being an analyst. Based on what they presented before the class, they said that the primary role of the information system analyst is being a problem solver. If you think you are a problem solver, you may consider as a system analyst whether as a business system analyst, information system analyst, etc. or in other ways.

If we are going to topic the University of Southeastern Philippines and ask who is the system analyst of the university, maybe you may answer that the system analyst of the institution are those people who made the enrollment system, administrative system, etc., but have you consider the president of the university as the system analyst? Yes, the president of the university may consider as system analyst because he is the problem solver of the institution. He solves some problems and makes decisions onto it.

Back to those days when the university is still on manual system of enrollment system, it is too much difficult for it is not yet automated. When the president oversaw it, he decided to have an enrollment system which is automated and made some contract to those companies that rendered some services and products in the automation of the enrollment. Billions of pesos were spent in the automation of the enrollment system. Another problem arouses because of the funds due to this automation. As the president and problem solver of the university, came up a solution so that the problem of the university will be solved. He tapped some faculties in the Institute of Computing of the university and requested to make an in-house enrollment system. The faculties, who were assigned to make this, were made and deployed it well. Billions of pesos were saved because of this solution. The idea of the president was considered as a brilliant idea.

As a student who enrolled in this subject, System Analysis and Design, I am still innocent in the field of system designing but what I can brag to other is that I can do better management to the team. A better management of handling my time, team and the project that I may consider to have these skills I possess. At the end of the day, it is still in your own hands to have a successful team and project if you have good leadership and management to your people.