Chapter 3

Analysis phase

INTRODUCTION

Systems Analysis is a detailed study of the current system, including its

procedures, information flows and methods of work organization and control. This
phase tries to identify and fully scrutinize all the information about the current
system. The analysis phase is one of the most important phases in the project life
cycle. It outlines who is currently using the system, what data, how and where the
data is handled in the current system. It also involves process modeling, that is,
how the current processes are represented. The main purpose of this stage is to
provide a clear insight on how the current system operates, and how it is to be
integrated into the proposed solution.

Objectives of the phase:

This analysis phase aims to establish the following information:

 More comprehensive details about the current manual system.

 An outline of problems with the current system.
 Requirements and limitations of present system.
 More about what the new system should be able to do.
 The expectations of the new system from various stakeholders.
 To evaluate possible alternatives and establish the best possible solution.

3.1 INFORMATION GATHERING METHODOLOGIES

During our investigation of the current system, we had to gather as much
information as possible. We gathered information about the current inputs,
processes and outputs of the manual system. The techniques we employed to
collect data from various sources within the organization includes;
Interviewing
Observations
Questionnaires
Document reviews

3.2.1: Interviews
By definition, an interview is a fact finding technique whereby the systems analyst

collect information from individuals through face-to-face interaction. An interview

is generally recognized as the most important and most often used fact gathering

technique. All members in the various departments including stakeholders were

interviewed.

Advantages of interviews
Interviews are useful when complex topics are encountered.
Body language could be read and translated.
Interviews ensured an immediate response to all questions.
It allows interviewees to ask questions for clarification purposes.
Non-verbal communication ensured certainty of information.
Uncomfortable questions could easily be dropped.
Room for probing additional information was given
3.2.1.4: Disadvantages of interviews
 to get the most out of the interview ther is need for proper planning
 interviewees are reluctant to give information(not all exactly).
 It is costly as compared to use of questionnaires as you have to arrange for
and prepare for the right venue.
 it is time consuming if there is need for clarifications.
work activities were interrupted.
 Interviewees were not revealing negative facts and confidential information
as they try to protect their seniors and reputation because they feared
victimization. The interviews were subject to bias given that a few people
were interviewed.
 Other staff members were not available when the interviews were
conducted.
.

3.2.2: Observation

By definition, observation is the basic method of monitoring the events of the day-
to-day operations in such a way those being monitored are not aware of it. A
personal observation was made to gather knowledge from the current system by
observing and analyzing their daily routines and procedures.

The main limitation of using this methodology was that targeted people may act or
behave in an unusual manner after noticing that they were being observed.
3.2.2.3: Advantages of observation
 the behaviour of those being observed that are respondents is almost
accurate since they will not be aware of existence of the observation.
 Data collected is very accurate in nature and also very reliable.
 Improves precision of the research results.
 There is no much dependence on respondents .
 verbal response is more understandable by this method.
 By using this method, highly accurate and original information was obtained
since the information was first hand.
 The ongoing operations were not affected.

3.2.2.4: Disadvantages of observation

 past problems cannot be studied by means of observation.
 very costly since special instruments might be need for controlled
observations..
 Having no other option one has to depend on the documents available
 Some facts were difficult to analyze and interpret, in other words, clarity on
certain areas was difficult since no questions were asked.
 it is also the time consuming to carry out the observations..

3.2.3 Questionnaires

By definition ,a questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series

of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from
respondents or customers.
3.2.3.2 Advantages of questionnaire
 They were economical in terms of costs and time.
 They are brief and user friendly.
 Information can be collected from a large group of people in a short period
of time.
 Responses to questionnaires are easy to compile.
 The respondents had time to consider their responses before writing them
down.
 It provided reliable data for the author.
 Respondents answered the questionnaires more openly expressing their
views since they were made to be anonymous.
 Private and confidential and no one would fear victimization.

 A large sample was covered and assessed.

 There is a record at hand of what is being researched on.

3.2.3.3 Disadvantages of questionnaire

 The interviewee gets what he already wants to know and what he already
has.
 Some questions on the questionnaires were returned unresponded to.
 Preceded answers were biased as they follow the analyst’s way of seeing
things.
 Demanding in terms of personal commitment
 much information was collected in a short period of time, but high costs of
producing the questionnaires were incurred .

 Some of the answers were vague

  Other people even lacked the interest to write down information.

3.2.4 Document reviews

By definition,document review is a way of collecting data by reviewing existing

documents. The documents may be hardcopy or electronic. The documents maybe
internal to an organization or to a program.

3.2.4.1 Advantages of reviewing documents

 All the information on hard copies was reviewed without bias.
 Analyst obtains accurate information on how the procedures were
documented.
 An assessment of the existing systems strengths and weaknesses by review
of documents output is carried out without bias or justification as documents
provide solid evidence that cannot be changed.

3.2.4.2 Disadvantages of reviewing documents

information is already written for the author ,hence no room for clarification
The process of collecting, reviewing and analyzing documents is time
consuming.
No room to question for the errors that are made on some of the classified

documents such as those of sales history.

ANALYSIS OF EXISTING SYSTEM

Chloride Zimbabwe currently employs a non integrated system for all its process
operations. All departments have a separate information system which serves that
particular departments purpose. When information is needed in other department
areas, for decision making processes, it has to be exported by external means,
which eats on precious time especially when employees take time to deliver.

The current system consists of different types of systems. For the sales system, a
sales day book is opened each working day. In the book, sale details are recorded
which include product name, quantity and the price. After the business day is done,
the total sales are counted and the figure balanced out with the cash received. The
sales day book is then compared with the stock book for proper verification of
batteries sold .In the purchasing department,if stock re-order levels are reached, the
company operates a module in the purchases system were the purchases orders are
received and approved. Supplier details are captured together with quantities of
the different raw materials. In the inventory department, The details are noted, that
is the supplier, amount spent, and any identification features. The stock book is
opened at the receipt of goods from the purchase. The quantity of goods, supplier,
product name and many more details are noted. A description of the status of the
goods is made.

After recording the necessary raw materials these are sent to the store house were
they are removed when needed for production.the human resorce department
works by recording all details pertaining to the current employees of the
organisation in the manufacturing sector.finance department involves activities
such as making of sales reports and also outlining of future financial plans.th.ose
involved in the transportation of the finished products thatb are batteries as well as
shipping back the necessary raw materials for continued production .Finally the
production department which involves outlining what has been brought forward by
supervisors for production.to do this they have to inquire with the inventory
department for the availability of resources such as wtre ,acids and metal casings
e.t.c.

3.4 Process analysis

The analysis of the current system can be best done by conducting an in-depth
review of how the activities are currently being performed at Chloride Zimbabwe
battery manufacturing plant.

This is conducted by detailing the:

 Input,
 Processes and
 Output of the current setup

Input

There is capturing of new details of required battery specifications .

Capturing of new employees details .
Issuing out of a plan to cater for the requirements of the customer and make
decisions .
Restocking of raw materials.

Processes
 Start manufacturing of the batteries if proposal approved .
 Document the procedures of manufacturing batteries for future productions
 Issue out reports(sales ,financial e.t.c)

Output
 Compare finances with the required costs of manufacturing that type of battery.
 The recruited staff must be capable of producing quality ,standardized batteries.

Context diagram
A context diagram is a data flow diagram (DFD) which represents a complete
system. It shows the overall system boundaries, external entities that interact with
the system, and relevant information flows between these external entities and the
system . Below is a detailed context diagram of the current system for Chloride
Zimbabwe.

Customer Finance
Feedback Authorizes

reports
Requirement data

Resource Planning
System

Resources
available
Production Human resource
management management

Fig 3.2 Context diagram

Key

Process

Entity

Data Flow
 3.5.2 Data flow diagram of the current system

The developers managed to capture the inputs and processes within the current
system and presented the information in the form of a Data Flow Diagram. This
showed how the processes interacted with the entities within the system.

enquiry/purchases cash/credit
p Finance Purchases pro
Customer
sales records

sales records financial statements purchase

Sales
invoice/receipt trans records pro

transaction records purchase order

Supplier

delivery product enquiry

note
Inventory
delivery route product list personnal request

Human response
Transport resources Applicant
deliver & raw materials request

route records

delivery note personal request job application

Production
delivery request

production records

employee records
Fig: data flow of existing system
Key

Process

Data store

Data flow

Entity
3 Strengths of the current system
 The current system does not involve too many complex tasks.
 It is very easy for users to learn the manual system.
 The existence of manual system can be used as a good starting point for
developing a better system.

3.3.4 Weaknesses with the current system

 The current system is time consuming and strenuous when it comes to

delivering information between departments.
 It involves too many financial calculations and mathematical operations
which are hard with the manual systems
 Clerical errors when taking down details.

 Poor system security, everybody can access the information.

 Data is inconsistent and not always up to date because of poorly structured

separate data files that contain a lot of redundant data.

 Information is arranged and stored without proper indexing for reference.

 In the event that there is need to address a problem, response is slow since
quick access of details may be difficult.
 The system is more of an information store with limited data manipulation
capabilities. It provides reports with information of little value to
management.
3.7 EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES

The alternatives which were considered include:

3.7.1 Outsourcing
By definition, outsourcing is the process of bringing in external developers to
implement the required system. With the economy driving towards globalization,
many companies are hard bound to gain a competitive advantage by cutting their
costs, optimizing efficiency, and greater customer service. If you are looking for a
one word answer then offshore development or outsourcing is the gateway to
access. Outsourcing software development has proved to be a great success for
many companies worldwide. Globalization is forcing a lot of companies to
constantly improve their competitive edge. Outsourcing will reduce your internal
costs while allowing your company to focus on its core competencies. In a fast
moving technological software so it is wise to outsource some of your function
while keeping intact your business processes.
Advantages of outsourcing

 Cost effective - Outsourcing makes sense for cutting costs while reducing
workload on the employees.

 Time effective- Software development takes less time when people are
working on your application around the clock, so you can get product to
market more quickly than your competitors can.

 Lack of in-house experience - when the internal resources of the company

are not enough to globalize the company’s business, outsourcing software
development will bring new dimension to manage a business worldwide.
  Business application will be more sound and systematic for an overall
performance.

 Flexibility- When you outsource, you don’t have to spend time recruiting,
hiring, training, and housing employees for short term projects.

 Focused Strategy- Outsourcing software development would streamline

business processes. It will provide a focused strategy to have a competitive
advantage in the technological race.

 Improved Compliance- Outsourcing software development would create an

automated compliance system that will reduce human follow ups in business
process.

 Enhanced Accuracy-Offshore development will improve work accuracy in

terms given deadlines on a project. Defined software will deliver accurate
results in less turnaround time.

 Technological Advancement- Technology is evolving in different countries

of the world. Companies thriving to gain competitive advantage are better
off shoring software development. For technological prowess.

 Risk mitigation-You can mitigate risks by choosing an outsourcing firm that

has a high quality project management system and a tried and true process of
developing applications.

Disadvantages of outsourcing

 Service provider want to diversify and take more projects- To diversify the
business of I.T outsourcing, service provider’s want to take more projects
and in that case sometimes they cannot give performance to all projects.
  Customer is Novice- Many a times, customer is novice and in the effort to
satisfy him, the project may go haywire.

 The resulting system is not flexible and may not meet the specified
requirements since there are some constraints in customizing the vendor
developed system.

 The developers will not have firsthand experience on the current system and
the reason

 They won’t accept the fact that there are people who have little computer
knowledge so there interface may not be user friendly.

 Some programmers in the team may be spies and may create some
vulnerability in the system to facilitate espionage.

 It will be costly in the long run as the development houses sub-contracted

may hike maintenance costs in the long term.

 Maintenance of the system will be difficult for the IT department, as in most

cases the development tools will not be familiar to staff

Estimated costs of outsourcing software

Item Costs($USD)
Buying Software(Software price) 900,00
Customizing to suit own needs 400,00
Maintenance from supplier 900,00
Licenses 900,00
Total costs 3100,00
Improvements to the existing system

Improving an existing system requires close collaboration with staff members,

careful sequencing of improvements, and close monitoring of plans. Many
organizations find it helpful to hire a local consultant or consulting firm to
facilitate the process.This implies modification of the existing procedures and the
source code for the system.
Advantages of improving the existing system
 Work will be done faster through the recruitment of new staff.
 Documentation of the current system is already available.
 Backup facilities will be provided.
Disadvantages of improving the existing system
 Current limitations of the system can as well be incorporated to the proposed
system
 There will be data redundancy and duplication of tasks.
 More costs will be incurred in recruiting more staff

Estimated costs of improving the existing system

Item Costs($USD)
Hire consultant firms 1800,00
Recruit more staff 400,00
Maintenance from supplier 400,00
Total costs 2600,00
Estimated costs of improving the existing system

In-house Development
In-house development means that a company has programmers on its staff and
develops software internally. The development of software in-house usually
implies certain assumptions:
 The projects being considered should be carried out on the existing
computer-based systems available.

 Methodologies and technologies to be used are not selected by the project

manager but are dictated by an IT plan.

 Every one involved directly in the project must belong to the same
organisation

Advantages

 Upgrades will be done internally whenever the need for upgrades arise, as
the people who will provide the system support will have developed the
system; therefore it will save costs in a long run.

 All user requirements and specification are incorporated into the new
system.

 The developer will have the necessary experience. This makes the system
maintenance process easy.

 Costs are reduced since most of the required support is available.

 Internally those who work in the company better understand the needs of the
company and the areas that greatly need automation on the overall.
 Can manage and control the program development process
  Internal project team members can provide unique user requirements

 Areas that need change or additions can be easily identified and adjusted.

 Internal systems designers can provide more effective training, evaluation

and follow-up.

 It is cheaper to incorporate changes to the product later (i.e. version control).

3.7.3.2 Disadvantages of in-house development

 The system might face with resistance from users and stakeholders who are
computer illiterate might fear for their jobs.
 In-house staff may lack specialized experienced needed for the project and
may need training which is time consuming and costly.

 They might lack continuity if the workforce show negative attitude against
the development of the new system.

3.7.3.3 Estimated costs of in-house development

Item Costs($USD)
Development time 250,00
Programmers 1000,00
User training 250,00
Updates and upgrades 500,00
Total costs 2000,00
Table 3.3 Estimated costs of in-house development

Decision
The total cost of each alternative is summarized in table 3.4 below.

Summery of total costs of alternatives

Alternative Costs($USD)
Outsourcing software 3100,00
Improving the existing system 2600,00
In-house development 2000,00

Table 3.4 Summery of cost of each alternative

After evaluating all the possible alternatives , it has been approved to implement
the in-house software development strategy because of the following reasons:-
 In-house development has low costs compared to improving the existing
system and outsourcing the software.

 Upgrades are done internally whenever the need arises since people who
will be providing the support will be readily available.

REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS

In the following paragraphs requirements for a new system are considered putting
into light what will be intended. The following are realized:
Functional Requirements

Functional requirements capture the intended behavior of the system. This

behavior may be expressed as services, tasks or functions the system is required to
perform. The essence of the project is to integrate the current system that is causing
problems within the department.

At the end of the project the following functionalities will be offered by the new
system:
Automatic employee record generation-this will have all the details for the
employee e.g. employee name, address and all attached details.
Automatic report generation for all modules
High security measure and different user views for different user groups of
data
Perform data integrity checks before data is entered into the system
Provision of a central repository that eliminates need for up’s and down’s
transporting data
The system should have access control mechanisms that include the use of
passwords and individual access rights. Each user should have a unique
Username and a password. The system administrator should be able to grant
access privileges to users that restrict the kind of the data they can view or
modify.
Use of a central database to enable real-time data capturing and
manipulation to facilitate access to customer account details.

Non –functional requirements

The system will have the following non-functional requirements:

A user friendly graphical user interface
Error handling capabilities
A log on feature limiting individual users to those featuresIdentify and trap
user input errors such as input of wrong data t
Error handling

The system should have error handling for:

 Data entry\capture
 Data\user details analysis

Security Issues

 The system must have a log on password

 Access levels should vary with different users to protect information
 Passwords must be long enough

Security of information

The proposed system must be more secure through:

 The use of secure authentication mechanisms such as passwords and access

rights to system users.
 Capturing the details of the user currently logging on to the system.

System efficiency and throughput

The proposed system is supposed to:

 Eliminate face to face interactions between the surgeon and clients.

 Eliminate duplication of data.
 Improvement of the services provided in terms of response time, efficiency and
reliability.
 Reduction of operational costs due to minimization on the overtimes and
stationery costs.
Usability
 Be able to enter correct information in the system.
 Be able to retrieve information from the database.
 Be able to update the database on each and every transaction made.

Technical Constraints

In the development of the system we anticipated that the following can be

encountered during the different stages of development;

 There were not enough manpower to concentrate on different modules of the

system
 We had time constraints because more time was needed to complete the project
as it encompassed the amalgamation of many modules that will be used within
the system.

Cost

 The notable costs come from the consultation, making user manuals and
training of these users that is the staff .
 These costs will be recovered in the long run.

CONCLUSION
The analysis chapter has been concluded with all the alternatives taken into
account. The advantages of designing a new system have been seen to outweigh
their opposing limitations. The functional and non functional requirements were
also identified. It is therefore imperative to design a new IRP system for Chloride
Zimbabwe according to the specifications, and functionality mentioned above.