Root cause analysis: It's one of the key techniques in systems analysis!
Context: Where is root cause analysis within the broader systems analysis field?
Problem: We need an IT problem to analyze
I nominate "000webhost.com and 'the IFSC 7310 web crash'"
Turn lemons into lemonade!
The solution: Examine root cause analysis techniques
Choose a suitable one
Learn and apply to the problem

Why?: ...because just covering up the symptoms might not be the best way
If something hurts...: take a painkiller pill?; That might solve the problem; It might *not* solve the problem; Examples?
Patch the problem?: Car wheel about to fall off?; Wrap lots of tape around it; No - find out why, and fix that
Root cause analysis:: Find the root of the problem; That enables fixing the underlying cause

Systems analysis: Specifying and designing improved organization IT processes; Improvement techniques include
Process mapping: visualizations of existing processes (to identify possible improvements)
Root cause analysis: finding underlying causes of problems (to identify what to improve)
Benchmarking: comparing organizational processes to other organizations' processes (to identify areas to improve)
Prototyping: building throwaway test solutions to decide what to build for real (to identify how to do improvements)
Cost-benefit analysis: comparing the benefits of a process change to its costs (to decide if improvement is worth doing)
Automation: using technology to boost labor productivity (to improve process quality and cost)
Lean Six Sigma: a methodology for reducing process costs and increasing process quality (to improve processes)
User involvement: getting user input into process spec and design (to improve the process specs and designs)

Website for this course: A long and frustrating example of interacting with an IT system
Not fun!: It needs improvement; Systems analysis should shed light on things like this; So let's systems analyze it!

Review of some systems analysis approaches: Let us discuss the applicability of each; Suggestions: class discussion, small group discussions, or chat window
Process mapping: visualizations of existing processes (to identify possible improvements)
Root cause analysis: finding underlying causes of problems (to identify what to improve)
Benchmarking: comparing organizational processes to other organizations' processes (to identify areas to improve)
Prototyping: building throwaway test solutions to decide what to build for real (to identify how to do improvements)
Cost-benefit analysis: comparing the benefits of a process change to its costs (to decide if improvement is worth doing)
Automation: using technology to boost labor productivity (to improve process quality and cost)
Lean Six Sigma: a methodology for reducing process costs and increasing process quality (to improve processes)
User involvement: getting user input into process spec and design (to improve the process specs and designs)

They look like a fish skeleton (well, sort of) They are for understanding causes of a problem They identify and can categorize potential causes

Shaped like a skeleton (see images & template): The fish head is for the problem; The fish bones are for the causes
Some steps in making fishbone diagrams: 1. Write problem at head of diagram; 2. Draw a branch from the spine for each category of possible causes; 3. From each branch draw branchlets, one for each possible cause; 4. From branchlets draw twigs for more specific "sub"-causes; 5. As needed, sub-twigs may also be added for even more specific causes
Why and when to use fishbone diagrams?: Structured, step by step approach for identifying causes; Help to see patterns and connections within the space of possible causes; The visualization helps communicate possible causes within and outside the group; The point is to support improvement in the processes under consideration
Find a useful or interesting fact about fishbone diagrams
Let's try to apply fishbone diagrams to the problem of interest