Course Code: SEN309

Course Name: System Analysis and Design

Lecture Slides, Compiled & Presented
By
Abdulsalam Shettima Nur
Lecturer, Software Engineering Department, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja.
[email protected]

Teams code for this course:

Section-1: 2e7cj2g
Section-2: carndws 1
 Objectives
❑After completion of this section, you will be able to:
❑Explain System Analyst
✓Know who is system analyst.
✓Discuss about the different skills of system analyst.
✓Describe the attributes of System Analyst.
✓Understand the role of system analyst.
❑Explain System Analysis
✓Explain about the preliminary investigation
✓Elaborate on the user’s information requirements
✓Discuss about the problem definition and project initiation
✓Understand about the background analysis
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 Introduction To System analysts
❑System analysts are IT professionals who act as an intermediary
between users and technical team. They are responsible for
integrating business requirements into technology and ensure
smooth functioning of the business operations.
❑They use both business and technical knowledge for analysing
business processes, computer systems, and infrastructure to
develop effective strategies that can help in accomplishing daily
needs of the organization.
❑To perform their job, system analysts have to be proficient in
programming language, the configuration of systems, and
multiple operating systems.
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 Intro to SyStem analyStS cont’d
❑System analysts bridge between customers, IT persons, and
stakeholders to develop information systems capable of
delivering business requirements. The integration of technology
into business requirements has to be futuristic.
❑It means systems analysts have to develop information systems
that are easy to upgrade in the future if the need arises. They
have to design an information system architecture according to
the user’s requirements which acts as a blueprint for the
programmers.
❑For that, they need to know exactly what users want and also
have to build good relationships and rapport with them to
understand their requirements as well as convey correct and
complete information to the development team. 4
 System Analyst
❑A system analyst is a professional who specializes in analyzing,
designing, and implementing information systems. They act as a
bridge between business problems and technology solutions,
ensuring that business needs are met with appropriate technical
solutions.
❑System analysts work to improve system efficiency, integrate new
technologies, and enhance business processes through effective use
of information systems.
❑The person who plays a major role in the analysis, design and
development of the system is termed as a system analyst.
❑The main responsibility of the system analyst is to bridge the gap
between the user and the software developer. He understands both
the business and the computing. 5
 SyStem analySt cont’d…
❑An analyst must possess various skills to effectively carry
out his responsibilities. These skills are basically divided
into four categories: analytical skills, technical skills,
management skills and interpersonal skills.
❑The system analyst is a person who is thoroughly aware
of the system and guides the system development
project by giving proper directions. He is an expert having
technical and interpersonal skills to carry out
development tasks required at each phase.
❑He pursues to match the objectives of information
system with the organization goal. 6
 Attributes of a Systems Analyst
❑The following figure shows the attributes a systems analyst should
possess.

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 Interpersonal Skills
❑The interpersonal skills enable the system analyst to handle the relationships
with their surrounding business people.
❑The interpersonal skills help system analysts to build trust and solve conflicts
with the users. The various interpersonal skills of system analyst include the
following:
✓ Communication: It enables the system analyst to communicate with the users in
terms of speaking, listening, feeling or reacting to maintain harmony and
coordination.
✓ Understanding: It enables the system analysts in attaining a strong understanding of
the company goals and objectives that helps in identifying problems which may arise
during the system development process.
✓ Selling: It enables the system analyst to contribute in selling ideas and provide
innovative solutions to solve problems using computer systems.
✓ Managing expectations and having the confidence to solve queries. 8
 Technical Skills
❑An analyst must have the ability to understand how computers, networks, databases,
operating systems, etc., work together as a system. He should also know their potentials and
limitations. He must have a good understanding of a wide variety of hardware and software
technologies including:
✓ Computers, such as Personal Computers (PCs), microcomputers, workstations, minicomputers and
mainframe computers.
✓ Computer networks, such as Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Virtual Private
Network (VPNs), administration and security.
✓ Operating systems, such as UNIX, Mac/OS and Windows.
✓ Data communication protocols and standards, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and HyperText
Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
✓ Proficiency in Programming Languages: Understanding of languages such as Java, C#, Python.
✓ Database Management: Knowledge of Structured Query Language (SQL), Oracle, and database design
principles.
✓ System Design Tools: Familiarity with tools like Use-case, Data Flow Diagram (DFD), Unified Modeling
Language (UML), Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD).
✓ Software applications, such as Microsoft Office Tools.
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 Analytical Skills
❑An analyst must have the ability to see things as systems. He should have the ability to identify and
analyse the problem in an effective way so that an optimal solution of the problem can be provided for
a specific organization. Analytical skills include the following:

✓ Systems Thinking: An analyst must have the ability to determine the components, boundaries,
purpose, environment, interfaces, input, output and constraints of the system to be built.
✓ Organizational Knowledge: An analyst should have the understanding of the working of the
organization. He should also have the knowledge of specific functions, internal policies, strategies and
tactics of the organization.
✓ Problem Identification: An analyst must be able to identify the problem by comparing the existing
situation and the desired situation.
✓ Problem Analysing and Solving: An analyst should be able to analyse the problem by collecting all
relevant information. He should be familiar with numerous design approaches required during the
development of software so that various design alternatives can be formulated.

✓ At the same time, he should also be able to translate user’s ambiguous requirements into precise
specifications. He should be able to choose the best solution among the various alternative solutions
and finally, he should be able to put the chosen solution into practice.
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 Management Skills
❑Management skills include project management, resource management,
risk management and change management.
✓ Project Management: A system analyst should be able to determine the tasks and
resources needed for a project and how these tasks and resources are related to
each other. He should assist management in keeping track of progress of the
project to meet due date and budget requirement.
✓ Resource Management: A system analyst should be able to effectively manage
the resources required for the project, including time, equipment, hardware,
software, people, money, etc.
✓ Risk Management: A system analyst should be able to identify and minimize the
risks involved in the project.
✓ Change Management: A system analyst should be able to manage the transition
of the system from one state to another.
✓ Planning and Scheduling: Developing and managing project plans and schedules.
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 Roles of a System Analyst
1. Requirement Gathering and Analysis: 5. Project Management:
▪ Description: Collecting and documenting the requirements ▪ Description: Planning, coordinating, and
of the business or project.
managing system development projects.
▪ Activities: Conducting interviews, surveys, and workshops
with stakeholders to understand their needs. ▪ Activities: Developing project plans, timelines,
2. System Design: resource allocation, and monitoring progress.
▪ Description: Creating detailed specifications and design 6. Quality Assurance and Testing:
plans for system components.
▪ Activities: Developing data flow diagrams, system models, ▪ Description: Ensuring the system meets the
and technical specifications. required standards and functions correctly.
3. Feasibility Analysis: ▪ Activities: Developing test plans, conducting
▪ Description: Assessing the technical, financial, and tests, and managing defect tracking.
operational feasibility of proposed systems.
▪ Activities: Conducting cost-benefit analysis, risk 7. Training and Support:
assessment, and feasibility studies.
▪ Description: Providing training and support to
4. System Integration: end-users and technical staff.
▪ Description: Ensuring that new systems integrate ▪ Activities: Creating user manuals, conducting
seamlessly with existing systems.
training sessions, and offering ongoing support.
▪ Activities: Designing interfaces, data migration plans, and
integration testing.
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 System Analysis
❑It is a process of collecting and interpreting facts, identifying
the problems, and decomposition of a system into its
components.
❑System analysis is conducted for the purpose of studying a
system or its parts in order to identify its objectives. It is a
problem-solving technique that improves the system and
ensures that all the components of the system work efficiently
to accomplish their purpose.
❑The purpose of this phase is to perform a preliminary
investigation to evaluate business opportunities or problem.
The preliminary or initial investigation is a critical step because
the outcome will affect the entire development process.
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 SyStem analySIS cont’d
❑A person responsible for the analysis of the system is known as analyst. In system analysis, the
analyst conducts various activities. The system analyst collects data about the system to be
developed. He uses different tools and methods, depending on situation.

❑Analysts working on the preliminary investigation should accomplish the following objectives:
✓Understanding the objectives of the request.
✓Identify needed information.
✓Clarify and understand the project request.
✓Review current system.
✓Determine the size of the project.
✓Assess costs and benefits of alternative approaches.
✓Determine the technical and operational feasibility of alternative approaches.
✓Report the findings to management, with recommendations outlining the acceptance or
rejection of the proposal.
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 The activities involved in preliminary
investigation are as follows:
1. Conducting Investigation: The data that the analysts collect during the preliminary investigation are
gathered through three primary methods: reviewing organization documents, on-site observations and
conducting interviews.
❑Reviewing Organization Documents: The analysts conducting the investigation first learn about the
organization involved in. However, analysts can get some details by examining organization charts and
studying written operating procedures.
❑On-site observations: Another important technique to collect data is on-site observation. In this method, the
analysts observe the activities of the system directly. One purpose of on-site observation is to get as close as
possible to the real system being studied. During on-site observation, the analysts can see the office
environment, work load of the system and the users, methods of work and the facilities provided by the
organization to the users. Observing the current system in operation is the best way to fact finding.
❑Conducting Interviews:. Interviews allow analysts to learn more (details) about the nature of the project
request and the reason for submitting it. The analyst will conduct interviews with all the people involved in
the project, the senior managerial level as well as the users. The interview process will help to bring out
those issues which may not be available in documents and forms. By conducting interviews, the analyst will
be able to explore and identify the exact problems in the systems, the new requirements of the system and
the expectations.
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 2. Project Feasibility
❑Preliminary investigations examine project feasibility, the likelihood
that the system will be useful to the organization. It is an important
outcome of the preliminary investigation which determines whether
the system, for which the request has been made, is feasible or not.

❑Feasibility study has three aspects as follows:

i. Technical feasibility
ii. Economic feasibility
iii. Operational feasibility
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 Technical feasibility
❑This is related to the technicality ❑Technical issues, which are
of the project. This ponders over generally pointed out during the
the question whether the work for technical feasibility stage, are as
the project can be done with the follows:
existing equipment, the current ▪ Availability of necessary technology.
software package and the available ▪ Technical capability to procure data and
to use new system equipment.
human resources.
▪ Possibility of future upgrade if
❑In case, a new technology is developed.
required, it is essential to know ▪ Technical guarantee for accuracy and
whether it is possible to develop it reliability over and above the factors
further. like ease of access and security of data

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 Economic feasibility
❑Every organization wants to develop a ❑The analysts ponder over various queries of
system that gives some benefit in terms of financial and economic nature during the
financial return and that to at a reasonable preliminary investigation to estimate the
cost. following:
• Cost of full systems investigation.
❑So economic feasibility addresses issues
• Cost of hardware and software .
related to the creation of the system to
• Benefits in the form of reduced costs of
make the costs affordable and acceptable.
operation or fewer costly errors.
❑Another important question is whether the
cost of not creating the system is so great
that it is advisable to undertake the project.
❑A system developed technically and installed
properly must be profitable for the
organization. Financial benefits should be
equal to or more than the cost of the
system. 18
 Operational feasibility
❑This feature of feasibility study is ✓Enough support for the project from the
related to its operational aspect management as well as users. There may
be resistance if people are accustomed to
wherein the working of the the present system and are not ready to
hardware, the software and the think of any alternative system and resist
human resource is to be taken into a change.
account. ✓If an existing business methodology does
not suit the users, a change takes place.
❑Another aspect related to human This brings about a better and useful
resource is whether there will be system in operation.
resistance from users who may not ✓Users’ involvement in the planning and
agree to accept the changes. development of the new system as a
project is very much required.
❑Important aspects of assessing the Involvement from the early stages, i.e.,
operating feasibility are as follows: from the start of the project and during
the development stage too, reduces the
chances of resistance to a great extent.
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 concluSIon of feaSIbIlIty cont’d…
❑Feasibility studies are carried out by a selected group of people having
expertise in IT techniques. They have the ability to understand the parts
of the organization involved or affected by the project and are skilled in
the systems analysis and design process.

❑To be judged feasible, a proposal for the specific project must pass all
these tests. Otherwise, it is not considered to be feasible (Infeasible).

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 3. Handling Infeasible Projects
❑It is not necessary that all projects that are submitted for evaluation and
review are acceptable. In general, requests that do not pass all the
feasibility tests are not process further, unless they are modified and
resubmitted as new proposals.
❑In addition, infeasible projects has adequately expose you to the
different reasons for developing new systems projects, different sources
project requests and most importantly how to select a project out of a
number of project requests. But, it is not all requests that lead to a
project.
❑A system analyst should be able to determine which request should
translate into project based on the outcome of the various kinds of
feasibility studies he will have to carry out. 21
 4. Preliminary Investigation Report
❑Finally, a report of the preliminary investigation is prepared which
contains the following elements:
i. Introduction: Here the request and the report are introduced.
ii. Summary of request: The original system request is summarized so that there is an
understanding of the reason why the investigation is being carried out.
iii. Findings of the investigation: The findings will include a description of the real nature of
problem(s), scope and constraints of the proposed project.
iv. Recommendations: It will include what and why further action is required. Senior
executives will make final decisions keeping in mind the recommendations.
v. Cost and time estimates: Further action includes an estimate of cost and time. The
management should be aware of all costs whenever a new system is installed or
changes are made to the existing system.
vi. Expected benefits: The benefits of implementing the new system are highlighted.
vii. Appendix: It includes supporting data and information, list of interviews, documents or
any other sources of information. 22
 determInIng the uSer’S InformatIon requIrementS

❑Shared, complete and accurate information requirements are essential in

building computer-based information systems. Unfortunately, determining
the information each user needs is particularly difficult task. In fact, it is
recognized as one of the most difficult tasks in system development.
❑The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Curriculum Committee on
Computing Education for Management recognized this by suggesting two
distinct job titles for systems developments: “Information Analyst” and
“Systems Designer” rather than the more general term “Systems Analyst”.
❑The information analyst determines the needs of the user and the
information flow that will satisfy those needs. The usual approach is to ask
the user what information is currently available and what other information is
required. Interaction between the analyst and the user usually leads to an
agreement about what information will be provided by the candidate system.
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 Case Scenario
❑Once you have developed an initial set of functional
requirements during the Requirements Gathering phase
you will have a good understanding of the intended
behavior of the system.

❑Understand what functionality is desired, what

constraints are imposed, and what business objectives
will be satisfied. 24
 Problem Definition and Initiation
❑The classical Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), the analyst first defines the problems
and objectives of the system. These form the foundation of determining what needs to be
accomplished by the system.
❑A problem definition usually contains some sort of problem statement, summarized in a
paragraph or two. This is followed by a series of issues, or major, independent pieces of the
problem. The issues are followed by a series of objectives, or goals that match the issues point
by point.
❑Issues are the current situation; objectives are the desired situation. The objectives may be
very specific or worded using a general statement. Here are some examples of business
questions relating to business objectives:
i. What are the purposes of the business?
ii. Does the company plan to expand?
iii. What is the business’s attitude (culture) about technology?
iv. What is the business’s budget for IT?
v. Does the business’s staff have the expertise? 25
 Problem defInItIon and InItIatIon cont’d
❑The last part of the problem definition contains requirements, the things that
must be accomplished, along with the possible solutions and the constraints
that limit the development of the system.
❑The requirements section may include security, usability, government
requirements, and, so on. Constraints often include the word not, indicating a
limitation, and may contain budget restrictions or time limitations.
❑The problem definition is produced after completing interviews, observations,
and document analysis with the users. The result of gathering this information
is a wealth of facts and important opinions in need of summary. The first step in
producing the problem definition is to find a number of points that may be
included in one issue. 26
 Background Analysis
❑An analysis of the working environment reveals what questions, factors,
problems and solutions to focus upon. The background analysis ensures that
planning is based on current information and experience. Knowledge of the
working environment is imperative to select suitable and sustainable methods
of work.
❑Background analysis that clarifies the elements of the working environment is
necessary before entering into the planning stage of a project. It is a process of
gathering necessary information for a sustainable and suitable working
approach in a specific environment.
❑When a preliminary project idea is found, it is normally time for a proper
background analysis. It is advisable to study the preliminary idea in relation to
the national development plans or the local on-going development processes.
The specification of the analysis varies from case to case but in general it is
good to reserve sufficient time for the background work. 27
 Summary of the Lecture
In this section, we have learned:
1) Who is a system analyst.
2) Different skills of system analyst.
3) The attributes of System Analyst.
4) The role of system analyst.
5) System Analysis in details.
6) Preliminary investigation.
7) User’s information requirements.
8) Problem definition and project initiation.
9) Background analysis.
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Thank You!
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