System Analysis Lecture Notes PDF

4.1 SYSTEM ANALYSIS It is a process of collecting and interpreting facts, identifying the problems, and decomposition of a system into its components. System analysis is conducted for the purpose of studying a system or its parts in order to identify its objectives. It is a problem-solv...

4.1 SYSTEM ANALYSIS It is a process of collecting and interpreting facts, identifying the problems, and decomposition of a system into its components. System analysis is conducted for the purpose of studying a system or its parts in order to identify its objectives. It is a problem-solving technique that improves the system and ensures that all the components of the system work efficiently to accomplish their purpose. The system planning phase usually begins with a formal request known as system request which describes problems or desired changes in an information system or a business process. In many organizations, system planning is an integral part of the overall System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). System request comesfrom a top manager, a planning team or a department head. The purpose of this phase is to perform a preliminary investigation to evaluate business opportunities or problems. The preliminary or initial investigation is a critical step because the Self-Instructional Material 63 System Analysis the outcome will affect the entire development process. A key feature of preliminaryinvestigation is a feasibility study that reviews anticipated costs and benefits and recommends actions based on operational, technical, economic and time factors. Suppose you are a system analyst and you receive a request for NOTES system change or improvement. Then the first step of system analysis is to determine whether it launches a preliminary investigation at all. After an investigation, you might findthat the information system functions properly but users need more training to make aware of the system. However, a complete scale system review is necessary. 4.2.1 Preliminary Investigation Preliminary investigation is the first phase of the systems development life cycle. As you know, there are limited resources in an organization and only those projects that are critical to its mission, goals and objectives can be undertaken. Hence, the goal of preliminary investigation is simply to identify and select a project for development among all the proposals that are under consideration. Organizations may differ in how they identify and select projects for development. Many organizations have special committees to handle the task of preliminary investigation. Such a committee or task force identifies and evaluates the proposals that the organization should consider for development. Several organizations function in other ways to identify and select promising projects. The objective of the systems investigation phase is to answer the following questions:  What is a business problem?  What are the major causes of the problem?  Is a new information system needed?  Is it a problem or an opportunity?  Is this a feasible system solution to this problem?  Can the problem be solved by improving the current information system? The preliminary investigation phase sets the stage for gathering information about the current problem and the existing information system. This information is then used in studying the feasibility of the possible information systems solutions. The source of the project must have a great deal to do with its scope andcontent. Many different criteria can be used within an organization for classifying and ranking potential projects. The systems analyst—with the help of the stakeholders of the proposed project—collects information about the project. The collected information has a wide scope and helps understand the size of the project, the cost involved and the intended benefits. After the information is analysed,a report is prepared to compare and review all the proposed projects. All the proposed project proposals are analysed and assessed on various criteria andfeasibility studies arecarried out. Self-Instructional 64 Material The activities involved in thepreliminary investigation are as follows: System Analysis (i) Authorization to proceed: Proper authorization is taken from the relevant authorities to go ahead and investigate as the results will highlight all the details of the organization. NOTES (ii) Understanding the objectives of the request: It is essential for the analyst investigating to clearly understand the objectives of the project, the benefit of the project, its future scope and its importance to the organization. (iii) Investigation: It entails searching for information and analysing the collected information keeping the objectives of the organization and the aims of the request in mind. It entails the following procedure: (a) Review the current system: The current system needs to be studied, andthe benefits and flaws are to be clearly understood and analysed. (b) Identify needed information: The analyst needs to identify the information required for the investigation and for the following activities will be carried out:  Organization charts and documents will be obtained and created,based on which the analyst will study the following: o Policy manuals o User manuals o Organization charts o Data input forms o System documentation o Accounts information o System audit and review o System reports o Reports and documentation of the current system  The analyst will conduct interviews with all the people involved in the project, the senior managerial level as well as the users. The interview process will help to bring out those issues which may not be available in documents and forms. By conducting interviews the analyst will be able to explore and identify the exact problems in the systems, the new requirements of the system and the expectations, opinions and insecurities that will also surface during theprocess.  Observing the current system in operation is the best way to fact- finding. The analyst will be able to observe the procedures, workload on the current system, actual gravity of the problems arising while in operation and the environment in which the system is operating. The information gathered by the analyst by this method Self-Instructional Material 65 will allow for better understanding. System Analysis (iv) Project feasibility analysis: It is an important outcome of the preliminary investigation which determines whether the system, for which the request has been made, is feasible or not. Feasibility study has three aspects as follows: NOTES (a) Technical feasibility: This is related to the technicality of the project. This ponders over the question of whether the work for the project can be done with the existing equipment, the current software package and the available human resources. In case, a new technology isrequired, it is essential to know whether it is possible to develop itfurther. Technical issues, which are generally pointed out during the feasibility stage, are as follows:  Availability of necessary technology  Technical capability to procure data and use new system equipment  Possibility of future upgradation if developed  Technical guarantee for accuracy and reliability over and above factors like ease of access and security of data (b) Economic feasibility: Every organization wants to develop a system that gives it some benefit in terms of financial return and that too at a reasonable cost. So economic feasibility addresses issues related to the creation of the system to make the costs affordable and acceptable. Another important question is whether the cost of not creating the system is so great that it is advisable to undertake the project. A system developed technically and installed properly must be profitablefor the organization. Financial benefits should be equal to or morethan the cost of the system. The analysts ponder over various queries of a financial and economic nature during the preliminary investigationto estimate the following:  Cost of full systems investigation  Cost of hardware and software  Benefits in the form of reduced costs of operation or fewer costly errors  Cost if the proposed system is not developed (c) Operational feasibility: This feature of thefeasibility study is related toits operational aspect wherein the working of the hardware, the software and the human resources are to be taken into account. So, thequestion of whether the system will work if it is developed and implemented comes naturally. Another aspect related to humanresources is whether there will be resistance from users who may notagree to accept the changes. Self-Instructional 66 Material  Proposed projects can be beneficial if turned into information systems System Analysis meeting the requirements of operation for the organization. Important aspects of assessing the operating feasibility are as follows:  Enough support for the project from the management as well as NOTES users. There may be resistance if people are accustomed to the present system and are not ready to think of any alternative system and resist change.  If an existing business methodology does not suit the users, a change takes place. This brings about a better and more useful systemin operation.  Users’ involvement in the planning and development of the new system as a project is very much required. Involvement from the early stages, i.e., from the start of the project and during the development stage too, reduces the chances of resistance to a great extent. Feasibility studies are carried out by a selected group of people having expertise in IT techniques. They can understand the parts of theorganization involved or affected by the project and are skilled in the systemsanalysis and design process. To be judged feasible, a proposal for the specificproject must pass all these tests. Otherwise, it is not considered to be feasible. Preliminary Investigation Report Finally, a report of the preliminary investigation is prepared which contains the following elements:  Introduction: Here the request and the report are introduced.  Summary of request: The original system request is summarized so that there is an understanding of the reason why the investigation is being carried out.  Findings of the investigation: The findings will include a description of the real nature of the problem(s), scope and constraints of the proposed project.  Recommendations: It will include what and why further action is required. Senior executives will make final decisions keeping in mind the recommendations.  Cost and time estimates: Further action includes an estimate of cost and time. The management should be aware of all costs whenever a new system is installed or changes are made to the existing system.  Expected benefits: The benefits of implementing the new system are highlighted.  Appendix: It includes supporting data and information, alist of interviews, documents or any other sources of information. Self-Instructional Material 67 System Analysis 4.2.2 Determining the User’s Information Requirements Shared, complete and accurate information requirements are essential in building computer-based information systems. Unfortunately, determining the information NOTES each user needs is a particularly difficult task. It is recognized as one of themost difficult tasks in system development. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Curriculum Committee on Computing Education for Management recognized this by suggesting two distinct job titles for systems development: “Information Analyst” and “Systems Designer” rather than the more general term “Systems Analyst”. The information analyst determines the needs of the user and the information flow that will satisfy those needs. The usual approach is to ask the user what information is currently available and what other information is required. Interaction between the analyst and the user usually leads to an agreement about what information will be provided by the candidate system. There are several reasons why it is difficult to determine user requirements: 1. Systems requirements change and user requirements must be modified to account for those changes. 2. The articulation of requirements is difficult, except for experienced users. Functions and processes are not easily described. 3. Heavy user involvement and motivation are difficult. Reinforcement for their work is usually not realized until the implementation phase – too long to wait. 4. The pattern of interaction between users and analysts in designing information requirements is complex. Users and analysts traditionally do not share a common orientation toward problem definition. For example, in the analyst’s view the problem definition must be translatable into a system design expressed quantitatively in terms of outputs, inputs, processes and data structures. This is the best of situations and within time constraints. In contrast, the user seems to be satisfied with a qualitative definition that specifies the system in generalities. Flexibility is a key consideration. System specifications must change with their needs, as must the system after implementation. Based on these contrasting views, users who try to define their information requirements with the analyst’s views find themselves in a predicament. According to Scharer, they defend themselves by producing strategies that will satisfy the analyst. 1. In the kitchen sink strategy, the user throws everything into the – requirement definition- overstatement of needs such as an overabundance of reports, exception processing and the like. This approach usually reflects the user’s lack of experience in the area. 2. The smoking strategy sets up a smoke screen by requesting several system features when only one or two are needed. The extra requests are used as bargaining power. This strategy usually reflects the user’s Self-Instructional 68 Material  Experience in knowing what he/ she wants. Requests have to be reduced System Analysis to one that is realistic, manageable, and achievable. 3. The same thing strategy indicates the user’s laziness, lack of knowledge, or both. “Give me the same thing but in a better format through the NOTES computer” is a typical statement. Here the analyst has little chance of succeeding because only the user can fully discover the real needs and problems. 4.2.3 Problem Definition and Initiation Whether using the classical Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) or an object-oriented approach, the analyst first defines the problems and objectives of the system. These form the foundation of determining what needs to be accomplished by the system. A problem definition usually contains some sort of problem statement, summarized in a paragraph or two. This is followed by a series of issues, or major, independent pieces of the problem. The issues are followed by a series of objectives or goals that match the issues point by point. Issues are the current situation; objectives are the desired situation. The objectives may be very specific or worded using a general statement. Here are some examples of business questions relating to business objectives:  What are the purposes of the business?  Is the business profit or non-profit?  Does the company plan to grow or expand?  What is the business’s attitude (culture) about technology?  What is the business’s budget for IT?  Does the business’s staff have the expertise? The last part of the problem definition contains requirements, the things that must be accomplished, along with the possible solutions and the constraints that limit the development of the system. The requirements section may include security, usability, government requirements, and, so on. Constraints often include the word not, indicating a limitation, and may contain budget restrictions or time limitations. System Analysis The problem definition is produced after completing interviews, observations, and document analysis with the users. The result of gathering this information is a wealth of facts and important opinions in need of asummary.The first step in producing the problem definition is to find a number of points that may be included in one NOTES issue. Major points can be identified in the interview in a number of ways: 1. Users may identify an issue, topic, or theme that is repeated several times, sometimes by different people in several interviews. 2. Users may communicate the same metaphors, such as saying the businessis a journey, war, game, organism, machine, and so on. 3. Users may speak at length on a topic. 4. Users may tell you outright “This is a major problem.” 5. Users may communicate importance by body language or may speak emphatically on an issue. 6. The problem may be the first thing mentioned by the user. Self-Instructional 70 Material