The Changing Roles of the Systems Analyst

15 Spring • 1994 Information Resources Management Journal Manuscript originally submitted December 22, 1992; Revised June 2, 1993; Accepted July 7, 1993. A systems analyst is an ambiguous title that has been used to describe everyone from programmer to team leader. In spite of its shortcomings, this title comes closest to defining the person (or persons) who play the most critical role in systems development, and who have the ultimate responsibility of overseeing the system project from inception to maintenance. Although the position of a systems analyst didn’t emerge at the same time as computer technology became available, those involved in developing computer applications quickly recognized the need for such an individual. A great deal of energy and effort was initially directed toward making the early computer systems produce output. In time, organizations and individuals became more demanding in terms of what the system was to do, how the system did it, and who decided how the system would operate. Out of this need, the position of systems analyst emerged. Today there is almost unanimous support for the need of systems analysts to successfully develop information systems. The activities of the systems analyst are varied and changing. Systems analysts today know more about business and users know more about computing (Senn, 1989). Current literature suggests that the 1990s will be quite different from the 1980s, that the technological focus will not be on computational technology, but on information access (Straub and Wetherbe, 1989). Besides technical skills and business understanding, the systems analyst must also possess strong interpersonal skills (Wetherbe, 1988). MIS research recognizes interaction between systems analysts and users to be a key dimension of information systems design and implementation. The spirit of cooperation, be it within a more traditional Systems Development Life Cycle model or The Changing Roles of the Systems Analyst