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Systems Analysis and Design 5th Edition Chapter1: The Systems Analyst and Information Systems Development 1-0  Chapter 1 Outline ▪ The systems analyst. ▪ The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). ▪ Information system project identificati...

Systems Analysis and Design 5th Edition Chapter1: The Systems Analyst and Information Systems Development 1-0  Chapter 1 Outline ▪ The systems analyst. ▪ The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). ▪ Information system project identification and initiation. ▪ Feasibility analysis. 1-1  INTRODUCTION ▪ The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is the process of determining how an information system (IS) can support business needs, designing the system, building it, and delivering it to users. ▪ The key person in the SDLC is the systems analyst, who analyzes the business situation, identifies the opportunities for improvements, and designs an IS to implement the improvements. 1-2 1-3  THE SYSTEMS ANALYST ▪ The systems analyst plays a key role in IS development projects. ▪ The systems analyst works closely with all project team members so that the team develops the right system in an effective way. ▪ Systems analysts must understand how to apply technology in order to solve problems. ▪ Systems analysts may serve as change agents who identify organizational improvement needed, design systems to implement those changes, and train and motivate others to use the systems. 1-4 Systems Analyst Skills 1-5  Systems Analyst Skills ▪Technical – Must understand the technical environment, technical foundation, and technical solution. ▪Business – Must understand how IT can be applied to business situations. ▪Analytical – Must be problem solvers. 1-6 (cont’d) ▪Interpersonal – Need to communicate effectively. ▪Management – Need to manage people and to manage pressure and risks. ▪Ethical - Must deal fairly, honestly, and ethically with other project members, managers, and systems users. 1-7  Systems Analyst Roles ▪ Business analyst - Focuses on the IS issues surrounding the system. ▪ Systems analyst - Focuses on the business issues surrounding the system. ▪ Infrastructure analyst - Focuses on technical issues ▪ Change management analyst - Focuses on the people and management issues surrounding the system installation. ▪ Project manager - Ensures that the project is completed on time and within budget, and that the system delivers the expected vale to the organization. 1-8 Career Paths for Systems Analysts 1-9 THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE (SDLC) 1-10 (cont’d) ▪ The SDLC is composed of four fundamental phases: Planning Analysis Design Implementation ▪ Each of the phases is composed of steps, which rely on techniques that produce deliverables (specific documents that explain various elements of the system). 1-11  Planning ▪This phase is the fundamental process of understanding why an information system should be built, and determining how the project team will go about building it. 1-12 The planning phase has two steps: 1. During project initiation, the system’s business value to the organization is identified (How will it lower costs or increase revenues?). 2. During project management, the project manager creates a work plan, staffs the project, and puts techniques in place to help the project team control and direct the project through the entire SDLC. 1-13 Analysis 1-14  Analysis ▪ The analysis phase answers the questions of who will use the system, what the system will do, and where and when it will be used. ▪ During this phase the project team investigates any current system(s), identifies improvement opportunities, and develops a concept for the new system. 1-15  The analysis phase has three steps: 1. Analysis strategy: This is developed to guide the projects team’s efforts. This includes a study of the current system and its problems, and envisioning ways to design a new system. 2. Requirements gathering: The analysis of this information leads to the development of a concept for a new system. This concept is used to build a set of analysis models. 3. System proposal: The proposal is presented to the project sponsor and other key individuals who decide whether the project should continue to move forward. 1-16 Design 1-17  Design ▪The design phase decides how the system will operate, in terms of the hardware, software, and network infrastructure; the user interface, forms, and reports that will be used; and the specific programs, databases, and files that will be needed. 1-18  The design phase has four steps: 1. Design Strategy: This clarifies whether the system will be developed by the company or outside the company. 2. Architecture Design: This describes the hardware, software, and network infrastructure that will be used. 3. Database and File Specifications: These documents define what and where the data will be stored. 4. Program Design: Defines what programs need to be written and what they will do. 1-19 Implementation 1-20  Implementation ▪During the implementation phase, the system is either developed or purchased (in the case of packaged software) and installed. ▪This phase is usually the longest and most expensive part of the process. 1-21  The implementation phase has three steps: 1. System Construction: The system is built and tested to make sure it performs as designed. 2. Installation: The old system is turned off and the new one is turned on. 3. Support Plan: Includes a post- implementation review as well as a systematic way for identifying changes needed for the system. 1-22  PROJECT IDENTIFICATION AND INITIATION ▪ A project is identified when someone in the organization identifies a business need to build a system. ▪ A need may surface when an organization identifies unique and competitive ways of using IT. ▪ To leverage the capabilities of emerging technologies such as cloud computing, RFID, Web 2.0 1-23 Business Process Management (BPM) ▪ Nowadays many new IS projects grow out of BPM. ▪ BPM is a methodology used by organizations to continuously improve end-to-end business processes. 1-24  BPM Process ▪ Defining and mapping the steps in a business process. ▪ Creating ways to improve on the steps in the process that add value ▪ Finding ways to eliminate or consolidate steps in the process that do not add value ▪ Creating and adjusting electronic workflows to match the improved process maps. 1-25 (cont’d) ▪ Business process automation (BPA) – technology components are used to complement or substitute manual process. ▪ Business process improvement (BPI) – creating new, re-designed processes to improve the workflows, and/or utilizing new technologies enabling new process structures. ▪Business process reengineering (BPR) – changing the fundamental way in which the organization operate. 1-26  Project sponsor ▪ The project sponsor is a person (or group) who has an interest in the system’s success ▪ The project sponsor will work throughout the SDLC to make sure that the project is moving in the right direction from the perspective of the business. ▪ The project sponsor serves as the primary point of contact for the project team. ▪ The size or scope of the project determines by the kind of sponsor that is involved. 1-27 (cont’d) ▪ The project sponsor has the insights needed to determine the business value that will be gained from the system. ▪ Tangible value can be quantified and measured easily (reduction in operating costs). ▪ An intangible value results from an intuitive belief that the system provides important, but hard-to-measure benefits to the organization. 1-28  System Request ▪The document that describes the business reasons for building a system and the value that system is expected to provide. ▪The project sponsor usually completes this form as part of a formal system selection process within the organization. 1-29 (cont’d) ▪ The business requirements of the project refer to the business capabilities that the system will need to have. ▪ The business value describes the benefits that the organization should expect from the system. ▪ Special issues are included on the document as a catchall category for other information that should be considered in assessing the project. 1-30 (cont’d) ▪ The completed system request is submitted to the approval committee for consideration. ▪ The committee reviews the system request and makes an initial determination of whether to investigate the proposed project or not. ▪ If so, the next step is to conduct a feasibility analysis. 1-31  FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS ▪ Feasibility analysis guides the organization in determining whether to proceed with a project. ▪ Feasibility analysis also identifies the important risks associated with the project that must be managed if the project is approved. © Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1-32 (cont’d) ▪ As with the system request, each organization has its own process and format for the feasibility analysis, but most include techniques to assess three areas: – Technical feasibility – Economic feasibility – Organizational feasibility ▪ The results of evaluating these three feasibility factors are combined into a feasibility study deliverable that is submitted to the approval committee at the end of project initiation. 1-33  Technical Feasibility ▪Technical feasibility is the extent to which the system can be successfully designed, developed, and installed by the IT group. ▪It is, in essence, a technical risk analysis that strives to answer the question: “Can we build it?” 1-34 (cont’d) ▪ Risks can endanger the successful completion of a project. The following aspects should be considered: – Users’ and analysts’ should be familiar with the application. – Familiarity with the technology – Project size – Compatibility of the new system with the technology that already exists 1-35  Economic Feasibility ▪Economic feasibility analysis is also called a cost-benefit analysis, that identifies the costs and benefits associated with the system. ▪This attempts to answer the question: “Should we build the system?” 1-36 Cash Flow Analysis and Measures ▪IT projects involve an initial investment that produces a steam of benefits over time, along with some on-going support costs. ▪ Cash flows, both inflows and outflows, are estimated over some future period. 1-37 Simple cash flow projection 1-38  Common methods for evaluating a project’s worth ▪ Return on Investment (ROI) ROI=(Total Benefits – Total Costs)/Total Costs ▪Break-Even Point (BEP) 1-39  Discounted cash flow technique ▪ Discounted case flows are used to compare the present value of all cash inflows and outflows for the project in the today’s dollar terms. ▪ Net present value (NPV): the difference between the total PV of the benefits and the total PV of the costs. 1-40 Discounted cash flow projection 1-41  Steps to conduct an economic feasibility analysis 1. Identify Costs and Benefits 2. Assign Values to Costs and Benefits 3. Determine Cash Flow 4. Assess Project’s Economic Value - ROI - BEP - NPV 1-42  Identify Costs and Benefits ▪ The costs and benefits and be broken down in to four categories: – Development costs – Operational costs – Tangible benefits – Intangibles 1-43  Assign Values to Costs and Benefits ▪ Once the types of costs and benefits have been identified, the systems analysts needs to assign specific dollar values to them. © Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1-44  Determine Cash Flow ▪A formal cost-benefit analysis usually contains costs and benefits over a selected number or years to show cash flow over time. - Determine ROI - Determine BEP - Determine NPV 1-45 (cont’d) 1-46  Organizational Feasibility ▪ Organizational feasibility of the system is how well the system ultimately will be accepted by its users and incorporated into the ongoing operations of the organization. ▪ There are many organizational factors that can have an impact on the project, and seasoned developers know that organizational feasibility can be the most difficult feasibility dimension to assess. ▪ In essence, an organizational feasibility analysis is to answer the question “If we build it, will they come?” 1-47 (cont’d) ▪ One way to assess the organizational feasibility is to understand how well the goals of the project align with the business objectives and organizational strategies. ▪ A second way to assess the organizational feasibility is to conduct stakeholder analysis. ▪ A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization that can affect a new system - Project champion - System users - Organizational management - Other stakeholders 1-48  SUMMARY ▪ The Systems Analyst is the key person in the development of information systems. ▪ The Systems Development Lifecycle consists of four stages: Planning, Analysis, Design, and Implementation. ▪ Project Identification and Initiation recognize a business need that can be satisfied through the use of information technology. ▪ System Request describes the business value for an information system. ▪ A Feasibility Analysis is used to provide more detail about the risks associated with the proposed system. 1-49 SUMMARY 1-50