Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Information Systems

The demand for business Information System (IS) skills currently seems to be undergoing a resurgence. While IS careers are expected to expand, the mix of skill requirements has changed considerably. With the explosive growth of technology accompanying the usage of the Internet in the late 1990s, the role of application development (programming) dominated the IS field. Since then, outsourcing moved many of the low level programming jobs overseas. However, the increased need for higher level technology jobs has become prevalent. As web, communication and database technologies are maturing and their usage has begun to extend throughout every area of business practices, these information technologies are being employed in expansive and creative ways. The result is that the need for IS professionals has increased -- but in a different way than decades past. IS is now a "people skill" rather than a purely "technical skill". IS programs now train "business analysts" rather than mere "programmers".

The "business analyst" (or "systems analyst" or "consultant") position has become critical in order to make information technology available to more users and solve more business problems. This requires skills in identifying user and consumer problems and translating these needs into technology solutions. The analyst provides this critical connection. This role is not subject to outsourcing because the analyst must be embedded in the organization in order to understand the business user and their needs and be able to design and implement the solution within the confines of the organization's technology infrastructure. After the entry-level analyst role, most IS professionals can go on to become "project managers" (or "senior consultants") where they assume the responsibility for an entire technology project: planning; staffing; budgeting; implementation scheduling; training and operational maintenance. After this level, the IS professional can transition into senior technology management roles that involve: technology planning and strategy; technology architectures and infrastructures; corporate wide technology staffing; and the management of various critical technology centers. At the highest level, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) represents the pinnacle technology role within most corporate environments.

Student Learning Outcomes

Our IS program provides the knowledge to enter any of the following general areas within the information technology arena. Successful alumni can find employment in any of these areas and their success will be based on the skills they acquired from our program.

• Acquire fundamental working knowledge of a computer programming language, and be able to use it to write programs to solve common business problems.
  • Represent program logic in the form of a flowchart or pseudocode.
  • Develop a fully functional computer program from given specifications.
  • Use the logic of selection (decision) in procedures such as data validation.
  • Use the logic of iteration (looping) to process lists and arrays.
• Understand fundamental database concepts and apply them to the design and development of relational databases.
  • Design a conceptual relational database in 3rd Normal Form.
  • Build a relational database using a common DBMS software package.
  • Write SQL statements to query a relational database.
•  Identify and implement key business strategies and technology elements of contemporary electronic business.
  • Demonstrate a thorough understanding of electronic business strategy including supply chain management and customer relations management systems.
  • Develop an understanding of the design, implementation, and benefits of electronic commerce and business strategy systems.
  • Demonstrate the ability to design, build, and implement a small electronic commerce system website to include integration with a database system.
• Utilize programming (such as Python) to acquire, analyze, and visualize data.
  • Utilize programming packages and modules for data analytics.
  • Manipulate data structures using programming.
  • Visualize data using programming.
  • Mine text using programming.
• Recognize and explain the benefits of Business analytics (BA), also called Business intelligence (BI)
  • Understand the role of data in decision making
  • Create data models, and implement data warehouses/marts using the ETL process (using for example SAP) (this is part of an optional Business Analytics Certificate)
  • Manipulate and analyze data to discover patterns and relationships (using a statistical analysis software system)
  • Understand and carry out data analysis techniques (discovering associations/patterns and relationships, making predictions) to make good business decisions (using a statistical software package or the BI module of an enterprise system such as SAP))
• Comprehend the major steps pertaining to the planning and analysis phases of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) and demonstrate the ability to produce the associated deliverables.
  • Estimate and quantify the present value of tangible and intangible costs and benefits (including strategic benefits) arising from an information system investment.
  • Identify information system requirements and model the functionality of a requirements-compliant system.
• Understand the major steps pertaining to the design and implementation phases of the system development life cycle (SDLC) and demonstrate ability to produce the associated deliverables.
  • Create data models to support the functionality of an information system.
  • Create a user-interface and architecture design to support the functionality of an information system.
  • Identify and evaluate alternative conversion and migration strategies for implementing an information system in an organization.
• Acquire ability to recognize contemporary information systems issues, including the use of information technology for competitive advantage.
  • Analyze information systems management issues and information technology trends.
  • Identify and describe opportunities and challenges facing information systems executives in today’s global economy.
  • Analyze the strategic impact of an organization’s current information systems portfolio vis-à-vis the information systems under development.
• Demonstrate competence in communicating technical information effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Create and deliver a structured walkthrough presentation that communicates the results of the analysis and design phases of the SDLC to a non-technical audience.
  • Construct and articulate an appropriate framework for exposing the inter-relationships in the analysis- and design-phase deliverables.
  • Present, explain and defend the analysis- and design phase deliverables to an audience.
  • Present research findings geared towards a managerial audience on technological issues, including specific technologies and/or technological trends.
• Implement change management for enterprise systems (this is part of an optional Enterprise Systems Certificate).
  • Demonstrate how to analyze business processes and how they are addressed by enterprise systems (e.g., SAP).
  • Acquire skills in enterprise system (e.g., SAP) configuration management.
  • Understand how to customize an enterprise systems (e.g., SAP) interface.

https://catalog.nau.edu/Catalog/details?plan=CISBSBAX&catalogYear=2324