Software Development Life

Cycle

Chapter1. The Systems Analyst and

Information Systems Development
Chapter 1 Outline

 The systems analyst.

 The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
 Information system project identification and initiation.
 Feasibility analysis.
INTRODUCTION

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is the

process of determining how an information
system (IS) can support business needs, designing
the system, building it, and delivering it to users.
The key person in the SDLC is the systems analyst,
who analyzes the business situation, identifies the
opportunities for improvements, and designs an
IS to implement the improvements.
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THE SYSTEMS ANALYST

 The systems analyst plays a key role in IS development

projects.
 The systems analyst works closely with all project team
members so that the team develops the right system in an
effective way.
 Systems analysts must understand how to apply technology
in order to solve problems.
 Systems analysts may serve as change agents who identify
organizational improvement needed, design systems to
implement those changes, and train and motivate others to
use the systems.
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Systems Analyst Skills

 Technical – Must understand the technical environment,

technical foundation, and technical solution.
 Business – Must understand how IT can be applied to business
situations.
 Analytical – Must be problem solvers.

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(cont’d)

 Interpersonal – Need to communicate effectively.

 Management – Need to manage people and to manage
pressure and risks.
 Ethical - Must deal fairly, honestly, and ethically with other
project members, managers, and systems users.

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Systems Analyst Roles

 Business analyst - Focuses on the IS issues surrounding

the system.
 Systems analyst - Focuses on the business issues
surrounding the system.
 Infrastructure analyst - Focuses on technical issues
 Change management analyst - Focuses on the people and
management issues surrounding the system installation.
 Project manager - Ensures that the project is completed on
time and within budget, and that the system delivers the
expected vale to the organization.

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Career Paths for Systems Analysts

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THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
(SDLC)

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(cont’d)

 The SDLC is composed of four fundamental phases:

• Planning
• Analysis
• Design
• Implementation
 Each of the phases is composed of steps, which rely on
techniques that produce deliverables (specific documents
that explain various elements of the system).

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Planning

 This phase is the fundamental process of understanding why an

information system should be built, and determining how the
project team will go about building it.

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The planning phase has two steps:

1. During project initiation, the system’s business

value to the organization is identified (How
will it lower costs or increase revenues?).
2. During project management, the project
manager creates a work plan, staffs the
project, and puts techniques in place to help
the project team control and direct the
project through the entire SDLC.
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Analysis

 The analysis phase answers the questions of who will use the
system, what the system will do, and where and when it will be
used.
 During this phase the project team investigates any current
system(s), identifies improvement opportunities, and develops
a concept for the new system.

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The analysis phase has three steps:

1. Analysis strategy: This is developed to guide the projects

team’s efforts. This includes a study of the current system and
its problems, and envisioning ways to design a new system.
2. Requirements gathering: The analysis of this information
leads to the development of a concept for a new system. This
concept is used to build a set of analysis models.
3. System proposal: The proposal is presented to the project
sponsor and other key individuals who decide whether the
project should continue to move forward.

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Design

 The design phase decides how the system will operate, in terms
of the hardware, software, and network infrastructure; the user
interface, forms, and reports that will be used; and the specific
programs, databases, and files that will be needed.

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The design phase has four steps:

1. Design Strategy: This clarifies whether the system will be

developed by the company or outside the company.
2. Architecture Design: This describes the hardware, software,
and network infrastructure that will be used.
3. Database and File Specifications: These documents define
what and where the data will be stored.
4. Program Design: Defines what programs need to be written
and what they will do.

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Implementation

 During the implementation phase, the system is either

developed or purchased (in the case of packaged software) and
installed.
 This phase is usually the longest and most expensive part of the
process.

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The implementation phase has three
steps:
1. System Construction: The system is built and tested to make
sure it performs as designed.
2. Installation: The old system is turned off and the new one is
turned on.
3. Support Plan: Includes a post-implementation review as well
as a systematic way for identifying changes needed for the
system.

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PROJECT IDENTIFICATION AND INITIATION

 A project is identified when someone in the organization

identifies a business need to build a system.
 A need may surface when an organization identifies unique and
competitive ways of using IT.
 To leverage the capabilities of emerging technologies such as
cloud computing, RFID, Web 2.0

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Business Process Management (BPM)

 Nowadays many new IS projects grow out of BPM.

 BPM is a methodology used by organizations to continuously
improve end-to-end business processes.

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BPM Process

 Defining and mapping the steps in a business process.

 Creating ways to improve on the steps in the process that add
value
 Finding ways to eliminate or consolidate steps in the process
that do not add value
 Creating and adjusting electronic workflows to match the
improved process maps.

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(cont’d)

 Business process automation (BPA) – technology

components are used to complement or substitute
manual process.
 Business process improvement (BPI) – creating new, re-
designed processes to improve the workflows,
and/or utilizing new technologies enabling new
process structures.
 Business process reengineering (BPR) – changing the
fundamental way in which the organization operate.

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Project sponsor

The project sponsor is a person (or group) who has

an interest in the system’s success
The project sponsor will work throughout the SDLC
to make sure that the project is moving in the right
direction from the perspective of the business.
The project sponsor serves as the primary point of
contact for the project team.
The size or scope of the project determines by the
kind of sponsor that is involved. 1-23
(cont’d)

 The project sponsor has the insights needed to determine the

business value that will be gained from the system.
 Tangible value can be quantified and measured easily
(reduction in operating costs).
 An intangible value results from an intuitive belief that the
system provides important, but hard-to-measure benefits to
the organization.

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System Request

The document that describes the

business reasons for building a system
and the value that system is expected
to provide.
The project sponsor usually completes
this form as part of a formal system
selection process within the
organization. 1-25
(cont’d)

The business requirements of the project refer

to the business capabilities that the system will
need to have.
The business value describes the benefits that
the organization should expect from the
system.
Special issues are included on the document as
a catchall category for other information that
should be considered in assessing the project.1-26
(cont’d)

 The completed system request is submitted to the approval

committee for consideration.
 The committee reviews the system request and makes an initial
determination of whether to investigate the proposed project
or not.
 If so, the next step is to conduct a feasibility analysis.

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FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS

 Feasibility analysis guides the organization in determining

whether to proceed with a project.
 Feasibility analysis also identifies the important risks associated
with the project that must be managed if the project is
approved.

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(cont’d)

 As with the system request, each organization has

its own process and format for the feasibility
analysis, but most include techniques to assess
three areas:
 Technical feasibility
 Economic feasibility
 Organizational feasibility
 The results of evaluating these three feasibility
factors are combined into a feasibility study
deliverable that is submitted to the approval
committee at the end of project initiation.
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Technical Feasibility

 Technical feasibility is the extent to which the system can be

successfully designed, developed, and installed by the IT group.
 It is, in essence, a technical risk analysis that strives to answer
the question: “Can we build it?”

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(cont’d)

 Risks can endanger the successful completion of a

project. The following aspects should be
considered:
 Users’ and analysts’ should be familiar with the application.

 Familiarity with the technology

 Project size

 Compatibility of the new system with the technology that already

exists

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Economic Feasibility

 Economic feasibility analysis is also called a cost-benefit

analysis, that identifies the costs and benefits associated with
the system.
 This attempts to answer the question: “Should we build the
system?”

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Cash Flow Analysis and Measures

 IT projects involve an initial investment that produces a steam

of benefits over time, along with some on-going support costs.
 Cash flows, both inflows and outflows, are estimated over
some future period.

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Simple cash flow projection

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Steps to conduct an economic feasibility
analysis
1. Identify Costs and Benefits
2. Assign Values to Costs and Benefits
3. Determine Cash Flow
4. Assess Project’s Economic Value
- ROI
- BEP
- NPV

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Identify Costs and Benefits

 The costs and benefits and be broken down in to

four categories:
 Development costs
 Operational costs
 Tangible benefits
 Intangibles

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Assign Values to Costs and Benefits
 Once the types of costs and benefits have been identified, the systems
analysts needs to assign specific dollar values to them.

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Determine Cash Flow
 A formal cost-benefit analysis usually contains costs and
benefits over a selected number or years to show cash flow
over time.
- Determine ROI
- Determine BEP
- Determine NPV

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(cont’d)

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Organizational Feasibility

 Organizational feasibility of the system is how well the

system ultimately will be accepted by its users and
incorporated into the ongoing operations of the
organization.
 There are many organizational factors that can have an
impact on the project, and seasoned developers know
that organizational feasibility can be the most difficult
feasibility dimension to assess.
 In essence, an organizational feasibility analysis is to
answer the question “If we build it, will they come?”

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(cont’d)

One way to assess the organizational feasibility is to

understand how well the goals of the project align with the
business objectives and organizational strategies.
A second way to assess the organizational feasibility is to
conduct stakeholder analysis.
A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization that can
affect a new system
- Project champion
- System users
- Organizational management
- Other stakeholders

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SUMMARY

 The Systems Analyst is the key person in the development of

information systems.
 The Systems Development Lifecycle consists of four stages:
Planning, Analysis, Design, and Implementation.
 Project Identification and Initiation recognize a business need
that can be satisfied through the use of information technology.
 System Request describes the business value for an information
system.
 A Feasibility Analysis is used to provide more detail about the
risks associated with the proposed system.

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