What is systems analysis?
It is the term which deals with the in depth study or analysis of systems and their daily functioning.
Who is a Systems analyst?
A systems analyst is a person who makes use of computers and related systems to design new IT solutions, modify, enhance or adapt existing systems and integrate new features or improvements, to improve business efficiency and productivity all together.
Functions of a systems analyst
examine existing IT systems and business models
analyses systems requirements
undertake product development
Implement, configure and test feasible solutions
Reasons for systems analysis
- A System is computerised and may be out of date – > it needs replacing
- Company’s could be improved to allow more aspects of the business to become computerised.
- Identify any issues that can be fixed or solved using IT
What is ‘Feasibility’
It is the measure and the study of how beneficial the development of the system would be to the organisation, in terms of cost.
Stages of the Systems life cycle
- analysis
- design
- development and testing
- implantation
- documentation
- evaluation
Purposes of analysing the existing system
- to see how data flows around the system.
- To see what data comes in to the company,
How it is processed and - What outputs they produce?
Only after this has been determined will the analyst decide on what sort of computer system should be implemented.
Systems analysis involves:
- Collecting information on how the existing system works
- Establishing its inputs, outputs and processing
- Recording information, e.g. data flow diagrams
- Identifying problems
Having carried out these stages, the systems analyst then needs to:
Identify suitable hardware and software for the new system
Identify user and information requirements
4 methods of Collecting information
Questionnaires
Interviews
Observations
Analyzing documents
6 advantages to Questionnaires
- Can get answers from a lot of people in a relatively short space of time
- They provide lots of data for analysis and the more data sets, the more accurate the analysis
- Everyone answers the same questions i.e. same information is requested. Reduces bias.
- Allows people to answer at a time convenient to them
- If anonymous, perhaps more honest answers will be provided
- Questions can be planned ahead of time by the analyst
5 disadvantages of using questionnaires:
- Only as good as the questions being asked
- Can be difficult for the analyst to ask the right questions if they are unfamiliar with the system
- They are impersonal, people may be more open face to face discussions
- The response rate may be poor - especially if people are busy or don’t see the benefit in answering
- Difficult to allow people to expand on their answers, especially with closed questions
4 advantages of conducting interviews:
- Excellent for personal contact and understanding with the user
- Can elicit hard-to-quantify information and knowledge
- Extra detail can be drawn out on the spot
- Opinions can be aired and considered by people in the group
5 disadvantages of conducting interviews:
- Take up a lot of time for both individuals and the analyst
- Must be well structured to be efficient - it is easy to waste time in an interview
- Only practical for a limited number of people
- Less quantitative than a questionnaire
- People have to be available
5 advantages of observations:
- Useful if there are no documents involved the system
- Can spot inefficiencies in the system
- Can help identify persistent problems
- Analyst can rapidly understand first-hand what the system needs to do
- Users can impart their experience of the system directly
4 disadvantages of observations:
- People don’t like being watched
- Take up a lot of time
- Analyst may be in the way on a busy day
- Not so efficient at capturing quantitative data for analysis
Examining documents is when?
In this process the analyst brings in all the relevant documents where they will be examined to determine the way they are input, manipulated, sorted and output.
3 advantages of analysing documents:
- Excellent for tracking data flow
- Excellent for identifying data types and formats
- Useful to identify inefficient data flows so making the new system better
3 disadvantages of analysing documents:
- There may be other important data that are not actually in the documents
- Cannot capture the efficiency of the process. 3. Speed/delays etc
Does not help with understanding how people actually use the data
