Systems Investigation and Analysis

1
Systems Investigation and Analysis

• Chapter 12

2
Principles and Learning Objectives

• Effective systems development requires a team
  effort of stakeholders, users, managers, systems
  development specialists, and various support
  personnel, and it starts with careful planning.
• Identify the key participants in the systems
  development process and discuss their roles.
• Define the term information systems planning and
  list several reasons for initiating a systems
  project.
• Identify important system performance
  requirements for applications that run on the
  Internet or a corporate intranet or extranet.
• Discuss three trends that illustrate the impact
  of enterprise resource planning software packages
  on systems development.

3
Principles and Learning Objectives

• Systems development often uses tools to select,
  implement, and monitor projects, including net
  present value (NPV), prototyping, rapid
  application development, CASE tools, and
  object-oriented development.
• Discuss the key features, advantages, and
  disadvantages of the traditional, prototyping,
  rapid application development, and end-user
  systems development life cycles.
• Identify several factors that influence the
  success or failure of a systems development
  project.
• Discuss the use of CASE tools and the
  object-oriented approach to systems development.

4
Principles and Learning Objectives

• Systems development starts with investigation and
  analysis of existing systems.
• State the purpose of systems investigation.
• Discuss the importance of performance and cost
  objectives.
• State the purpose of systems analysis and discuss
  some of the tools and techniques used in this
  phase of systems development.

5
An Overview of Systems Development
6
Participants in Systems Development
7
Initiating Systems Development
8
Information Systems Planning
9
Aligning Corporate and IS Goals
10
Developing a Competitive Advantage

• Creative analysis
• Critical analysis
• Going beyond automating manual systems
• Question assumptions
• Identify and resolve conflicting objectives

11
Establishing Objectives for Systems Development

• Performance objectives
• Output quality or usefulness
• Output format quality or usefulness
• Speed at which output is produced
• Cost objectives
• Development costs
• Fixed investments
• Ongoing operating costs
• Uniqueness costs

12
Systems Development and E-Commerce

• Internet technology - enables companies to extend
  their information systems beyond their boundaries
  to reach their customers, suppliers, and
  partners.
• Dynamic Core Business Application that runs over
  the Web - must be reliable and fault tolerant,
  providing continuous availability while
  processing all transactions accurately.

13
Trends in Systems Development and ERP

• ERP vendor as one-stop provider
• Applications to integrate with ERP systems
• External consulting

14
Systems Development Life Cycles
15
Systems Development Life Cycles
16
The Traditional Systems DevelopmentLife Cycle
17
Advantages and Disadvantages of Traditional SDLC
18
Prototyping
19
Prototyping
20
Advantages and Disadvantages of Prototyping
21
Rapid Application Development (RAD)
22
Reasons for Outsourcing
23
Factors Affecting Systems Development Success

• Degree of Change
• Continuous Improvement versus Reengineering
• Managing change

24
Factors Affecting SystemsDevelopment Success
25
Quality and Standards
26
The Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
27
Project Management

• Project schedule
• Project milestone
• Project deadline
• Critical path

28
Use of Project Management Tools
29
Use of Project Management Tools
30
Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Tools

• Automate many of the tasks required in a systems
  development effort and enforce adherence to the
  SDLC, thus instilling a high degree of rigor and
  standardization to the entire systems development
  process
• Upper-CASE tools - CASE packages that focus on
  activities associated with the early stages of
  systems development.
• Lower-CASE tools - focus on the later stages of
  systems development and are capable of
  automatically generating structured program code.
  
• Integrated-CASE tools - provide links between
  upper- and lower-CASE packages.

31
CASE Tools
32
Object-Oriented Systems Development

• Object-oriented systems development typically
  involves
• Identifying potential problems and opportunities
  within the organization that would be appropriate
  for the OO approach
• Defining the kind of system users require
• Designing the system
• Programming or modifying modules
• Evaluation by users
• Periodic review and modification

33
Systems Investigation

• In general, systems investigation attempts to
  uncover answers to the following questions
• What primary problems might a new or enhanced
  system solve?
• What opportunities might a new or enhanced system
  provide?
• What new hardware, software, databases,
  telecommunications, personnel, or procedures will
  improve an existing system or are required in a
  new system?
• What are the potential costs (variable and
  fixed)?
• What are the associated risks?

34
Participants in Systems Investigation
35
Feasibility Analysis
36
Sample Net Present Value Calculation
37
Object-Oriented Systems Investigation
38
The Systems Investigation Report
39
Systems Analysis
40
Identifying Sources of Data
41
Collecting Data
42
Data Analysis

• Data modeling
• Activity modeling
• Application flowcharts
• Grid charts
• CASE tools

43
Data and Activity Modeling
44
Application Flowcharts
45
Grid Charts
46
Requirements Analysis

• Asking directly
• Critical success factors (CSFs)
• The IS plan
• Screen and report layout

47
The IS Plan
48
Screen and Report Layout
49
Object-Oriented Systems Analysis
50
The Systems Analysis Report
51
Summary

• Systems development team - of stakeholders,
  users, managers, systems development specialists,
  and various support personnel
• Five phases of the traditional SDLC -
  investigation, analysis, design, implementation,
  and maintenance and review
• Systems investigation participants -
  stakeholders, users, managers, employees,
  analysts, and programmers