Chapter 1 The Systems Development Environment. SAD/CHAPTER 1 2 Learning Objectives Understand the concept of systems analysis and design as a disciplined

Chapter 1

The Systems Development Environment

SAD/CHAPTER 12

Learning Objectives

Understand the concept of systems analysis and design as a disciplined approach to development

Become familiar with the evolution of systems analysis and design

Understand the concepts of data-centricity and process-centricity

SAD/CHAPTER 13

Learning Objectives

Describe the various roles and responsibilities in systems development

Explain the types of skills necessary to be a successful systems analyst

Review the different classes of information systems

SAD/CHAPTER 14

Learning Objectives

Develop an initial understanding of the phased life-cycle approach to systems development

Identify two alternative approaches to systems development beyond the life-cycle approach

SAD/CHAPTER 15

Systems Analysis and Design

Definition– A structured process that is employed in the

development of information system

– Systems analysis activities– Systems design activities

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Systems analysis activities– Focused on determining the nature and domain of

the business problem– Concerned with issues such as problem

identification, solution alternatives, solution requirements, organizational goals, etc.

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Systems design activities– Focused on the final design specification and the

construction, development, and implementation of the solution proposed during analysis and deemed best among any alternatives available

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A Disciplined Approach

Methodologies– A multi-step approach to the analysis, design, and

delivery of an IS

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A Disciplines Approach

Tools– Computer programs that are designed to facilitate

the wide variety of techniques and activities to be conducted during a complete analysis and design scenario

SAD/CHAPTER 110

A Disciplines Approach

Techniques– Processes that are followed to ensure that the

analysis being performed is accurate, comprehensive, and comprehensible to others

SAD/CHAPTER 111

Modern SAD

The evolution of software development and application design began with a focus on the process, evolved to a focus on the data, and has now come to an understanding of the need to consider both elements in the design of a modern IS

Data-Centric and Process-Centric development approaches

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Table 1-1. Comparison of the Data-Centric and Process-Centric Development Approaches

Data-Centric Approach Process-Centric Approach What data does the system need?

What is the system supposed to do?

Tends to have an enduring design stability due to low volatility in organizational data needs.

Design stability is necessarily limited due to constant changes in business processes.

The file structure is enterprise dependent.

The file structure is application dependent.

Data redundancy is generally limited and controlled.

Data redundancy is generally massive and uncontrolled.

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Systems Analysis as a Profession

Career and Job Opportunities Typical career paths for Systems Analyst Professional Societies and Standards of

Practice (ACM)

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Analyst Role Relationship to Organization

Programmer/Analyst Employee of the organization

Systems Analyst Employee of the organization

Independent Analyst Contractor to the organization

Outsource Provider Employee of outsourcing contractor

Systems Consultant Contractor to the organization

Software developer Manufacturer or supplier of software

Table 1-2. Typical Analyst-Organization Relationships

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Typical Systems Analyst Duties and Responsibilities

Entry-Level Systems Analyst– Working under the supervision of a more senior staff

member, junior systems analysts may be responsible for any of the following:

investigate requirements, information flow, processes, etc., produce documentation specifying logical information flows and

processes, perform technical calculations for input to project budgets and

monitor budget, convert limited parts of a logical specification into a physical

design, and/or construct, interpret and execute test plans of a limited scope.

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Full Working Systems Analyst – At this level, you will be performing the systems analyst job

without supervision. – You may be responsible for the supervision of other staff on a

project. In addition you may be responsible for small projects or portions of larger projects, and you may have to:

specify logical information flow, processes, data objects and dialogues,

produce technical and descriptive documentation, devise, construct and interpret test plans and ensure proper

execution, and/or prepare estimates, monitor budgets and report constraints.

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Intermediate System Analyst – As the intermediate systems analyst, you will be

expected to supervise staff. You may also be required to:

supervise performance of team players in reaching objectives,

plan and schedule small work teams, prepare projects less than 3 person-months in size,

develop service level agreements and business plans with clients, and/or

devise outlines or models of systems solutions.

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Senior Systems Analyst – As the senior systems analyst you will most likely be involved

in planning, conducting and supervising complex informatics assignments. You will also be involved in designing and applying new methods and procedures and supervising staff. Your job could also require you to:

plan and manage multiple projects, lead systems implementation throughout systems life cycle,

and/or manage and maintain operations of mission-critical systems.

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The Roles and Responsibility in Systems Development

Client and System Users– ultimately benefit from the development effort– directly involved in either the use of system itself or

the information and reports generated by it

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IS management– directly involved in the daily activities of the IS

project– responsible for the allocation of resources to the

project– responsible for the establishment of criteria

necessary to determine the success of the development effort

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Systems Analysts– key individuals in the system development process– can act as consultant, a staff expert, a project

manager, or even a change agent

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Application programmers– the labor-intensive nature of manual programming

became untenable and often cost-ineffective– with CASE tools, the modern programmers can

spend more time on finalization, optimization, and integration of the code into the IS under development

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IS Support Personnel– Vendors and Technologists– Database Administrators– Network Administrators– Audit and Security– IT Steering Committee

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Skill Set for Systems Analysis

Technical Skills– A working knowledge of the technology in the areas

of database management, data networks, telecommunications, operating systems, distributed architectures, object technology, languages and protocols, etc.

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Analytical Skills– A systems analyst is a problem solver.– The ability to examine a complex set of components

without losing sight of the bigger picture is essential to an analyst’s success.

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Managerial skills– A successful analyst is a team player.– Includes business domain knowledge, resource and

project management, assessment and management of risk, and management of change.

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Interpersonal Skills– A successful analyst is a good communicator.– Includes the ability to question, listen, and observe.– Effectively conduct oral and written presentations;

facilitate groups; and be a team player.

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Types of Information Systems

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)– automate the capture and recording of information

about business activities (transaction)

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Figure 1-3. Transaction Processing Systems Can Support a Management Information Systems

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Management Information Systems (MIS)– Accepts input from a TPS and transforms it into

meaningful format.– Is considered an important management resource,

and the opportunities for analysis and design in this area are endless.

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Decision Support Systems– Provides support to the decision process.– Is a powerful tools and is rapidly becoming an

integral component within the realm of organizational information systems.

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Expert Systems– Imitates reasoning processes based on the concept

of information fit used by human experts in solving specific knowledge domain problems

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Executive Information Systems– Facilitates and supports the information and

decision-making needs of senior executives by providing easy access to internal and external information.

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Office Automation and Workgroup Management Systems– Facilitates the analysis and dissemination of

information throughout the organization.

SAD/CHAPTER 135


Web-based Systems– Supports business-to-business and business-to-

consumer electronic commerce, data management, customer relations, supply chain management, and enterprise resource management.

– Systems analysts will be increasingly expected to provide Web-based solutions to the business problems of tomorrow.

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Figure 1-4. Relationships between various System Types and Organizational Level

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SDLC

Composed of a common set of phases and activities serve to structure and guide the development process

Also called Waterfall Model

Figure 1-5

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Figure 1-5. The Systems Development Life Cycle

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Overview of Phases and Activities

Preliminary investigation phase– Identification and selection of a development project– Initiation of a preliminary investigation to determine

project feasibility– Formation of a project team– Development of the project plan

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Analysis Phase– Study of the organization’s processes, procedures,

and systems

SAD/CHAPTER 141


Logical Design Phase– Revise and refine the logical model– Implementation independent

SAD/CHAPTER 142


Physical Design Phase– Convert logical model into physical specification

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Implementation Phase– Installation of the physical model– End user training

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Maintenance Phase– Detailed modifications to the new system

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Drawbacks to the SDLC

Sequential process Time consuming Maintenance cost Figure 1-6

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Figure 1-6. Relative Cost of Fixing an Error in a Development Project

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Alternative Development Approaches

Object-oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD)– Combination of process- and data-oriented

approaches– Object– Reusability

SAD/CHAPTER 148

Alternative Development Approaches

Rapid Application development (RAD)– Rely on the use of CASE tools and prototyping

approach

SAD/CHAPTER 149

Chapter Summary

Systems analyst represents an expert blend of technical, analytical, managerial, and interpersonal skills

Modern information systems development involves several structured approaches

Chapter 1

End of Chapter

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Chapter 1 The Systems Development Environment. SAD/CHAPTER 1 2 Learning Objectives Understand the concept of systems analysis and design as a disciplined