Characteristics I Have as a Good System Analyst

            Based on my learning in the discussion we had in Systems Analysis and Design talking about the topic, The World of The Information System Analyst. Inside this topic I learn about, what is as System Analyst? What are the roles of a System Analyst? What are the characteristics of a System Analyst? Learning about this things arrive me at a simple question asking myself, do I have these kind of characteristics, and do I have the capability to be a System Analyst? Nowadays some of the organization depends on computer and information technology to conduct business and to perform specific functions to make their task easier and to lessen the number of their employees. A company hires a System Analyst to help them use their technology effectively and to examine what are the possible changes to be done to make their technology more efficient and useful.

 What is A System Analyst?

            We all know that System Analyst is the one that investigates and analyze the existing system or the possible system an organization could have. System Analyst is the one responsible in making the plan strategy more capable of making the project being effective and efficient. As we know the major role of a System Analyst in a project team is System Analyst works primarily for an information system. System Analyst should interact with other people because it is the only way that they would know the capability of their employees. We all know that a System Analyst is expert in computer and System Analyst is very professional in investigating different kinds of situation.

Skills on being A System Analyst

            As our lesson goes further, I learn that being a System Analyst is not an easy job. Being a system analyst, you should learn how to talk to the people and know what are their needs and concerns. Being a System Analyst is that we all should research, plan, coordinate and recommend other software’s that will help or meet the organizations requirements. System Analyst has so many things to do, some of them are writing technical or methodological requirements from a critical phase, and also after that, System Analyst should cooperate with the designers or developers in order to fix and avoid system bugs. System Analyst is the one capable of testing the system, and it is also the one that deploys the system and determines the flow of the system. In our discussion I have learned, how to identify the three major skills of chapter 1.

1) Technical and Skills

            When you are a system analyst you should be able to become a technical type of person, it simply means that you should know about computers, you should also know the easiest part of the computer that is very useful of becoming a system analyst and also the knowledge of computer in terms of peripheral devices(hardware), communication networks and connectivity, database and database management systems (DBMS), programming languages ( for example, VB.NET or Java), operating systems and utilities, software productivity packages, integrated development environment (IDEs) for programming languages, and CASE tools, testing documentation support, reverse engineering, configuration management, project planning, system analysis, systems design, database design, network design, construction, implementation, systems support. When we say peripheral devices, we should have the knowledge of computers especially in hardware’s, it is one of the basic requirements of a system analyst, because system analyst not only deals with software but also it deals with hardware, when we talk about communication networks and connectivity, system analyst must think that an organization is compose of different or lots of department and branches and a system analyst must ensure that this organization will be connected to each other. Becoming a system analyst always deals with data and processes it to make it as an info, and with this data it can formulate an idea that will help, in order to create an efficient system and also we all know that being a system analyst does not require to be a computer programmer however a system analyst must have a little knowledge of computer programming, because it enables the system analyst to decide whether this programming language is capable of making this system, and also some of the companies now have only one system analysis that can develop a system, even if programming language is not necessary but still having a basic knowledge in programming is still an advantage in the world of IT technology. And also in creating a system we should always consider our operating systems and utilities, it is important to know our computer in order to install the proper operating systems that could run our system. And also being a system analyst we should know the software we are using in making the system for us to know the capacity of our system, it will enable us to set some limitations and scope in the system we are making. It is very important as a systems analyst to plan first and a systems analyst should how to plan well in able to have a good start and also a systems analyst should know how to make database designs because database designs will determine the capacity of work to be done and also a knowledge of network design to avoid traffics and delays and also the most important thing is that a system analyst should know how to implement or construct and has the time to support the system.

2) Business knowledge and skill

A Systems Analyst’ most important task is to solve business problems, thus he/she should know the business functions performed by the organization. Some of these are:

·         Business functions performed by organization

-          It is one of the important task of a system analyst is to know the business functions performed by the organization, for example it is important to know what kinds of business functions an employee is doing, because it enables the systems analyst to analyze well what is the function the system lacks.

·         Strategies, plans, traditions, and values of the organization

-          Being a systems analyst is all about investigating the current system of some organization in order to improve it for the greater good of the company. A systems analyst, should know all the plans or goals of the organization because it is the most important job of a systems analyst to know what he/she is working on and also by knowing the strategies and the traditions of the organization will help him or her to find the best way in improving the system used by the organization.

·         Organizational Structure

-          In starting an investigation, a systems analyst should know the organizational structure because it enables the analyst to be more precise and accurate of what he/she is doing. Organizational structure serves as the flow chart of an organization.         

·         Organizational management techniques

-     Organizational management is the lifeblood of any company or group. Being a systems analyst, it is important to know the lifeblood of the company in order to understand well what the needs of the company are. OMT is the methods used to manage the company's daily activities, motivate employees to produce at a high level and guide the company's future path, by knowing all these a systems analyst can simply determine what is the thing that the people in the organization wants. Understanding successful organizational techniques are important to effective management. The first thing to keep in mind is that it helps to understand multiple methods to the several techniques so the approach can be adapted for any given situation.

·         Functional work processes

-          It is important for a system analyst to know the whole process done by organization or the business flow and the different functions happening because as I’ve mentioned earlier it enables the systems analyst to analyze well what the system really lacks.

3) People Knowledge and Skills

           

            A systems analyst need to understand important things regarding the people. Some of these are:

·         Think

-          It is very important that a systems analyst should know what do people are thinking because it will help or it is a guide to know what does the people really wants and a systems analyst must understand what their needs are.

·         Learn

-          It is important that a systems analyst should learn from the people around because learning in line with teaching the people to will create a good bond to the system and the people using it.

·         React to Change

-          It is important that a systems analyst would realize that the people will surely react to the change, and a systems analyst must analyze well the system and make sure that the system can be easily adopt, it is the role of a systems analyst to realize that.

·         Communicate

-          A systems analyst must communicate well to the people because it will help an analyst to gather more information and the people will have a trust to tell all the data he/she needs from them, and also by communicating well, an analyst can understand the complexity of the employees doing. It is important to make sure that an analyst must be good in communicating in order to motivate people and also provide necessary support

·         Work

-          An analyst should know what kind of work the people are doing in order so that they can easily adapt to the changes.

Additional Skills that a systems analyst should have:

Hard and Soft Skills

Hard skills are the skills in technical areas such as database design, programming, and telecommunication. Soft skills are the skills in nontechnical areas such as interviewing, team management, and leadership.

Characteristics of a Good Systems Analyst

            A good systems analyst requires so many characteristics. An analyst must be good at planning in order to plan the system well, good at investigating or analyzing in order to arrange the system and to create a good one, must be good in communicating to other, must willing to take risk, must be a good leader and a team mate, a systems analyst must be patient and understandable, hardworking, good at observing, responsible in his/her work and also to top of it all must be good at business because a work of a systems analyst is to create a new system that could help the company and to lessen their work. And also good systems must easily get along to the people and must be a good listener and be able to react to what people say. And also analyst must be good at technologies.

Me as a Good Systems Analyst

            After all I learned from above I’ve come up with a conclusion that the characteristics I have as a systems analyst are first I know how to plan, when I was at my younger age I used to plan all the things I want to make for example there are things that don’t need planning but for me I want to plan how to make these things in a shorter time for example in programming every program has so many algorithms but I am planning to find a way to create a shorter and easiest one, Another characteristics I have is I am good strategists in some ways, for example I play computer games, I think playing some of the computer games makes you a good strategists because when  I am playing I will find a way to win, I will find a way to be strong and I will find a way to survive and also I like things that needs analyzing, I think one of my characteristics as good systems analyst is I am good at analyzing on some things, for example in programming, making a program requires knowledge and ability to analyze the problem well and for the years I’ve studied in USEP I think I become a good analyzer because it is easy for me now to analyze complicated things and find a way to solve it. You know when I analyze, even the smallest part of the problem, I analyze it, it makes me ask question what, why, who, when, where, how and also when I analyze I think above the time, I always think to the possible outcome or for example in programming, When I analyze the problem, I will determine first what are the possible bugs that this program can encounter and with that I can easily solve the problem. I think I’ve got good sense of analysis.  And one characteristic I possess also is I am good at facing my problem or I mean I can deal with problems easily, for how many years I lived in this world, I’ve encounter so many problems, and dealing with this problems is not a problem to me now because I learn every time a problem comes to me, as the problem comes the more I know how to solve them, I use to solve many problems specially at school specially in programming, when the problem comes I don’t usually think of it, I usually think of the solution to it, that’s why for how many year I am good at dealing with problems. I’m also a good observer; I observe to the people behind me, I always observe to the things that people are doing, I think I am a good observer because when I observe I can easily find the difference between the things I observe I can easily comment and make an opinion on it, and also I can easily understand what is lacking to the thing I observe. And one important thing I have as a good systems analyst is I like to ask questions, because for me every question I ask is every answer I learn. Because of this attitude I became a better person now, asking so many questions before put me in a good situation right now, I don’t find asking questions as a sign of a lack of knowledge, because asking question puts you into the conclusion of someone you want to learn. As for me now, I’m still a student I’ve got so much to learn to become a really a good systems analyst, I will study hard and I will try my best to be a good analyst. I know it is not an easy task but every task has solutions or a way to solve it or to achieve it. I will not lose hope no matter what, no matter what problems will come I will become one of the best, but for now I’m still a student I will enjoy every day, I will always remember everything I learn.

Conclusion

           

            To sum it all, to be a good systems analyst requires years of hard work and patience. Being a systems analyst is life time achievement that you need to be proud of. It is a thing that I can bring to the rest of your lives. All the characteristics I’ve mentioned is the me as a good systems analyst, although I know that it is not enough but the time is unlimited, I can practice every day a be a good one someday.