How to set up and run information systems: a non-specialist's guide. 2nd edition

Information systems are as misunderstood today as they have been for a decade. They should assist ‘users’ to make intelligent decisions based upon good information derived from reliable data. Yet, the designers who make them, the managers who commission them and the stakeholders who use them consistently fail to communicate, resulting in the inevitable plethora of systems failures. This book addresses the key problem of transforming organizational need into information systems delivery. Using understandable language, illustrations, real world examples, exercises and user-focused tools and techniques, it introduces the non-specialist to the process of systems analysis and systems design - the preparatory work before an information system is purchased, developed and installed - and offers a closer look at one particular method, Multiview. Technical appendices offer insights into the theory behind the subject and set out suggested answers to the exercises in the book. A glossary of buzzwords explains the unavoidable jargon employed in the fields of information systems and information technology (IT). A useful list of further reading on the specific topics addressed is also included. This is an essential guide for IT professionals and software developers and those in environment and development organizations and business schools who are concerned with the planning and development of sustainable information systems that do not cheat on the future but take into account the needs of tomorrow.