Systems Analysis : Week 2 1 G Benoit benoit@simmons.edu

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Systems Analysis : Week 2 1 G Benoit benoit@simmons.edu"

Bernice Daniels
8 years ago
Views:

1 Systems Analysis : Week 2 1 Review of Last Week Introduction to the topic of Systems Analysis Not all systems are computer or tech oriented Review of Client-Server Architecture Overview of the process Introduction of the Client Introduction to roles played by the analyst Waterfall Model; Agile Model; others Project Identification: Usually prompted by dissatisfaction of an existing way of doing things Gather data about sense of problems and actual problems from data gathering: Written documents: s, memos, previous analyses, anything! Oral documents: group discussions, individual discussions Today: we chat about what we should ask the client and then just introduce some ideas. Our time doesn t permit a lot of time on these topics but you should know about them. You ll use them in practice. Before using software to help you manage your project, you need to know why. What questions should we ask our client? [a few ideas; let s formalize this in class] Motivations: why this product now? what other attempts have been made Expectations: what does the client know about the problem and candidate solutions? Who are the participants? [Want to know what interests are to be addressed and for whom] [Executive, Administrators, Managers, Builder/Designers, Endusers] What is already in place? What technical/computational issues are there? Is there a commitment to a particular platform? What data stores exist already? Is there an existing systems analysis, data dictionary, etc. How committed to the project is the client? Something that ll get started and overthrown by someone else s efforts? As we plan, we plan for problems, too. Our goal is to define the parameters of the client s needs in an initial document for us (system service request) in order to move towards definitive boundaries of the project (baseline business plan). After the client signs off on these documents, there is a contract of work. Note that the work you do belongs to the client ( work for hire ) but you gain the know-how, coding, etc. The analyst guides the client but listens, too. The client retains an analyst because of his/her being disinterested in the project [neutral party] and for expertise.

2 Systems Analysis : Week 2 2 Making decisions and costs: As a project evolves and is work on, events may happen that cause the client or the analyst to revise the assessment of work and deadlines. Therefore, we should prioritize what can be done, and when, and how to recover from a setback. This leads to PERT charts ( Program Evaluation and Review Technique ), critical path analysis (kind of a subset), and Gantt charts with milestones. Background: software products: How to do it: List the activities we perform, how long we anticipate doing them, type, and what one activity depends on. GANTT CHARTS First notice the graphic representation: the lines start and top; sometimes have names and arrows. This lets us know when to start a task and when it should be finished. It means, also, that we will know how much time we need to get a task ready to start. [NB: Grant applications expect a Gantt chart and every project should have one.]

3 Systems Analysis : Week 2 3 Follow-up reading/video: Example: PERT Please notice that main activities (not great details) are identified and numbered. Then the activity links between them. Notice, too, that there can be activities that are dependent upon the completion of another task [important!] are performed concurrently or in parallel [hence the need for white papers to keep other busy groups informed of what s happening] are prioritized, time-dependent, and lead to a final activity. Follow-up reading:

4 Systems Analysis : Week 2 4 CorrelationId=fa27e47c-303f-4a1b-940a-37f149e95587&ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS: Figure 1. Task List: Planning a custom-written computer project Task A. High level analysis B. Selection of hardware platform Earliest start Week 0 Week 1 Length 1 day Type Dependent on... A C. Installation and commissioning of hardware Week weeks Parallel B D. Detailed analysis of core modules Week 1 2 weeks A E. Detailed analysis of supporting modules Week 3 2 weeks D F. Programming of core modules Week 3 2 weeks D G. Programming of supporting modules Week 5 3 weeks E H. Quality assurance of core modules Week 5 F I. Quality assurance of supporting modules Week 8 G J.Core module training Week 6 1 day Parallel C,H K. Development and QA of accounting reporting Week 5 Parallel E L. Development and QA of management reporting Week 5 Parallel E M. Development of Management Information System Week 6 L N. Detailed training Now start to plot:

5 Systems Analysis : Week 2 5 ly show the chain of activities and dependencies Multiple ways of arriving at the end:

6 Systems Analysis : Week 2 6 Other examples: notice that the graphic language is not that important. What is valuable is the activity planned time to completion prioritizing the activity [best case, worst case; optimal/acceptable/non-acceptable, etc.] Main points: activities are linked with estimates of time. There is more than one way to reach the final task. Follow-up readings:

7 Systems Analysis : Week 2 7 GANTT CHARTS First notice the graphic representation: the lines start and top; sometimes have names and arrows. This lets us know when to start a task and when it should be finished. It means, also, that we will know how much time we need to get a task ready to start. [NB: Grant applications expect a Gantt chart.] Follow-up reading/video: Future Value of Money (FVM), Break-Even Analysis, and Return on Investment (ROI) Part of determining whether we should execute a project is how much the project will cost and when the client will recoup the costs and benefit. In actual business practice, there is the benefit of depreciation when determining how long a system might be useful (lifetime value). Here s an example of using Excel to determine FVM:

8 Systems Analysis : Week 2 8 No doubt you ve seen this kind of chart: If a project costs $150,000 to develop (salaries, software, equipment, training, etc.) why should the client use your service? At what point will the project actually not cost money but make the system more efficient (and in most settings, more cost effective). OUR CLIENT S PROJECT We don t know yet what the client wants, but we do have a hint. The client is planning to change to a third-party enterprise-wide solution. There is a rumor that the Client wants to adopt a CMS and management tool called WorkBook. We don t know for sure but we should nevertheless investigate it. The point is that the analyst needs to know the alternatives. This is both to be able to discuss openly with the client, but also as part of our build-or-buy analysis. Let s take a look: Build-or-buy: (environmental scan) What products seem to fulfill the client s interests? What technical needs are there: what platform? what kind of data types are created? can these data be exported and imported? are there helper tools - tools to facilitate converting existing data to the new product? are there capabilities in the tool that are bound to the operating system? are there version interoperability issues? what kind of training is available?

9 Systems Analysis : Week 2 9 who else is using this product? how much is the product? [basic software, use licenses, data thruput costs] (Oracle example: baseline software + license_cost * users + volume of data * data_cost) We believe the client wants an identity management system. What does that mean? Who else is there? [Identity Management] Notice this interesting government site: Note, too, that domain-specific fields have their own ideas about IMP. Here s a health care example. You should know about Gartner Research (your clients do). IBM has learned that the best way to sell something is to inform the client (white papers turned into ads): Class Activities

Critical Path Analysis & PERT Charts (taken from www.business.com.

Critical Path Analysis & PERT Charts (taken from www.business.com. - Planning and scheduling more complex projects Critical Path Analysis and PERT are powerful tools that help you to schedule and manage