Building Information Systems

Lecture Notes

Systems Development Life Cycle

One method of using the systems approach to develop information system solutions,
and the most prevalent one in organization systems analysis and design, can be
viewed as a multistep, iterative process called the systems development life cycle
(SDLC). Following figure illustrates what goes on in each stage of this process: (1)
investigation, (2) analysis, (3) design, (4) implementation, and (5) maintenance. It is
important to realize, however, that all of the activities involved in the SDLC are
highly related and interdependent. The brief description of each step is given below:

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Systems Investigation Phase: The preliminary feasibility analysis stage

(sometimes referred to as systems investigation) is the first step in the systems
development process. The investigation stage includes the preliminary feasibility
study of proposed information system solutions to meet a company’s business
priorities and opportunities as identified in a planning process. The preliminary
feasibility study of a project is a very rough analysis of its viability that must be
continually refined over time. There are five types of feasibility studies need to be
carried under this stage:

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• Operational Feasibility Test: The objective of operational feasibility test is to

see whether the proposed solution is a good fit with organization’s vision,
mission, culture and structure. This test checks that the proposed solution will
be a good match with the current process and will not disrupt the process
upon implementation.
• Economic Feasibility Test: The objective of economic feasibility test is to
conduct the cost-benefit analysis of the proposed solution. Above all the
invested money need to have a substantial monetary return. This test assures
that fact. In order to do the cost-benefit analysis, all the possible costs
(tangible and intangible) and benefits (tangible and intangible) need to be
considered.
• Technical Feasibility Test: The objective of technical feasibility test is to see
whether the proposed solution is a good fit with the existing technical
infrastructure.
• Human Factor Feasibility Test: The objective of human factor feasibility test
is to be whether the proposed solution is a good fit with the organization’s
people and people’s skills.
• Legal / Political Feasibility Test: The objective of this test is to see whether
the proposed solution is a good fit with the internal and external rules,
regulations, policies and procedures.

Systems Analysis Phase: Systems analysis is not a preliminary study; however, it

is an in-depth study of end-user information needs that produces functional
requirements that are used as the basis for the design of a new information system.

Systems analysis traditionally involves:

• Organizational Analysis helps the analyst to know the management

structure, organization’s vision, mission statement, goals so that the
information systems can address these issues for higher value addition.

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• Analysis of the Present System, which is conducted when there is already

an old information systems in place, finds out the aspects that can be
improved and the bottleneck that can be resolved.
• Logical Analysis is used to construct the logical models of the present
system that is under analysis. Logical model can be thought as a blueprint of
the current systems that displays only what the current system does and
without regard for how it does it.
• Functional Requirement Analysis and Determination is one of the most
difficult tasks in Systems Analysis. Firstly, the analyst needs to determine
what type of information each business activity requires; what its format,
volume, and frequency should be; and what response times are necessary.
Secondly, he/she must try to determine the information processing
capabilities required for each system activity (input, processing, output,
storage, and control) to meet these information needs.

Systems Design Phase: Once the analysis portion of the life cycle is complete, the
process of systems design can begin. During the physical design portion of this step,
users and analysts will focus on determining how the system will accomplish its
objectives. This phase Focuses on three major products, or deliverables, that should
result from the design:

• User Interface Design: User interface is basically the front-end that is used
by general users of the system. User interface includes various forms,
screens, reports and so on.
• Data Design: This is typically used by the database administrator or the
system administration and thus is known as the back-end. Data design
includes the data structure, user access policy for the data, data related
models and so on.
• Process Design: This is used to illustrate how the processes work and
interrelate with each other. Process design is useful for controlling the
automated process and upgrading the system later on.

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Systems Implementation Phase: Implementation can be a difficult and

timeconsuming process; however, it is vital in ensuring the success of any newly
developed system. Even a well-designed system will fail if it is not properly
implemented, which is why the implementation process typically requires a project
management effort on the part of IT and business unit managers. There are six
basic activities of implementation can be identified: (1) Acquisition (2) Testing, (3)
Data Conversion, (4) Documentation, (5) Training, and (6) Systems Conversion.

• Acquisition of Hardware, Software and Services: A major activity during

the implementation phase of the SDLC is the acquisition of the hardware and
software necessary to implement the new system.
• Testing: System testing may involve testing and debugging software, testing
Web site performance, and testing new hardware. An important part of testing
is the review of prototypes of displays, reports, and other output. Prototypes
should be reviewed by end users of the proposed systems for possible errors.
• Data Conversion: Data conversion is the process of copying the data from
the old system and moving those data in the new system. A good data
conversion process is essential because improperly organized and formatted
data are frequently reported to be one of the major causes of failures in
implementing new systems.

• Documentation: Developing good user documentation is an important part of

the implementation process. Documentation serves as a method of
communication among the people responsible for developing, implementing,
and maintaining a computer-based system.
• Training: Training is a vital implementation activity. Information Systems
personnel such as user consultants, must be sure that end users are trained
to operate a new business system or its implementation will fail.
• Systems Conversion: This is the step when the new system will be started
and old system will be stopped.

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Systems Maintenance Phase: Managing and implementing change requests is

only one aspect of the systems maintenance phase activities. There are four basic
categories of maintenance can be identified: (1) corrective, (2) adaptive, (3)
perfective, and (4) preventive.

The activities associated with corrective maintenance are focused on fixing bugs
and logic errors not detected during the implementation testing period. Adaptive
maintenance refers to those activities associated with modifying existing functions
or adding new functionality to accommodate changes in the business or operating
environments. Perfective maintenance activities involve changes made to an
existing system that are intended to improve the performance of a function or
interface. The final category of maintenance activities, preventive maintenance,
involves those activities intended to reduce the chances of a system failure or
extend the capacity of a current system’s useful life.

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