Chapter 5: Systems Analysis

- Requirements Determination
- Traditional Methods for gathering requirements
- Modern methods for gathering requirements
- radical methods for gathering requirements
System Analysis

 System analysis is the study of a business problem for the purpose of recommending
improvements and specifying the business requirements for the solution
 It has three parts: determining requirements, structuring requirements and selecting
the best alternative design strategy. These steps are may be parallel and repetitive
Requirements Determination

Requirement determination means gathering information on what the system should

do from as many sources as possible.
Analysts use system requirements determination to understand current problems and
opportunities, as well as what is needed and desired in future systems.
The sources can be the users of the current system, reports, forms and procedures. All
the system requirements are carefully documented and made ready for structuring.
The characteristics of a good systems analyst in determining the requirements are
o Impertinence: You should question about each and every aspects involved in
the system.
o Impartiality: The role of a SA is to find the best solution to a business
problem or opportunity. Not to justify the purchase of new hardware or to
insist some requirements. The issues raised by all parties must be considered
and to find the best organizational solution.
o Relaxing of Constraints: Assume that anything is possible and eliminate the
infeasible and traditions. Traditions are different from rules and policies; it
may be good but as the organization and its environments changes, the
traditions not to be appreciated.
o Attention to details: Every fact must fit with every other fact. One element
out of place means that the ultimate system will fail at some time.
o Reframing: Analysis is, in part, a creative process; the organization must be
viewed in new ways. Not to jump to this conclusion that “I worked on a
system like that once - this new system must work the same way as the one I
built before”.

Deliverables and outcomes

The primary deliverables from requirements determination are the types of

information gathered and the information can take many forms such as transcripts of

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 interviews, notes from observation and analysis of documents, analyzed responses
from questionnaires, set of forms, reports, job descriptions and other documents.
In addition a SA need to understand the following components of an organization
o The business objectives that drive what and how work is done
o The information people need to do their jobs
o The data handled within the organization to support the jobs
o When, how and by whom or what the data are moved, transformed and stored
o The sequence and other dependencies among different data handling activities
o The rules governing how data are handled and processed
o Policies and guidelines that describe that nature of the business and the market
and environment in which it operates
o Key events affecting data values and when these events occur.
These all information must be organized for the purpose of requirements structuring

Traditional Methods for gathering requirements

 The traditional ways to get information directly from those who have the information
is by conducting interviews, questionnaires and direct observation.
 And collecting documentation on the current system and organizational operation in
the form of written procedures, forms, reports and other hard copy.
 All the methods can be used to gather requirements and build up information about
the current system. Asking questions and observing can help to gather knowledge
about the informal system, what people actually do in their work. Analyzing
documentation and asking questions can help to gather knowledge about the formal
system- what is expected of the system.

Interviewing

 The SA has to spend a large amount of time in interviewing the people about their
work, the information they use to do it and the types of information processing that
might supplement their work
 Other people are too interviewed to understand organizational direction, policies and
expectations that managers have on the units they supervise.
 The facts, opinion and speculation (rumor) are gathered, the body language, emotions
and other signs of what people want and how they assess current systems.
 SA can sometimes determine if people are answering truthfully or fully by the words
they use, whether they make direct eye contact, the tone of voice they use or their
body language.
 Some guidelines to conduct the interview effectively are
o Prepare thoroughly before the interview. Set up an appointment at a
convenient time for the interviewee. The general nature of the interview
should be explained to the interviewee in advance.

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 o You want the interview to be natural and to some degree, you want to direct
the interview spontaneously as you discover what expertise the interviewee
brings to the session.
o Prepare and interview guide or checklist so that you know in which sequence
to ask your questions and how much time to spend in each area of the
interview.
o The interviewee may provide information you were not expecting, you may
not follow the guide in sequence. However check off questions you have
asked and write remainders to yourself to return to or skip other questions as
the interview takes place.

Choosing interview Questions

 The open-ended and closed-ended questions must be mixed.

 Open-ended questions in interviews and on questionnaires that have no pre-specified
answers.
 The advantages of open-ended questions: previously unknown information can
surface, and interviewee may get more of a sense of involvement and control in the
interview.
 The major disadvantage of open-ended questions in the length of time it can take for
the questions to be answered.
 Closed-ended questions provide a range of answers from which the interviewee may
choose.
 These sorts of questions works well when the major answers to questions are well
known. Another plus is that interviews based on these questions do not require a
large time.
 The major disadvantage of closed-ended questions is that useful information that does
not quite fit the defined answers may be overlooked as the respondent tries to make a
choice instead of providing his or her best answers.

Interview Guidelines

1. Don’t phrase a question in a way that implies a right or wrong answer. Enable the
respondents to feel free to tell their true opinions and perspectives and make them to
trust that their ideas will be considered carefully.
2. Listen carefully to what is being said, take notes, or if possible record the interview
with their permission. Schedule follow ups.
3. Once the interview is over, key in or document it within 48 hours, otherwise your
memory of the interview will fade quickly. Organize the notes; write down the
additional questions that might arise from lapses in the document or ambiguous
information. Separate facts from your opinions and interpretations. Make a list of
unclear points that need clarification. Call the person and get answers to these

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 questions. You may send a written copy of your notes to the person you interviewed
to check for accuracy. Make sure to thank the person for his or her time.
4. Be careful during the interview not to set expectations about the new or replacement
system unless you are sure these features will be part of the delivered system. Let the
interviewee understand the steps to the project. Due to the repetitive nature of the
systems development process, it is premature to say now exactly what the ultimate
system will or will not do.
5. Seek a variety of perspectives from different people: potential users of the system,
users of other system that might be affect by this new system, managers, superiors,
information systems staff and others. Encourage people to think about current
problems and opportunities and what new information services might better serve the
organization.

Questionnaires

 Questionnaires have the advantage of gathering information from many people in a

relatively short time. Interviews are quite expensive and time-consuming process, but
the questionnaires are not expensive.
 Questionnaires are passive and often yield less rich information than interviews.
 Questionnaires are most useful in the requirements determination process when used
for very specific purposes rather than for more general information gathering.

Choosing Questionnaire Respondents

 It must be decided which questionnaire to be given to which group of people. It

should be send to representatives of all users.
 The representatives can be selected by any one or combination of these following
o Those convenient to sample: The people those willing to be surveyed or
those most motivated to respond.
o A random group: the nth person of all users list can be chosen randomly
o A purposeful sample: Only people who satisfy certain criteria, such as users
of the system.

Designing Questionnaires

 Questionnaires are less expensive means that the people can complete the
questionnaire without help. Also answers can be provided at the convenience of the
respondent.
 Questionnaires may include closed-end questions and open-end questions, preferably
closed-end questions, because they are easier to complete and they define the exact
coverage required.
 A few open-ended questions give the person being surveyed an opportunity to add
insights not anticipated by the designer of the questionnaire.

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  The questions must be extremely clear in meaning and logical in sequence, without
ambiguity in question and answers.

Choosing between Interviews and Questionnaires

 The interviews are good tools for collecting rich, detailed information and that
interview allow exploration and follow-ups but quite time intensive and expensive.
 The questionnaires are inexpensive and take less time, as specific information can be
gathered from many people at once but the information gathered is less rich and
follow up questions is more difficult as it often involves interview or phone calls
 These differences are important to remember during the analysis phase. Deciding
which method to use and what strategy to employ to gather information will vary with
the system being studied and its organizational context

Direct observation

 It is also possible to gather information about a system by watching the users of the
system at work.
 This method can bring more objective information - as the analyst can see what the
person does (behavior), rather than what they say they do.
 This can be used to supplement or confirm the information obtained by asking
questions.
 Observation can take place in two ways.
1. By the analyst participating in the user’s work Ex. becoming a member of the
team for a week
2. By watching the users at work – this can be done in person or by video
camera.
 The advantages of observation over asking questions is that the analyst can see what
the user’s behavior and interactions with the system actually are, not what they say
they are.
 There are also disadvantages to observation – while being observed, people may not
behave normally ( if they know they are being observed) – they may change their
behavior. Also the time at which the observation takes place may mean that the
analyst sees only a small subset of the work done by the user.

Analyzing Documents (Reports, forms, procedures and manuals)

 Another way to gather information about the current system or possible improvements
to it is to review and analyze documentation
 This can provide information about :
o Problems with existing systems (Ex. Missing information, redundant steps)

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 o Possible new features that can be added to existing systems, if certain new
information is now available (Ex. analysis of sales based on customer type)
o Special Circumstances that occur irregularly but may not be identified by any
other requirements gathering technique (Ex. if special handling is required for
a few very large volume customers, where customized customer ordering
procedures are required)
Data definitions, rules for processing data (Business rules) in the system.
 Relevant type of documentation include:
o Written work procedures for an individual role or a work group – a work
procedure describes how a particular job or task is carried out, it includes the
data and information used and created in the process.
o Business forms – forms are used for many business functions Ex. in a bank,
there are forms for making deposits, withdrawals, transfers etc. forms can
provide good understanding of a system because they explicitly show what
data flows in and out of the system.
o Reports generated by current systems- it is possible to work back from the
information on the report to understand what data was used to generate the
report. Analysis of reports can determine what data needs to be captured over
time and over what time periods, and how the data needs to be manipulated or
transformed.
o Documentation about current computer systems – if the team that analyzed,
designed and built the existing system also produced good documentation
about the system (specifications, test plans, user manuals etc) then this can be
a good source of information about the system.
Modern methods for gathering requirements
 The modern methods are additional techniques to collect information about the
current system, the organizational area requesting the new system, and what the new
system should be like: the modern methods are Joint Application Design and
Prototyping. These techniques reduce the time of collecting and structuring the
requirements.
Joint Application Design (JAD)
 JAD is a means to bring together the key users, managers, and systems analysts
involved in the analysis of a current system.
 The goal of JAD is to collect systems requirements simultaneously from the key
people involved in the system.
 JAD sessions are usually conducted in a location away from where the people
normally work, to keep them away from all distractions, so that they can concentrate
fully on systems analysis.
 The people involved in a JAD are
- JAD session leader: To organize and run the JAD- should be trained in facilitation and
group management and is usually a systems analyst. Sets the agenda, resolves conflicts and
disagreements, keeps the session on track and gets all ideas from participants
- Users: Key users of the existing and new system

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- Mangers of User group: To provide information about the organization’s direction
and the motivations and impacts of the systems, also to support the requirements determined
during the JAD.
- Systems Analysts: To learn from users and mangers, may participate and advise on IS
issues
- Sponsor: A senior person in the organization who is supporting and providing the budget
for the development, usually attends only at start and end of session
- Scribe: To take notes during the sessions and record the outcomes of the meeting (on a
laptop or PC if possible)
- IS staff: To learn from the discussion, may also contribute ideas on technical feasibility or
limitations of systems
 JAD sessions are held in a special room equipped with white boards, audiovisual
tools, overhead projector, flip charts and computer generated displays.

Figure-1 A typical room layout for a JAD session

Prototyping

 Prototyping allows to quickly converting basic requirements into a working, though

limited, version of the desired information system. The user can view and test the
prototype.
 The goal of prototyping is to support requirements determination to develop concrete
specifications for the ultimate system, not to build the ultimate system.
 Prototyping is most useful in the following circumstances
o User requirements are not clear or well understood
o Only one or a few users involved
o Possible designs are complex

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 o Communication problems have existed in the past, between users and analysts
 It also has some disadvantages
o Analysts may avoid creating formal documentation of the system
o The prototype may be very influenced by the initial user who reviews it- and
thus might not be adaptable to other users
o Often build as a stand alone system, which may result in interfaces with other
systems being ignored during this phase.
RADICAL METHODS FOR DETERMINING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Analysts use system requirements determination to understand current problems and
opportunities, as well as what are needed and desired in future systems. Typically, the current
way of doing things has a large impact on the new system. In some organizations, though,
management is looking for new ways to perform current tasks. These ways may be radically
different from how things are done now, but the payoffs may be enormous: Fewer people
may be needed to do the same work; relation-ships with customers may improve
dramatically; and processes may become much more efficient and effective, all of which can
result in increased profits. Example of radical methods of determining system requirement is
business process reengineering (BPR)
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
BPR means the search for, and implementation of, radical change in business processes to
achieve breakthrough improvements in products and services. “Reengineering is the
fundamental rethinking and redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic Improvements
in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and
speed.”(Hammer & Champy, 1993).

The term rethinking refers to the idea of firstly studying and then analyzing all or any of the
processes to any extent depending on the need and objective of change. BPR is a process in
which existing methods of doing business are replaced with new and updated methods. In
many businesses, the system in place consists of programs that were written some time ago
and still use old methods and technologies. They often support only one business unit. These
are called legacy systems. These systems were designed around the processes that took place
in the business unit. In some organizations, the management is looking for new ways to
perform current task, i.e. to improve or change the way things are done- i.e. to change the
business processes. This is called Business Process Re-engineering. The overall process by
which current methods are replaced with radically new methods is referred as BPR. The new
ways of doing things may be very different from the old ways, but the benefits may be big,
since the processes become more efficient. Since, the legacy systems were built around the
business; a business re-engineering process often requires changes to the information systems
Goals of BPR
 Reorganize complete flow of data in major sections of an organization.
 Eliminate unnecessary steps.
 Combine steps.
 Become more responsive to future change.

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