GLOBAL E-LEARNING STUDY CENTER

ISEYIN

SECOND SEMESTER, NCE 2 HANDOUT

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System Analysis and Design (SAD)

COURSE CODE: CSC 225

LECTURER: ADEBAYO

DEFINING A SYSTEM
A collection of components that work together to realize some
objectives forms a system. Basically there are three major
components in every system, namely input, processing and output.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS
Basically, it is a procedure of obtaining and analyzing information,
specifying the hardships, and decomposition of a system into its
elements. If you are thinking about why system analysis is
conducted, then here is the answer.
It is conducted to survey a system or you can say its portions to
specify its goals. It is a problem-solving method that expands the
system and guarantees that all the segments of the system work
proficiently to achieve their motivation and analysis indicates what
the system ought to do.

SYSTEM DESIGN
It is a cycle of arranging another business system or supplanting a
current system by characterizing its segments or modules to fulfil
the particular necessities.

Before arranging, you have to comprehend the old system

altogether and decide how computers can best be used to work
productively. Thus, system design centres around how to achieve
the target of the system.

The way to achievement in business is the capacity to gather, sort

out, and interpret data. System analysis and design is a
demonstrated approach that enables both huge and independent
companies to receive the benefits of using data to its full limit.
 OBJECTIVES OF THE SYSTEM ANALYSIS
Most importantly, It assists with planning systems where
subsystems may have clashing destinations and it enables in
comprehension of complicated structures.
 Likewise, System analysis assists with accomplishing bury similarity
and solidarity of the subsystems.
 System analysis gives a favourable position of comprehension and
contrasting the subsystems capacities and complete system.

BENEFITS OF SYSTEM ANALYSIS

There are several explanations why you might want to analyze a
system and here you will see some of the benefits of system
analysis.

1. SAVE MONEY
Analyzing the plans to be undertaken by any business is very
important. However, there can indeed be no 'perfect path'. Still,
when the steps to be taken are properly analyzed before
implementation, it can prove to be of great benefit.
Firstly, there are certain places where the cost will be reduced. Also,
it will minimize the chances of fatal errors and prevent the downfall
of the business. Last but not the least, the correct path also reduces
the scope for future errors.
2. EFFECTIVE SKILL USE
Another important aspect of system analysis is that it is not very
difficult to learn. This means that it does not require any degree or
professional skills. It can be easily taught.
Thus, employers can teach system analysis to employees by using
diagrams, which makes it less time consuming and also cost-
efficient.
3. IMPROVES PRODUCTIVITY
System analysis ensures that a product is made properly and
delivered timely. This may seem to be a small detail, but it plays a
vital role in the field of business. When the system of making a
product is analyzed properly, it will greatly reduce the scope for
errors.

4. ENABLE BETTER MANAGEMENT

System analysis makes managing the business easier and much
more convenient. If the products are finalized without analysis, there
is a huge possibility of having a lot of errors in the final products.
Also, when system analysis is implemented, it makes the software
more flexible. This way, it can adapt to the changing business
environment.
Otherwise, the software will have to be made again from scratch,
which will cost a lot of time, money, and resources.

Advantages of system analysis are:

 The data is reliable.

 You can see exactly what is being done.
 It is inexpensive compared to other techniques.

Disadvantages of system analysis are:

 Being watched may make people uncomfortable and they may

work differently.
 The observations may not be typical of a normal day's work.
 Workers who violate normal procedures may not do that while
being watched.
SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE
System life cycle is an organizational process of developing and
maintaining systems. It helps in establishing a system project plan,
because it gives overall list of processes and sub-processes required
for developing a system.

System development life cycle means combination of various

activities.
In other words we can say that various activities put together are
referred as system development life cycle. In the System Analysis
and Design terminology, the system development life cycle also
means software development life cycle.
Following are the different phases of system development life cycle:
1. Preliminary study
2. Feasibility study
3. Detailed system study
4. System analysis
5. System design
6. Coding
7. Testing
8. Implementation
9. Maintenance
The different phases of system development life cycle is shown in
PHASES OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Let us now describe the different phases and related activities of
system development life cycle.

(A) PRELIMINARY SYSTEM STUDY

Preliminary system study is the first stage of system development
life cycle. This is a brief investigation of the system under
consideration and gives a clear picture of what actually the physical
system is? In practice, the initial system study involves the
preparation of a ‘System Proposal’ which lists the Problem
Definition, Objectives of the Study, Terms of reference for Study,
Constraints, and Expected benefits of the new system, etc. in the
light of the user requirements.
The system proposal is prepared by the System Analyst (who studies
the system) and places it before the user management. The
management may accept the proposal and the cycle proceeds to
the next stage. The management may also reject the proposal or
request some modifications in the proposal. In summary, we
would say that system study phase passes through the
following steps:
1. problem identification and project initiation
2. background analysis
3. inference or findings (system proposal)

(B) FEASIBILITY STUDY

In case the system proposal is acceptable to the management, the
next phase is to examine the feasibility of the system. The feasibility
study is basically the test of the proposed system in the light of its
workability, meeting user’s requirements, effective use of resources
and of course, the cost effectiveness. These are categorized as
technical, operational, economic and schedule feasibility. The main
goal of feasibility study is not to solve the problem but to achieve
the scope. In the process of feasibility study, the cost and benefits
are estimated with greater accuracy to find the Return on
Investment (ROI). This also defines the resources needed to
complete the detailed investigation. The result is a feasibility report
submitted to the management. This may be accepted or accepted
with modifications or rejected. The system cycle proceeds only if the
management accepts it.

(C) DETAILED SYSTEM STUDY

The detailed investigation of the system is carried out in accordance
with the objectives of the proposed system. This involves detailed
study of various operations performed by a system and their
relationships within and outside the system. During this process,
data are collected on the available files, decision points and
transactions handled by the present system. Interviews, on-site
observation and questionnaire are the tools used for detailed system
study. Using the following steps it becomes easy to draw the exact
boundary of the new system under consideration:
1. Keeping in view the problems and new requirements
2. Workout the pros and cons including new areas of the system
All the data and the findings must be documented in the form of
detailed data flow diagrams (DFDs), data dictionary, logical data
structures and miniature specification. The main points to be
discussed in this stage are:
1. Specification of what the new system is to accomplish based
on the user requirements.
 2. Functional hierarchy showing the functions to be performed by
the new system and their relationship with each other.
3. Functional network, which are similar to function hierarchy but
they highlight the functions which are common to more than
one procedure.
4. List of attributes of the entities – these are the data items
which need to be held about each entity (record)
(D) SYSTEM ANALYSIS
Systems analysis is a process of collecting factual data, understand
the processes involved, identifying problems and recommending
feasible suggestions for improving the system functioning. This
involves studying the business processes, gathering operational
data, understand the information flow, finding out bottlenecks and
evolving solutions for overcoming the weaknesses of the system so
as to achieve the organizational goals. System Analysis also includes
subdividing of complex process involving the entire system,
identification of data store and manual processes.
The major objectives of systems analysis are to find answers for
each business process: What is being done, How is it being done,
Who is doing it, When is he doing it, Why is it being done and How
can it be improved? It is more of a thinking process and involves the
creative skills of the System Analyst. It attempts to give birth to a
new efficient system that satisfies the current needs of the user and
has scope for future growth within the organizational constraints.
The result of this process is a logical system design. Systems
analysis is an iterative process that continues until a preferred and
acceptable solution emerges.

(E) SYSTEM DESIGN

Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of the
existing system, the new system must be designed. This is the
phase of system designing. It is the most crucial phase in the
developments of a system. The logical system design arrived at as a
result of systems analysis is converted into physical system design.
Normally, the design proceeds in two stages:
1. Preliminary or General Design
2. Structured or Detailed Design
Preliminary or General Design: In the preliminary or general
design, the features of the new system are specified. The costs of
implementing these features and the benefits to be derived are
estimated. If the project is still considered to be feasible, we move to
the detailed design stage.
Structured or Detailed Design: In the detailed design stage,
computer oriented work begins in earnest. At this stage, the design
of the system becomes more structured. Structure design is a blue
print of a computer system solution to a given problem having the
same components and inter-relationships among the same
components as the original problem. Input, output, databases,
forms, codification schemes and processing specifications are drawn
up in detail.
In the design stage, the programming language and the hardware
and software platform in which the new system will run are also
decided.
There are several tools and techniques used for describing the
system design of the system.
These tools and techniques are:
1. Flowchart
2. Data flow diagram (DFD)
3. Data dictionary
4. Structured English
5. Decision table
 6. Decision tree
THE SYSTEM DESIGN INVOLVES:
1. Defining precisely the required system output
2. Determining the data requirement for producing the output
3. Determining the medium and format of files and databases
4. Devising processing methods and use of software to produce
output
5. Determine the methods of data capture and data input
6. Designing Input forms
7. Designing Codification Schemes
8. Detailed manual procedures
9. Documenting the Design

(F) CODING
The system design needs to be implemented to make it a workable
system. This demands the coding of design into computer
understandable language, i.e., programming language. This is also
called the programming phase in which the programmer converts
the program specifications into computer instructions, which we
refer to as programs. It is an important stage where the defined
procedures are transformed into control specifications by the help of
a computer language. The programs coordinate the data
movements and control the entire process in a system.
It is generally felt that the programs must be modular in nature. This
helps in fast development, maintenance and future changes, if
required.

(G) TESTING
Before actually implementing the new system into operation, a test
run of the system is done for removing the bugs, if any. It is an
important phase of a successful system. After codifying the whole
programs of the system, a test plan should be developed and run on
a given set of test data. The output of the test run should match the
expected results. Sometimes, system testing is considered a part of
implementation process.
Using the test data following test run are carried out:
1. Program test
2. System test
Program Test: When the programs have been coded, compiled and
brought to working conditions, they must be individually tested with
the prepared test data. Any undesirable happening must be noted
and debugged (error corrections)
System Test: After carrying out the program test for each of the
programs of the system and errors removed, then system test is
done. At this stage the test is done on actual data. The complete
system is executed on the actual data. At each stage of the
execution, the results or output of the system is analysed. During
the result analysis, it may be found that the outputs are not
matching the expected output of the system. In such case, the
errors in the particular programs are identified and are fixed and
further tested for the expected output. When it is ensured that the
system is running error-free, the users are called with their own
actual data so that the system could be shown running as per their
requirements.

(H) IMPLEMENTATION
After having the user acceptance of the new system developed, the
implementation phase begins. Implementation is the stage of a
project during which theory is turned into practice.
The major steps involved in this phase are:
 1. Acquisition and Installation of Hardware and Software
2. Conversion
3. User Training
4. Documentation
The hardware and the relevant software required for running the
system must be made fully operational before implementation. The
conversion is also one of the most critical and expensive activities in
the system development life cycle. The data from the old system
needs to be converted to operate in the new format of the new
system. The database needs to be setup with security and recovery
procedures fully defined.
During this phase, all the programs of the system are loaded onto
the user’s computer. After loading the system, training of the user
starts. Main topics of such type of training are:
1. How to execute the package
2. How to enter the data
3. How to process the data (processing details)
4. How to take out the reports
After the users are trained about the computerized system, working
has to shift from manual to computerized working. The process is
called ‘Changeover’. The following strategies are followed for
changeover of the system.
1. Direct Changeover: This is the complete replacement of the
old system by the new system. It is a risky approach and requires
comprehensive system testing and training.
2. Parallel run: In parallel run both the systems, i.e.,
computerized and manual, are executed simultaneously for certain
defined period. The same data is processed by both the systems.
This strategy is less risky but more expensive because of the
following:
Manual results can be compared with the results of the
computerized system.
 a. The operational work is doubled.
b. Failure of the computerized system at the early stage does not
affect the working of the organization, because the manual
system continues to work, as it used to do.
3. Pilot run: In this type of run, the new system is run with the
data from one or more of the previous periods for the whole or part
of the system. The results are compared with the old system results.
It is less expensive and risky than parallel run approach. This
strategy builds the confidence and the errors are traced easily
without affecting the operations.
The documentation of the system is also one of the most important
activity in the system development life cycle. This ensures the
continuity of the system.

There are generally two types of documentation prepared

for any system. These are:

1. User or Operator Documentation

2. System Documentation
The user documentation is a complete description of the system
from the users point of view detailing how to use or operate the
system. It also includes the major error messages likely to be
encountered by the users. The system documentation contains the
details of system design, programs, their coding, system flow, data
dictionary, process description, etc. This helps to understand the
system and permit changes to be made in the existing system to
satisfy new user needs.

(I) MAINTENANCE
Maintenance is necessary to eliminate errors in the system during
its working life and to tune the system to any variations in its
working environments. It has been seen that there are always some
errors found in the systems that must be noted and corrected. It
also means the review of the system from time to time.
The review of the system is done for:
1. Knowing the full capabilities of the system
2. Knowing the required changes or the additional requirements
3. Studying the performance.
If a major change to a system is needed, a new project may have to
be set up to carry out the change. The new project will then proceed
through all the above life cycle phases.