SAD

• Rotting designs


  • Rigidity - software difficult to change
  • Fragility - software breaks in many places when changed
  • Immobility - inability to reuse software
  • Viscosity - hacks or changes that do not preserve the design
• Systems Analysis


  Professional discipline that studies systems and their environment to adapt them or conceives and builds a new system or systemic solution to reach business or functional goals
• Systems Analyst


  • Individual who uses analysis and design techniques to solve business problems using IT
  • Acts as a bridge between technical team and end-users/stakeholders
  • Duties: identify organizational improvements, design systems to implement changes, train and motivate others to use the systems
• Notable software glitches in 2010 occurred because analysts tried to build wonderful systems without clearly understanding how the system would support the organization's goals, improve business processes, and integrate with other information systems
• A Systems Analyst's Skills

  • Technical - understand existing technical environment, new system's technology foundation, how both can be integrated
  • Business - understand how IT can be applied to business situations, ensure IT delivers real business value
  • Analytical - continuous problem solvers, put analytical skills to the test
  • Interpersonal - communicate effectively with users and business managers
  • Management - manage people, manage pressure and risks
  • Ethical - deal fairly, honestly, and ethically
• Technical skills required for IT analysts

  • Fit into an integrated technical solution
  • Microsoft Access
  • Integrated development environments
  • Computer-supported system engineering (CASE) tools
• Business skills required for IT analysts

  • Industry Understanding
  • Business Processes
  • Communication
• Analytical skills required for IT analysts

  • Problem Identification
  • Requirement Analysis
  • Data Analysis
  • Risk Assessment
• Interpersonal skills required for IT analysts

  Need to communicate effectively, and one-on-one with users and business managers who often have little experience with technology and programmers
• Management skills required for IT analysts

  Need to manage people with whom they work, and they must manage the pressure and risks associated with unclear situations
• Ethical skills required for IT analysts

  Must deal fairly, honestly, and ethically with other project team members, managers, and system users. Must deal with confidential information. Analysts need to maintain confidence and trust with all people
• Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

  Determining how an information system (IS) can support business needs, designing the system, building it, and delivering it to users

  
• Fundamental phases of SDLC

  • Planning
  • Analysis
  • Design
  • Implementation

  
• Planning phase


  Fundamental process of understanding why we should build the system. Determines project goals and establishes a high-level plan for the intended project

  
• Primary activities in planning phase

  • Identification of the system for development
  • Initiation
  • Feasibility assessment

  
• Outputs of planning phase

  • System request
  • Feasibility study
  • Project plan

  
• Project Identification


  When someone in the organization identifies a business need to build a system
• Project Initiation


  When an organization creates and assesses the original goals and expectations for a new system

  
• System Request Document (SRD)

  Formal document that initiates a project, including elements like project description, business objectives, scope, and requirements
• Elements of the System Request Document

  • Project description
  • Business objectives
  • Scope
  • Requirements
  • Assumptions and constraints
  • Anticipated benefits
  • Estimated costs
• Feasibility Analysis


  More detailed business case to understand the opportunities and limitations associated with the proposed project
• Types of feasibility analysis

  • Technical feasibility
  • Economic feasibility
  • Organizational feasibility
• Technical feasibility


  Assesses the extent to which the system can be successfully designed, developed, and installed by the IT group
• Factors in technical feasibility

  • Users and analysts' familiarity with the application
  • Users' familiarity with the technology
  • Project size
  • Compatibility with existing systems
• Economic feasibility


  Identifies the financial risk associated with the project by identifying costs and benefits, assigning values, and calculating cash flow and return on investment
• Types of costs and benefits in economic feasibility

  • Development costs
  • Operational costs
  • Tangible benefits
  • Intangible benefits
• Organizational feasibility


  Assesses how well the system will be accepted by users and incorporated into the organization's operations
• Factors in organizational feasibility

  • Strategic alignment
  • Stakeholder analysis
• Project management


  The process of planning and controlling the development of a system within a specified time frame at a minimum cost with the right functionality
• Triple constraints of a project

  • Size of the system
  • Time to complete the project
  • Cost of the project
• Key elements of project management

  • Selecting a project methodology
  • Creating the project work plan
  • Identifying project staffing requirements
  • Preparing to manage and control the project

  
• Key stakeholders in project selection

  • IT Steering Committee
  • Approval committee
• Ways to classify projects for selection

  • Strategic importance
  • Risk level
  • Complexity
  • Resource requirements

  
• Project methodology options


  • Waterfall model
  • Parallel development model
  • V-model
  • Rapid application development (RAD)
  • Agile development model
• Waterfall model


  Project team proceeds sequentially from one phase to the next
• Pros and cons of waterfall model

  • Provides a clear and structured approach
  • Requirements identified early
  • Limits requirement changes
  • Comprehensive documentation
  • Design must be complete before programming
  • Long time between analysis and delivery
  • Testing treated as afterthought
  • Costly to return and make changes
  • Higher risk of scope creep
• Parallel development model


  Project is divided into a series of subprojects that can be designed and implemented in parallel
• Pros and cons of parallel development model

  • Reduces time to deliver system
  • Less impact from business environment changes
  • Early feedback from stakeholders
  • Coordination complexity
  • Integration challenges at end
• 1. model


  Pays more explicit attention to testing, with testing activities linked to analysis and design phases
• Pros and cons of V-model

  • Testing linked to analysis and design
  • Improves testing quality and effectiveness
  • Still rigid like waterfall
  • Feedback from testing may be delayed