Systems analysis 45002 225576125 2008-07-14T11:32:50Z Deipnosophista 1537936 /* Overview */ clarity '''Systems analysis''' is the [[interdisciplinary]] part of [[science]], dealing with analysis of sets of interacting or entities, the [[system]]s, often prior to their automation as computer systems, and the interactions within those systems. This field is closely related to [[operations research]]. It is also "an explicit formal inquiry carried out to help someone, referred to as the decision maker, identify a better course of action and make a better decision than he might otherwise have made."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070822025602/http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASC/SYSTEM_ANALY.html SYSTEMS ANALYSIS]</ref> == Overview == The terms [[analysis]] and [[synthesis]] come from classical Greek where they mean respectively "to take apart" and "to put together" . These terms are used in [[scientific discipline]]s from mathematics and logic to economy and psychology to denote similar investigative procedures. In general, analysis is defined as the procedure by which we break down an intellectual or substantial whole into parts or components. Synthesis is defined as the opposite procedure: to combine separate elements or components in order to form a coherent whole.<ref>Tom Ritchey, [http://www.swemorph.com/pdf/anaeng-r.pdf Analysis and Synthesis], 1991. </ref> The systems discussed within systems analysis can be within any field such as: industrial processes, [[management]], [[decision making]] processes, [[environmental protection]] processes, etc. The brothers [[Howard T. Odum]] and [[Eugene Odum]] began applying a systems view to [[ecology]] in 1953, building on the work of [[Raymond Lindeman]] (1942) and [[Arthur Tansley]] (1935). Systems analysis researchers apply [[mathematical]] [[methodology]] to the analysis of the systems involved trying to form a detailed overall picture. ==Practitioners== Practitioners of systems analysis are often called up to dissect systems that have grown haphazardly to determine the current components of the system. This was shown during the year 2000 re-engineering effort as business and manufacturing processes were examined and simplified as part of the Y2K automation upgrades. Current employment titles utilizing systems analysis include, but are not limited to, [[Systems Analyst]], [[Business Analyst]], [[Manufacturing_Systems_Engineering|Manufacturing Engineer]], [[Enterprise Architect]], etc. While practitioners of systems analysis can be called upon to create entirely new systems their skills are more often used to modify, expand or document existing systems ([[process]]es, [[procedure]]s and [[Methodology|methods]]). ==See also== {{Multicol}} ;Types of Systems analysis *[[Accident Analysis]] *[[Business analysis]] *[[Morphological analysis]] *[[Software prototyping]] *[[Spiral model]] *[[Waterfall model]] *[[Service-Oriented Modeling]] Framework (SOMF) {{multicol-break}} ;Related topics *[[Cybernetics]] *[[Process architecture]] *[[Program designer]] *[[Systems analyst]] *[[Systems design]] *[[Systems thinking]] *[[Policy analysis]] {{Multicol-break}} ;Systems thinkers *[[Gregory Bateson]] *[[Stewart Brand]] *[[Buckminster Fuller]] *[[Robert S. McNamara]] {{multicol-end}} ==References== <references/> ==External links== {{Wiktionary}} *[http://www.eng.ox.ac.uk/samp Systems Analysis, Modelling and Prediction (SAMP), University of Oxford] *[http://urss.ru/cgi-bin/db.pl?cp=&page=Book&id=34250&lang=en&blang=en&list=Found ''Introduction to Social Macrodynamics''] *[http://www.cilco.co.uk/briefing-studies/index.html A useful set of guides and a case study about the practical application of business and systems analysis methods] *[http://www.systemsanalysis.co.nr Complete online tutorial for system analysis and design] [[Category:Futurology|Systems analysis]] [[Category:Systems theory]] [[Category:Management]] [[Category:Financial analysts]] [[Category:Systems analysis| ]] [[Category:Systems engineering]] [[de:Systemanalyse]] [[es:Análisis de sistemas]] [[he:ניתוח מערכות]] [[nl:Systeemanalyse]] [[pt:Análise de sistemas]] [[ru:Системный анализ]] [[uk:Системний аналіз]]