SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 3 – Milestone 2: Problem Analysis
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MILESTONE 2 – PROBLEM ANALYSIS
 Synopsis
here’s an old saying that suggests, “Don't try to fix it, unless you understand
it.” With those words of wisdom, the next milestone of our project is to study
and analyze the existing system. There is always an existing business system,
regardless of whether it currently uses a computer. The problem analysis
phase provides the project team with a more thorough understanding of the problems,
opportunities, and/or directives that triggered the project. Indeed, the analyst
frequently uncovers new problems and opportunities. The problem analysis phase
may answer the questions, “Are the problems worth solving?'” and “Is a new system
worth building?'”
T
The purpose of the problem analysis phase is threefold. First and foremost, the
project team must gain an appropriate understanding of the business problem
domain. Second, we need to answer the question, “Are these problems
(opportunities, and directives) worth solving?” Finally, we need to determine if the
system is worth developing. The problem analysis phase provides the systems analyst
and project team with a more thorough understanding of the problems, opportunities,
and/or directives that triggered the project. In the process, they frequently uncover
new problems and opportunities.
In this milestone you will perform Cause-Effect Analysis and document your findings
using the Problems, Opportunities, Objectives, and Constraints Matrix. The PIECES
framework, originally developed by James Wetherbe, and then adapted by the
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 3 – Milestone 2: Problem Analysis
Page: 2-2
authors, can serve as a useful tool to classify the various problems, opportunities, and
directives identified in Milestone 1.
 Objectives
After completing this milestone, you should be able to:
 Perform Cause-Effect Analysis to be able to thoroughly understand a system’s
problems, opportunities, and/or directives that triggered the project.
 Use and understand the PIECES framework for classifying problems,
opportunities, and directives.
 Complete the Problems, Opportunities, Objectives, and Constraints Matrix.
 Prerequisites
Before starting this milestone the following topics should be covered:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The problem analysis phase – Chapters 3 and 5
Problem analysis techniques – Chapter 6
PIECES Framework – Chapters 3 and 5
Milestone 1 Solution
 Assignment
Now that we have completed the survey of the system, and gained approval to
proceed, we can now attempt to gain a better understanding of the current system. In
this assignment, we will use our results of Milestone 1, plus the case background
information and the user interview, to perform cause-effect analysis. The results of
this activity will provide us a better understanding of the problems, opportunities,
and constraints of the current system.
 Activities
1. To complete the Problems, Opportunities, Objectives, and Constraints Matrix,
use the interview presented in this milestone. Use the PIECES framework as a
model to classify the problems, opportunities, and directives.
Deliverable format and software to be used are according to your instructor’s
specifications. Deliverables should be neatly packaged in a binder, separated with a
tab divider labeled “Milestone 2,” and optionally accompanied with a Milestone
Evaluation Sheet.
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 3 – Milestone 2: Problem Analysis
Page: 2-3
References:
Case Background
Case Study Introduction
Milestone 1 Solution
Provided by your instructor
Transcripts of Pinnacle meeting
Exhibit 2.1
Templates
See online learning center web site for the textbook.
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 3 – Milestone 2: Problem Analysis
Page: 2-4
Deliverables:
Problems, Opportunities, Objectives, and Constraints Matrix:
Due: __/__/__
Time:_______
ADVANCED OPTIONS
Write a detailed study report for the phase. This deliverable was not
discussed in the narrative, because students need to be exposed to modeling (data,
process, & interface) before this report can be completed. For those ambitious
individuals who are familiar with those skills and wish to be challenged, use the
detailed study report outline found in Chapter 5 of the textbook as a guideline.
Another advanced option is to develop one or more fishbone diagrams for
problems outlined in the case. To complete this advanced option, you may need to
make some assumptions about causes and effects.
Study Report:
Due: __/__/__
Time:_______
Fishbone Diagrams
Due: __/__/__
Time:_______
Milestone’s Point Value:
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
____
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed – CASE STUDY 3 – Milestone 2: Problem Analysis
Page: 2-5
Exhibit 2.1
The following is a copy of the transcript of a meeting of Cindy Natale, Brett Ramiriz,
Mary O’Neal, and John Bridgham, the latter three of Pinnacle Publishing. Cindy
requested this meeting after presenting Brett with her initial Problem Statement
Matrix.
Scene: The boardroom of Pinnacle
Publishing.
Cindy: Good Afternoon. Brett, it is nice
to see you again. Mr. Bridgham,
we met briefly the other day.
And you must be Ms. O’Neal.
Mary: Call me Mary.
John:
And call me John. By the way, I
don’t want to rain on your
parade, Cindy, but can you give
me some idea of how long this is
going to take? I’m pretty busy.
Cindy: I appreciate the fact that you are
all very busy. Thank you for
granting me this time. I promise
to keep this as brief as possible.
But I know how important this
information system will be to
your company, and I’m sure you
want to get it right. I think we
can finish within the hour. We
can probably do this in thirty
minutes if we stay on task.
Brett: Then let’s get on task.
Cindy: Okay. Brett, you’ve already seen
the Problem Statement Matrix I
prepared from our meeting the
other day. Here are copies I’ve
made for everyone.
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
John: Thank you.
Cindy: What I’d like to do today is flesh
that out a little, looking at the
causes of those problems and
how you all expect the new
system to solve those problems.
Are there any questions on what
I have here so far?
Mary: I have a question on the Priority
column. My needs are fairly low
on the priority list. Does that
mean you’ll write that part last?
Cindy: No. It only means that if during
the design process we find
ourselves facing money or time
constraints, the low priority
items might get shifted to Phase
II or possibly excluded from the
system. But it is likely we can do
everything on this list.
Mary: We better do my things. If
anybody starts to axe them, I’ll
have to have a talk with Jake.
Cindy: Are my priority assumptions
wrong? I just set the production
problems and opportunities the
highest because currently there
is no computerized system for
them.
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed - CASE STUDY 3 - Milestone 2: Problem Analysis
Brett: Well, in one sense everything on
this list is Priority 1. But I don’t
suppose you like to write it up
that way.
Cindy: No, that wouldn’t give it much
meaning. As I said, it is likely we
can do everything. So why don’t
we table that discussion for now.
What I would really like to do is
take each of these problems and
opportunities and talk about their
causes and effects and how the
proposed system should improve
the situation. Let’s start with the
sales part of the problem. Mary,
you envision a single, integrated
data source for all sales leads. As
I’ve noted, that will allow us to
eliminate duplicates.
Mary: That would save me a huge
headache. Someone will make a
sale, and the next day another
salesperson will say she’s been
calling that person for a month.
It’s a big area of contention, not
to mention wasted labor.
Cindy: Brett told me a little about your
desire for sales analysis. It would
look at leads and sales and calls
per lead?
Mary: Yes.
Cindy: How much of the call
information do you want to track
in the data? We could just have a
call counter or we could track
dates and notes for each call.
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Page: 2-6
Mary: I think it would be useful to track
call notes. That way if a
salesperson promises something,
I have a record. We have some
turnover in salespeople, and I
have to deliver on what they
promise.
Cindy: Do salespeople ever take their
computers or copies of the data
home and work on them there.
Mary: I do. I’m probably the only one.
Will that be a problem if we go
to unified data?
Cindy: Not an insurmountable problem.
How far do you live from here?
Mary: Just across town. But it’s much
easier to work from home on the
weekends than dragging back in
here.
Cindy: Okay. Now I have a question for
both Mary and John. As I
understand it, once an author is
sold the production side takes
over. Do we want the production
part of the system integrated with
the sales part, or should they be
separate systems?
Mary: My salespeople need to be able
to peek in on the production
status. When authors call to
check on the status, it is
generally the salesperson they
call. So I would think we would
want them integrated.
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001
SADM 5/ed - CASE STUDY 3 - Milestone 2: Problem Analysis
John: I agree, I think. But my
production people are dealing
with a much smaller subset of
names. You have several
thousand leads in all your
databases, but we have only a
few hundred books in process at
any given time. We only need to
work with those.
Cindy: That’s no problem. We can
design the system to allow
different views of different
subsets to different people. The
bins will be replaced by a system
where a “book shepherd” will
take care of entering all the data
for a particular book and making
assignments to all the
technicians?
Prepared by Gary B. Randolph for
Systems Analysis & Design Methods 5ed
by J. L. Whitten, L. D. Bentley, & K. C. Dittman
Page: 2-7
John: That’s what I’d like. I don’t think
we need the folders at all other
than to store copies of the
original manuscript and each
galley.
Cindy: Brett and I discussed either
having e-mails generated by the
system to the technicians with
each book assignment or else
generating daily reports.
John: I like the e-mail idea better. It’s
immediate and saves paper.
Cindy: Okay. It looks as if we are all
“on the same page.” What I will
do next is write this up into what
is called a Problems,
Opportunities, and Constraints
Matrix. I’ll get that to you for
your approval in a few days. If
everything looks good, then we
can begin the design phase.
Thanks, again for your time.
Copyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 2001