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CMP 351 -3 UNITS

SYSTEM
ANALYSIS AND
DESIGN
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Course Objectives
 To provide students with new ways of looking at
information in the world in order to solve business
problems
 To introduce students to concepts and methods of
System Analysis and design (SAD)
 To describe the systems development life cycle (SDLC)
 To teach effective methods for gathering essential
information during system analysis
 To teach effective methods for designing systems to
solve problems effectively using technology
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What is a system?
 a system is simply a set of components that interact to
accomplish some purpose.
 The term "System" means an organized relationship
among functioning units or components.
 We can define a System as a combination of resources or
functional units working together to accomplish a given
task.
 The term "working together" in system definition is very
important as all the components are interrelated and
interdependent and cannot perform well independently
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EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS
 Human Body as a biological system
 An organization consisting of staff and other
departmental components
 A computer system with input, processing and
output system
 Information systems consist of components
generating, sending and receiving system
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Overall Production System

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SYSTEM COMPONENTS

A system is a set of components working together

to achieve definite goal(s). The basic elements of the
system may be listed as follows
 Resources
 Procedures
 Data/Information
 Processes
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Resources
Hardware e.g. Computers
Software – e.g. database
management systems
Liveware- users of all categories
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Procedures
Rules
Guiding principles
Most of the time translate to

programs in computerized
systems
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Data/Information

 Input– required for necessary output, it could be

material or data. this determines the output

 Output -The main objective of the System is to

produce some useful output. Output is the outcome
of processing. Output can be of any nature e.g.
goods, services or information
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Processes

 The systems have some processes that make use of

the resources to achieve the set goal under the
defined procedures.
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Systems Features And Characteristics

 Objective
 Standards
 Environment
 Feedback
 Boundaries and interfaces
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OBJECTIVE
Every system has a predefined goal or
objective towards which it works. A system
cannot exist
without a defined objective. For example an
organization would have an objective of
earning maximum possible revenues, for which
each department and each individual has to
work in coordination.
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STANDARD
It is the acceptable level of performance for any
system. Systems should be designed to meet standards.
Standards can be business specific or organization
specific. For example, a sorting problem; there are
various sorting algorithm but each has its own
complexity. A standard algorithm should be able to
gives most optimum and efficient result. So there should
be a standard or rule to use a particular algorithm.
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Environment
Every system whether it is natural or man made co-exists
with an environment. It is very important for a system to
adapt itself to its environment. Also, for a system to exist it
should change according to the changing environment. For
example, we humans live in a particular environment. As we
move to other places, there are changes in the surroundings
but our body gradually adapts to the new environment. If it
were not the case, then it would have been very difficult for
human to survive for so many thousand years.
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FEEDBACK
Feedback is an important element of a system. The output of
a system needs to be observed and feedback from the output
taken so as to improve the system and make it achieve the
desired standards. In fig 1.1, it is shown that a system takes
input and transforms it into output. Also some feedback can
come from customer (regarding quality) or it can be some
intermediate data (the output of one process and input for the
other) that is required to produce final output
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Boundaries and Interfaces

Every system has defined boundaries within which it operates. Beyond

these limits the system has to interact with the other systems. For instance,
Personnel system in an organization has its work domain with defined
procedures. If the financial details of an employee are required, the system
has to interact with the Accounting system to get the required details.

Interfaces (operation platform) are another important element through

which the system interacts with the outside world. System interacts with
other systems through its interfaces. Users of the systems also interact
with it through interfaces. Therefore, these should be customized to the
user needs. These should be as user friendly as possible.
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WHAT IS SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN?

System development can generally be thought of having
two major components:
systems analysis and systems design. In System

Analysis more emphasis is given to understanding the

details of an existing system and whether the existing
system needs improvements.
Thus, system analysis is the process of investigating a

system, identifying problems, and using the information

to recommend improvements to the system.
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THE SYSTEM ANALYST

 System analysts are Professionals who specialize
in analyzing and designing information systems.
 A systems analyst designs new IT solutions to
improve business efficiency and productivity.
 Working closely with the client, analysts examine
existing business models and flows of data,
discuss their findings with the client, and design
an appropriate improved IT solution. They act as
the liaison between the client and the developers.
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System Analyst cont’d

They produce outline designs and costing of new
systems, specifying the operations the system will
perform, and the way data will be viewed by the end-
user, present their design to the client and, once it is
approved, work closely with the client team to
implement the solution.
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Analyst Job Satisfaction

A systems analyst will work with a variety of
people and learn how they conduct business.
Specifically, He works with a team of systems
analysts, programmers, and others on a common
mission. You will feel the satisfaction of seeing
systems that you designed and developed make a
significant business impact, while knowing that
your unique skills helped make that happen
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Activities Of System analyst

 liaising extensively with external or internal
clients;
 analyzing clients' existing systems;
 translating client requirements into highly
specified project briefs;
 identifying options for potential solutions and
assessing them for both technical and business
suitability;
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Activities cont’d
 drawing up specific proposals for modified or
replacement systems;
 producing project feasibility reports;
 presenting proposals to clients;
 working closely with developers and a variety of end
users to ensure technical compatibility and user
satisfaction;
 ensuring that budgets are adhered to and deadlines
met;
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Activities cont’d
 drawing up a testing schedule for the complete
system;
 overseeing the implementation of a new system;
 planning and working flexibly to a deadline;
 writing user manuals;
 providing training to users of a new system;
 keeping up to date with technical and industry
development.
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Skills of A System analyst

Due to the various responsibilities that a system

analyst requires to handle, he has to be multifaceted
person with varied skills required at various stages of
the life cycle.
In addition to the technical knowhow of the

information system development a system analyst

should also have the following knowledge.
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Skills Cont’d
 Business knowledge: As the analyst might have to develop
any kind of a business system, he should be familiar with
the general functioning of all kind of businesses.
 Interpersonal skills: Such skills are required at various
stages of development process for interacting with the
users and extracting the requirements out of them
 Problem solving skills: A system analyst should have
enough problem solving skills for defining the alternate
solutions to the system and also for the problems occurring
at the various stages of the development process
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THE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE (SDLC)

The SDLC is a structured

framework that consists of
sequential processes by which
information systems are
developed.
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SDLC
 Preliminarystudy/Feasibility study
 System analysis/Detailed system study
 System design
 Coding
 Testing
 Implementation
 Maintenance
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SDLC
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Preliminary Investigation
 Preliminary system study is the first stage of
system development life cycle. This is a brief
investigation of the system under consideration
 and gives a clear picture of what actually the
physical system is?
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Preliminary Investigation Cont’d

The main aim of preliminary analysis are
 to identify the problem.
 need for the new or the enhanced
system is established.
 propose a better system
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Preliminary Investigation Cont’d

 Insummary, we can say that system study phase
passes through the following steps:

 problem identification and project initiation

 background analysis
 inference or findings (system proposal)
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The Feasibility Study

 Thefeasibility study is basically the test of the
proposed system in the light of its workability,
meeting user’s requirements, effective use of
resources and of course, the cost effectiveness.
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Feasibility Study
 Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally
uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing
business or proposed venture, opportunities and
threats present in the environment
 The proposed system is evaluated for its feasibility.
Feasibility for a system means whether it is practical
and beneficial to build that system.
 Feasibility is evaluated from developer and
customer's point of view. Developer sees whether
they have the required technology or manpower to
build the new system.
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Feasibility study
 Is building the new system really going to benefit
the customer?. Does the customer have the
required money to build that type of a system?
 All these issues are covered in the feasibility study
of the system. The feasibility of the system cover
five main Categories: technical, economical,
Schedule, legal and operational feasibility of the
project.
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Technical feasibility:
Can the development of the
proposed system be done with
current equipment, existing
software technology, and
available personnel? Does it
require new technology?
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Economic feasibility:
Are there sufficient benefits in creating the system
to make the costs acceptable?
An important outcome of the economic feasibility
study is the cost benefit analysis
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Schedule Feasibility
 Possibilityof Completing the project within
acceptable time/schedule
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Legal feasibility
 Itchecks if there are any legal hassle against the
development of the system.
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Operational feasibility
 Will the system be used if it is developed and
implemented?
 Will there be resistance from users that will
undermine the possible application’s benefits?
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Feasibility Reports
The result of the feasibility study is a formal
document, a report detailing the nature and scope of
the proposed solution. It consists of the following:
 • Statement of the problem
 • Details of findings
 • Findings and recommendations in concise form
 Once the feasibility study is done then the project
is approved or disapproved according to the report.
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Feasibility study-a decision tool

 Itmust therefore be conducted with an objective,
unbiased approach to provide information upon
which decisions can be based
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Analysis Tools/Fact Finding Techniques

Interview
Questionnaires
Record Review
Observations
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System analysis - Detail System Study

Systems analysis is a process of:
 collecting actual data,
 Understand the processes involved,
 identifying problems and recommending
feasible suggestions for improving the
functioning of the system.
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System Analysis

Involves
 studying the business processes, gathering
operational data, understand
 the information flow, finding out bottlenecks and
 Evolving solutions for overcoming the
weaknesses of the system so as to achieve the
organizational goals
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Major questions To Be Answered

During the Analysis

1. What is being done?

2. How is it being done?
3. Does a problem exist?
4. If a problem exists, how severe is it?
5. How frequently does it occur?
6. What is the underlining cause for the problem?
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Interviews
 Interview is a very important data gathering
technique as in this the analyst has direct contacts
with the system and the potential user of the
proposed system
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Preparation for Interview

1. Set the stage for the interview.
2. Establish rapport; put the interviewee at ease.
3. Phrase questions clearly and succinctly.
4. Be a good listener; avoid arguments.
5. Evaluate the outcome of the interview.
The interviews are of two types namely structured
and unstructured
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Structured Interview
Structured interviews are those where the
interviewee is asked a standard set of questions in a
particular order. All interviewees are asked the same
set of questions. The questions are further divided in
two kinds of formats for conducting this type of
interview.
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Structure Interview

The first is the open-response format

in which the respondent is free to
answer in his own words. An example
of open-response is "Why are you
dissatisfied with the current leave
processing method?"
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Close response format

 The other option is of closed-response format,
which limits the respondents to opt their answer
from a set of already prescribed choices. An
example of such a question might be "Are you
satisfied with the current leave processing
methods?"
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Unstructured Interview

The unstructured interviews are

undertaken in a question-and-answer
format. This is of a much more
flexible nature than the structured
interview and can be used to gather
general information about the system.
It can even lead to a general
discussion about the existing system
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Questionnaires

Questionnaires are useful when

the analyst need to gather
information from a large number
of people. Where it is not possible
to interview each individually.
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Types of questionnaires
Open-Response Based
 the Closed-Response Based
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Open response
 The objective of open-response questionnaire is to
gather information and data about the essential and
critical design features of the system. The open-
ended question requires no response direction or
specific response. This form is used to learn about
the feelings, opinions, and experiences of the
respondents. The respondent write out the
response
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Closed-Response Based Questionnaires

1. Fill-in-the-blanks.
2. Dichotomous i.e. Yes or No type.
3. Ranking scale questions ask the respondents to rank a

list of items in the order of importance or preference.

4. Multiple-choice questions which offer respondents few

fixed alternatives to choose from.

5. Rating scale questions are an extension of the multiple-

choice questions. Here the respondent is asked to rate

certain alternatives on some given scale.
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Record Reviews

Records and reports are the collection of information

and data accumulated over the time by the users about
the system and it's operations. This can also put light
on the requirements of the system and the
modifications it has undergone. Records and reports
may have a limitation if they are not up-to-date or if
some essential links are missing. All the changes,
which the system suffers, may not be recorded.
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On-site Observation

On-site observations are one of the most effective

tools used by the analyst. The analyst personally goes
to the site and discovers the functioning details of the
system. As an observer, the analyst can gain first-
hand knowledge of the activities, operations,
processes of the system on-site, hence the role of an
analyst here is an information seeker.
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Decision Tree
 Decision tree is a tree like structure that represents
the various conditions and the subsequent possible
actions.
 It also shows the priority in which the conditions
are to be tested or addressed.
 Each of its branches stands for any one of the
logical alternatives and because of the branched
structure, it is known as a tree
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Decision Tree Cont’d

 The nodes are the decision junctions.
 After each decision point could be next set of
decisions to be considered.
 Therefore at every node of the tree there are
conditions that are taking into consideration to
determine which condition prevails before moving
further on the path to necessary action.
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Decision Tree Cont’d

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Sample Decision Tree

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Decision table
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Decision Tree for Calculating

Shipping Charges (Figure 6-24)
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System Design
 After the system has been analyzed by the analyst,
the design stage of system life cycle begins.
 In design phase, the structure or design for the
proposed system is finalized. Structure of files,
databases, input, output, processes, and
screens(interfaces) are decided
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System Design Cont’d

Mostly design errors are discovered in
development, testing, or maintenance phase. So the
cost of change due to changes in design (which might
happen due to some error or improper design is very
high. So design process should be handled very
carefully.
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Design Elements
1. Modules
2. Processes
3. Input
4. Output
5. Files
6. Databases
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Modules
A large system actually consists of various small
independent subsystems that combine together to build
up the large systems.
The complete system is divided into small independent

modules which may further be divided if the need be.

Such independent modules are designed and coded

separately and are later combined together to make the

system functional.
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Module’s considerations
Size
Purpose/function
Shared use
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Process
A process is a specific act that has definable
beginning and ending points.
A process has identifiable inputs and outputs. E.g.

Create repayment schedule.

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Input Design
During design of input, the analyst should decide on the
following details:
• What data to input
• What medium to use
• How data should be arranged
• How data should be coded i.e. data representation conventions
• The dialogue to guide users in providing input i.e. informative

messages that should be provided when the user is entering data.

Like saying, "It is required. Don't leave it blank."
• Data items and validation methods
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Assignment
 Design an input form to capture the details of
student applying for scholarship from federal
university dutsinma. To be submitted within a
week
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Output Design
 The expected output of each module, process and
action must be designed in such a way that it will
be easy to identify if the system is producing the
correct output or not.
 Medium of presentation of output must be
identified.
 Some output are to be designed in way that can
serve as input to another process
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Design of Database and files

The
 analyst has to decide upon the data to be maintained by the
system and for the system. The data is maintained in the form of
data stores, which actually comprise of various databases.

In
 database design, the analyst decides upon the database model to
be implemented. Database model can be traditional file based,
relational, network, hierarchical, or object oriented database model.
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Database/file contd’
Each database can contain several files where the data
is actually stored
Following decisions are made during file design:
Which data items to include in a record format within the

file?
Length of each record, based on the characteristics of the

data items
The sequencing or arrangement of records within the file

(the storage structure, such as sequential, indexed, or relative)

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Interface Design
Interface design implies deciding upon the human
computer interfaces.
How the end user or the operator will interact with the

system. It includes designing screens and menus options

 Interaction should be flexible and tuned to user's

preferred mode of input,

Provide help to assist with all input actions.
 Should be attractive and user friendly
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Software Development
 In this phase, the actual development of the system
takes place. That is, design representations are
translated into actual programs.
 Software developers may install (or modify and then
install) purchased software or they may write new,
custom-designed programs.
 Programmers are also responsible for documenting the
program, providing an explanation of how procedures
are coded which is highly essential for maintenance
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System Testing
After a system has been developed, it is very
important to check if it fulfills the customer
requirements. For this purpose, testing of the system
is done.
Various test cases are prepared. A test case is a

certain made up situation on which system is exposed

so as to find the behavior of system in that type of
real situation. Real or artificial data can be used.
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Testing
unit, integration, and acceptance testing are the modes of testing
required.
The smallest unit of software design is a module. In unit testing

these modules are tested. This is done by individual programmer.

 Once the individual modules are tested, these are integrated to build

the complete system. But testing individual module doesn't guarantee

if the system will work properly when these units are integrated.
Acceptance testing ensures that the system meets all the

requirements. If it fulfills the needs then the system is accepted by the

customer and put into use.
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Implementation and Maintenance

 Implementation of system means putting up

system on user's site. The system requires periodic
maintenance.
 Maintenance can be for software or hardware or
both. User priorities, changes in organizational
requirements, or environmental factors call for
system enhancements. This is very crucial for the
system's life