As part of my report, we have to adopt a company in which it will be the basis for the report. But when the company was planned, we conduct it last December 7, 2009 around 3 pm at AMS Group of Companies, which situated at F. Torres St. Davao City.

Also, I met the MIS Dept. Head; Mr. Gemrald Calibara (who mentioned on the previous assignments) who also works as project manager for the company’s IS project.

And based on the answers, I come up with the roles in system analysts as project manager. These are:
• He manages the samples from gathering data as basis in proposing a new system. And make it sure that the samples are enough to make your proposed project feasible. Since, the result in data gathering will be the input of the proposed system.
• Also he manages the financial records from starting the IS project until the development of the deployed system. Make it sure that the cost and benefits are calculated accurately.
• He also keep track on the time constraints and task set on the timetable. By using Gantt chart and PERT, it will help them track down on those tasks and submit reports in the scheduled time set by the time tables.
• He also keeps the project up to date in order to avoid delays which one of the causes of failures (taken from PHILNITS review questions).

But how do you mean as project manager to come up that the roles listed above are deemed accurate?

Project Management:
Lonergan (2009) defines project management as a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific (and usually) one-time objective, for example, construct a building or implement a major new computer system.
Harding Roberts (2009) also defines the characteristics of a project: finite time, people assigned, clear roles and responsibilities, and things to deliver.
Since you know about the terms of project management, one of the roles in System Analyst is Project Management. And aside from the basic roles in a good system analyst, the following roles added are:
• He must set a time table for a particular project, the modules, and the deadlines.
• He must assign a particular task according to his skill. Since it is an IS project, it require to assigned skilled programmers, analyst, and developers.
• Once assigned, he must specify the roles of a particular task.
• And monitor your team and check for deadlines.

To succeed in this project, teamwork is required. Also structuring of a team also used and put the person in a right position.

There are ways to manage the IS project:
• Use Gantt and PERT chart to analyze the duration of the project.
• Apply Risk Analysis to find the major factors of a project failure.
• List all qualified members and assigned them to a task that it is fit for his/her skill
• And monitor each task till the project is complete.
• Manage the total cost of the project. It includes software, hardware, salary of the hired workers, benefits and more.

Project management (Satzinger et. al) is organizing and directing people to achieve a planned result within budget and on schedule. Success or failure of project depends on skills of the project manager.

There are internal and external responsibilities as a Project Manager. Also they have different titles and roles as a Project Manager and it depends on the rank and skill. The success of Project Management depends on the skill of the Project Manager.

In order to succeed in the project, you have to plan the project. And project planning requires data gathering, get the scope of the problem, feasibility analysis and more. Then, find the process models that fit to your project based on the difficulty, the people, the resources and other factors. You have to consider the organizational structure for the project in which not just project managers will be liable if the damages or delays are made, but the team leader of the group in the particular project.

System Analyst, who acted as Project Manager, requires good skills in communication, IT, Business (which includes Accounting, Finance, Management and the like), and engineering skills. These skills will depend on the system that the client wanted or the system you want to design. It not easy for those projects since those skills needs to be taught and learn from experts.

Take for example, you are proposed a system for the particular company and you invest about half a million pesos for that one. How do you manage those projects with a few people on your group? Is hiring a programmer or another analyst for the particular job? How much will you pay for the programmer? How many modules do you have for the project? How many teams do you need for that? How many people will occupy in a team? How to set schedules for the particular module? How do you schedule these modules? Is your proposed project proved to be feasible for the particular scenario? How do you communicate with these members? How do you test this entire system? Who will be hired as testers? When will you deploy the system? And when do you conduct such maintenance? Who will liable for that if the module/project will fail?

These questions are guide for project managers in order to succeed in the entire project. If you not answer one of those questions above, there will be chances that the project will fail.

Therefore, the System Analyst are not just analyze data and the structure of the system but managing projects and schedules in order to succeed in future projects and lessen the cost of the project. The success depends on your skill.

References:

Satzinger J. W. et al, 2006, Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 4th Edition, Course Technology Press
Lonergan K., 1997. Project Management [Online] (Updated 2009) Available at: http://managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm [Accessed 21 December 21, 2009]
Harding Roberts M., 2006. Project Management Book [Online]() Available at: http://www.hraconsulting-ltd.co.uk/project-management-book-0101.htm [Accessed 21 December 2009]

Letters:


blogs and results from the interview:
Project Blacksnake: Systems Study on AMS (Summary view)

I have defined what a systems analyst is in my previous post. Now, let’s define what a project manager and project management is.
Project Management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is often closely related to and sometimes conflated with program management.
A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end (usually constrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives, usually to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management.
The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives.
Project Manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry,architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software development.
Many other fields in the production, design and service industries also have project managers.
A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are; cost, time, and quality (also known as scope).
A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.
The specific responsibilities of the Project Manager vary depending on the industry, the company size, the company maturity, and the company culture. However, there are some responsibilities that are common to all Project Managers, noting:
 Developing the project plan
 Managing the project stakeholders
 Managing the project team
 Managing the project risk
 Managing the project schedule
 Managing the project budget
 Managing the project conflicts

Top 10 Qualities of a Project Manager
Inspires a Shared Vision
An effective project leader is often described as having a vision of where to go and the ability to articulate it. Visionaries thrive on change and being able to draw new boundaries. It was once said that a leader is someone who "lifts us up, gives us a reason for being and gives the vision and spirit to change." Visionary leaders enable people to feel they have a real stake in the project. They empower people to experience the vision on their own.
Good Communicator
The ability to communicate with people at all levels is almost always named as the second most important skill by project managers and team members. Project leadership calls for clear communication about goals, responsibility, performance, expectations and feedback.
There is a great deal of value placed on openness and directness. The project leader is also the team's link to the larger organisation. The leader must have the ability to effectively negotiate and use persuasion when necessary to ensure the success of the team and project. Through effective communication, project leaders support individual and team achievements by creating explicit guidelines for accomplishing results and for the career advancement of team members.
Integrity
One of the most important things a project leader must remember is that his or her actions, and not words, set the modus operandi for the team. Good leadership demands commitment to, and demonstration of, ethical practices. Creating standards for ethical behaviour for oneself and living by these standards, as well as rewarding those who exemplify these practices, are responsibilities of project leaders. Leadership motivated by self-interest does not serve the well being of the team. Leadership based on integrity represents nothing less than a set of values others share, behaviour consistent with values and dedication to honesty with self and team members. In other words the leader "walks the talk" and in the process earns trust.
Enthusiasm
Plain and simple, we don't like leaders who are negative - they bring us down. We want leaders with enthusiasm, with a bounce in their step, with a can-do attitude. We want to believe that we are part of an invigorating journey - we want to feel alive. We tend to follow people with a can-do attitude, not those who give us 200 reasons why something can't be done. Enthusiastic leaders are committed to their goals and express this commitment through optimism. Leadership emerges as someone expresses such confident commitment to a project that others want to share his or her optimistic expectations. Enthusiasm is contagious and effective leaders know it.
Empathy
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy? Although the words are similar, they are, in fact, mutually exclusive. According to Norman Paul, in sympathy the subject is principally absorbed in his or her own feelings as they are projected into the object and has little concern for the reality and validity of the object's special experience. Empathy, on the other hand, presupposes the existence of the object as a separate individual, entitled to his or her own feelings, ideas and emotional history (Paul, 1970). As one student so eloquently put it, "It's nice when a project leader acknowledges that we all have a life outside of work."
Competence
Simply put, to enlist in another's cause, we must believe that that person knows what he or she is doing. Leadership competence does not however necessarily refer to the project leader's technical abilities in the core technology of the business. As project management continues to be recognised as a field in and of itself, project leaders will be chosen based on their ability to successfully lead others rather than on technical expertise, as in the past. Having a winning track record is the surest way to be considered competent. Expertise in leadership skills is another dimension in competence. The ability to challenge, inspire, enable, model and encourage must be demonstrated if leaders are to be seen as capable and competent.
Ability to Delegate Tasks
Trust is an essential element in the relationship of a project leader and his or her team. You demonstrate your trust in others through your actions - how much you check and control their work, how much you delegate and how much you allow people to participate. Individuals who are unable to trust other people often fail as leaders and forever remain little more that micro-managers, or end up doing all of the work themselves. As one project management student put it, "A good leader is a little lazy." An interesting perspective!
Cool Under Pressure
In a perfect world, projects would be delivered on time, under budget and with no major problems or obstacles to overcome. But we don't live in a perfect world - projects have problems. A leader with a hardy attitude will take these problems in stride. When leaders encounter a stressful event, they consider it interesting, they feel they can influence the outcome and they see it as an opportunity. "Out of the uncertainty and chaos of change, leaders rise up and articulate a new image of the future that pulls the project together." And remember - never let them see you sweat.
Team-Building Skills
A team builder can best be defined as a strong person who provides the substance that holds the team together in common purpose toward the right objective. In order for a team to progress from a group of strangers to a single cohesive unit, the leader must understand the process and dynamics required for this transformation. He or she must also know the appropriate leadership style to use during each stage of team development. The leader must also have an understanding of the different team players styles and how to capitalise on each at the proper time, for the problem at hand.
Problem Solving Skills
Although an effective leader is said to share problem-solving responsibilities with the team, we expect our project leaders to have excellent problem-solving skills themselves. They have a "fresh, creative response to here-and-now opportunities," and not much concern with how others have performed them.

Our interviewer said that in order to become a good project manager, he/she should know how to calculate risk. This topic was, I think, the longest topic that he discussed. As a project manager, you should know how to take care of the risks involved in your project.

He had also shared to us on how to treat the risks.

4 risks treatment
1. Tolerate the risk
2. Terminate the risk
3. Treat the risk
4. Transfer the risk

As a good project manager also, he/she must know how to communicate and deal with the other people in the team so that he/she and the other members of the team can understand and communicate well. He must also have a good working relationship with the other members of the team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_manager
http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/top-10-qualities-project-manager.html

Discuss the role of a systems analyst as a project manager. (at least one thousand words) .... you need to interview an analyst/project manager ..


Discuss the role of system analyst as project manager.

Role of System Analyst

The system analyst is the person (or persons) who guides through the development of an information system. In performing these tasks the analyst must always match the information system objectives with the goals of the organization.

Role of System Analyst differs from organization to organization. Most common responsibilities of System Analyst are following:

1) System analysis

It includes system's study in order to get facts about business activity. It is about getting information and determining requirements. Here the responsibility includes only requirement determination, not the design of the system.

2) System analysis and design:

Here apart from the analysis work, Analyst is also responsible for the designing of the new system/application.

3) Systems analysis, design, and programming:

Here Analyst is also required to perform as a programmer, where he actually writes the code to implement the design of the proposed application.


Due to the various responsibilities that a system analyst requires to handle, he has to be multifaceted person with varied skills required at various stages of the life cycle. In addition to the technical know-how of the information system development a system analyst should also have the following knowledge.

Business knowledge:
As the analyst might have to develop any kind of a business system, he should be familiar with the general functioning of all kind of businesses.

Interpersonal skills:
Such skills are required at various stages of development process for interacting with the users and extracting the requirements out of them

Problem solving skills:
A system analyst should have enough problem solving skills for defining the alternate solutions to the system and also for the problems occurring at the various stages of the development process.

I have here added information about software project manager and I think it can be relate to this topic.

Software Project Manager
A Software Project Manager has many of the same skills as their counterparts in other industries. Beyond the skills normally associated with traditional project management in industries such as construction and manufacturing, a software project manager will typically have an extensive background in software development. Many software project managers hold a degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or another related field and will typically have worked in the industry as a software engineer.
In traditional project management a heavyweight, predictive methodology such as the waterfall model is often employed, but software project managers must also be skilled in more lightweight, adaptive methodologies such as DSDM, SCRUM and XP. These project management methodologies are based on the uncertainty of developing a new software system and advocate smaller, incremental development cycles. These incremental or iterative cycles are time boxed (constrained to a known period of time, typically from one to four weeks) and produce a working subset of the entire system deliverable at the end of each iteration. The increasing adoption of lightweight approaches is due largely to the fact that software requirements are very susceptible to change, and it is extremely difficult to illuminate all the potential requirements in a single project phase before the software development commences.
The software project manager is also expected to be familiar with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). This may require in depth knowledge of requirements solicitation, application development, logical and physical database design and networking. This knowledge is typically the result of the aforementioned education and experience. There is not a widely accepted certification for software project managers, but many will hold the PMP designation offered by the Project Management Institute or an advanced degree in project management, such as a MSPM or other graduate degree in technology management.


What does the project manager do?

A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software development.

A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are; cost, time, and quality (also known as scope).

A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.

Below are the common responsibilities of a project manager:
• Developing the project plan
• Managing the project stakeholders
• Managing the project team
• Managing the project risk
• Managing the project schedule
• Managing the project budget
• Managing the project conflicts

Characteristics of a Project Manager

First and foremost they like managing projects. Managing projects is not something people are neutral about. They either like it or they don't. Why would anyone want to do a job in which you can all too obviously fail spectacularly and if you succeed people will shrug their shoulders and say you just did your job? Others relish the challenge and like the feeling of accomplishment, of getting something done that may not have happened without them.

Good project managers:

• manage rather than co-ordinate, preside or spectate
• are natural planners
• don't like surprises, so they plan thoroughly to try to prevent them
• are effective fire-fighters - when the inevitable surprises do occur they sort them out quickly and decisively
• reward and punish - not dealing with someone who isn't pulling their weight can destroy team morale
• are good motivators, good team builders
• address conflict rather than leaving things to fester
• do not hide in an office, they walk around and ideally sit physically in the middle of the team so they are approachable
• get consensus whenever possible but dictate when necessary


Most of all, good project managers MANAGE. They do not just get swept along by the current. They grab the project by the scruff of the neck and manage it.
However, it is sometimes the case that project managers do not feel sufficiently empowered to manage and control the things/people they need to manage and control in order to be successful. This problem has a solution.

--interview—
For this topic I still adopt our last interview with the two of system analyst of EMCOR Bajada. In which, they were able to discuss about their role in the company. They were able to share to us some of their responsibilities. And it really not easy to an analyst in whom sometimes they do multitasking, one person does all duties. According to the them, the project manager has to be careful in every decision he does. Every project that he manages must be supervised. He needs to have constant communication with the team involves of the project. Leadership skill is important to a project manager that should possess, because working with a project especially in huge project is created by a team who has its own task.



references:
http://www.statefarm.com/about/careers/it/it_careers/proj_manager.htm
http://misallabouts.blogspot.com/2009/12/systems-analyst-as-project-manager.html
http://www.processimpact.com/articles/be_analyst.pdf
--evidences to be posted---:C

To start, let me differentiate a systems analyst to a project manager. A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software development. A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are; cost, time, and quality (also known as scope). A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.

Responsibilities

The specific responsibilities of the Project Manager vary depending on the industry, the company size, the company maturity, and the company culture. However, there are some responsibilities that are common to all Project Managers,

• Developing the project plan
• Managing the project stakeholders
• Managing the project team
• Managing the project risk
• Managing the project schedule
• Managing the project budget
• Managing the project conflicts

Project management
Project Management is quite often the province and responsibility of an individual project manager. This individual seldom participates directly in the activities that produce the end result, but rather strives to maintain the progress and mutual interaction and tasks of various parties in such a way that reduces the risk of overall failure, maximizes benefits, and restricts costs.

Products and services
Any type of product or service — pharmaceuticals, building construction, vehicles, electronics, computer software, financial services, etc. — may have its implementation overseen by a project manager and its operations by a product manager.

Project tools
The tools, knowledge and techniques for managing projects are often unique to Project Management. For example: work breakdown structures, critical path analysis and earned value management. Understanding and applying the tools and techniques which are generally recognized as good practices are not sufficient alone for effective project management. Effective project management requires that the project manager understands and uses the knowledge and skills from at least four areas of expertise. Examples are PMBOK, Application Area Knowledge: standards and regulations set forth by ISO for project management, General Management Skills and Project Environment Management.

Project teams
When recruiting and building an effective team, the manager must consider not only the technical skills of each person, but also the critical roles and chemistry between workers. A project team has mainly three separate components: Project Manager, Core Team and Contracted Team.

Risk
Most of the project management issues that influence a project arise from risk, which in turn arises from uncertainty. The successful project manager focuses on this as his/her main concern and attempts to reduce risk significantly, often by adhering to a policy of open communication, ensuring that project participants can voice their opinions and concerns.

While, a systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process. A successful systems analyst must acquire four skills: analytical, technical, managerial, and interpersonal. Analytical skills enable systems analysts to understand the organization and its functions, which helps him/her to identify opportunities and to analyze and solve problems. Technical skills help systems analysts understand the potential and the limitations of information technology. The systems analyst must be able to work with various programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms. Management skills help systems analysts manage projects, resources, risk, and change. Interpersonal skills help systems analysts work with end users as well as with analysts, programmers, and other systems professionals.

So basically, a systems analyst is also a project manager in a way that they both responsible for planning systems and other task.

The Reasons to Initiate IS Project
• The new information system is part of an overall strategic plan.
• The new information system is to respond an immediate business need.

What Is a Project?
• A project is a planned undertaking with a beginning and an end that produce predetermined result and is usually constrained by a schedule and resource.

Reasons for Project Failure
• Incomplete or changing requirements
• Limited user involvement
• Lack of executive support
• Lack of technical support
• Poor project planning
• Unclear objectives
• Lack of required resources

Reasons for Project Success
• Clear system requirement definitions
• Substantial user involvement
• Support from upper management
• Thorough and detailed project plans
• Realistic work schedules and milestones

Project Management
• Project management is organizing and directing people to achieve a planned result within budget and on schedule.

• Success or failure of project depends on skills of the project manager.
• The responsibilities of project manager are both internal and external

Internal Responsibilities of the Project Manager
• Identify project tasks and build a work breakdown structure
• Develop the project schedule
• Recruit and train team members
• Assign team members to tasks
• Coordinate activities of team members and subteams
• Assess project risks
• Monitor and control project deliverables and milestones
• Verify the quality of project deliverables

External Responsibilities of the Project Manager
• Report the project’s status and progress
• Establish good working relationships with those who identify the needed system requirements
• The people who will use the system
• Work directly with the client (the project’s sponsor) and other stakeholders
• Identify resource needs and obtain resources

Various Titles/Roles of Project Managers

Project Management Tasks
• Beginning of project
• Overall project planning
• During project
• Project execution management
• Project control management
• Project closeout
• Project management approach differs for
• Predictive SDLC
• Adaptive SDLC
•
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
• Project planning – initiate, ensure feasibility, plan schedule, obtain approval for project
• Analysis – understand business needs and processing requirements
• Design – define solution system based on requirements and analysis decisions
• Implementation – construct, test, train users, and install new system
• Support – keep system running and improve


Project Management Body of Knowledge
• Scope management
• Control functions included in system
• Control scope of work done by team
• Time management
• Build detailed schedule of all project tasks
• Monitor progress of project against milestones
• Cost management
• Calculate initial cost/benefit analysis
• Monitor expenses

Project Management Body of Knowledge (continued)
• Quality management
• Establish quality plan and control activities for each project phase
• Human resource management
• Recruit and hire project team members
• Train, motivate, team build
• Communications management
• Identify stakeholders and their communications
• Establish team communications

Project Management Body of Knowledge (continued)
• Risk management
• Identify and review risks for failure
• Develop plans to reduce these risks
• Procurement management
• Develop requests for proposals (RFPs)
• Evaluate bids, write contracts, monitor performance
• Integration management

Three Driving Forces to Start IS Project
• Respond to opportunity
• Top-down
• Resolve problem
• Bottom-up
• Conform to directive
• Legislative changes

So basically, in connection to what I have interviewed, he is a systems analyst of the Davao Light and Power Company. He stated that all of the jobs in their department is focused on supporting all the processes in their organization. They can suggest projects to the top management, but basically all projects are for fast processing to other departments and support type. So basically, they come up with projects but still they depend on the top management.

appendixes:


References:
www.itk.ilstu.edu/.../Chapter%203%20-%20Analyst%20as%20a%20Project%20Manager.ppt
http://en.wikipedia.org/

visit my blog @ franzcie.blogspot.com

System Analyst
A systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process. A successful systems analyst must acquire four skills: analytical, technical, managerial, and interpersonal. Analytical skills enable systems analysts to understand the organization and its functions, which helps him/her to identify opportunities and to analyze and solve problems. Technical skills help systems analysts understand the potential and the limitations of information technology. The systems analyst must be able to work with various programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms. Management skills help systems analysts manage projects, resources, risk, and change. Interpersonal skills help systems analysts work with end users as well as with analysts, programmers, and other systems professionals.

Because they must write user requests into technical specifications, the systems analysts are the liaisons between vendors and the IT professionals of the organization they represent. They may be responsible for developing cost analysis, design considerations, and implementation time-lines. They may also be responsible for feasibility studies of a computer system before making recommendations to senior management.

A systems analyst performs the following tasks:

* Interact with the customers to know their requirements
* Interact with designers to convey the possible interface of the software
* Interact/guide the coders/developers to keep track of system development
* Perform system testing with sample/live data with the help of testers
* Implement the new system
* Prepare High quality Documentation

Many systems analysts have morphed into business analysts. And, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that "Increasingly, employers are seeking individuals who have a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) with a concentration in information systems."

What is the role of systems analyst in building management information system?

Systems analysts constitute the principal liaison between the information systems groups and the rest of the organization. It is the systems analyst's job to translate business problems and requirements into information requirements and systems

Back in the 1960s many organizations, believing that systems analysis is a higher-level activity than programming, began to promote their best senior programmers to become systems analysts. Most of the time those organizations just lost a good programmer and gained a bad analyst. The skills and interests required by the two roles are entirely different. There are individuals who possess both abilities, but they're the rare exceptions.

The structured revolution of the late 1970s helped to clarify analyst's role. Courses and textbooks began to appear, and universities recognized a systems analysis discipline in their business schools or in their computer science departments.

The system analyst is the person (or persons) who guides through the development of an information system. In performing these tasks the analyst must always match the information system objectives with the goals of the organization.

Role of System Analyst

Role of System Analyst differs from organization to organization. Most common responsibilities of System Analyst are following
1) System analysis

It includes system's study in order to get facts about business activity. It is about getting information and determining requirements. Here the responsibility includes only requirement determination, not the design of the system.
2) System analysis and design:

Here apart from the analysis work, Analyst is also responsible for the designing of the new system/application.
3) Systems analysis, design, and programming:

Here Analyst is also required to perform as a programmer, where he actually writes the code to implement the design of the proposed application.

Due to the various responsibilities that a system analyst requires to handle, he has to be multifaceted person with varied skills required at various stages of the life cycle. In addition to the technical know-how of the information system development a system analyst should also have the following knowledge.

Business knowledge: As the analyst might have to develop any kind of a business system, he should be familiar with the general functioning of all kind of businesses.
Interpersonal skills: Such skills are required at various stages of development process for interacting with the users and extracting the requirements out of them
Problem solving skills: A system analyst should have enough problem solving skills for defining the alternate solutions to the system and also for the problems occurring at the various stages of the development process.

The term Business Analyst (BA) is used to describe a person who practices the discipline of business analysis. A BA is responsible for analyzing the business issues at all levels of business, government, and non-profit organisations.

There are at least four tiers of business analysis:

1. Planning Strategically - The analysis of the organisation business strategic needs
2. Operating/Business model analysis - the definition and analysis of the organisations policies and market business approaches
3. Process definition and design - the business process modelling (often developed through process modelling and design)
4. IT/Technical business analysis - the interpretation of business rules and requirements for technical systems (generally IT)

Benefits of including Business Analysts in software projects

The role of the BA is key in software development projects. Typically, in organizations where no formal structure or processes exist, the Business Owners and Developers communicate directly. This can present a problem: the goal of the Business Owner is to get what they want very quickly, and the goal of the Developer is to give the Business Owner what they want as quickly as he/she can give it to him/her. This leads to creating changes in a vacuum, not necessarily taking the needs of all users of the system into account. There is rarely any detailed definition of the requirements, and many times, the real reason for the request may not make good business sense. There tends to be no emphasis on long term, strategic goals that the business wants to achieve via Information Technology. The Business Analyst can bring structure and formalization of requirements into this process, which may lead to increased foresight among Business Owners.

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of using analysts of all sorts: business analysts, business process analysts, risk analysts, system analysts. Ultimately, an effective project manager will include Business Analysts who break down communication barriers between stakeholders and developers.


http://www.freetutes.com/systemanalysis/role-of-system-analyst.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_analyst

The system analyst is the person who guides through the development of an information system. In performing these tasks the analyst must always match the information system objectives with the goals of the organization. The role of a system analyst as a project manager according to the personnel that we've interview the system analyst are the one who are responsible for all the decision that relates with flow and function of a system and the transaction in the organization. Communicate informally and in writing with the sponsoring users and affected people in the user's organization,Delegate tasks to subordinate members of the project team, Request services from other parts of the company, subject to the limitations of the project budget, Decline to undertake activities in support of implementing systems that appear to be infeasible or clearly unjustified, Decline to support implementing systems for which the user does not fully understand the functional specification, the benefits, and the estimated costs, Examine relevant materials relating to previous or current systems to be replaced and to other systems that may have an interface to the proposed system, Obtain and store actual data for testing, Decline to concur in the production installation of a system for which either no adequate test plan exists or the test plan has not been followed.

A person acting in the System Analyst role needs to be, above all else, an expert in identifying and understanding problems and opportunities. This includes the ability to articulate the needs that are associated with the key problem to be solved or opportunity to be realized.

In addition to this, a person paling the role needs to be a good facilitator and must has above-average communication skills. Knowledge of the business and technology domains are useful additional skills for those acting in this role. However, these skills may be of less importance if the individual has the ability to absorb and understand new information quickly. As a core role in the project team, a person playing this role must be able to collaborate effectively with other team members. Assign one or more staff member to perform the System Analyst role only. This is a commonly adopted approach and is particularly suitable for large teams or where the requirements are particularly complex, difficult to elicit or where the Vision is particularly challenging to define and manage and a staff member to perform both the System Analyst and Test Manager or Deployment Manager roles. This strategy is a good option for smaller or resource constrained test teams. A person filling both these roles needs to have strong management and leadership skills as well as a prerequisite understanding of the domain or the ability to develop that understanding.


the person beside Ms. Gonzales is the former analyst and the current project manager of EMCOR.

Nowadays, the rise of information technology plays a vital role in every organization and major businesses. Competition is indeed a mere challenge to all organizations. The use of the so-called technology brings life to them not just because they need to have one but also by showing to others what they’ve got. The fast growing technology ruled over the world and influenced the industry level of businesses. Information technology is a powerful tool for meeting environmental objectives and promoting sustainable development. Information technologies are unique not just because of their growing use in decision-making and knowledge management systems, important as that is. Their use has also yielded significant improvements in the efficiency of energy and materials used by certain companies. This has contributed to economic expansion without the increases in environmental impacts that would have resulted had the efficiency improvements not occurred.

Since most of the organizations are into the technologies, there exist a person that is the brain of the development of the company. They are the System Analyst. The system analyst plays an important role. He is a project manager of the team. What would be the characteristics of an analyst as project management is concern?

Traditional project management involves very disciplined and deliberate planning and control methods. With this approach, distinct project life cycle phases are easily recognisable. Tasks are completed one after another in an orderly sequence, requiring a significant part of the project to be planned up front. Traditional project management assumes that events affecting the project are predictable and that tools and activities are well understood. In addition, with traditional project management, once a phase is complete, it is assumed that it will not be revisited. The strengths of this approach are that it lays out the steps for development and stresses the importance of requirements.

Characteristics of an Analyst

Analyst is the most responsible person for the new system project management and therefore he should possess and behaves the following characteristics. The analyst should:

Question about every aspect of current and new system.

[list][*] Question about every aspect of current and new system.
Have excellent communication skills.
Identify and translate the problem of current system.
Generate the maximum solution of the problem.
Explain the logic of his solutions.
Learn from mistakes.
Not be bias to the customer or the software house for whom he/she is working.

Since a System Analyst involves Project Management, then he is also called as a Project Manager. A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are cost, time, and quality.

A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.

We have interviewed Engr. Val Quimno, the Dean of the Institue of Computing and he state some characteristics of an Analyst as a Project Manager. These are follows:

Good Organizer- As a project manager he must keep the project budget in order and up-to-date, create an accurate status report, and schedule meetings throughout the week since there are lots of activities to do with. He must also thrive on the need to keep all of these activities together, stay on task and keep a project team moving forward.

Excellent Communicator- The Project Manager is the central information repository for both project teams and many times the timeliness and thoroughness of his or her communication can be critical to the success of the current tasks and the project as a whole.

The good project manager should manage different task at a time to keep eye on the activity and development of the projects. The good manager should manage different tasks like design, scheduling, contracting, documentation, communications and reporting skills. All the information should well managed to manage the project successfully.

The good project manager should analyze the skill to get the better results of the project.

Flexible when adapting to changes.

Reference:
http://www.1866projectmanagement.com/characteristics-of-good-project-manager.html