The purpose of system Analysis.
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
INVESTIGATE SYSTEM ANALYSIS
Element 5.1 Pcs 1 & 2
By Nicky Wilson
GNVQ Advanced I.T
Action Plan
6th March
Received assignment to be completed and handed in by 26th March 1985
6th March -
0th March
Look through notes and handed out literature, read up on the Books,
Information Processing for BTEC, and Business Information Systems on
the Purpose of System Analysis. Make relevant notes.
0th March -
4th March
Gather relevant information from above books and looking through Small
Business computer systems and BTEC in computing,. on the Main stages of
System Analysis. Make notes on relevant Information.
4th March -
8th March
Go to Tutor For a review to see how I am doing
9th March
After outcome of review, Start to type up first draft, adding any other
Information.
20th March
Take work to tutor for a Second review on how I am doing.
21st March
After outcome of review with tutor, take action accordingly. if anything is
incorrect and rectify. Check work through before typing up final draft.
22nd March
Type up Final draft
0th January
Hand in final work.
Nicky Wilson
GNVQ Advanced I.T
System Analysis Element 5.1
PC`s 1 and 2
I am at present employed as a junior System Analyst by Scarborough Computer Services.
The company has been approached by Lee Gowans LTD a company of builders with a view
to installing an Information system. This company has been experiencing difficulties in losing
business to more efficient competitors all whom have computerised Information systems. My
Managing Director has had a meeting with Lee Gowans board of directors and briefly
explained the classic Development Life cycle of an Information System, but this has left a
certain amount of confusion in the minds of some of the directors, none of whom are familiar
with Information Systems.
My Managing Director has asked me to prepare a report for the Lee Gowans directors to
describe and explain the Purpose and Main stages of System Analysis.
The Purpose of System Analysis
System Analysis is the process of studying an existing system to determine how it works and
how it meets the users needs. System Analysis identifies any problems. Part of system
Analysis involves an Investigation, which will usually involve establishing a working
relationship with the client, and the various users involved with the working of the system
Meeting Client Needs
When evaluating an Information system the Analysts job is to Identify the problems that the
client has in the present system. Define a system that solves the problem and meet the
customers needs, This may not involve a new system. They must understand the problem,
and make a decision, i.e. what should be done, and what can be done, but the ideal is not
always the best. This is fundamental to system Analysis.
The users that are involved with the system are.
. Hands on End user Who operates the system or has direct Interaction
through system equipment.
2. Indirect hand user This is the user who reports on Info produced by the system
by the system, but does not use the system.
3. User Manager Overseas Investment in Development or use of system, has
organisational responsibility, for the control of system
Activities.
4. Senior Management Incorporates Competitive and strategic use of Information
system with plans and strategies and evaluates the system.
All Possible Problems must be identified, for if not all a new system will do is Incorporate
those problems.
Improved ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
2. Indirect hand user This is the user who reports on Info produced by the system
by the system, but does not use the system.
3. User Manager Overseas Investment in Development or use of system, has
organisational responsibility, for the control of system
Activities.
4. Senior Management Incorporates Competitive and strategic use of Information
system with plans and strategies and evaluates the system.
All Possible Problems must be identified, for if not all a new system will do is Incorporate
those problems.
Improved Decision Making
Basic requirements of an Information system is to provide Data that will improve the decision
making in the company in question, if it does not meet these requirements then it is no good at
all. With the possibility of a new system been introduced Improved decision making should be
made better, there is less chance of error. There is a large amount of information available on
a Information system, the data is relevant, current and can be displayed and updated
immediately. This will improve decision making and achieve greater accuracy for the
company.
Identifying the Cost Benefit
When evaluating a new Information system, there are a number of things that you need to
take into account, you need to know how much the company's willing to spend on a new
system, the cost of running this etc. One thing the analyst must remember is that the Ideal
Solution is not always the best, this may because the Cost of a new system may be too great
for the companies requirements.
The company will want to know what the Benefit of the proposed system will mean to there
company, because if there is no benefit to be gained by a new system what is the point of
changing the present system. Examples of cost benefit for the company could be a reduction
in staff, but this does not always occur very often, instead increased activity is possible with
existing staff.
Other benefits that may occur as a result of the new system are, but the amount of cash
saving is hard to define, these could be
. Increase in sales
2. Better credit control
3. More accurate Information
4. Information available faster
5. Better service to customers
6. Increased profits
Defining Actions
When evaluating an Information system the actions need to be examined thoroughly too see
how the activities can be handled successfully by the Information system. In the case of Lee
Gowans builders business this could mean there business could be improved by having there
procedures changed, for instance when deliveries arrive they could be scanned by a bar code
scanner, this would check the purchase order with a delivery note, checking then becomes
instantaneous. This would mean that the goods then could go straight into stock. The
advantages of this are that there system would be quicker and far more efficient.
Defining Processes
The Processes involved in an computer system, refers to how the computer controls and uses
the data. The system will have to decide what processes the data will go through. It will have
to decide whether the data is to be.
Transformed Transforming is the method of changing something from its
original state to an other state. There are two methods of
transforming data, these are found on next page
Calculating This is the method of adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying
numbers to find out the value of certain numbers. An example of its
use In your firm would be the Payroll department, because it will need
to calculate the wages of the employees.
Converting This the method of changing the data from one state to another for
example you could convert a weight measurement say in grams and
convert it into pounds and ounces.
Manipulating Manipulating is the term used for using something that is beneficial
for your purposes and needs, there are four methods of manipulation
these are sorting, merging, joining and selecting, a short description of
each is listed below.
Sorting This is a way of arranging items in an order that is easy to use and
understand. This could involve the sorting of your account numbers
from small to big ascending size and large too small.
Merging This is when you add two things together and make them one. In a
your company you may want to join two things together as you might
have some new stock come in and you wish to sort it altogether with
the original stock.
Joining This is similar to merging except it is not blended together as one,
instead it is added to the end. Joining could be useful if you come to
the end of a certain type of stock and want to order a new type but
do not want to merge and confuse stock items.
Selecting This could be to select various items of data for example This could
be marking low stock levels on specific items so that they stand out.
Validating To check data by using a data validation program against a set
validity, for example account numbers may have to fall between a
particular range, i.e. if the numbers less than 13 or above 18 are
asked to be checked everything above or below this number will result in an
error. You must make sure that only numeric data is entered. 90% of
any system is validating.
Comparison Validation compares input data with the correct data that you are
looking for e.g. compares 13 - 18, validation would ensure
that sizes are among 13 and 18, thus comparing the input data and
correct data. This would mean that the number 12 would be wrong
Improving the System
This is what the whole process is all about, after looking at all the earlier evidence and
identifying problems and evaluating the system. You must then decide whether or not a new
system is a practicable alternative to the present system. If there are no benefits to be gained
by doing so, there is no point in having a new system. On the other hand it may be financially
beneficial for the company to do this. The ideal solution is not always the best.
The Main stages of System Analysis is Explained.
Problem Statement
The problem statement is the first part of the process, that a company realise there is a
problem with there present system. In the case of Lee Gowans ltd they realise that they
experiencing difficulties with the loss of business to more efficient competitors who all have
computerised Information sytems. In the case of Lee Gowans directors they came to us with
their problem, this is often brought about by a request from the user for a systems investigation
into his data processing requirements. The question then is what can be done about it.
Feasibility Study
The next step is a feasibility study to determine if the application in question is fit for
computerisation, if it is then what the new system should look like in outline. There are three
main areas of study.
* Operational Feasibility Can the problem be solved with a new system?
* Financial - Is it financially viable for a new system ?
* Technological - Does the Technology exist for a new system.
A feasibility study should then provide enough Information to either justify the implementation
of a system or give suggestions to an alternative way for its operation. The tasks for this
include Information gathering from management, an analysis of the problems with the present
system and also the analysis of the requirements for a new system. Several alternatives may
be considered with the cost and benefits analysed for each suggestion.
What could be done is to compare the costs and benefits of the existing system with the
projected costs and benefits to be gained with the implementation of a new system. Savings
such as reducing the amount of staffing, or more likely the increase of extra business can be
readily measured. Other benefits i.e. more accurate and up to date Information and more
management Information are harder to measure, but they still need to be taken into account
when a comparison is made.
The objectives of the feasibility study are
* To provide the management of the companies with enough information to make a decision
about whether or not to commit further resources to the project.
* To specify in outline the probable design features of the optimum data processing solution.
* To give terms of reference and outline plans for the beginning of the development work.
The Output of the feasibility study will be the feasibility report, which will give the various
findings and recommendations, from this it is assumed that the management have chosen a
solution that involves computerization.
Investigation
The unfolding step begins with an in-depth Inspection of the function area. This is a far more
complete version of Information gathering, that was done for the feasibility study. The main
method of doing this will be Interviews with the users of the system, this could be from Senior
Management, clerical workers, and warehouse workers. As well as this method questions
may be asked about existing procedure manuals, and a survey of the companies current
Information that is relevant.
Recording
During the Investigation stage, the system analyst is likely to gather a large amount of notes on
all areas of the system. It would be beneficial to organise these notes into sections according
to the departments or the procedures that they relate to. A lot of writing may be hard to read
so it would be a good idea to make use of diagrams to represent this.
Analysis
This is a very important step, because all the previous Information that has been collected
must be organised and analysed. It is very important that Gowans builders present and
potential problems are clearly identified and explained thoroughly, Any problems and
difficulties that exist must be clearly pointed out so that any new proposals that the system
analyst puts forward will include where appropriate, measures to overcome these. If not the
new computer system will only computerise the problems, not solve them.
Conclusion
The purpose of system Analysis, is the process of studying an existing system to determine
how it works and how it meets the users needs. System Analysis identifies any problems with
the present system, and try to meet the client needs. The analysts must make sure that
improves decision making of the system is positive. The cost benefits must be identified,
actions and processes must be defined. The most important aspect is whatever implications
you make it must improve the system.
The main stages of system analysis follows a pattern initially there is the problem statement
this is once the need for a new system has been identified, an initial survey is undertaken to try
and decide whether or not computerisation is justified. If so the feasibility study is the next
process. a feasibility study should then provide enough information to either justify the
implementation of a system or give alternatives for its operation.
The next step is the Investigation, this is a far more thorough version of Information gathering
than was done for the feasibility study. The main method of doing this will be with Interviews,
Observation, Record review, Questioners with the users of the system.
It then proceeds with the final analysis, this is a very important step because all the previous
Information that has been collected must be organised and analysed. It is very important that
the businesses present an potential problems are clearly identified and explained thoroughly.
If they are not the computer system will only computerize the problems not solve them.
Bibliography
KNOTT, G (1993) Information Processing for BTEC 2nd Edition
Business Education Publisher ltd 1990
LAUDON. K.C (1991) Business Information Systems
The Dryden Press
KNOTT, G (1994) Small Business Computer Systems
Business Education Publishers 1994