THE DILEMMA BETWEEN SOFTWARE
ENGINEERING AND SYSTEMS
ANALYSIS & DESIGN
MOHAMMAD A. ROB
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-CLEAR LAKE
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058
ROB@UHCL.EDU
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 INTRODUCTION
 METHODOLOGY
 RESULTS
 The Convergence and Divergence
 5QMMs: Five Quality Management Metrics in SE
 CONCLUSION
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TOO MANY BOOKS IN SYSTEMS ANALYSIS & DESIGN
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NOT TOO MANY TEXT BOOKS ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
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BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHER BOOKS IN THE SE PROGRAM
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SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COURSES
 REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING
 SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
 SOFTWARE CONSTRUCTION
 SOFTWARE TESTING
 SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE
 SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROCESS
 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TOOLS AND METHOD

SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT
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INTRODUCTION
 ONE COURSE IS TAUGHT ON SYSTEMS ANALYSIS &
DESIGN IN THE MIS PROGRAM.
 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COULD BE A SINGLE COURSE
OR A PROGRAM WITH MULTIPLE COURSES.
 BOTH ARE FOCUSED TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM OR A
SOFTWARE; AND SOFTWARE IS PART OF A SYSTEM.
 SO WHAT ARE COMMONALITIES AND WHAT THE
DIFFERENCES?
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METHODOLOGY
 TWO LEADING TEXTBOOKS FROM TWO SUBJECT AREAS ARE
COMPARED CHAPTER BY CHAPTER AND TOPIC BY TOPIC.
TOPIC
PRESSMAN
DENNIS & Wixom
Process Models
Text Organization
Project Management
OO Design
CMM, ISO 9000, Six Sigma
Function Points, COCOMO
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METHODOLOGY
 OTHER SA&D TEXTS ARE ADDED TO CHECK THE COVERAGE OF
VARIOUS TOPICS
TOPIC
PRESSMAN
DENNIS &
Wixom
KENDAL &
KENDALL
Satzinger
x
x
x
x
Holistic
Waterfall
Holistic
Waterfall
Project Management
x
x
x
x
OO Design
x
x
some
some
CMM, ISO 9000, Six
Sigma
x
some
some
some
Function Points,
COCOMO
x
x
--
--
Process Model
Text Organization
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RESULTS: CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE
Systems Analysis & Design
 Process Models are same
Software Engineering
 Origin of the models are in SE
 Traditionally deals with the  Traditionally deals with the
development of business
development of complex,
information system
technical, mission critical,
including software,
real-time, and embedded
software in all domains.
hardware, database,
network, and user interface.
 Only one course in the
Management Information
Systems program.
 A course or a whole program
with many courses in a
Software Engineering
program.
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RESULTS: CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE
Systems Analysis & Design
Software Engineering
 Clearly prepares a
Systems Analyst.
 Not clearly mentioned,
but it prepares a Software
Engineer or Software
Architect.
 Most textbooks are highly  Most textbooks take a
organized according to
holistic approach in
the phases and activities
organizing chapters in the
textbooks.
of SDLC Waterfall model,
but some are taking an
approach like Software
Engineering.
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RESULTS: CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE
Systems Analysis & Design
Software Engineering
 Focused on the Systems  Focused on the Software
Development Life Cycle
Quality and Project
Management.
(SDLC). Newer editions
bring many quality issues
like CMM, ISO and Six
Sigma.
 There is at least one
chapter on Project
Management.
 There are multiple
chapters on Project
Management.
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RESULTS: CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE
Systems Analysis & Design
Software Engineering
 Software Engineering
 Business and web-based
concepts like COCOMO,
systems are being added
Function Points, Use Case,
to adapt to the changing
need of the market.
UML, OO design, Quality
Assurance are being
included in recent
editions.
 May fit into the CMM Level  Can fit into CMM level 2
3, as project
and higher depending on
management and SDLC
how many KPAs are
discussed.
models are discussed
elaborately.
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RESULTS: THE QUALITY FOCUS IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

QUALITY IS THE
MAIN FOCUS IN
SOFTWARE
ENGINEERING
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RESULTS: 5 QUALITY MANAGEMENT METRICS IN SE

SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT

SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

(COMMON FOR MIS AND SE PROGRAM)

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT

SOFTWARE RISK MANAGEMENT

SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
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CONCLUSION

OUR ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT THE “QUALITY” FOCUS IS THE KEY
FACTOR IN THE AREA OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, WHILE THE
PROCESS MODELS AND BASIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ACTIVITIES ARE THE SAME IN BOTH SUBJECTS.

IN ADDITION TO SELECTING A PROCESS MODEL, A SOFTWARE
ENGINEER TYPICALLY FOCUSES ON FIVE QUALITY MANAGEMENT
METRICS (5QMMS) TO DEVELOP A QUALITY SOFTWARE.

MANY SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CONCEPTS ARE BEING ADAPTED
TO THE SYSTEMS ANALYSIS & DESIGN TEXTS.
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CONCLUSION

TODAY’S SOFTWARE MARKET IS DOMINATED BY LARGE BUSINESS
AND WEB-BASED SYSTEMS RATHER THAN TRADITIONAL
TECHNICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEMS.

WHETHER OR NOT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IS AN ENGINEERING
PROCESS MAY STILL BE A DEBATABLE ISSUE, BUT WITH THE
PROGRESSION OF TIME, THE FIELDS OF SA&D AND SE ARE
CONVERGING CLOSER TO EACH OTHER.

THEIR DISTINCTIONS ARE BEGINNING TO BLUR, NOT DUE TO
ENGINEERING OR BUSINESS PER SE, BUT SUBSEQUENT TO THE
WHIM OF CHANGING MARKET DEMANDS.

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TEXTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO ADDRESS
THE TOPICS THAT RELATE TO LARGE BUSINESS SYSTEMS
INCLUDING DATABASE AND WEB TECHNOLOGIES.
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