Chapter 2: Basic concepts of System Analysis and Design

2 – Basic Concepts of System Analysis and Design

2.1 Systems Analysis and Design – core concepts
Systems Analysis
Systems Analysis is the study of a business problem domain for the purpose of recommending
improvements and specifying the business requirements for the solution.
Systems Design
Systems Design is the specification or construction of a technical, computer based solution for
the business requirements identified during systems analysis.
Systems Analysis and Design (SAD)
 Information systems analysis and design is a method used by companies to create and
maintain information systems that perform basic business functions.
 The main goal of SAD is to improve organizational systems through developing or
acquiring application software that can help employees accomplish key business tasks
more easily and efficiently.
 An application software is designed to support a specific organizational function or
process, such as inventory management, payroll. The goal of application software is to
turn data into information.
 An Information System is developed by following Software Engineering Process,
which consists of proven methodologies, techniques and tool. These three process work
together to form an organization approach to SAD

Methodologies

Technique Tools
s
Figure 1 Software Engg. Process

 Methodologies are sequence of step by step approaches that helps to develop the final
product. The methodologies incorporate techniques like, direct observations and
interviews with users.
 Techniques provide support for a wide range of tasks including conducting interviews
with users, planning and managing the activities of a project and designing the reports.
 Tools are computer programs, such as computer aided software engineering (CASE)
tools, that make it easy to use specific techniques.
2.2 Approaches to Systems Analysis and Design
Every Information System consists of three key components that anyone who analyzes and
designs must understand, they are data, data flows and processing logic.
Data are raw facts that describe people, objects and events in an organization.
Ex. customers account no, account type, balance amount
Dataflow are groups of data that move and flow through a system
Ex. customers account number is captured when he uses a credit card for purchase
Data Flow Account no and trans. date

Validate Valid account no. and

Credit transaction data
Card
purchase

Transaction

Account no. and

transaction
Prepare
statement
Statement

Figure-2: Data flow

Processing Logic describes the steps that transform the data and the events that trigger these
steps
Ex. processing logic in a credit card bill preparation

Process Oriented approach

Traditionally, Systems Analysts designed an Information System based on what the system was
meant to do, such as billing or inventory control.
 The focus was on outputs and processing logic, in other words, on the flow, use and
transformation of data.
 The data used as inputs were seen as important also, but secondary to the application
 Each system would contain its own files and data storage areas
 The data in each system would match the specifications for that system only
  Each systems was considered ( looked at) separately
 The analysis involved in creating drawings / diagrams that show how the data moves
around the system and where it is stored in between flows.
 The problems with this approach are, first the existence of several files of data each
locked with different applications and programs. Second, many of the files in different
applications contains same data, updating the data becomes tedious process, it also
difficult to combine data files created for specific applications.

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Figure-3: Process Oriented Approach

Data Oriented approach

Over time the approach changed to being a more data-oriented. This was a response to the
problems above
 This approach tends to focus on how the data should be represented independently of
where and how data are used in the system
 A data model is produced, which describes the data and relationships between the data.
Business rules define how the organization deals with the data
 Databases are designed around the subjects such as customers, suppliers, parts. This lets
use the dame databases for many different applications
 This means that the application is independent of data and data definitions it is called as
application independence
Systems Integration approach
Today, systems development focuses on systems integration. Systems integration allows
hardware and software from different vendors to work together in an application.

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Figure-4: Data Oriented Approach

2.3 Role of the System Analyst
 A system analyst bridges the communication gap between those who need the
information system and those who understand the technology
 A system analyst facilitates the study of the problems and needs of a business to
determine how the business systems and information technology can best solve the
problem and accomplish improvements for the business.
 Involving End users – it is important to include the people (users or end users) who are
involved in the system. Since,
- They use the system, or will use the new system
- They know about the data and / or processes in the system
- They require reports from the system
 Involving mangers – managers in the business also need to be considered, since
- They define the business goals for projects
- They need to know what resources are required for a project
- They need to know how long the project will take
- They make the decisions
 To succeed as a systems analyst, the skills needed are analytical, technical, managerial
and interpersonal.
 Analytical skill enables to understand the organization and its functions, to identify
opportunities and problems and to analyze and solve problems
 Technical skill helps to understand the potential and the limitations of information
technology. Must be able to work with programming languages and operating systems.
 Managerial skill helps to manage project, resources, risk and changes.
 Interpersonal skill enables to work with end users as well as other analysts and
programmers. Effective written and oral communication skills : a system analyst
plays a major role as liaison among users, programmers and other analyst. Hence
effective written and oral communication skill, including competence in leading
meetings, interviewing end users, and listening are very much required.
2.4 Systems Development Life Cycle – SDLC
 The series of steps used to mark the phases of development for an information system. It
is a common methodology for systems development

Figure-4: Software Development Life Cycle

  Like any other processes, the development of information system is too follows a life
cycle
Ex. a commercial product such as a Maruthi car follows a life cycle: It is created, tested
and introduced to the market. Its sales increase, peak and decline. Finally the product is
removed from the market and replaced by something else.
 The life cycle of an information system may as follows. Someone has idea for an
information system and what it should do. A careful study is done of how the
organization currently handles the work the system will support.
 Professionals develop a strategy for designing the new system, which is then either built
or purchased. Once complete, the system is installed in the organization, and after proper
training, the users begin to incorporate the new system into their daily work.
 The common four SDLC steps are 1) Planning and selection 2)Analysis 3) Design and 4)
Implementation and operation.
 The specific steps and their sequence are meant to be adapted as required for a project, if
necessary the project can return to an earlier phase.
 Some activities in one phase in parallel with some activities of another phase. Sometimes
the life cycle is iterative.
 Each phase has specific outcomes and deliverables that feed important information to
other phase. These deliverables are reviewed by parties outside the project team,
including managers and executives.

The SDLC is a structured approach, it uses data-oriented approach.

Planning and Selection

 Identify needs
 Feasibility study
 Define Scope and
Constraints
 Proposal
Implementation & Analysis
Operation  Describe the current
 Coding, testing, system
installation  Determine
 Documentation, requirements
Training and support  Initial design model
 Fixes of new system
 Enhancements
Design
 Logical Design
 Physical Design

Figure-5: Software Development Life Cycle- Detailed

Systems Planning and Selection
The first phase in the SDLC has two primary activities

 Identifying the need for a new or enhanced system

Information needs of the organization are examined and projects to meet these needs are
identified from
- Requests to deal with problems in current procedures
- The desire to perform additional tasks
- The realization that information technology could be used to improve the
organization
The Systems analyst prioritizes and translates the needs into a written plan including a
schedule for developing new systems.
The organization may decide whether or not the resources devoted for the project and a
careful feasibility study is conducted to determine the economic and organizational
impact of the system

 The second task is Investigating the system and determining the proposed system’s
scope. Then a specific plan for the proposed project for the team to follow is produced.
This Baseline Project Plan customizes the standardized SDLC and specifies the time and
resources needed for its execution
Systems Analysis
It has three sub phases,

 First sub phase involves the systems analyst to determine the requirements of the system,
i.e., what the users want from a proposed system
 Next, the requirements gathered are structured (DFD, ERD) according to their
interrelationships, eliminating the redundancies
 Third, system analyst has to generate alternative initial designs to match the
requirements, best suited design is selected for the development after the comparison of
all alternative designs
Systems Design
 The system analyst converts the description of recommended solution into logical and
physical designs
 Logical design involves in designing the user interface, databases and compute processes,
irrespective of the programming languages ( Algorithms, input and output forms, reports,
table normalization)
 During the Physical design, the analyst team decides the programming language,
database systems to be used, hardware platform, operating systems and network
environment.
 The final outcome of the design phase is the physical system specifications, presented in
the form such as a diagram or written report ready to be turned over to programmers and
other system builders for construction.
Systems Implementation and operation

 In this phase the information system is coded, tested and installed in the organization, and
in which the information system is systematically repaired and improved
 Planning for both testing and installation is to be done as early as the project planning and
selection phase, because they both require extensive analysis in order to develop exactly
the right approach.
 This phase also includes the initial training to the users and documentation of the system
documented throughout the life cycle.
 During operation part, the problems faced by the users should be solved, and changes and
enhancements (new versions) is to be made as per the users’ desire to reflect changing
business conditions.
 There inevitably comes a time, when an information system is no longer performing as
desired, when the costs of keeping a system running become prohibitive, or when an
organization’s needs have changed substantially. Such problems indicate that it is time to
begin designing the system’s replacement, thereby completing the loop and starting the
life cycle over again.
2.5 Approaches for Development

Prototyping, rapid application development(RAD), Joint application design(JAD) and

Participatory design (PD) are four approaches that streamline and improve the systems analysis
and design process.
Prototyping
 Designing and building a scaled-down version of the desired information system with the
help of CASE tools
 Prototyping is a key tool that supports rapid application development. RAD involves
gaining user acceptance of the interface and developing key system capabilities as
quickly as possible.
Joint Application Design
 A structured process in which users, managers and analysts work together for several
days in a series of intensive meetings to specify or review system requirements.
Participatory design
 PD involves users in the development process, they have an equal voice in determining
system requirements and in approving system design.