chapter2

• Systems Analysis and Design

  The process of discovering, understanding, and documenting the details of a problem or need, and then defining the requirements for an information system to address that problem or need
• Chapter 2 expands the SDLC processes to cover a wider range of concepts, tools and techniques
• Core process 3: Discover and understand the details of the problem or need—is the main focus of systems analysis
• RMO has an elaborate set of information systems that support operations and management
• Customer expectations, modern technological capabilities, and competitive pressures led RMO to believe it is time to upgrade support for sales and marketing
• A new Consolidated Sales and Marketing System (CSMS) was proposed
• Technology architecture


  The set of computing hardware, network hardware and topology, and system software employed by the organization
• Application architecture


  The information systems that supports the organization (information systems, subsystems, and supporting technology)
• Existing RMO information systems

  • Supply Chain Management (SCM)
  • Phone/Mail Order System
  • Retail Store System
  • Customer Support System (CSS)
• Subsystems in the new CSMS

  • Sales Subsystem
  • Order Fulfillment Subsystem
  • Customer Account Subsystem
  • Marketing Subsystem
• The SDLC indicates the project starts with identifying the problem, obtaining approval, and planning the project
• Systems analysis activities


  • Gather Detailed Information
  • Define Requirements
  • Prioritize Requirements
  • Develop User-Interface Dialogs
  • Evaluate Requirements with Users
• Functional requirements


  The activities the system must perform
• Non-functional requirements


  Other system characteristics, such as constraints and performance goals
• Types of non-functional requirements

  • Usability requirements
  • Reliability requirements
  • Performance requirements
  • Security requirements
• Other types of non-functional requirements

  • Design constraints
  • Implementation requirements
  • Interface requirements
  • Physical requirements
  • Supportability requirements
• Stakeholders


  Persons who have an interest in the successful implementation of the system
• Types of stakeholders


  • Internal stakeholders
  • External stakeholders
  • Operational stakeholders
  • Executive stakeholders
• Stakeholders for the RMO CSMS project

  • Phone/mail sales order clerks
  • Warehouse and shipping personnel
  • Marketing personnel who maintain online catalog information
  • Marketing, sales, accounting, and financial managers
  • Senior executives
  • Customers
  • External shippers (e.g., UPS and FedEx)
• Information-gathering techniques


  • Interviewing users and other stakeholders
  • Distributing and collecting questionnaires
  • Reviewing inputs, outputs, and documentation
  • Observing and documenting business procedures
  • Researching vendor solutions
  • Collecting active user comments and suggestions
• Interviewing users and other stakeholders

  1. Prepare detailed questions

  2. Meet with individuals or groups of users

  3. Obtain and discuss answers to the questions

  4. Document the answers

  5. Follow up as needed in future meetings or interviews
• Observe and Document Business Processes: Watch and learn, Document with Activity diagram
• Research Vendor Solutions: See what others have done for similar situations, White papers, vendor literature, competitors
• Collect Active User Comments and Suggestions: Feedback on models and tests, Users know it when the see it
• Model


  A representation of some aspect of the system being built
• Types of Models


  • Textual model
  • Graphical models
  • Mathematical models
• Unified Modeling Language (UML)


  Standard graphical modeling symbols/terminology used for information systems
• Purposes of modeling


  • Learning from the modeling process
  • Reducing complexity by abstraction
  • Remembering all the details
  • Communicating with other development team members
  • Communicating with a variety of users and stakeholders
  • Documenting what was done for future maintenance/enhancement
• Workflow


  Sequence of processing steps that completely handles one business transaction or customer request
• Activity Diagram


  Describes user (or system) activities, the person who does each activity, and the sequential flow of these activities
• Activity Diagrams are a UML diagram useful for showing a graphical model of a workflow