Systems Analysis Fundamentals Project Feasibility
PROJECT INITIATION
three general driving forces:
PROJECT FEASIBILITY
1. Estimate the anticipated
development
and operational costs.
2. Estimate the anticipated financial
benefits.
3. cost-benefit analysis is calculated
based on the detailed estimates of
costs and benefits.
According to Pressman, all projects are
feasible given unlimited resources and
infinite time. Unfortunately, most of the
projects must be developed within
tight budgetary and time constraints.
Cost and benefits can be viewed as :
 Tangible
example: reduced personnel
expenses, lower transaction costs,
or higher profit margins.
 To respond to an opportunity
 To resolve a problem
 To conform to a directive
During project feasibility, the
project manager answers the
questions such as :
 Are the expected benefits
reasonable?
 Are the assumed costs realistic?
The objective of this activity is to
determine whether a development
project has a reasonable chance of
success.
Feasibility analysis basically identifies
all the risks of failure.
A project team considers the original
assumptions and identifies other risks
that could endanger the success of
the project.
AREAS OF FEASIBILITY
Economic feasibility
is the process of identifying the
financial benefits and costs associated
with a development project.
Consist of two tests:
 Is the anticipated value of
benefits greater than projected
costs of development?
 Does the organization have
adequate cash flow to find the
project during the development
period?
Cost- Benefit Analysis
- is the analysis to compare costs and
benefits to see whether investing in
the development of a new system will
be beneficial.
 Intangible
example: improvement of
employees morale, or they may
have broader societal
implications, such as the
reduction of waste creation or
resource consumption.
Three popular techniques to assess
economic feasibility are the following:
1. Net Present Value (NPV)
- all benefits and costs are
calculated in terms of today’s
present value and that benefits and
costs are combined to give a net
value.
2. Payback Period
-also called as break even point, is
the point in time at which the
increased cash flow (benefits)exactly
pays off the costs of development
and operation.
3. Return On Investment(ROI)
-is a measure of the percentage
gain from an investment such as a
new system.
The Time Value of Money(TVM) is the
concept that should be applied to
each technique. This refers to the
concept of comparing present cash
outlays to future expected returns.
Operational Feasibility
Is the process of assessing the degree
to which a proposed system solves
business problems or takes advantage
of business opportunities.
THREE STEP PROCESS
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Systems Analysis Fundamentals Project Feasibility
Measures how well the solution will
work in the organization.
Measure of how people feel about
the system/project.
dependent on the human resources
available for the project and involves
projecting whether the system will
operate and be used once it is installed.
Schedule Feasibility
gain understanding of the likelihood
that all potential time frames and
completion date schedules can be
met and that meeting these dates will
be sufficient for dealing with the needs
of the organization.
Resource Feasibility
 it require the involvement of systems
analysts, systems technicians, and
users.
risk to consider here is that the
people
who are assigned may not have
the
essential skills for the project.
other resources needed for a
project
to be successful include adequate
computer resources, physical
facilities
and support staff.
FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS
 Need Analysis - implies recognition
of a need for the project.
 Process Work - is the preliminary
analysis done to determine what
will be required to satisfy the need.
It involves system models or
prototype.
 Engineering and Design – involves a
detailed technical study of the
proposed project. Written
quotations are obtained from
suppliers and subcontractors as
needed.
 Cost Estimate – involves estimating
project cost to an acceptable level
of accuracy. Both initial and
operating costs are included in the
cost estimation.
 Financial Analysis – involves an
analysis of the cash flow profile of
the project. This should consider
rates of return , inflation, sources of
capital , payback periods,
breakeven point, and
residual(salvage) values.
 Project Impacts – provides an
assessment on how much impact
the proposed project has.
- some of the factors that
determines how a project is
perceived by the public include
environmental, social, cultural,
political and economical impacts.
-Process by which feasibility is
measured.
-designed to determine whether or not
a project will be successful.
- conducted for a project with an
emphasis on financial feasibility,
environmental integrity, cultural
acceptability, or political viability.
- determination as to the likelihood of
success and a description of how that
determination was achieved.
ELEMENTS OF A FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS
FOR A PROJECT SHOULD COVER THE
FOLLOWING:
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 Conclusions and Recommendations
-this may indicate an endorsement
or
disapproval of the project. A
recommendation on what should be done
is included In the feasibility report.
PROJECT SCHEDULING
 determines the order in which
activities will be performed, setting start
and end times for each activity, and
assigning specific tasks to team
members.
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Systems Analysis Fundamentals Project Feasibility
 the activity of developing project
schedule is one of the most difficult
efforts of the project planning phase,
yet it is one of the most important.
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
 hierarchy of phases, activities, and
individual tasks that are required to
complete the project
 the foundation for developing the
project schedule, and for managing cost
 developed before dependencies are
identified and activity durations are
estimated
 can be used to identify the tasks in
PERT diagram
BLOCK diagram
PROJECT
Task 1
Subtask 1.1
Work
Package
1.1.1
Task 1
Subtask 1.2
Work
Package
1.1.2
Work
Package
1.1.3
OUTLINE form
LEVEL1
LEVEL2
Package 2.1.2
Work
Package 2.1.3
PERT is an acronym for Program Evaluation
and Review Technique and
CPM stands for Critical Path Method
 PERT is a diagram of all the tasks
identified in the WBS, illustrating the
sequence of dependencies of the tasks
 The critical path is the longest path
through the PERT/CPM diagram and
contains all the tasks that must be
done in the defined sequential order.
RULES IN PERT/CPM diagram
1. Each activity must be represented by its
own branch on the chart.
2. Direction of time flows is indicated by
arrows. An activity line meeting an
event
node
indicates
activity
completion. The length of an activity
branch is not representative of the time
the activity will take.
3. Relationships between activities are
determined by the sequence of the
branches.
4. If several activities terminate at one
node ; no activities starting at the node
may begin until all entering activities
are completed.
5. For analysis reason, no two activities
are allowed to both start and end at the
same nodes. If the project network
would seem to require this, a dummy
activity
has no time; it merely
preserves the proper sequencing in the
network design.
LEVEL3
Task 1
Subtask 1.1
Work
Package 1.1.1
Work
Package 1.1.2
Work
Package 1.1.3
Subtask 1.2
Work
Package 1.2.1
Work
Package 1.2.2
Work
Package 1.2.3
Task 2
Subtask 2.1
Work
Package 2.1.1
Work
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ADVANTAGE OF PERT diagram:
 It produces a diagram that makes it
easy to see dependencies and the
critical path.
DISADVANTAGES OF PERT diagram:
 There can be potentially hundreds or
thousands of activities and individual
dependency relationships.
 The lack of a timeframe on most
PERT/CPM charts makes it harder to
show status although colors can
help(e.g. specific color for completed
nodes).
 When the PERT/CPM charts become
unwieldy, they are no longer used to
manage the object.
GANTT CHARTS
- developed in 1917 by HENRY GANTT
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Systems Analysis Fundamentals Project Feasibility
- bar chart that represents the tasks and
activities of the project schedule.
- Good for monitoring the progress of the
project as it moves along.
ADVANTAGES:
o SIMPLICITY
o The bar representing activities or tasks
are drawn toscale.
INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS
Information gathering is used to discover
business information details to define the
information structure.
It helps analyst to establish the priorities
of the information needs and further leads
to opportunities that highlight key issues
which may cross functional boundaries or
may touch on policies or the organization
itself.
It is a complicated task especially in a
large and complex system. Therefore, this
must be organized to ensure that nothing
is overlooked and all system details are
eventually captured.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
General Steps in conducting
Information Gathering:
Schedule initial visit to user site
Gather and read background
materials
Establish data gathering techniques
to use
Identify contact persons
Schedule data gathering activities
Assign to data gathering teams
Identify deliverables
One of the best ways to get this
information is to talk to the people who
are directly or indirectly involved in the
different parts of the organizations
affected by the possible system changes,
such as users, managers, etc. Other way
to find out about the current system is to
gather copies of documentation relevant to
current systems and business processes.
Methods of Information Gathering
o Review existing reports, forms, and
procedure description
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o Conduct interviews and discussion
with users
o Observe and document business
processes
o Distribute and collect questionnaires
o Conduct
Joint
Application
Design(JAD) sessions
Distribute
questionnaires
Interview
users
Review
existing
documentation
Observe
business
procedures
Research
vendor
solutions
Understand
new
business
constraints
Understand
new system
procedures
Develop
require
ments
and
models
for new
system
Understand
new system
functions
As shown in the figure above, the focus of
analysis nowadays is to develop a set of
logical system requirements for the new
system as soon as possible. The system
analyst develops the logical model of the
new system as they gather information.
Then, the project team constructs the
physical model (how the system will be
built) as part of system design.
Review existing Reports, Forms, and
Procedure Description
 Review of documentation helps
identify business rules that may not
come up in the interviews.
 Written procedures help discover
discrepancies and redundancies in
the business processes
 To make sure that assumptions and
business rules derived from existing
documentation are correct, the
analysts should review them along
with the users.
2 sources of information for existing
procedures and forms
1. External to the organization
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Systems Analysis Fundamentals Project Feasibility
-at industry –wide professional
organization and at other
companies
2. Existing business
documentations and procedure
description within the
organization
The review of these materials provides
an understanding of business functions.
They also form the basis for the
development of detailed interview
questions.
Conduct Interviews and
Discussions with Users
To conduct an effective interview, a
system analyst need to organize in 3
areas:
1. prepare for the interview
2. conduct he interview
3. follow-up the interview
Prepare for the Interview
There are 5 major steps in preparing for
the interview.
1. Read background materials
Read and have an understanding of the
background information of the
interviewees and their organization. Be
particularly sensitive to the language
the organizational members use in
describing themselves and their
organization.
2. Establish interviewing
objectives
Know what you want to accomplish
with the interview. Write down what
you to
3. Decide who to interview
Decide which users should be involved
in the interview.
4. Prepare the interviewee
Make the final arrangements and
communicate those arrangements to all
participants. Each of the participants
should be informed with the objective
of the meeting and, when appropriate,
should be able to preview the questions
or materials to be reviewed.
5. Decide on question types and
structure
Questions may have some basic forms.
Question types can be classified as :
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1. Open-ended question are
general questions that allow the
interviewee to answer as they
please. This actually describe s the
interviewee’s options for
responding.( 2 words or 2
paragraphs) ex: Please explain how
your current inventory system
works?
Advantages of an open-ended
questions:

put the interviewee at ease

allow the interviewer to pick up on
the interviewee’s vocabulary

reveal avenues of further
questioning that may have gone
untapped.

Make it more interesting for the
interviewee

Allow more spontaneity

Make phrasing easier for the
interviewer
Disadvantages of an open-ended
questions:
 the interviewer might be asking
questions that can result in too
much irrelevant detail.
 There is a possibility of losing
control of the interview.
 it may give the impression that the
interviewer is fishing for information
2.
Closed questions – are specific
questions in which the response is
limited to a finite number of choices. The
possible responses are closed to the
interviewee since he or she can only reply
with a finite number, such as”None”,
“One” etc.
ex: how many times in a week is the
report updated?
Advantages of using a closed
questions:
 save time
 easy to compare interviews
 get to the point
 keep control over the interview
 cover lots of ground quickly
 get to relevant data
Disadvantages of using closed
questions:
 fail to obtain rich details
 miss main ideas for the preceding
reason
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Systems Analysis Fundamentals Project Feasibility
 fail to build rapport between
interviewer and interviewee
QUESTION STRUCTURES
1. PYRAMID STRUCTURE
Should be used if you believe your
interviewee needs to warm up to
the topic. This is also helpful if you
want an ending determination about
the topic.
2. FUNNEL STRUCTURE
The interviewer takes a deductive
approach by beginning with the
generalized, open-ended questions
and then narrowing the possible
responses by using closedquestions. This structure provides
an easy, non-threatening way to
begin an interview. Also a funnel
structure is useful when the
interviewee feels emotional about
the topic and needs freedom to
express those emotions.
3. DIAMOND-SHAPED STRUCTURE
Entails beginning in a very specific
way, then examining general issues,
and finally coming to a very specific
conclusion. This structure combines
the strength of the other 2
approaches; however, it has the
disadvantage of taking longer than
any other structure.
CONDUCT THE INTERVIEW
Guidelines:
 Dress appropriately
 Arrive on time
 Limit the time of the interview
 Look for exception and error
conditions
 Probe for details
 Take careful notes
FOLLOW UP INTERVIEW
Information obtained from the interview
should be absorbed, comprehended, and
documented.
 Follow up is an important part of an
interview
 Make a list of new questions based
on areas that require further
elaboration or that are missing
information. The list you have
created will prepare you for the
next interview.
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Observe and Document Business
Processes
 The oval represents the individual
activities in a workflow.
 The arrow represents the sequence
between activities
 The black circles are used to
denote the beginning and end of a
workflow
 The diamond is a decision point at
which the flow of the process will
flow one path or the other path
 The synchronization bar either
splits the path into multiple
concurrent paths or recombines
concurrent paths.
 The swim lane represents an
agent who performs the activities.
Distribute and collect Questionnaires
1. Using questionnaires as information
gathering technique allows systems
analysts to study attitudes, beliefs,
behavior, and characters of several key
people in the organization that may be
affected by the current and proposed
systems.
Guidelines
whether
use
of
questionnaires is applicable:
1. The people you need to question
are widely dispersed (different
branches of the same corporation).
2. A large number of people are
involved in the systems project, and
it is
meaningful to know what
proportion of a given
group
approves or disapproves of a
particular feature of the proposed
system.
3. You are doing an exploratory study
and want to gauge overall opinion
before the systems project is given
any specific direction.
4. You want to be certain that any
problems with the current system
are identified and addressed in the
follow-up interview.
Guidelines are used to help analysts
in
choosing
language
for
questionnaires:
1. Use the language of respondents
whenever possible. Keep wording
simple.
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Systems Analysis Fundamentals Project Feasibility
2. Work at being specific rather than
vague in wording. Avoid overly
specific questions as well.
3. Keep questions short.
4. Do not patronize respondents by
talking down to them through
low-level language choices.
5. Avoid bias wording. This also
means
avoiding
objectionable
questions.
6. Target questions to the correct
respondents(that is, those who are
capable of responding). Do not
assume too much knowledge.
7. Ensure
that
questions
are
technically
accurate
before
including them.
8. Use software to check whether the
reading level id appropriate for the
respondents.
CONDUCT JOINT APPLICATION
DESIGN SESSIONS
-JAD is an alternative approach to
interviewing
users-one-by-one.
The
reasons for using JAD are:
2. To cut time (and the cost) required by
personal interviews
3. To improve the quality of the results of
information requirements assessment
4. To create more user identification with
new information systems as a result of
the participative processes
Consider using JAD when:
1. User groups are restless and want
something new, not a standard solution
to a typical problem.
2. the organizational culture supports joint
problem-solving
behaviors
among
multiple levels of employees.
3. Analysts forecast that the number of
ideas
generated
via
one-on-one
interviews will not be as plentiful as
the number of ideas possible from an
extended group exercise.
4. Organizational workflow permits the
absence of key personnel during a twoto-four-day block of time.
The activities done in an interview are
compressed in a shorter series of JAD
sessions with users and project team
members. A particular JAD session may
last from a single day to a week. During
the session, all of the fact-finding, modelbuilding, policy decisions and verification
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activities are completed for a particular
aspect of the system.
PARTICIPANTS:
 JAD session leader –a person
who is experienced or has been
trained in understanding group
dynamics and in facilitating group
discussion. He or she should not be
an expert in systems analysis and
design but should be excellent in
communication skills.
 Users – all appropriate users such
as managers must be present in
JAD session to make policy
decisions.
 Technical staff – a representative
from the technical support staff
that answers to questions and
decisions about technical issues.
 Project Team Members – both
systems analysts and user experts
from the project team assist in the
discussion, clarify points, control the
level of detail needed, build models,
document the results, and generally
see that the system requirements
are defined to the necessary level of
detail. They make sure that the
objectives are completely satisfied.
Advantages:
 Time savings over traditional oneon-one interviews
 Rapid development possible via JAD
 Possibility of improved ownership
of the information system
 Creative development of designs
Disadvantages:
 Requires the commitment of a large
block of time from all participants
 If preparation for the JAD sessions
is inadequate in any regard or if
the
follow-up
report
and
documentation of specifications is
incomplete
 The necessary organizational skills
and organization culture may not be
sufficiently developed to enable the
concerted effort required to be
productive in a JAD setting.
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