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IS 421Information Systems Analysis
James Nowotarski
30 September 2002
• Recap points regarding system request and feasibility analysis
• Understand the big picture of the analysis phase• Understand the objectives and techniques for
gathering business requirements (e.g., what to ask in an interview)
• Understand expectations for Assignment 2
Today’s Objectives
Course Map
Contents
1. Introduction
Planning Phase2. Project Initiation3. Project Management
Analysis Phase4. Systems Analysis5. Gathering Information6. Process Modeling7. Data Modeling
1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 115
Assignments
QuizzesFinal
Week
CoreExamReview
Topic Duration
• Recap Planning Phase 30 minutes
• Analysis Phase Overview 40 minutes
*** Break 15 minutes
• Information Gathering Techniques 60 minutes
• Interviewing Exercise 30 minutes
• Assignment 2 Intro 15 minutes
Today’s agenda
SDLC
The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a description of the phases of an information system
Planning Analysis Design Implementation
Sep. 23 focus Sep. 30 - Oct. 28 focus
SDLC: Planning Phase
IdentifyBusinessValue
Analyze TechnicalFeasibility
Analyze EconomicFeasibility
Analyze OrganizationalFeasibility
ProjectManagement
Project Initiation
Approval Approval
SDLC: Planning Phase
IdentifyBusinessValue
Analyze TechnicalFeasibility
Analyze EconomicFeasibility
Analyze OrganizationalFeasibility
ProjectManagement
Approval Approval
Deliverables SystemRequest
Feasibility Analysis
Key Roles
• Project Sponsor– The project sponsor is a key person proposing
development or adoption of the new information
technology
• Approval Committee– The approval committee reviews proposals from
various groups and units in the organization and decides which to commit to developing
Technical Feasibility
Familiarity with applicationKnowledge of business domain
Familiarity with technologyExtension of existing firm technologies
Project sizeSchedule, quality, workdays, personnel.
Technical feasibility addresses the question: Can we build it?
Economic Feasibility
Benefits (cash inflows)Development costs (initial cash outflows)Operational costs (ongoing cash outflows)Totals
Economic feasibility addresses the question: Should we build it?
Payback Period
Economic Feasibility
Total (benefits - costs)
Total costs
RETURN ON INVESTMENT EQUALS
Divided by
Economic Feasibility
(1 + interest rate)n
Some amount of money
NET PRESENT VALUE EQUALS
Divided by
Where “n” equals the number of periods
Organizational Feasibility
Stakeholder analysisProject champion(s)Organizational managementSystem users
Organizational feasibility addresses the question: If we build it, will they come?
Summary
Project initiation involves creating and assessing goals and expectations for a new system
Identifying the business value of the new project is a key to successFeasibility study is concerned with insuring that technical, economic, and organizational benefits outweigh costs and risks
Topic Duration
• Recap Planning Phase 30 minutes
• Analysis Phase Overview 40 minutes
*** Break 15 minutes
• Information Gathering Techniques 60 minutes
• Interviewing Exercise 30 minutes
• Assignment 2 Intro 15 minutes
Today’s agenda
Key Definitions
• The As-Is system is the current system and may or may not be computerized
• The To-Be system is the new system that is based on updated requirements
Why Do Analysis
THE ANALYSIS PHASE
Analysis Phase
Key Question: Deliverables
Steps Techniques
What does the system need to do?Functional requirementsQuality requirementsData modelProcess model
1. Gather requirements2. Create data model3. Create process model
InterviewingObservationEntity-relationship modelingNormalizationData flow modeling
Analysis Phase
Analysis Phase
FromPlanningPhase:
System requestFeasibility analysisWorkplan . . .
DevAnalysisPlan
Examine-As-is
IdentifyImprove-ments
DevelopBasicSystemConcepts
DevelopDataModel
DevelopProcessModel
PrepareProposal
SystemWalkthrough
ToDesignPhase:
Deliverables:
Analysis Plan Functional Requirements
Quality Requirements
SystemConcept
Data Model
Process Model
System Proposal
Analysis Phase
FromPlanningPhase:
System requestFeasibility analysisWorkplan . . .
DevAnalysisPlan
Examine-As-is
IdentifyImprove-ments
DevelopBasicSystemConcepts
DevelopDataModel
DevelopProcessModel
PrepareProposal
ToDesignPhase:
Deliverables:
Analysis Plan Functional Requirements
Quality Requirements
SystemConcept
Data Model
Process Model
System Proposal
Develop Conceptfor To-Be System
Analysis Phase
FromPlanningPhase:
System requestFeasibility analysisWorkplan . . .
DevAnalysisPlan
Examine-As-is
IdentifyImprove-ments
DevelopBasicSystemConcepts
DevelopDataModel
DevelopProcessModel
PrepareProposal
ToDesignPhase:
Develop Conceptfor To-Be System
Gather Analyze Specify
Analysis Plan/Strategy
Begin with the End in Mind
• Table of contents• Executive summary• System request• Work plan• Analysis strategy• Recommended
system• Feasibility analysis
• Process model• Data model• Appendices
System Proposal Outline
Three Fundamental Analysis Strategies
• Business process Automation (BPA)• Business Process Improvement (BPI)• Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
High-Level Work Plan for Analysis
Step Deliverable Technique
Planning PhaseAnalysis Phase
Examine As-Is System Information SummariesUse CasesProcess ModelData Model
Gather Information
Develop Process ModelDevelop Data Model
Identify Improvements Ideas for System Problem AnalysisRoot Cause AnalysisDuration AnalysisActivity-based CostingInformal BenchmarkingFormal BenchmarkingOutcome AnalysisBreaking AssumptionsTechnology AnalysisActivity EliminationProxy BenchmarkingProcess Simplification
Develop Concept for To-Be System
System ConceptUse CasesProcess ModelData Model
Gather Information
Develop Process ModelDevelop Data Model
Topic Duration
• Recap Planning Phase 30 minutes
• Analysis Phase Overview 40 minutes
*** Break 15 minutes
• Information Gathering Techniques 60 minutes
• Interviewing Exercise 30 minutes
• Assignment 2 Intro 15 minutes
Today’s agenda
Understand As-Is
Analysis Phase
FromPlanningPhase:
System requestFeasibility analysisWorkplan . . .
DevAnalysisPlan
Examine-As-is
IdentifyImprove-ments
DevelopBasicSystemConcepts
DevelopDataModel
DevelopProcessModel
PrepareProposal
ToDesignPhase:
Deliverables:
Analysis Plan Functional Requirements
Quality Requirements
SystemConcept
Data Model
Process Model
System Proposal
Develop Conceptfor To-Be System
As-Is System
What is the purpose of studying the current As-Is system?
Is there ever a situation in which the As-Is system should not be studied extensively?
Information Gathering Techniques
• Interviewing• Joint application design• Questionnaires• Document Analysis• Observation
Interviews
Interviews -- Five Basic Steps
• Selecting Interviewees• Designing Interview Questions• Preparing for the Interview• Conducting the Interview• Post-Interview Follow-up
Selecting Interviewees
• Based on Information Needed• Often Good to Get Different Perspectives
– Managers
– Users
– Ideally, All Key Stakeholders
Types of Questions
Types of Questions Examples
Closed-Ended Questions * How many telephone orders are received per day?
* How do customers place orders?* What additional information would you like the new system to provide?
Open-Ended Questions * What do you think about the current system?* What are some of the problems you face on a daily basis?* How do you decide what types of marketing campaign to run?
Probing Questions * Why?* Can you give me an example?* Can you explain that in a bit more detail?
Designing Interview Questions
• Unstructured interview– Broad, Roughly Defined Information
• Structured interview– More Specific Information
Questioning Strategies
High LevelVery General
Medium-LevelModeratelySpecific
Low-LevelVery Specific
TOP DOWN
BOTTOM UP
EXAMPLES?
Interview Preparation Steps
• Prepare General Interview Plan– List of Questions– Anticipated Answers and Follow-Ups
• Confirm Areas of Knowledge• Set Priorities in Case of Time Shortage• Prepare the Interviewee
– Schedule– Inform of Reason for Interview– Inform of Areas of Discussion
Conducting the Interview
• Appear professional and unbiased• Record all information• Check on organizational policy regarding tape
recording• Be sure you understand all issues and terms• Separate facts from opinions• Give interviewee time to ask questions• Be sure to thank the interviewee• End on time
Conducting the InterviewPractical Tips
• Don’t Worry, Be Happy• Pay Attention• Summarize Key Points• Be Succinct• Be Honest• Watch Body Language• And, don’t ask unnecessary questions!
Post-Interview Follow-Up
• Prepare Interview Notes• Prepare Interview Report• Look for Gaps and New Questions• “If it isn’t in the fieldnotes, it never happened.”
Interview Report
INTERVIEW REPORT
Interview notes approved by: ____________
Person interviewed ______________Interviewer _______________Date _______________Primary Purpose:
Summary of Interview:
Open Items:
Detailed Notes:
JOINT APPLICATION DESIGN (JAD)
JAD Key Ideas
• Allows project managers, users, and developers to work together
• May reduce scope creep by 50%• Avoids requirements being too specific or too
vague
Joint Application Design (JAD) Important Roles
• Facilitator• Scribe
Joint Application Design (JAD) Setting
• U-Shaped seating• Away from distractions• Whiteboard/flip chart• Prototyping tools• e-JAD
JAD Meeting Room
JPEG Figure 5-5 Goes Here
The JAD Session
• Tend to last 5 to 10 days over a three week period• Prepare questions as with interviews• Formal agenda and groundrules• Facilitator activities
– Keep session on track
– Help with technical terms and jargon
– Record group input
– Help resolve issues• Post-session follow-up
Managing Problems in JAD Sessions
• Reducing domination• Encouraging non-contributors• Side discussions• Agenda merry-go-round• Violent agreement• Unresolved conflict• True conflict• Use humor
QUESTIONNAIRES
Questionnaire Steps
• Selecting participants
– Using samples of the population• Designing the questionnaire
– Careful question selection• Administering the questionnaire
– Working to get good response rate• Questionnaire follow-up
– Send results to participants
Good Questionnaire Design
Begin with non-threatening and interesting questions
Group items into logically coherent sections
Do not put important items at the very end of the questionnaire
Do not crowd a page with too many items
Avoid abbreviations
Avoid biased or suggestive items or terms
Number questions to avoid confusion
Pretest the questionnaire to identify confusing questions
Provide anonymity to respondents
Document Analysis
• Provides clues about existing “as-is” system• Typical documents
– Forms
– Reports
– Policy manuals• Look for user additions to forms• Look for unused form elements
Observation
• Users/managers often don’t remember everything they do• Checks validity of information gathered other ways• Behaviors change when people are watched• Careful not to ignore periodic activities
– Weekly … Monthly … Annual
Criteria for Selecting the Appropriate Techniques
• Type of information• Depth of information• Breadth of information• Integration of information• User involvement• Cost• Combining techniques
Selecting the Appropriate Techniques
Interviews JAD Questionnaires Document Observation Analysis
Type of As-Is As-Is As-Is As-Is As-IsInformation Improve. Improve. Improve. To-Be To-Be
Depth of High High Medium Low LowInformation
Breadth of Low Medium High High LowInformation
Integration Low High Low Low Lowof Info.
User Medium High Low Low LowInvolvement
Cost Medium Low- Low Low Low- Medium Medium
• Suggest how CD Selections should proceed in eliciting requirements.
• Consider steps, techniques and goals, who and how.
• How would you identify possible improvements?
• What possible improvements would you suggest?
Summary
• There are five major information gathering techniques that all systems analysts must be able to use: Interviews, JAD, Questionnaires, Document Analysis, and Observation.
• Systems analysts must also know how and when to use each as well as how to combine methods.
Topic Duration
• Recap Planning Phase 30 minutes
• Analysis Phase Overview 40 minutes
*** Break 15 minutes
• Information Gathering Techniques 60 minutes
• Interviewing Exercise 30 minutes
• Assignment 2 Intro 15 minutes
Today’s agenda
End of Slides