The Systems Analyst as IS Catalyst: Lecture Notes & Supplements

by Patrick McDermott

This document contains Lecture Notes, primarily PowerPoint presentations, for the class The Systems Analyst as Information Systems Catalyst at the University of California Berkeley Extension. They are designed as a resource for students who take the class. The Systems Analyst on an IT project is uniquely placed to be a catalyst for success. Development projects too often fail, not for technical reasons, but because of human factors. This course emphasizes the critical interpersonal aspects of the client-analyst relationship and the process through which client needs and requirements are discovered, defined and prioritized. The skillsets for interpersonal relations provide a toolbox of techniques that are useful to any analyst. The instructor discusses the art of communication and shows you how to develop effective work relationships with clients. In addition, the course covers topics such as thinking like an analyst, stakeholder analysis, information gathering, interviewing techniques, facilitation techniques, problem solving, presentations, and group dynamics. Your technical skills get you hired, but your people skills get you promoted. Human relationships are hard to outsource.

196 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2010

About the author

Patrick McDermott is president of McDermott Computer Decisions, Inc., in Oakland, California. He received his B.A. in Economics from California State University at Sacramento. He has served as director of the Data Management Association (DAMA).