ABSTRACT
Object-oriented systems are relatively inexpensive and easy to work with, and when combined with CASE tools that make customized systems easy to generate, they are likely to lead to a proliferation of microcomputer-based systems in most organizations. If the hardware, operating system, and applications software all incorporate object-oriented principles, the method of analyzing and designing business applications probably should also be object-oriented. Object-oriented systems design should begin with the object classes and relationships identified as part of the system in the analysis phase. The nine steps of object-oriented systems include clarifying the strategy and goals, defining a functional model, identifying functional experts, defining the businesswide information structure, establishing the computing environment, designing the application, establishing the physical data base, generating software and implementing the system. The first four steps have a businesswide scope. An organizationwide scope is recommended for the fifth step. The last four steps are taken on an application-by-application basis.
