Systems analysis — putting the computer to work

The previous chapters have covered the basic functions of computing — input and output, processing and storage — and have described devices used to perform those functions. In order to make profitable use of the computer it is necessary to adapt these functions and embed them into the fabric of the commercial, industrial or governmental situation whose efficiency we wish to improve through the use of a computer. The main part of this process is known as systems analysis, and computer professionals who are employed for this purpose are known as systems analysts. The term ‘systems’ implies a co-ordinated set of activities, in which computer functions will perform only part of the total task, so that it is more correct, and more specific, to talk about computer-based systems, or computer-assisted systems, as an organised and integrated set of man-machine activities in the wider context of a business organisation, for example.