Introduction to Systems Development & System Analysis

System Development Life Cycle

System Planning

System Analysis

Introduction

Feasibility Analysis

Behavioral Aspects of Changes

Reason to change company's system

  1. Changes in user or business needs
  1. Technological changes
  1. Improved business process
  1. Competitive advantage
  1. Productivity gains
  1. System integration
  1. System ages and need to be replaced

1. System analysis

2. Conceptual Design

3. Physical Design

4. Implementation & Conversion

5. Operations & Maintenance

The company translates the broad, user-oriented conceptual design requirements into a detailed specifications used to code and test software, design input/ output, create files/database, develop procedures and implement controls

The company hires and trains employees, tests and modifies procedures, establishes standards and controls, completes documentation, moves to the new system and detects and correct design deficiencies

The new system is periodically reviewed and modified

Advantages

  1. Enables system goals and objectives to correspond to organisation's overall strategic plan
  1. The company remain abreast of the ever-present changes in information technology (IT)
  1. Duplication, wasted effort, and cost and time overruns can be avoided

2 system development plan

1. Project development plan

Documents prepared by the project team showing project requirements that contains cost-benefit analysis, developmental and operational requirements and a schedule of activities required to develop and operate the new application

2. Master Plan

Prepared by the information systems steering committee, specifies what the system will consist of, how it will be developed, who will develop it etc

5 important aspects to be considered during a feasibility study

1. Economic feasibility

2. Technical feasibiity

3. Legal feasibility

4. Scheduling feasibility

5. Operational feasibility

Determine whether system benefits justify the time, money and resources required to implement it

Determine if the proposed system can be developed given the available technology

Determine if the proposed system will comply with all applicable federal and state laws, administrative agency regulations and contractual obligations.

Determine if the proposed system can be developed and implemented in the time allocated

Determine if the organization has access to people who can design implement, and operate the proposed system and if employees will use the system

3 commonly used capital budgeting techniques

1. Payback period

2. Net present value (NPV)

3. Internal rate of return

Shortest payback period is usually selected

Highest positive NPV is usually selected

Highest IRR is usually selected

Factors behavioral problems occur

  1. Fear
  1. Top management support
  1. Experience with prior changes
  1. Communications
  1. Disruptive nature of change
  1. Manner in which change is introduced
  1. Biases and emotions
  1. Personal characteristics and background

3 forms where resistance takes place

1. Aggresion

2. Projection

3. Avoidance

Resistance to change intended to destroy, cripple or weaken system effectiveness such as increased error rates, disruptions or deliberate sabotage

Resistance to change that blames anything and everything on the new system such that it becomes the scapegoat for all real and imagined problems and errors.

Resistance to change where users ignore a new IS in the hope that the new system will eventually go away

Guidelines on how to prevent behavioral problems

  1. Obtain management support
  1. Meet user needs
  1. Involve users
  1. Allay fears and stress new opportunities
  1. Avoid emotinalism
  1. Provide training
  1. Reexamine performance evaluation
  1. Keep communication lines open
  1. Test the system
  1. Keep the system simple
  1. Control users' expectation

Steps in system analysis

  1. Initial investigation
  1. System survey
  1. Feasibility study
  1. Information needs and system requirements
  1. System analysis report

Objectives

  1. Gain an understanding of company operations, policies, procedures and information flow
  1. Make preliminary assessments of current and future processing needs and determine the extent and nature of the changes needed
  1. Develop working relationship with users and build support for the AIS
  1. Collect data that identify user needs, conduct a feasibility analysis, and make recommendations to management

Information needed to purchase, develop, or modify a system is gathered.

The company decides on how to meet user needs

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Role of Accountant in SDLC

  1. Responsible for every output of software development lifecycle process
  1. Involved in a system development as auditor to examine the development process in continual interval