Introduction to

Systems Analysis and

Design

Text
Text Book:
Book: System
System Analysis
Analysis and
and Design
Design
By:
By: Elias
Elias M.
M. Awad
Awad
 What is Systems Analysis
and Design?
Systems are created to solve problems.

Think of the systems approach as an

organized way of dealing with a problem.

System Analysis and Design, mainly deals

with the software development activities.
 Defining A System
 Thisterm is derived from a Greek word
systema which means an organized
relationship among functioning units and
components.

A collection of components that work

together to realize some objective forms a
system.

 Basicallythere are three major components

in every system, namely input, processing
and output.
 Systems Analysis: understanding and
specifying in detail what an information
system should do

 System Design: specifying in detail

how the parts of an information system
should be implemented
System analysis and design
focus on three main things:
Systems: complete knowledge required for
the makeup of the system which in turn
requires knowledge about the functioning of
an organization for which the system is being
designed
Processes

Technology

Thus a system is a way of thinking bout

an organization and their problems which
involves techniques that helps in solving
those problems.
Basic implications of a
System
 A system exists because it is designed to
achieve one or more objectives.
As we know that the system consists of small
sub systems where none of the sub systems is
of much use as a single independent system
So there are three basic implications:
 A system must be designed to achieve
predetermined objectives.
 Interrelationships and interdependencies
must exist among the components.
 The objectives of an organization must be
given higher priority than the objectives of the
sub system.
Characteristics of a
system:
organization (order),
interaction,
interdependence,
integration
central objective
Characteristics of a system contd..

1. Organization
• structure and order
• Example: Hierarchical organization in a
company.
• Computer system: organization of various
components like input devices, output
devices, CPU and storage devices

2. Interaction
• Between sub systems or the components
• Example: the main memory holds the data
that has to be operated by the ALU.
3. Interdependence
• Component linkage
• Component dependence

4. Integration
• How subsystems are tied together to
achieve the system objective

5. Central Objective
• Should be known in early phases of
analysis
Elements of a System
A system is a set of components working
together to achieve some goal.
The basic elements of the system may
be listed as:
 Resources-h/w, s/w and liveware (human)
◦ Example: Banking system- computers,
trained staff

 Procedures- set of rules to accomplish the

goal of the system.
◦ Example: Banking systems have their
predefined rules for providing interest at
different rates for different types of
accounts.
 Data/Information -inputs/outputs
 IntermediateData- intermediate
transformation of data before final output
◦ Output depends on it

 Processes-operational elements to convert

i/p into o/p
◦ Example: the processing of a cheque as a
process.
◦ A cheque passes through several stages
before it actually gets processed and
converted

 Environment
◦ System should adapt to the environment
 ◦ Example: Y2K problem for computer systems.
Those systems, which are not Y2K compliant, will
not be able to work properly after year 2000. For
computer systems to survive it is important
these systems are made Y2K compliant or Y2K
ready.
• Feed Back
Compares
the output
against a
performanc
e standard.

Useful to
improve the
system to
meet the
 Boundaries and Interfaces
◦ Every system has defined boundaries within
which it operates. Beyond these limits the
system has to interact with the other
systems.

◦ Interfaces are another important element

through which the system interacts with the
outside world

 Should be customized to the user needs.

These should be as user friendly as
possible.
 Types of Systems
1.Physical or Abstract System
◦ Physical system: tangible entities
◦ static or dynamic in nature.
◦ Example : system-computer centre
 Desks and chairs are the static parts
 Programs, data, and applications can change
according to the user's needs.

◦ Abstract systems are conceptual. These are not

physical entities. They may be formulas,
representation or model of a real system.
2.Open Closed System- Majority of
systems are open systems
◦ open system has many interfaces with
its environment
◦ can also adapt to changing
environmental conditions
◦ can receive inputs from, and delivers
output to the outside of system

Closed systems: Systems that don't

interact with their environment. Closed
systems exist in concept only.
3.Man made Information System
◦ Information system is the basis for
interaction between the user and the
analyst.
◦ Main purpose-manage data for a
particular organization.

◦ Further Categorized as:

 Formal Information Systems:
 Responsible for flow of information
from top management to lower
management
 But feedback can be given from lower
authorities to top management.
 Informal Information Systems:
 Informal systems are employee
based.
 These are made to solve the day to
day work related problems.

 Computer-Based Information Systems:

 This class of systems depends on the
use of computer for managing
business applications
1. Formal Information system
Management and information levels in
an organization:
Categories of information:

Information can be categorized

as:
◦ strategic information
◦ managerial information
◦ operational information.
Strategic information

 Strategic information is the information

needed by top most management for
decision making.
 This information is not required by the
lower levels in the organization.
 The information systems that provide
these kinds of information are known as
Decision Support Systems (DSS).
For example the trends in revenues
earned by the organization are required
by the top management for setting the
policies of the organization.
Managerial information

 required by the middle management

 used for making short term decisions and
plans for the organization
 Management information system (MIS)
caters to such information needs of the
organization.
 Information like sales analysis for the past
quarter or yearly production details etc. fall
under this category.
Operational information
 relating to the daily or short term
information needs of the organization such
as attendance records of the employees.
 This kind of information is required at the
operational level for carrying out the day-
to-day operational activities.
 The information system is known as
Transaction Processing System (TPS) or
Data Processing System (DPS).
 Some examples of information provided by
such systems are processing of orders,
posting of entries in bank, evaluating
overdue purchaser orders etc.
2. Informal Information system

 “The system of relationships and lines of

authority that develops spontaneously as
employees meet; that is the human side of
the organization.

Basic Characteristics:
◦ Involves two or more people
◦ Informal relationships, groupings &
interactions
◦ Involves the human need to socialize
◦ Includes both friendly and hostile
relationships and interactions
3. Computer based information systems

a) Transaction Processing Systems or Data

Processing Systems
 TPS processes business transaction of the
organization.
 Transaction can be any activity of the
organization.
 Transactions differ from organization to
organization.
 For example, take a railway reservation system.
Booking, canceling, etc are all transactions.
 Any query made to it is a transaction.
 Transaction processing systems provide speed
and accuracy, and can be programmed to follow
routines functions of the organization.
b)Management Information Systems
 These systems assist lower management
in problem solving and making decisions.
 They use the results of transaction
processing and some other information
also.
 An important element of MIS system is
database.
 And the information is accessed through
DBMS.

 But there are two drawbacks of database

i.e. requirement of a specialized personnel
and need to secure data from
unauthorized access.
The three sub-components:
 System emphasizing a fair degree of
integration and a holistic view;
 Information stressing on processed data
in the context in which it is used by end
users;
 Management focusing on the ultimate
use of such information systems for
managerial decision making.
Components of MIS
c) Decision Support Systems
 These systems assist higher management
to make long term decisions.
 These type of systems handle unstructured
or semi structured decisions.
 A decision is considered unstructured if
◦ there are no clear procedures for making
the decision and
◦ if not all the factors to be considered in
the decision can be readily identified in
advance.
 The user should be able to produce
customized reports by giving particular data
and format specific to particular situations.
 Three fundamental components of a
DSS architecture are:

 the database (or knowledge base).

 themodel (i.e., the decision context and

user criteria), and

 the user interface.

 The
users themselves are also important
components of the architecture.
Classification of DSS
 Using the relationship with the user as the
criterion:
 A passive DSS is a system that aids the
process of decision making, but that cannot
bring out explicit decision suggestions or
solutions.

 An active DSS can bring out such decision

suggestions or solutions.

 A cooperative DSS allows the decision

maker (or its advisor) to modify, complete,
or refine the decision suggestions provided
by the system, before sending them back to
 Using the mode of assistance as the criterion :
 A communication-driven DSS supports
more than one person working on a shared
task; examples include integrated tools like
Microsoft's NetMeeting or Groove.

 A data-driven DSS or data-oriented DSS

emphasizes access to and manipulation of
a time series of internal company data and,
sometimes, external data.

 A document-driven DSS manages,

retrieves, and manipulates unstructured
information in a variety of electronic
formats.
A knowledge-driven DSS provides
specialized problem-solving expertise stored
as facts, rules, procedures, or in similar
structures.

A model-driven DSS emphasizes access to

and manipulation of a statistical, financial,
optimization, or simulation model.

 Model-driven DSS use data and parameters

provided by users to assist decision makers
in analyzing a situation; they are not
necessarily data-intensive
Basic Principles of a successful
system

 System should be of use for the user.

 Ready in time.
 Visible benefits
 Maintained effectively
 Well documented.
Man Made and Automated systems
Man-made systems
Man-made systems include such things as:
1. Social systems: organizations of laws,
doctrines, customs, and so on.
2. An organized, disciplined collection of
ideas.
3. Transportation systems: networks of
highways, canals, airlines and so on.
4. Communication systems: telephone,
telex, and so on.
5. Manufacturing systems: factories,
assembly lines, and so on.
6. Financial systems: accounting,
inventory, general ledger and so on.
Most of these systems include computers
Automated systems:
 Some information processing systems may not be
automated because of these common reasons:
◦ Cost; Convenience; Security; Maintainability;
Politics.
Automated systems are the man-made systems
that interact with or are controlled by one or
more computers.

We can distinguish many different kinds of

automated systems, but they all tend to have
common components:
1.Computer hardware (CPUs, disks, terminals, and
so on).
2.Computer software: system programs such as
operating systems, database systems, and so
on.
3. People: those who operate the system,
those who provide its inputs and consume
its outputs, and those who provide
manual processing activities in a system.

4. Data: the information that the system

remembers over a period of time.

5. Procedures: formal policies and

instructions for operating the system.
 Real-Life business sub system
1. Production sub system:
◦ Related to production of goods and
services.
◦ Main problems involved are:
 Plant Location
 Plant layout
 Production policy(how much unit has
to be produced)
 Purchase and inventory control.
 Production planning and control
 Quality and cost control.
2. Materials Management sub system
◦ Purchase of material(quality and cost)
◦ Storage and handling of material.
3. Financial Management sub system
◦ Proper utilization of funds
◦ Various issues involved like dividend
policy etc.
4. Personnel Management sub system
◦ Deals with people at work
◦ Planning man-power
◦ Recruitment
◦ HR policies
5. Marketing Management sub system
◦ Marketing strategies
◦ Increasing the sales and thus the profit.
Real-Time system
 Real-time systems have been defined as:
"those systems in which the correctness of
the system depends not only on the logical
result of the computation, but also on the
time at which the results are produced“
 Real-time systems often are comprised of a
◦ Controlled system
◦ environment.
 Controlling system: acquires information
about environment using sensors and
controls the environment with actuators.
 Con trolled System

sensor
sensor
sensor
Controlling sensor
Environment
System actuator
actuator
actuator
actuator
 Hard versus soft real time system
 Hard: failure to meet constraint is a fatal fault.
 Validation system always meets timing
constraints.
◦ Deterministic constraints
◦ Probabilistic constraints
◦ Constraints in terms of some usefulness
function.

 Soft:late completion is undesirable but

generally not fatal.
 No validation or only demonstration job meets
some statistical constraint.
 Occasional missed deadlines or aborted
execution is usually considered tolerable.

Distributed system
A distributed system is a collection of
independent computers that appear to the
users of the system as a single system.
 Examples:
◦ Network of workstations
◦ Distributed manufacturing system (e.g.,
automated assembly line)
◦ Network of branch office computers
Advantages of Distributed Systems
• Economics: cost effective way to increase
computing power.
• Speed: a distributed system may have more
total computing power than a mainframe.
• Ex. 10,000 CPU chips, each running at 50
MIPS. Not possible to build 500,000 MIPS
single processor since it would require 0.002
nsec instruction cycle.
• Reliability: If one machine crashes, the
system as a whole can still survive. Higher
availability and improved reliability.
• Incremental growth: Computing power can
be added in small increments. Modular
expandability
◦ Data sharing: allow many users to
access to a common data base
◦ Resource Sharing: expensive
peripherals like color printers
◦ Communication: enhance human-to-
human communication, e.g., email, chat
◦ Flexibility: spread the workload over
the available machines
Disadvantages of Distributed Systems

◦ Software: difficult to develop software

for distributed systems
◦ Network: saturation, lossy
transmissions
◦ Security: easy access also applies to
secrete data