INFOTECH 3

(System Analysis and Design)

Lesson 1: INTRODUCTION

3-1
 The Systems Analyst
The systems analyst assists and guides the
project team so 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 also serve as change
agents who identify the organization
improvements needed, design systems to
implement those changes, and train/motivate
others to use the systems.

1-2
 Systems Analyst Skills
Introduces change to the organization and people
Leads a successful organization change effort
Understands what to change and knows how to
change it
Must have technical skills, as well as, business
skills
Communicate effectively and give presentations
Must be able to deal fairly, honestly, and ethically
with other project members, managers, and
systems users.

1-3
 Project Team Specialization
Business analyst
Systems analyst
Infrastructure analyst
Change management analyst
Project manager

1-4
 Systems Analyst Specialization
The systems analyst focuses on the IS issues
surrounding the system.
Develops ideas and suggestions for ways IT
can improve business process,
helps design new business processes,
helps design new business process,
designs the new information system, and
ensures that all IS standards are maintained.

1-5
 Business Analyst
Focuses on the business issues surrounding the
system
Identifies the business value that the system
will create
Develops ideas for improving the business
processes
Helps design new business processes and
policies

1-6
 Infrastructure Analyst
Focuses on technical issues surrounding the
ways the system will interact with the
organization’s technical infrastructure
Ensures that the new information system
conforms to organization standards
Identifies infrastructure changes

1-7
 Change Management Analyst
Focuses on the people and management issues
surrounding the system installation.
Ensures that adequate documentation and support
are available to users.
Provides user training.
Develops strategies to overcome resistance to
change.

1-8
 Project Manager
Highly experienced systems analyst.
Ensures that the project is completed on time and
within budget.
Makes sure the system delivers the expected
vale to the organization.

1-9
 The Systems Development Life Cycle
(SDLC)
The SDLC is composed of four fundamental phases:
Planning
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Each of the phases include a set of steps, which
rely on techniques that produce specific document
files that provide understanding about the project.

1 - 10
 To Understand the SDLC:
Each phase consists of steps that lead to
specific deliverables
The system evolves through gradual refinement

1 - 11
 Phase I: Planning
This phase is the fundamental process of understanding
why an information system should be built.
The Planning phase will also determine how the project
team will go about building the information system.
The Planning phase is composed of two planning steps.
During project initiation, the system’s business value to
the organization is identified (How will it lower costs or
increase revenues?).
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 - 12
 Phase II: 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.
The system proposal is the initial deliverable that
describes what business requirements the new system
should meet.
The deliverable from this phase is both an analysis and
a high-level initial design for the new system.
This phase has three analysis steps.

1 - 13
 Three Analysis Steps
1.Analysis strategy: This is developed to guide the projects
team’s efforts. This includes an analysis of the current
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 - 14
 Phase III: Design

In this phases it is decided 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.
Five Design Steps
Design Strategy: This clarifies whether the system will be
developed by the company or outside the company.
Architecture Design: This describes the hardware, software, and
network infrastructure that will be used.
Database and
File Specifications: These documents define what and where the
data will be stored.
Program Design: Defines what programs need to be written and
1 - 15 what they will do.
 Phase IV: Implementation
During this phase, the system is either developed
or purchased (in the case of packaged software).
This phase is usually the longest and most
expensive part of the process.
The phase has three steps.
System Construction: The system is built and tested to
make sure it performs as designed.
Installation: Prepare to support the installed system.
Support Plan: Includes a post-implementation review.

1 - 16
 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.
Emerging technologies.
Both IT people and business people should work
together to find way for technology to support
business needs.
The project sponsor is someone who recognizes
the strong business need for a system.
1 - 17
 Project Sponsor
This individual will work throughout the SDLC to
make sure that the project is moving in the right
direction from the perspective of the business.
Serves as the primary point of contact for the
system.
Size and scope of the project is determined by the
kind of sponsor that is needed.
Business need drives the high-level business
requirements for the system.
Requirements are what the information system will do
or what the functionality it will contain.
Business requirements are what features and
capabilities the information system will have to include.
1 - 18
 Project Sponsor
The project sponsor also should have an idea of
the business value to be gained from the system,
in both tangible and intangible ways.
Tangible value can be quantified and measured easily
(reduction in operating costs).
An intangible value is based on the belief that the
system is important; however, benefits are hard to
measure.

1 - 19
 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.
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 - 20
 System Request
The completed system request is submitted to the
approval committee for consideration.
The committee reviews the system request and
makes an initial determination, based on the
information provided, of whether to investigate the
proposed project or not.
If so, the next step is to conduct a feasibility
analysis.

1 - 21
 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 addressed if the
project is approved.
As with the system request, each organization has its own
process and format for the feasibility analysis.
Most include techniques to assess three areas:
Organizational feasibility
Technical feasibility
Economic feasibility
The results of these techniques are combined into a
feasibility study deliverable that is given to the approval
committee at the end of the project initiation

1 - 22
 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.

1 - 23
 Technical Feasibility
Technical feasibility is the extent to which the system can
be successfully designed, developed, and installed by the
IT group.
Essentially, a technical risk analysis strives to answer the
question: “Can we build it?”
Risks can endanger the successful completion of a project.
The following 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 - 24
 Economic Feasibility
Economic feasibility is also called a cost-benefit
analysis, that identifies the financial risk
associated with the project.
This attempts to answer the question, “Should we
build the system?”

1 - 25
 STEPS FOR COST-BENEFIT
ANALYSIS

1 - 26
 Step 1: Identify Costs and Benefits
During this step it is important to identify the
kinds of costs and benefits the system will
have and list them along the left-hand column
of a spreadsheet.
The costs and benefits and be broken down in
to four categories:
Development costs
Operational costs
Tangible benefits
Intangibles

1 - 27
 Development Costs
Tangible expenses that are incurred during the creation of
the system such as:
Salaries
Hardware and software expenses
Consultant fees
Training
Office space and equipment
Operational Costs
Operational costs are those tangible costs that are
required to operate the system and are considered
ongoing cost. This will include:
Salaries for operation staff
Software licensing fees
Equipment upgrades
Communications charges
1 - 28
 Tangible Benefits
This includes revenue that the system enables the
organization to collect, such as increased sales.
The system may enable the organization to avoid
certain costs, which may lead to another type of
tangible benefit such as, cost savings.

Intangible Benefits
Intangible costs and benefits are more difficult to
incorporate into the economic feasibility analysis
as they are based on intuition and belief rather that
on “hard numbers.”

1 - 29
 Step 2: Assign Values to Costs and Benefits
Once the types of costs and benefits have been
identified, you will need to assign specific monetary
values to them.
The most effective strategy for estimating costs and
benefits is to rely on people who have the best
understanding of the them.
If predicting a specific value for a cost or benefit proves
difficult, it may be useful to estimate a range of values
for the cost or benefit and then assign a probability
estimate to each value.
Sometimes it is acceptable to list intangible benefits,
such as improved customer service, without assigning a
dollar value.

1 - 30
 Step 3: 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.
With this cash flow method, the years are listed across
the top of the spreadsheet to represent the period for
analysis, and numeric values are entered in the
appropriate cells with the spreadsheet’s body for all
years.
Often, amounts are augmented by some rate of growth
to adjust for inflation or business improvements.
Finally, totals are added to determine what the overall
benefits will be, and the higher the overall total, the
more feasible the solution becomes in terms of its
economic feasibility.
1 - 31
 Step 4: Assess Project’s Economic Value
The four areas included in Assess Project’s
Economic Value are:
Determine Return on Investment
Determine Break-Even Point
Determine Net Present Value

1 - 32
Determine Return on Investment
The return on investment (ROI) is a calculation that measures
the average rate of return on the money invested in the project.
A high ROI suggests that the projects’ benefits far outweigh the
project’s cost.
ROI is a simple calculation that divides the project’s net benefits
(total benefits – total costs) by the total costs.
Although ROI is commonly used in practice, it suffers from
several important limitations and should not be used as the only
measure of a project’s wealth.

1 - 33
 Determine Break-Even Point
Another common approach to measuring a project’s
worth.
Break-even point is sometimes referred to as the
payback method.
The payback method is defined as the number of
years it takes a firm to recover its original investments
in the project from net cash flows.
The break-even point is easy to calculate and
understand and does give an indication of a project’s
liquidity or the speed at which the project will generate
cash returns.
The break-even point does ignore cash flows that
occur after the break-even point has been reached
and therefore is biased against long-term projects.
1 - 34
 Net Present Value
Net present value (NPV) is used to compare the
present value of all cash inflows and outflows for the
project in today’s dollar terms.
The NPV is simply the difference between the total
present value of the benefits and the total present value
of costs. As long as the NPV is greater than zero, the
project is considered economically feasible.

1 - 35
 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.

1 - 36
 Summary
The Systems Analyst is the key person in the development of
information systems. This individual helps to analyze the business
situation, identify opportunities for the improvements, and design
an information system that adds value to the organization.
The Systems Development Lifecycle consists of four stages:
Planning, Analysis, Design, and Implementation.
Project Identification and Initiation allows recognition of a business
need that can be satisfied through the use of information
technology.
The business value for an information system is identified and then
described in a System Request.
A Feasibility Analysis is used to provide more detail about the risks
associated with the proposed system and includes, technical,
economic, and organizational feasibilities.

1 - 37