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
- Changes in user or business needs
- Technological changes
- Improved business process
- Competitive advantage
- Productivity gains
- System integration
- 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
- Enables system goals and objectives to correspond to organisation's overall strategic plan
- The company remain abreast of the ever-present changes in information technology (IT)
- 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
- Fear
- Top management support
- Experience with prior changes
- Communications
- Disruptive nature of change
- Manner in which change is introduced
- Biases and emotions
- 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
- Obtain management support
- Meet user needs
- Involve users
- Allay fears and stress new opportunities
- Avoid emotinalism
- Provide training
- Reexamine performance evaluation
- Keep communication lines open
- Test the system
- Keep the system simple
- Control users' expectation
Steps in system analysis
- Initial investigation
- System survey
- Feasibility study
- Information needs and system requirements
- System analysis report
Objectives
- Gain an understanding of company operations, policies, procedures and information flow
- Make preliminary assessments of current and future processing needs and determine the extent and nature of the changes needed
- Develop working relationship with users and build support for the AIS
- 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
- Responsible for every output of software development lifecycle process
- Involved in a system development as auditor to examine the development process in continual interval