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CHAPTER 2 :SYSTEM PLANNING - Coggle Diagram
CHAPTER 2 :SYSTEM PLANNING
TOPIC 2.1 PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
after obtaining an authorization to proceed,the analyst interacts with managers and users.
the end product of the preliminary investigation is a report to management..
-A system analyst conducts a preliminary investigation to study the systems request and recommend specific action.
INTERACTION WITH MANAGERS AND USERS
-employee attitudes and reactions are important and must be considered.
-be careful in your use of the word problem.
-Let people know about the investigation and explain your role.
-question users about additional capability they would like to have.
PLANNING THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
-During a preliminary investigation,a system analysts typically follows a series of steps.
the exact procedure depends on the nature of the request,the size of the project,and the degree of urgency.
STEP IN PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION:
STEP 4
ANALYZE PROJECT USABILITY,COST,BENEFIT,AND SCHEDULE DATA
-you should develop time nd cost estimate for the requirem modelling tasks for the next SDLC phase,systems analysis.
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:
-what sources of information will you use,and what difficulties will you encounter in obtaining information?
-will you conduct interviews?how many people will you interview,and how much time will you need to meet with the people and summarize their reponses?
-will you conduct a survey?who will be involve?how much time will it take people to complete it?how much time will it take to prepare it and tabulate the results?
-what information you must obtain ,how will you gather and analyze the information?
-how much will it cost to analyze the information gathered and to prepare a report with findings and recommendations?
-Before you can evaluate feasibility,you must analyze this data carefully.
STEP1
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM OR OPPORTUNITY
-a fishbone diagram is an analysis tool that represents the possible causes of a problem as a graphical outline.
-popular technique for investigating causes and effects is called a fishbone diagram,or ishikawa diagram.
STEP 2
DEFINE THE PROJECT SCOPE & CONSTRAIN
constraint is a requirement or condition that the system must satisfy or an outcome that the system must achieve. involve hardware,software,time,policy,law,or cost.
when examining constraints : identify 3 characteristic
INTERNAL VERSUS EXTERNAL
-is the constraint due to a requirement within the organization or does some external force,such as goverment regulation,impose it?
MANDATORY VERSUS DESIRABLE
-is the constraint mandatory?is it absolutely essential to meet the constraint ,or is it merely desirable?
PRESENT VERSUS FUTURE
-Is the constraint something that must be met as soon as the system is develoed or modified ,or is the constraint necessary at some future time?
-risk of expanding gradually,without specific authorization,in a process called project creep.to avoid this problem ,you should define project scope as clearly as possible.
-Defining the specific boundaries,or extent,of the project.
STEP 3
PERFORM FACT FINDING
-depending what information is needed:to investigate the systems request,fact-finding might consume several hours,days,or weeks.
DURING FACT FINDING:5
3)REVIEW DOCUMENTATION
-to investigate the current system documentation.
-documentation might not be up to date,so you should check with users to confirm that you are receiving accurate and complete information.
2)CONDUCT INTERVIEWS :7 STEPS
3) Develop interview questions.
4) Prepare for the interview.
5) Conduct the interview.
6) Document the interview.
2) Establish objectives for the interview.
7) Evaluate the interview.
1) Determine the people interview.
4)OBSERVE OPERATIONS
-you might see how workers carry out typical tasks.
-you might choose to trace or follow the actual paths taken by input source documents or output reports.
1)ANALYZE ORGANIZATION CHARTS
-Obtain organization charts to understand how the department functions and identify individuals you might want to interview.
-can be obtained from the company's human resources department.
5)CONDUCT A USER SURVEY
-interviews can be time consuming.
-sometimes you can obtain information from a larger group by conducting a user survey.
-design a form that users complete and return to you for tabulation.
-involves various techniques.
-to gather data about project usability,costs,benefits,and schedules.
STEP 5
EVALUATE FEASIBILITY
-start by reviewing the answers to the questions you asked.
CONSIDER FOR THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES: 4
2) Technical feasibility
-should identify the hardware,software and network resources needed to develop,install and operate the system.
-you can develop a checklist that will highlight technical costs and concerns,if any.
3) Economic feasibility
-you can apply the financial analysis.
-the cost benefit data will be an important factor for mangement to consider.
-a cost estimate for the project development team will be built into the project management plan.
1)
Operational feasibility
-your fact-finding should have included a review of user needs,requirements,and expectations.
-when analyze data,you should look for areas that might present problems for system users and how they might be resolved.
-means that sytem will be used effectively,this is a vital area of concern.
4) Schedule feasibility
-should include stakeholder expectations regarding ecceptable timing and completion dates.
-as mentioned previously,often a trade-off exists between a project's schedule and its costs.
-ex:compressing a project schedule might be possible,but only if the budget is increased accordingly.
-schedule data will be incoporated into the project plan in the form of task durations and milestones.
STEP 6
PRESENT RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO MANAGEMENT
-the format of the preliminary investigation report varies from one company to another.
-report must include an estimate of time,staffing requirements,costs,benefits,and expected results for the nxt phase of the SDLC.
-the final task in the preliminary investigation its to prepare a report to management.
8 TYPICAL REPORT MIGHT CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
-2) sytems request summary
3) findings
1) introdction
4) case for action
5) project roles
6) time and cost estimates
7) expected benefits
8) appendix
