System Analysis & Design - System
Planning
What is Requirements Determination?
A requirement is a vital feature of a new system which may include processing
or capturing of data, controlling the activities of business, producing
information and supporting the management.
Requirements determination involves studying the existing system and
gathering details to find out what are the requirements, how it works, and
where improvements should be made.
Major Activities in requirement Determination
Requirements Anticipation
It predicts the characteristics of system based on previous experience which
include certain problems or features and requirements for a new system.
It can lead to analysis of areas that would otherwise go unnoticed by
inexperienced analyst. But if shortcuts are taken and bias is introduced in
conducting the investigation, then requirement Anticipation can be half-baked.
Requirements Investigation
It is studying the current system and documenting its features for further analysis.
It is at the heart of system analysis where analyst documenting and describing
system features using fact-finding techniques, prototyping, and computer
assisted tools.
Requirements Specifications
It includes the analysis of data which determine the requirement specification,
description of features for new system, and specifying what information
requirements will be provided.
It includes analysis of factual data, identification of essential requirements, and
selection of Requirement-fulfillment strategies.
Information Gathering Techniques
The main aim of fact finding techniques is to determine the information
requirements of an organization used by analysts to prepare a precise SRS
understood by user.
Ideal SRS Document should −
be complete, Unambiguous, and Jargon-free.
specify operational, tactical, and strategic information requirements.
solve possible disputes between users and analyst.
use graphical aids which simplify understanding and design.
There are various information gathering techniques −
Interviewing
Systems analyst collects information from individuals or groups by
interviewing. The analyst can be formal, legalistic, play politics, or be
informal; as the success of an interview depends on the skill of analyst as
interviewer.
It can be done in two ways −
Unstructured Interview − The system analyst conducts question-answer
session to acquire basic information of the system.
Structured Interview − It has standard questions which user need to respond
in either close (objective) or open (descriptive) format.
Advantages of Interviewing
This method is frequently the best source of gathering qualitative information.
It is useful for them, who do not communicate effectively in writing or who may
not have the time to complete questionnaire.
Information can easily be validated and cross checked immediately.
It can handle the complex subjects.
It is easy to discover key problem by seeking opinions.
It bridges the gaps in the areas of misunderstandings and minimizes future
problems.
Questionnaires
This method is used by analyst to gather information about various issues of
system from large number of persons.
There are two types of questionnaires −
Open-ended Questionnaires − It consists of questions that can be easily and
correctly interpreted. They can explore a problem and lead to a specific direction
of answer.
Closed-ended Questionnaires − It consists of questions that are used when
the systems analyst effectively lists all possible responses, which are mutually
exclusive.
Advantages of questionnaires
It is very effective in surveying interests, attitudes, feelings, and beliefs of users
which are not co-located.
It is useful in situation to know what proportion of a given group approves or
disapproves of a particular feature of the proposed system.
It is useful to determine the overall opinion before giving any specific direction to
the system project.
It is more reliable and provides high confidentiality of honest responses.
It is appropriate for electing factual information and for statistical data collection
which can be emailed and sent by post.
Review of Records, Procedures, and Forms
Review of existing records, procedures, and forms helps to seek insight into
a system which describes the current system capabilities, its operations, or
activities.
Advantages
It helps user to gain some knowledge about the organization or operations by
themselves before they impose upon others.
It helps in documenting current operations within short span of time as the
procedure manuals and forms describe the format and functions of present
system.
It can provide a clear understanding about the transactions that are handled in
the organization, identifying input for processing, and evaluating performance.
It can help an analyst to understand the system in terms of the operations that
must be supported.
It describes the problem, its affected parts, and the proposed solution.
Observation
This is a method of gathering information by noticing and observing the
people, events, and objects. The analyst visits the organization to observe
the working of current system and understands the requirements of the
system.
Advantages
It is a direct method for gleaning information.
It is useful in situation where authenticity of data collected is in question or when
complexity of certain aspects of system prevents clear explanation by end-users.
It produces more accurate and reliable data.
It produces all the aspect of documentation that are incomplete and outdated.
Joint Application Development (JAD)
It is a new technique developed by IBM which brings owners, users, analysts,
designers, and builders to define and design the system using organized and
intensive workshops. JAD trained analyst act as facilitator for workshop who
has some specialized skills.
Advantages of JAD
It saves time and cost by replacing months of traditional interviews and follow-up
meetings.
It is useful in organizational culture which supports joint problem solving.
Fosters formal relationships among multiple levels of employees.
It can lead to development of design creatively.
It Allows rapid development and improves ownership of information system.
Secondary Research or Background Reading
This method is widely used for information gathering by accessing the
gleaned information. It includes any previously gathered information used by
the marketer from any internal or external source.
Advantages
It is more openly accessed with the availability of internet.
It provides valuable information with low cost and time.
It act as forerunner to primary research and aligns the focus of primary research.
It is used by the researcher to conclude if the research is worth it as it is available
with procedures used and issues in collecting them.
Feasibility Study
Feasibility Study can be considered as preliminary investigation that helps
the management to take decision about whether study of system should be
feasible for development or not.
It identifies the possibility of improving an existing system, developing a new
system, and produce refined estimates for further development of system.
It is used to obtain the outline of the problem and decide whether feasible or
appropriate solution exists or not.
The main objective of a feasibility study is to acquire problem scope instead of
solving the problem.
The output of a feasibility study is a formal system proposal act as decision
document which includes the complete nature and scope of the proposed system.
Steps Involved in Feasibility Analysis
The following steps are to be followed while performing feasibility analysis −
Form a project team and appoint a project leader.
Develop system flowcharts.
Identify the deficiencies of current system and set goals.
Enumerate the alternative solution or potential candidate system to meet goals.
Determine the feasibility of each alternative such as technical feasibility,
operational feasibility, etc.
Weight the performance and cost effectiveness of each candidate system.
Rank the other alternatives and select the best candidate system.
Prepare a system proposal of final project directive to management for approval.
Types of Feasibilities
Economic Feasibility
It is evaluating the effectiveness of candidate system by using cost/benefit
analysis method.
It demonstrates the net benefit from the candidate system in terms of benefits
and costs to the organization.
The main aim of Economic Feasibility Analysis (EFS) is to estimate the economic
requirements of candidate system before investments funds are committed to
proposal.
It prefers the alternative which will maximize the net worth of organization by
earliest and highest return of funds along with lowest level of risk involved in
developing the candidate system.
Technical Feasibility
It investigates the technical feasibility of each implementation alternative.
It analyzes and determines whether the solution can be supported by existing
technology or not.
The analyst determines whether current technical resources be upgraded or added
it that fulfill the new requirements.
It ensures that the candidate system provides appropriate responses to what
extent it can support the technical enhancement.
Operational Feasibility
It determines whether the system is operating effectively once it is developed and
implemented.
It ensures that the management should support the proposed system and its
working feasible in the current organizational environment.
It analyzes whether the users will be affected and they accept the modified or new
business methods that affect the possible system benefits.
It also ensures that the computer resources and network architecture of candidate
system are workable.
Behavioral Feasibility
It evaluates and estimates the user attitude or behavior towards the development
of new system.
It helps in determining if the system requires special effort to educate, retrain,
transfer, and changes in employee’s job status on new ways of conducting
business.
Schedule Feasibility
It ensures that the project should be completed within given time constraint or
schedule.
It also verifies and validates whether the deadlines of project are reasonable or
not.
