System Analysis and Design
System Analysis
- Mr. Ahmad Al-Ghoul
Learning Objectives
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Discuss the analytical skills, including
systems thinking, needed for a systems
analyst to be successful
Describe the technical skills required of
a systems analyst
Discuss the management skills required
of a systems analyst
Identify the interpersonal skills required
of a systems analyst
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Introduction
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The system analyst is a key member of any systems
development project.
In a boarder sense, the systems analyst plays several
roles:
Archaeologist and scribe: As a systems analyst, one
of the main jobs is to uncover detail and to document
business policy , passed down from generation to
generation of users.
Innovator: The systems analyst must separate the
symptoms of the user’s problem from the true causes.
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Introduction
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Mediator: The systems analyst who often finds himself
in the middle of users, managers, programmers,
auditors, and various other players, all of whom
frequently disagree with one another.
Project leader: Because the systems analyst is usually
more experienced than the others on the project, and
since he is assigned to the project from the beganing,
there is a natural tendency to assign project
management responsibilities to the analyst.
To succeed as a systems analyst, you will develop four
types of skills, Analytical Skills, Technical Skills,
Management Skills, and Interpersonal Skills
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Analytical Skills for Systems Analysis
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Analytical skills enable you to understand the
organization and its functions, to identify
opportunities and problems, and to analyze
and solve problems.
Four Sets of Analytical Skills
Systems Thinking
 Organizational Knowledge
 Problem Identification
 Problem Analyzing and Solving
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Analytical Skills for Systems Analysis
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Systems Thinking
One of the most important analytical skills you can
develop is system thinking, or the ability to see
organizations and information systems as systems.
 System thinking provides a framework from which
to see the important relationships among
information systems, the organizations they exist
in, and the environment in which the organizations
themselves exist.
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Analytical Skills for Systems Analysis
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Systems Thinking
Important System Concepts
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Decomposition
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The process of breaking down a system into smaller
components
Allows the systems analyst to:
 Break a system into small, manageable subsystems
 Focus on one area at a time
 Concentrate on component pertinent to one group of
users
 Build different components at independent times
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Analytical Skills for Systems Analysis
Systems Thinking
Important System Concepts
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Logical System Description
describes the purpose and function of the system
 Does not tie the description to a specific physical
implementation
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Physical System Description
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Focuses on how the system will be physically
constructed
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Analytical Skills for Systems Analysis
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Organizational Knowledge
Understanding of how organizations work
 Knowledge of specific functions and procedures of
organization and department
 How work officially gets done
 Internal policies
 Competitive Environment
 Organizational Strategies and Tactics
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
 Analytical Skills for Systems Analysis
 Problem Identification
Problem: Difference between an existing situation
and a desired situation
 Identification is process of defining differences
 Differences are defined by comparing the current
situation to the output of a model that predicts
what the output should be
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
 Analytical Skills for Systems Analysis
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 Problem Analyzing and Solving
Four Phases
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Intelligence
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Design
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Best alternative solution is chosen
Implementation
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Alternatives are formulated
Choice
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All relevant information is collected
Solution is put into practice
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Technical Skills for Systems Analysis
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Technical skills help you understand the
potential and limitations of information
technology.
As an analyst, you must be able to envision
an information system that will help users
solve problems and that will guide the
system’s design and development.
You must also be able to work with
programming languages, various operating
systems, and computer hardware platforms.
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Technical Skills for Systems Analysis
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Understanding of a wide variety of
technologies is required
Microcomputers, workstations, minicomputers and
mainframe computers
 Programming languages
 Operating systems
 Database and file management systems
 Data communication standards
 Systems development tools and environments
 Web development languages and tools
 Decision support system generators
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Management Skills for Systems Analysis
Management skills help you manage projects, resources,
risk, and change.
Four categories
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Resource Management
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Project Management
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Ability to anticipate what might go wrong in a project and minimize
risk and/or minimize damage that might result
Change Management
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Goals are prevent projects from coming in late and prevent projects
from going over budget
Risk Management
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Systems analyst needs to know how to get the most out of the
resources of an organization, including team members
Ability to assist people in making transition to new system and
ability to deal with technical issues related to change
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Interpersonal Skills for Systems Analysis
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Interpersonal skills help you work with end users as
well as with other analysts and programmers. As a
system analysts, you will play a major role as a
mediator among users, programmers, and other
systems professionals.
Effective written and oral communication, including
competence in leading meetings, interviewing, and
listening, is a key skill analysts must master
two types of skills:
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Communication skills
Working alone and with a team
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Interpersonal Skills for Systems Analysis
Communication skills
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Effective communication helps to establish
and maintain good working relationships with
clients and colleagues
Three types used by Systems Analyst
Interviewing and Listening
 Questionnaires
 Written and Oral Presentations
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Succeeding as a Systems Analyst
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Interpersonal Skills for Systems Analysis
Working alone and with a team
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Working alone on aspects of project involves
managing:
Time
 Commitments
 Deadlines
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Team work involves establishing standards of
cooperation and coordination
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Sequence Summary
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Skills of Successful Systems Analyst
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Analytical
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Technical
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Resources, projects, risk, change
Interpersonal
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Change over time, programming languages, operating
systems, database management systems, data
communications, systems development techniques
Management
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Systems Thinking
Interviews and Questionnaires, written and oral
presentations, facilitating groups
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Sequence Summary
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In this Sequence we have
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Defined structured analysis and design
Discussed the analytical skills, including systems thinking,
organizational knowledge, and problem identification
Defined the term system decomposition
Distinguished between logical and physical system
description
Defined the term problem
Explained the Problem Analyzing and Solving phases
Described the technical skills required of a systems analyst
Discussed the management skills required of a systems
analyst
Identified the interpersonal skills required of a systems
analyst
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Reference
[2] Modern Systems Analysis and Design Third Edition
Authors: Jeffrey A. Hoffer , Joey F. George, Joseph S. Valacich
Publisher: prentice hall
[2] introduction to systems analysis and sesign.
Authors: Hawryszkiewyer
Publisher: prentice hall 1990
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