Analysis Activities for System Development
Analysis Activities for System Development
CIS-320; System Analyst and Design
02.24.2013
The systems analyst is involved in every phase of system development. These ranges from project planning, analysis, design, implementation and support activities. Each phase is important and involves a great detail of information and work. The approaches compliment each other and help define the functional and non-functional requirements for the project. The key components when doing a system deployment should be defining the system requirements, prioritizing the requirements, developing a prototype and reviewing and calculating alternatives. When planning a project, an analyst must identify the key stakeholders who are going to be essential. Some of the key people are the users who will be working on the system on a daily basis, the clients who are funding and own the system and the technical staff who will implement the system and provide continued support afterwards in production. When determining system requirements, each process is important and should never be overlooked as it can result in a loss of time and effort. Some key goals are technical, performance, usability, reliability, and security. These are all non-functional characteristics. The functional requirements are based on the procedures and guidelines the organization uses to run its business. Also, key questions need to be asked such as “What are the business processes?”, “How are the business processes performed?”, and “What information is currently being required?”. These questions need to be answered to help mold the logical model of the system. It is important for a Systems Analyst to use a standardized approach as this helps them gain a better understanding of the system and helps reduce the complexity of the system. Analysts use many types of models when developing systems. A couple of examples of models that are
CIS-320; System Analyst and Design
02.24.2013
The systems analyst is involved in every phase of system development. These ranges from project planning, analysis, design, implementation and support activities. Each phase is important and involves a great detail of information and work. The approaches compliment each other and help define the functional and non-functional requirements for the project. The key components when doing a system deployment should be defining the system requirements, prioritizing the requirements, developing a prototype and reviewing and calculating alternatives. When planning a project, an analyst must identify the key stakeholders who are going to be essential. Some of the key people are the users who will be working on the system on a daily basis, the clients who are funding and own the system and the technical staff who will implement the system and provide continued support afterwards in production. When determining system requirements, each process is important and should never be overlooked as it can result in a loss of time and effort. Some key goals are technical, performance, usability, reliability, and security. These are all non-functional characteristics. The functional requirements are based on the procedures and guidelines the organization uses to run its business. Also, key questions need to be asked such as “What are the business processes?”, “How are the business processes performed?”, and “What information is currently being required?”. These questions need to be answered to help mold the logical model of the system. It is important for a Systems Analyst to use a standardized approach as this helps them gain a better understanding of the system and helps reduce the complexity of the system. Analysts use many types of models when developing systems. A couple of examples of models that are
References: Burd, S.D, Satzinger. J.W, Jackson.R.B (2009). System Analysis and Design in a Changing World, Fifth Edition. 121-141 Systems Requirements Analysis. NYS Project Management Guide. Retrieved from http://www.its.ny.gov/pmmp/guidebook2/SystemReq.pdf E. Mumford (1985). Defining system requirements to meet Business Needs: A Case Study Example. Retrieved from http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/28/2/97.full.pdf