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SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
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Lecture 3
Systems Analysis
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Introduction to Analysis

▪ Analysis is a critical phase in system development and business process

improvement, where gathered information is examined to understand
needs, challenges, and opportunities. It serves as the foundation for
designing efficient, user-friendly, and goal-oriented systems or processes.

▪ In the context of software and business systems, analysis involves breaking

down complex requirements, identifying process inefficiencies, and
ensuring that stakeholder expectations are accurately captured and
addressed. This phase helps organizations make informed decisions, avoid
costly mistakes, and optimize workflows for better performance.
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Key aspects of analysis include:

• Requirements Discovery: Identifying and gathering stakeholder

needs.

• Requirements Analysis: Refining, structuring, and validating

requirements.

• Process Analysis: Evaluating business processes to improve

efficiency.

By conducting a thorough analysis, businesses can align technology

solutions with organizational goals, enhance productivity, and create
systems that meet user expectations effectively.
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Key aspects of analysis

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Requirements Discovery
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A. Requirements Discovery

▪ Definition:

▪ Requirements discovery is the process of identifying,

gathering, and documenting the needs and
expectations of stakeholders for a system or project.
It ensures that the system meets business objectives
and user needs.
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Techniques for Requirements Discovery:
1. Interviews – One-on-one discussions with stakeholders to understand their
needs.
2. Surveys & Questionnaires – Used to collect structured information from
multiple users.
3. Observation – Watching users perform tasks to identify implicit
requirements.
4. Workshops & Brainstorming – Collaborative sessions to gather diverse
perspectives.
5. Document Analysis – Reviewing existing system documentation and
reports.
6. Prototyping – Developing a sample model to validate requirements before
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full implementation.
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Challenges in Requirements Discovery:

• Incomplete or vague requirements.

• Conflicting stakeholder needs.

• Changes in business processes or regulations.

• Communication barriers between technical and

non-technical stakeholders.
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Key aspects of analysis

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B. Requirements Analysis
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◤ B. Requirements Analysis

▪ Definition:

▪ Requirements analysis involves refining and structuring the discovered requirements

to ensure they are clear, complete, consistent, and feasible for implementation.

▪ Key Activities in Requirements Analysis:

1. Categorizing Requirements:
1. Functional Requirements: Define what the system should do (e.g., user authentication).

2. Non-Functional Requirements: Define system quality attributes (e.g., performance,

security).
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3. Business Requirements: Define high-level goals (e.g., increase efficiency).

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Key Activities in Requirements Analysis:
2. Validating Requirements:
✔ Ensuring all requirements are clear, testable, and aligned with business
goals.

✔ Removing ambiguous or conflicting requirements.

3. Prioritizing Requirements:
✔ Using techniques like MoSCoW (Must-have, Should-have, Could-have,
Won’t-have) to determine priority.

4. Documenting Requirements:
✔ Creating requirement specifications, diagrams (e.g., use case diagrams),
and traceability matrices.
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Challenges in Requirements
Analysis:

▪ Requirements analysis is a crucial step in system development,

but it comes with several challenges that can impact the
success of a project. These challenges arise due to
communication gaps, changing business needs, technical
limitations, and stakeholder conflicts.

▪ Below are some common challenges faced during requirements

analysis
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1. Ambiguous or Vague Requirements

▪ Problem:
✔ Stakeholders may provide unclear, incomplete, or poorly defined requirements.
✔ Some requirements may be expressed in subjective terms like “the system should be
user-friendly” without measurable criteria.

▪ Impact:
✔ Leads to misinterpretation by developers and results in a system that does not
meet user expectations.

▪ Solution:
✔ Use structured interviews, prototypes, and requirement validation techniques to
refine requirements.
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✔ Encourage stakeholders to define specific, measurable, and testable

requirements.
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2. Conflicting Stakeholder Needs
▪ Problem:
✔ Different stakeholders (e.g., business users, IT teams, managers) may have conflicting
priorities.
✔ Example: The finance department may prioritize cost-cutting, while the IT team demands
high-performance infrastructure.

▪ Impact:
✔ Leads to disagreements that slow down the analysis process.
✔ Can result in a system that satisfies one group but disappoints another.

▪ Solution:
✔ Use facilitated meetings and negotiation techniques to align stakeholder expectations.
✔ Apply MoSCoW (Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, Won’t-have) prioritization to
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balance conflicting needs.

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3. Evolving or Changing Requirements
(Scope Creep)
▪ Problem:
✔ Business needs, regulations, or market conditions change frequently, leading to evolving
requirements.
✔ Uncontrolled addition of new requirements beyond the initial scope (scope creep).

▪ Impact:
✔ Increases project cost and timeline.
✔ Results in a complex system that may not be fully tested or optimized.

▪ Solution:
✔ Implement change control procedures to manage requirement modifications.
✔ Use Agile methodologies that allow for incremental development and flexibility.
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✔ Clearly define project scope at the beginning and document change requests properly.
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4. Misinterpretation of User Needs

▪ Problem:
✔ Technical teams may misinterpret non-technical users' requirements.
✔ Users may assume developers understand their needs without explicitly stating
them.
▪ Impact:
✔ Results in a system that does not meet real-world user expectations.
✔ Leads to costly rework and redesign.

▪ Solution:
✔ Use user stories, wireframes, and prototypes to visually communicate
requirements.
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✔ Conduct requirement validation workshops with end-users before finalizing

specifications.
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5.◤Lack of Stakeholder Involvement
▪ Problem:
✔ Some stakeholders may be too busy or uninterested in actively participating in the
analysis process.
✔ Decision-makers may delay feedback or fail to communicate priorities effectively.

▪ Impact:
✔ Leads to missing or incomplete requirements.

✔ Causes project delays and misunderstandings between teams.

▪ Solution:
✔ Assign requirement owners for each department to ensure timely feedback.

✔ Use collaborative tools (e.g., JIRA, Trello, Confluence) for continuous

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communication.
✔ Conduct regular review meetings to keep stakeholders engaged.
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6. Technical
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Constraints and Feasibility Issues
▪ Problem:
✔ Some requirements may be too expensive or technologically challenging to
implement.
✔ Example: A request for real-time AI-driven analytics may require high-end
infrastructure that is beyond budget.

▪ Impact:
✔ Can lead to unrealistic expectations and project failures.

✔ May require trade-offs between functionality and feasibility.

▪ Solution:
✔ Conduct feasibility studies early in the project to assess technical constraints.
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✔ Use a proof of concept (PoC) or prototype to test the feasibility of complex

requirements.
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7. Poor Documentation and Requirement
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Traceability
▪ Problem:
✔ Inconsistent or poorly maintained requirement documents.
✔ No clear link between business objectives, user needs, and system requirements.

▪ Impact:
✔ Difficult to track changes, validate implementation, or ensure compliance.
✔ Increases the risk of missing critical functionalities.

▪ Solution:
✔ Use requirement traceability matrices (RTM) to track requirements from inception
to implementation.
✔ Maintain centralized, well-documented requirement specifications in a
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collaboration platform (e.g., Confluence, Google Docs, or SharePoint).

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8. Lack of Expertise in Requirements Analysis
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▪ Problem:
✔ Some teams may lack experienced business analysts or domain experts.

✔ Poor knowledge of best practices in requirement gathering and documentation.

▪ Impact:
✔ Leads to poor-quality requirements that are not aligned with business goals.

✔ Increases risks of project failure due to misunderstandings.

▪ Solution:
✔ Provide training on requirements elicitation and documentation for business
analysts.
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✔ Involve subject matter experts (SMEs) in the analysis process.

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9. Security,
◤ Compliance, and Regulatory Challenges

▪ Problem:
✔ Some requirements may not align with industry standards, legal regulations, or data
security policies.

• Example: A financial institution must comply with GDPR or PCI-DSS standards.

▪ Impact:
✔ Non-compliance can lead to legal penalties and security vulnerabilities.

✔ May require redesigning systems to meet regulatory demands.

▪ Solution:
✔ Conduct regulatory compliance checks during requirements analysis.
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✔ Involve legal and security experts early in the process

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10.◤ Integration Issues with Existing Systems

▪ Problem:
✔ New system requirements may not align with existing infrastructure, databases, or
third-party services.

✔ Lack of proper API and system integration strategies.

▪ Impact:
✔ Can lead to delays, increased costs, or system failures during implementation.

✔ May require expensive middleware solutions.

▪ Solution:
✔ Conduct system compatibility assessments before finalizing requirements.

✔ Use enterprise architecture planning to ensure seamless integration.

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Key aspects of analysis

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C. Process Analysis
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C. Process Analysis

▪ Definition:

▪ Process analysis involves examining business processes to

identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, or areas for improvement.
It helps in designing optimized workflows for new systems.

▪ Steps in Process Analysis:

1. Identify the Process:

1. Define the scope and objectives of the process being analyzed.
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◤ Steps in Process Analysis:

2. Document the Current Process (As-Is):
✔ Use tools like flowcharts, BPMN diagrams, or swimlane diagrams to visualize
workflows.

3. Identify Gaps and Inefficiencies:

✔ Look for redundant steps, delays, manual work that could be automated, or
compliance risks.

4. Redesign the Process (To-Be):

✔ Propose a new workflow that improves efficiency, reduces errors, and enhances
user experience.

5. Validate and Optimize:

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✔ Simulate or test the new process before full-scale implementation.

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Techniques for Process Analysis:

Process analysis techniques help organizations evaluate and improve

workflows by identifying inefficiencies, redundancies, and areas for
optimization. Below are key techniques used in process analysis:

✔ SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).

✔ Root Cause Analysis (e.g., using the "5 Whys" technique).

✔ Benchmarking (Comparing with industry standards).

✔ Value Stream Mapping (Mapping each step to identify waste).

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26 1. SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities,
◤ and Threats)
▪ Purpose:
✔ Helps assess internal and external factors affecting a business process.
✔ Identifies areas for improvement and potential risks.

▪ Application:
✔ Strengths: What works well in the current process?
✔ Weaknesses: What are the bottlenecks or inefficiencies?
✔ Opportunities: How can the process be improved or automated?
✔ Threats: What external factors could disrupt the process?

▪ Example:
A university analyzing its student admission process may find that strengths include an
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online application system, but weaknesses involve slow document verification. An

opportunity could be integrating an AI-based verification system, while a threat may be
cybersecurity risks.
27 2. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) – "5 Whys"
Technique
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▪ Purpose:
✔ Identifies the underlying cause of a problem rather than just its symptoms.

✔ Prevents recurring issues by addressing the root cause.

▪ Application:

• Ask "Why?" five times (or as many times as needed) to drill down to the fundamental issue.

▪ Example:
A customer service process has long response times:
✔ Why? – Agents take too long to reply.

✔ Why? – They are handling too many queries.

✔ Why? – The system doesn’t automatically assign tickets efficiently.

✔ Why? – No priority system is in place.

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✔ Why? – The company has no workflow automation.

▪ Solution: Implement an automated ticketing system with priority-based routing.

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3. Benchmarking
▪ Purpose:
✔ Compares current processes with industry best practices.

✔ Identifies gaps and areas where improvements can be made.

▪ Application:
✔ Internal Benchmarking: Comparing different departments or branches.

✔ Competitive Benchmarking: Comparing with competitors.

✔ Functional Benchmarking: Comparing with organizations outside the industry but

with similar functions.

▪ Example:
A logistics company compares its order fulfillment time with industry leaders like
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Amazon to identify where delays occur and improve efficiency.

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4. Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
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▪ Purpose:
✔ Visualizes the flow of materials, information, and activities in a process.

✔ Identifies waste and areas for streamlining.

▪ Application:
✔ Draw a current state map showing all process steps.

✔ Identify value-adding and non-value-adding steps.

✔ Design an optimized "future state" process map.

▪ Example:
A manufacturing company uses VSM to track delays in its supply chain and
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eliminates unnecessary steps, reducing production lead time by 20%.

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5.◤ Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN)
▪ Purpose:
✔ Uses graphical flowcharts to document business processes.

✔ Helps stakeholders understand and analyze workflows.

▪ Application:
✔ Symbols represent tasks, decisions, and process flows.

✔ Standardized notation improves communication between teams.

▪ Example:
A bank uses BPMN to redesign its loan approval process,
reducing approval time from 5 days to 2 days by eliminating
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redundant verification steps.

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6. Pareto Analysis (80/20 Rule)
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▪ Purpose:
✔ Identifies the most significant problems affecting a process.

✔ Focuses on solving the 20% of issues that cause 80% of inefficiencies.

▪ Application:
✔ Collect data on process problems.

✔ Rank them by frequency or impact.

✔ Focus on resolving the most critical ones.

▪ Example:
A customer service department finds that 80% of complaints come from just 20% of
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product defects. Fixing those defects significantly reduces overall complaints.

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7. Simulation and Process Testing

▪ Purpose:
✔ Uses digital models to test process changes before implementation.

✔ Predicts potential outcomes and risks.

▪ Application:
✔ Software simulations model real-world scenarios.

✔ A/B testing evaluates process changes in a controlled environment.

▪ Example:
A retail company simulates changes in its supply chain to predict the impact of new
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warehouse locations on delivery times.

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Conclusion

▪ Each technique serves a specific purpose, from identifying root

causes (5 Whys) to optimizing workflows (BPMN, VSM) and
improving decision-making (Pareto Analysis, Benchmarking).

▪ Organizations should choose the right technique based on their

needs to enhance process efficiency and drive continuous
improvement.
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Challenges in Process Analysis:

✔ Resistance to change from employees.

✔ Lack of accurate data for analysis.

✔ Overcomplicating process improvements.

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Conclusion:
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• Requirements Discovery ensures all stakeholder needs are

captured.

• Requirements Analysis ensures those needs are refined and

documented properly.

• Process Analysis helps in optimizing workflows to improve

efficiency.

• Proper execution of these three phases leads to a successful

system design and implementation.
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Q&A
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Systems Analysis