Transcript CSIS 3600 Systems Analysis and Design

CSIS 3600 Systems Analysis
and Design
Class 1
What is Systems Analysis?
Intellectual Property of Dr. Meg Murray, dated August 2002
What is Systems Analysis
• Information systems analysis and design is a complex,
challenging, and stimulating organizational process that a
team of business and systems professionals uses to develop
and maintain computer-based information systems (Hoffer,
George & Valachich, 1999).
• Study of a problem prior to taking some action (DeMarco,
1978).
• The process of establishing the services that
the customer requires from a system and the
constraints under which it operates and is
developed (Summerville, 1995).
What is Systems Analysis
• Systems analysis and development can be viewed from
several perspectives:
– Building an in-house system to address a business need.
– Investigating existing software solutions from external vendors
that are brought in-house and customized to meet the
organization's needs.
– Software vendor who designs and develops software solutions to
address business needs.
– The consultant hired to design a system.
• The systems analyst plays an integral role in each of these
venues.
Who are the Players
• Systems development is done from an organizational
perspective.
• Systems development is teamwork. It is unrealistic in
today's environments to believe that anyone's work can be
done in isolation.
Who are the Players
• In any systems development project, there are
many players including:
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Those who own the system.
Those who use the system.
Those who develop the system.
Those who are responsible for the system.
System Players
• The input and inclusion of each of these groups is
important to success. It is very time consuming and
difficult to approach systems development through an
inclusionary model. However, inclusion, if done well,
dramatically increases success. The goal is to have the
'right' people involved at the 'right' time. Understanding
the players and their roles helps you to assess the
involvement they should have.
Information Systems Roles
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Business analyst
System analyst
Infrastructure analyst
Change management analyst
Project manager
PowerPoint Presentation for Dennis, Wixom & Tegardem
Systems Analysis and Design
Copyright 2001 © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Role of the System Analyst
• The primary role of a systems analyst is to study
the problems and needs of an organization in order
to determine how people, methods, and
information technology can best be combined to
bring about improvements in the organization
(Hoffer, George & Valachich, 1999).
• The systems analyst is a key person analyzing the
business, identifying opportunities for
improvement, and designing information systems
to implement these ideas (Dennis, Wixom &
Tegarden, 2002).
The Role of the System Analyst
• Systems analysts are key to the systems
development process.
• The analyst's primary focus is on what not how.
What data does the system produce and consume,
what functions must the system perform, what
interfaces are defined and what constrains apply?"
(Pressman, 1997).
The Role of the System Analyst
• The systems analyst must understand both the business
requirements of an organization and the workings of the
various technologies - the systems analyst builds the
bridges between organizational needs and technology
solutions.
• “When a system developer walks away from the successful
implementation of a good system, what has been achieved
is the acceptance and efficient operation of a technical
computer system by a human community. The system has
both a technical and a social dimension - it is a sociotechnical system . The project plan will have allowed for
the evolution of the technical aspects of the system with
the active involvement of the human community that will
operate it" (Lejk and Deeks, 1998).
The Role of the System Analyst
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analytical
technical
managerial and
interpersonal.
jobs in thousands
• The position of systems analyst will be the best job in
America …. The current trend is weighted towards the
systems analyst who understands
business processes.
1998-2008 Jobs with Largest Growth
• System analysts need
600
System Analyst
four skills:
580
560
540
520
500
480
460
440
Retail Sales
Cashiers
Mgrs/Top
Executives
Truck Drivers
The Process of Systems Analysis
• Systems analysis and design are systems development.
• The process which can be very structured, is however,
evolutionary. It is also cyclical.
• Most systems development today is focused on systems
integration. Often the 'core' system is secured from a
software vendor and then developed or customized to meet
a specific organizations needs.
“I don’t see the point of
analysis. I’d just go straight to
design.” -- student of IS
The Process of System Analysis
• A methodological framework facilitates system
development efforts regardless of the project (software
vendor, client, internal IS employee or consultant).
• There is no 'right' systems development methodology but
we have enough experience in the field to identify
suggestions and guidelines.
• In the early years of computing, analysis and design were
considered an art. That has changed. We now know that
there are processes that must occur for successful systems
development to happen. The first is to start a project with
a clear understanding of the organization, what the
problem is, and how the system is to address that problem.
The Process of System Analysis
• Systems analysis is more global than software engineering.
Software engineers produce software products where
systems developers implement information systems.
Software engineering is concerned with product
specifications and the management of software 'factories.'
Systems development is concerned with the preparation
and embedding of an information system into an
organizational context (Lejk and Deeks, 1998).
The Process of System Analysis
• "Just about the worst kind of description of this process is
conveyed by referring to the project analyst as an engineer
because this conveys the concept of an all-seeing, allknowing being devising solutions which are lowered into
position and switched on. Such an approach is highly
inappropriate to cope with the social aspects of information
systems. A more fitting metaphor is implied by the word
developer because the indication is that of joint discovery
and refinement by the users and the systems analyst of
particular system components which are effective in
achieving project objectives" (Lejk and Deeks, 1998).
What's Wrong in
Systems Analysis and Design
• Many, if not most, IS projects are not successful.
The relationship between system designers and
system analysts and their customers is strained.
System development projects are almost always
late and often don't deliver the functions promised.
There seems to be a mismatch between what
customers want or expect a system to do and what
system designers provide or are able to provide.
What's Wrong in
Systems Analysis and Design
• Many failed systems were abandoned because
analysts tried to build wonderful systems without
understanding the organization (Dennis, Wixom &
Tegarden, 2002).
• The most common reason for new systems to fail
is poor communications. Use of well-proven
analysis techniques is a major factor in improving
communication and ensuring mutual
understanding (Lejk and Deeks, 1998).
What’s Wrong
• Systems development is not done in a vacuum. It must be
a team effort. Effective team/group work is tricky. It's like
the fairytale of the three bears - "Undue adherence to longwinded approaches using large project teams has just as
often led to failure, as has the 'hacker' out for a quick and
easy solution. With the first, costs can escalate whilst an
actual working solution remains out of reach. The second
often leads to dissatisfied users who are left to find the
design and programming faults in a system which as been
passed off as completed" (Lejk and Deeks, 1998).
Why Systems and Analysis and Design
• "Death March projects are the norm, not the exception."
• "…the average project is likely to be 6 to 12 months
behind schedule and 50 to 100 percent over budget"
(Ed Yourdon, Death March).
• "A recent report from the Standish Group
estimates that a staggering 40 percent of
all software projects fail, while an
additional 33 percent of projects are
completed late, over budget or with
reduced functionality. Only 27 percent of
software projects succeed!”
Why Systems and Analysis and Design
• "The combination of excellent technical staff,
superb management, outstanding designers and
intelligent, committed customers is not enough to
guarantee success for a crunch-mode project.
There really are such things as impossible
projects. New ones are started every day. Most
impossible projects can be recognized early in the
development cycle. There seems to be two major
types: 'poorly understood systems' and 'very
complex systems'" (John Boodie, Crunch Mode)
Why Systems and Analysis and Design
• Systems analysis and design is a complex, challenging, and
stimulating organizational process (Hoffer, George &
Valacich).
• Systems analyst is one of the best jobs in America (Money
Magazine).
• As computer applications continue to expand, these
occupations are projected to be the fastest growing and
rank among the top 20 in the number of new jobs created
over the 1998-2008 period. (US Dept of Labor). Projected
increase of 577,000 jobs or 94% change.
Why Systems and Analysis and Design
• It is important to understand and develop
through practice the skills needed to
successfully design and implement new
information systems.
PowerPoint Presentation for Dennis, Wixom & Tegardem
Systems Analysis and Design
Copyright 2001 © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.