SYSTEMS ANALYSIS & DESIGN

Sefakor
 Recommended Text
• Dennis, Wixom, & Tegarden Systems Analysis
and Design with UML, 6th Edition Copyright
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
 Learning Objectives
• What is Systems Analysis and Design?
• Why build systems?
• Objectives and goals of systems development.
• Why projects fail.
• The systems development life cycle (SDLC)
– Identify the four phases
• Analyst/Team roles & skill sets
• Problems with traditional SDLC
• Object-oriented systems analysis & design
• The agile systems development approaches
– Scrum
– XP
– Lean and Kanban
– The Agile Manifesto
• The Unified Modeling Language (UML)
 Systems Analysis & Design
 Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) defines
software engineering (SE) as ‘the application of a systematic,
disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and
maintenance of software; that is, the application of engineering to
software’ (Bourque, 2014)

 Information systems development (ISD) is defined as “The integrated

social and technical practices of conceptualizing and realizing
information technology-based systems, and managing the associated
changes and implications to accomplish specific goals in
organizational contexts” (Hassan and Mathiassen, 2018)

 ISD is also known as Systems Analysis and Design because the

process of ISD takes the shape of analyzing the system and designing
 Why Build Systems?

Solve a business problem

Capture a business opportunity
“Because my boss asked me to”
 Project failures

 1985 Software design flaws in Therac-25 machine lead to

radiation overdoses and killed 3 patients

 1994 Denver Airport lost $1.1 million/day for more than 3

months because software problems in the baggage handling
system

 2000 Standish Group Study

 Only 28% of system development projects successful
 72% of projects cancelled, completed late, over budget, and/or
limited in functionality

 2018 – Uber’s self-driving test car kills a pedestrian.

 The system did not read the woman pushing a bicycle crossing the
street as a pedestrian
 Why Do Projects Fail?
o Incomplete or changing requirements
o Lack of customer involvement
o Lack of executive support
o Developer/technology incompetence
o Lack of resources
o Unrealistic expectations
o Poor integration between Dev and Ops
(Development and Production environments)
 The manager vs. the techie
 Many managers recognize the need to change but don’t fully understand
the opportunities or how to employ the technology effectively

 Many technical people understand the details of various technologies

but don’t have the management background or authority to provide
consistent, integrated solutions.

 A business problem is not the same as a technical problem.

 Which one of these is a business problem (select all)?
 How much inventory to order for next week?
 Which item needs to be promoted?
 Our subscription renewal rate is declining
 Lecturers are having problems accessing email from students
 Communication gaps between developers and
customers (users)
• Systems are created to solve problems.

• One can think of the systems approach as an

organized way of dealing with a problem.

• In this dynamic world, The subject System

Analysis and Design, mainly deals with the
software development activities.
 What is Systems Analysis and Design (SAD)?
• 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

Why is it important?
• Success of information systems depends on good SAD
• Widely used in industry - proven techniques
• increasing demand for systems analysis skills
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 The World of the Modern System Analyst
• System Analysis: the process of understanding and specifying in
detail what the information system should do

• System Design: the process of specifying in detail how the many

component parts of the information system should be implemented

• System Analyst: A professional who used analysis and design

techniques to solve business problems (involving information
technology)

• A theme of the course: developing effective information systems is

much more than just writing computer programs (involves
cognitive skills in understanding problems and knowing where
computer technology best “fits in”)
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The Analysts’ Research and understand the problem
Approach to Problem
Solving
Verify that the benefits of solving the
problem outweigh the costs

Develop a set of possible solutions

(alternatives)

Decide which solution is best,

and make a recommendation

Design the details of the chosen

solution

Implement the solution

Monitor to make sure the you

Obtain the desired results
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 The Systems Analyst: Skills
 Agents of change
 Identify ways to improve the organization
 Motivate & train others

 Skills needed:
 Technical: must understand the technology
 Business: must know the business processes
 Analytical: must be able to solve problems
 Communications: technical & non-technical audiences
 Interpersonal: leadership, management and collaboration
skills
 Ethics: deal fairly and protect confidential information
 The Systems Analyst: Roles

 Business Analyst
 Focuses on the business issues
 Systems Analyst
 Focuses on the IS issues
 Infrastructure Analyst
 Focuses on the technical issues
 Change Management Analyst
 Focuses on the people and management issues
 Project Manager
 Ensures that the project is completed on time and
within budget
 Thinking in terms of “Systems”
• What is a system?

A system is a collection of interrelated components

(subsystems) that function together to achieve
some outcome (e.g. biological system, computer
system, social system)

An information system is a collection of interrelated

components that collect, process, store and
provide as output the information needed to
complete business tasks (e.g. payroll system)

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 What is a System?
• Basically there are three major components in every system,
namely input, processing and output.

• In a system the different components are connected with each

other and they are interdependent.

• A system exists within an environment

• A boundary separates a system from its environment
 Characteristics of a System
• Components
• Interrelated Components
• Boundary
• Purpose
• Environment
• Interfaces
• Constraints
• Input
• Output
General Depiction of a System
input

boundary

interrelationship

subsystem

output
output

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 Important System Concepts
• Functional Decomposition
– The process of breaking down a system into
smaller components

– Allows the systems analyst to:

• Break a system into small, manageable
subsystems
• Focus on one area at a time
• Concentrate on component pertinent to one
group of users
• Build different components at independent
times
Types of Systems

i) Physical Systems, such as man, weapons etc.

ii) Abstract Systems, such as god, nature etc.

iii) Open Systems, such as man.

iv) Closed Systems, such as Chemical process.

v) Probabilistic Systems, such as arrival pattern, class

etc.

vi) Man made – Machine Systems, such as aeroplane.

 Open and Close Systems

• A closed system is one which is self contained.

– It has no interaction with its environment.
– No known system can continue to operate for a long
period of time without interacting with its
environment.
• An open system continuously, interacts with its
environment.
– This type of system can adapt to changing internal
and environmental conditions.
– A business organization is an excellent example of an
open system.
 Deterministic and Probabilistic System
• The behavior of a deterministic system is completely known.
– There is no uncertainty involved in defining the outputs of the system
knowing the inputs.
– This implies that the interaction between various subsystems is
known with certainty.
– Computer program is a good example of deterministic system, here,
knowing the inputs, the outputs of the program can be completely
defined.

• In the probabilistic system, the behaviour cannot be predicted

with certainty; only probabilistic estimates can be given.
– In this case, the interactions between various subsystems cannot be
defined with certainty.
System Development Life Cycle
(SDLC)

The SDLC is the process of understanding how

an information system can support business
needs, designing the system, building it, and
delivering it to users.
The key person in the SDLC is the systems analyst.

Duties of the System Analyst

– analyzes the business situation
– identifies opportunities for improvements
– designs an information system to implement them.
Note
• the primary objective of the systems analyst is not to
create a wonderful system.

• The primary goal is to create value for the organization,

which for most companies means increasing profits
(government agencies and not-for-profit organizations
measure value differently).
Many failed systems were abandoned because the
analysts tried to build a wonderful system without
clearly understanding how the system would fit
with the organization’s goals, current business
processes, and other information systems to
provide value.
• The SDLC is composed of FOUR fundamental
phases:
– Planning

– Analysis

– Design

– Implementation
The Need for a Formal Process: The Systems
Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
 The SDLC Process
 The process consists of four phases
 Each phase consists of a series of steps
 Each phase is documented
(deliverables)
 Phases are executed sequentially,
incrementally, iteratively or in some
other pattern
 Questions to be Answered
 Planning phase
 Why should we build this system?
 What value does it provide?
 How long will it take to build?
 Analysis phase
 Who will use it?
 What should the system do for us?
 Where & when will it be used?
 Design phase
 How should we build it?
 Project Phases

• Planning (Why build the system?)

• Analysis (Who, what when, where will the
system be?)
• Design (How will the system work?)
• Implementation (System delivery)
SDLC: Planning Phase
SDLC: Analysis Phase
SDLC: Design Phase
SDLC: Implementation Phase
 Planning

• Identifying business value

• Analyze feasibility
• Develop work plan
• Staff the project
• Control and direct project
 Analysis

• Analysis
• Information gathering
• Process modeling
• Data modeling
 Design
• Physical design
• Architectural design
• Interface design
• Database and file design
• Program design
 Implementation
• Construction
• Installation
Processes and Deliverables
Process Product
Project Plan
Planning

System Proposal
Analysis

System
Design
Specification

New System and

Implementation
Maintenance
Plan
Systems Development
Methodologies
• A methodology is a formalized approach to
implementing the SDLC.
• Categories
• Process Oriented
• Data Centered
• Object oriented
• Structured
• Rapid Action Devt
• Agile Dev’t
Classes of Methodology
Which Methodology to Use
What is Agile development
Agile’s Focus on People
Agile’s Manisfeto