Unit 1 – The context of systems analysis
and design
1.1 - Systems development lifecycle and position of SAD
within it
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Information Systems
▪ Systems
▪ A system is an organized collection of parts (or subsystems)
that are highly integrated to accomplish an overall goal.
▪ The system has various inputs, which go through certain
processes to produce certain outputs, which together,
accomplish the overall desired goal for the system.
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▪ Information System
▪ Information system, an integrated set of components for
collecting, storing, and processing data and for providing
information, knowledge, and digital products.
▪ Business firms and other organizations rely on information
systems to carry out and manage their operations, interact
with their customers and suppliers, and compete in the
marketplace.
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Stakeholders
▪ The people or groups affected by a software
development project.
▪ Stakeholders exist both within the organization and
outside of it as well as both technical and non-technical
workers. They may be end users, or they might simply
be affected by the process.
▪ Either way, they have a vested interest in the final
product.
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▪ Input from stakeholders tells the company what kind of
software is needed, suggesting ideas for features or
problems it needs to solve.
▪ Stakeholders can be broadly classified into five groups.
▪ System Owners
▪ System Users
▪ System Designers
▪ System Builders
▪ System Analyst and Project Managers
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System Owner
▪ System Owner is the individual responsible for funding
the overall procurement, development, integration,
modification, operation, maintenance, and retirement of
an information system.
▪ The System Owner is also responsible for the prioritized
backlog and maximizing the return on investment (ROI)
of the software project.
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System User
▪ A “customer” who will use or is affected by an
information system on a regular basis capturing,
validating, entering, responding to, storing, and
exchanging data and information.
▪ Basically there are two types of system users.
▪ Internal system users
▪ External system users
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Internal System Users
▪ Internal users are people within a business organization
who use business information.
▪ Clerical and service workers
▪ Technical and professional staff
▪ Supervisors, middle managers, and executive managers
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External System Users
▪ External users are people outside the business entity
(organization) who use business information.
▪ Customers
▪ Suppliers
▪ Partners
▪ Employees
▪ Remote users - users who are not physically located on the
premises but who still requires access to information systems.
▪ Mobile users - users whose location is constantly changing but
who requires access to information systems from any location
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System Designers
▪ Technical specialists
▪ Translates system users business requirements and
constraints into technical solutions.
▪ Design the computer files, databases, inputs, outputs,
screens, networks, and programs that will meet the
system users requirements.
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System Builders
▪ Technical specialist
▪ Constructs information systems and components based
on the design specifications generated by the system
designers.
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System Analyst
▪ People who understand both business and computing.
▪ Studies the problems and needs of an organization
▪ Determine how people, data, processes, and
information technology can best accomplish
improvements for the business
▪ Bridge the communication gap that exists between non
technical and technical people involved with building
systems.
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▪ What does a systems analyst do?
▪ Identify the problem
▪ Analyze and understand the problem
▪ Identify the requirements-Identify the solution
▪ Identify alternative solutions
▪ Design and implement the best solution
▪ Evaluate the result
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Sourcing Methods
▪ An increasingly popular approach to manage the IS and
IT functions of an organization is to adopt a sourcing
method.
▪ In-Sourcing
▪ Outsourcing and Offshoring
▪ Co-Sourcing
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In-Sourcing
▪ The organization performs an activity internally, thereby
using internal resources and governance.
▪ i.e. the activity is governed and performed by internal
resources.
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Outsourcing
▪ A long-term business arrangement in which a company
contracts for services with an outside organization that
has expertise in providing a specific function.
▪ Main reasons behind a decision to outsourcing:
▪ Save Money - Achieve Greater Return on Investment (ROI)
▪ Focus on Core Competencies
▪ Achieve Flexible Staffing Levels
▪ Gain Access to Global Resources
▪ Decrease Time to Market
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Offshoring
▪ An outsourcing arrangement in which the organization
providing the service is located in a country different
from the firm obtaining the services.
▪ Offshoring can be defined as a relocation of an
organization’s business processes to a lower-cost
location, usually overseas.
▪ Offshoring can be considered in the context of either
production offshoring or services offshoring.
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Co-Sourcing
▪ Co-sourcing combines the advantages of outsourcing
and insourcing as it provides access to external
expertise without having to completely give up internal
control over processes.
▪ Co-sourcing is advisable for processes that an
organization does not want to completely allocate to an
external provider.
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Lesson Summary
▪ Information Systems
▪ Stakeholders
▪ Sourcing Methods
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