SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN MODULE 1

CHAPTER I: THE SYSTEMS ANALYST AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

I. OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:
 Explain the systems analyst’s role information systems development.
 Describe the basic systems development life cycle and its phases.
 Explain how organizations identify IS development projects.
 Explain the importance of linking the information system to business needs.
 Be able to create a system request.
 Describe technical, economic, and organizational feasibility assessment.
 Be able to perform a feasibility analysis.

II. SUBJECT MATTER

Topic: The Systems Analyst and Information Systems Development
Subtopic: - Roles and Skills of a Systems Analyst
- The Systems development life cycle
- Project Initiation
- The systems request
- Feasibility Analysis and Assessment

III. PROCEDURE
A. Preliminaries
Pre- Assessment
1. Enumerate and discuss the key roles and skills of a Systems Analyst in developing
information systems.
2. Explain the overall process of systems development including planning, analysis,
design and implementation.
3. Discuss how projects get started and the define business process management
4. Enumerate the business reasons for the new system
5. Examine and explore Feasibility analysis and its types.

B. Lesson Proper
This chapter introduces the role of the systems analyst in information systems
development projects. First, the fundamental four-stage systems development life cycle
(planning, analysis, design, and implementation) is established as the basic framework for the
IS development process. Next, ways in which organizations identify and initiate potential

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projects are discussed. The first steps in the process are to identify a project that will deliver
value to the business and to create a system request that provides the basic information about
the proposed system. Next, the analysts perform a feasibility analysis to determine the
technical, economic, and organizational feasibility of the system.

1. The Systems Analyst: Role and Skills

Being a systems analyst is one of the most interesting, exciting, and challenging jobs
around. Systems analysts work with a variety of people and learn how they conduct business.
Specifically, they work with a team of systems analysts, programmers, and others on a common
mission. Systems analysts feel the satisfaction of seeing systems that they designed and
developed make a significant business impact, knowing that they contributed unique skills to
make that happen.

Systems Analyst Role: Key role in developing information systems

The systems analyst is a key person in the development of information systems. The systems
analyst helps to analyze the business situation, identify opportunities for improvements, and
design an information system that adds value to the organization. The systems analyst serves as a
change agent, and this complex responsibility requires a wide range of skills, including technical,
business, analytical, interpersonal, management, and ethical. In some organizations, systems
analysts may develop a specialization such as business analyst, infrastructure analyst, change
management analyst, or project manager.

Systems Analyst Skills

Analysts must have the technical skills to understand the organization’s existing technical
environment, the new system’s technology foundation, and the way in which both can be fit into
an integrated technical solution. Business skills are required to understand how IT can be applied
to business situations and to ensure that the IT delivers real business value. Analysts are
continuous problem solvers at both the project and the organizational level, and they put their
analytical skills to the test regularly.

Often, analysts need to communicate effectively, one-on-one with users and business managers
(who often have little experience with technology) and with programmers (who often have more
technical expertise than the analyst does). They must be able to give presentations to large and
small groups and to write reports. Not only do they need to have strong interpersonal abilities,

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but they also need to manage people with whom they work, and they must manage the pressure
and risks associated with unclear situations.

Finally, analysts must deal fairly, honestly, and ethically with other project team members,
managers, and system users. Analysts often deal with confidential information or information
that, if shared with others, could cause harm (e.g., dissent among employees); it is important for
analysts to maintain confidence and trust with all people.

2. The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

How do systems get built?

The SDLC has a similar set of four fundamental phases: planning, analysis, design, and
implementation. Different projects may emphasize different parts of the SDLC or approach the
SDLC phases in different ways, but all projects have elements of these four phases. Each phase is
itself composed of a series of steps, which rely upon techniques that produce deliverables
(specific documents and files that provide understanding about the project).
All system development projects follow essentially the same fundamental process called
the system development life cycle (SDLC). The SDLC starts with a planning phase in which the
project team identifies the business value of the system, conducts a feasibility analysis, and plans
the project. The second phase is the analysis phase, in which the team develops an analysis
strategy, gathers information, and builds a set of analysis models. In the next phase, the design
phase, the team develops the design strategy, the physical design, architecture design, interface
design, database and file specifications, and program design. In the final phase, implementation,
the system is built, installed, and maintained.

Phase 1: Systems Planning and Selection

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The systems analyst prioritizes and translates the needs into a written plan for the
information systems (IS) department, including a schedule for developing new major systems.
Requests for new systems spring from users who need new or enhanced systems. During the
systems planning and selection phase, an organization determines whether resources should be
devoted to the development or enhancement of each information system under consideration. A
feasibility study is conducted before the second phase of the SDLC to determine the economic
and organizational impact of the system. The second task in the systems planning and selection
phase is to investigate the system and determine the proposed system’s scope.
Phase 2: Systems Analysis
During this phase, the analyst thoroughly studies the organization’s current procedures and
the information systems used to perform tasks such as general ledger, shipping, order entry,
machine scheduling, and payroll. It involves a careful study of any current systems, manual and
computerized, that might be replaced or enhanced as part of this project. Next, you study the
requirements and structure them according to their interrelationships, eliminating any
redundancies. As part of structuring, you generate alternative initial designs to match the
requirements. Then you compare these alternatives to determine which best meets the
requirements within the cost, labor, and technical levels the organization is willing to commit to
the development process. The output of the analysis phase is a description of the alternative
solution recommended by the analysis team.
Phase 3: Systems Design
During systems design, analysts convert the description of the recommended alternative
solution into logical and then physical system specifications. You must design all aspects of the
system from input and output screens to reports, databases, and computer processes.
Phase 4: Systems Implementation and Operation
During systems implementation and operation, you turn system specifications into a working
system that is tested and then put into use. Implementation includes coding, testing, and
installation. During coding, programmers write the programs that make up the system. During
testing, programmers and analysts test individual programs and the entire system in order to find
and correct errors. During installation, the new system becomes a part of the daily activities of
the organization. Application software is installed, or loaded, on existing or new hardware; then
users are introduced to the new system and trained. Begin planning for both testing and
installation as early as the project planning and selection phase, because they both require
extensive analysis in order to develop exactly the right approach.

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3. Project Initiation

Where Do IS Projects Come From?

 Enable a business initiative or strategy

 Support a merger/acquisition
 Fix a “point of pain”
 Utilize a new technology
 Outgrowth of Business Process Management (BPM)
Business Process Management
A methodology used by organizations to continuously improve end-to-end business
processes and Internal and cross-organizational processes. Its benefits include:

 Enhanced process agility

 Process alignment with industry “best practices”
 Increased process efficiencies
Projects are identified when someone recognizes a business need that can be satisfied
through the use of information technology. Examples of business needs include supporting a
new marketing campaign, reaching out to a new type of customer, or improving interactions with
suppliers. Project initiation is the point at which an organization creates and assesses the original
goals and expectations for a new system. The first step in the process is to identify the business
value for the system by developing a system request that provides basic information about the
proposed system. Next, the analysts perform a feasibility analysis to determine the technical,
economic, and organizational feasibility of the system.
The project sponsor is someone who recognizes the strong business need for a system and
has an interest in seeing the system succeeds. He or she will work throughout the SDLC to make
sure that the project is moving in the right direction from the perspective of the business. The
project sponsor serves as the primary point of contact for the system. Usually, the sponsor of the
project is from a business function such as marketing, accounting, or finance; however, members
of the IT area also can sponsor or cosponsor a project.

4. The Systems Request: The Business Reasons for the new system

System Requests
A system request is a document that describes the business reasons for building a system
and the value that the system is expected to provide. The project sponsor usually completes this

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form as part of a formal system project selection process within the organization. Most system
requests include five elements: project sponsor, business need, business requirements, business
value, and special issues. The sponsor describes the person who will serve as the primary contact
for the project, and the business need presents the reasons prompting the project.

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5. 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, but most include techniques to assess
three areas: technical feasibility, economic feasibility, and organizational feasibility. The results
of these techniques are combined into a feasibility study deliverable that is given to the approval
committee at the end of project initiation.
The technical feasibility focuses on whether the system can be built, by examining the
risks associated with the users’ and analysts’ familiarity with the application, familiarity with the
technology, project size, and compatibility with existing systems. The economic feasibility
addresses whether the system should be built. It includes a cost–benefit analysis of development
costs, operational costs, tangible benefits, and intangible costs and benefits. Finally, the
organizational feasibility analysis assesses how well the system will be accepted by its users and
incorporated into the ongoing operations of the organization. The strategic alignment of the
project and a stakeholder analysis can be used to assess this feasibility dimension.

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ACTIVITY 1: DEFINITION OF TERMS

Based on the discussion, define and describe the following key terms below.

SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

1. SYSTEMS
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2. SYSTEMS ANALYST
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3. BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT
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4. PROJECT SPONSOR
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5. SYSTEM REQUESTS
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ACTIVITY 2: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Read the key concept and answer each questions and / or statements briefly. Write on the spaces
provided below.
Key Concept:
Consumer electronics is a very competitive business. What might be the success story of the
year one year is a forgotten item two years later. Rapid product commoditization makes the
consumer electronic marketplace very competitive. Getting the right products to market at the
right time with the right components is an ongoing challenge for telecommunications and
consumer electronic goods companies.
Questions:
1. What external data analysis should a consumer electronics company use to determine
marketplace needs and its abilities to compete effectively in a marketplace?
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What is system software? What kinds of

programs are included in system
software?
What is system software? What kinds of
programs are included in system
software?
2. Staying one step ahead of competitors requires a corporate strategy and the support of
information systems. How can information systems and systems analysts contribute to an
aggressive corporate strategy?

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