Information Technology -> The System Development Life Cycle revision

Before the phases of the SDLC are explored in detail use this revision activity to revise what you have learned so far. Test your understanding. Print out the following summary sheet then fill in the blank spaces to complete the document. Answers are provided on page two.
A. The Planning Phase In order to define the scope of a project and to identify potential problem areas the development of any computer based information system must be carefully (1). The planning phase normally follows a sequence of steps including recognising the (2)... , setting project (3)... , conducting (4). studies and establishing control mechanisms. B. The Analysis Phase During the Analysis Phase of the SDLC existing systems are studied with the aim of designing a new or improved system. Steps involved in this phase include (1)..... the project, creating a (2)... .. team, defining (3)..... needs, defining system (4).....criteria and creating a design (5)...... . At the conclusion of this phase a decision must be made as to whether or not the project will (6)..... C. The Design Phase During the design phase the (1).... and (2).... required by the new system are defined. During this phase it is important that a number of different (3)..... are investigated to ensure that the most efficient and effective (4)..... is adopted. Part of the design phase involves preparing an (5)..... proposal. D. The Implementation Phase In the implementation phase physical and conceptual (1)..... required for the project are obtained. Some of the steps in this phase include preparing the (2)..... facilities, (3) ... .. the users/participants and (4)..... over to the new system. E. The Use/Evaluation Phase Once the system has been (1)..... the final phase in the project is the Use/Evaluation phase. During this phase the system should be in full use and meeting the (2)..... that were set during the (3)..... phase. This phase has a number of steps including using the (4) ..... , auditing the system, and re-engineering (5) ... .

Answers
A. The Planning Phase (1) planned, (2) problem, (3) objectives, (4) feasibility,

B. The Analysis Phase (1) announcing, (2) project, (3) information, (4) performance, (5) proposal, , (6) proceed, C. The Design Phase (1) processes, (2) data, (3) alternatives, (4) solution, (5) implementation D. The Implementation Phase (1) resources, (2) physical, (3) educating, (4) changing, E. The Use/Evaluation Phase (1) implemented, (2) objectives, (3) planning, (4) system, (5) proposals
Information Technology -> The planning phase of the SDLC 1. Recognising the problem (factors prompting change within organisations) The first and most important part of the development of a computer based information system is the identification of the problem. It could be something as simple as a warehouse manager being unable to quickly locate stock when it has to be transported elsewhere, the need to create a customer database or a more complex problem involving changes in the buying trends of customers. Computer based information systems are usually created in response to existing problems and it is the nature of these problems, and consequently the solutions that are needed, that will shape the final system. The Planning Phase: defining the problem The comment of a department store employee - My maths isn't too good, I can never add up the figures correctly on the sales docket - may translate into a problem of totals on sales dockets being incorrectly recorded, leading to a loss of sales revenue and customer confidence. Computer systems are developed to enable processes to occur in a more efficient manner, or to avoid problems which currently exist. The ability to clearly define the problems or the inefficiencies is the first step in creating successful computer systems. This is because, in order to build a successful computer based information system, it is necessary to identify the deficiencies of the current system. Problem identification does not have to require extensive exploration of the current system's deficiencies. The detailed review of current practices and existing problems will be conducted in the analysis phase of the SDLC. The Planning Phase: setting project objectives In the planning phase broad goals for the entire project are set. In particular, it must be determined if the entire system or only part of the system needs to be replaced. Whilst this does not seem to be a significant step, it is very important to the overall project. It is through the setting of these broad system goals that the measurements of success can be determined. That is, at the completion of the planning phase, a clear picture of what the problem is has been established and equally important, a clear picture of what outcome will resolve the process has also been established.

It should be noted here that we have not identified what needs to built into the computer based information system. There is a very good reason for this - at this stage it is not relevant. In the problem solving phase, the focus is on identifying the problem and what would solve it - not how the problem has arisen and how it should be solved. By maintaining this focus, the solution is linked to the problem and through this a process for solving it developed. A computer based information system should never be created for the sake of creating it - it should be created to solve the problem that was identified. Too often, a computer based information system will be created but will not solve the problem that it was intended to. This can usually be traced back to the initial planning phase. When the outcomes to solve the problem were established, they would focus on what the system could be made to do, rather than what it actually needed to do to solve the problem. Consequently the system that was built, even though it achieved its goals, did not solve the initial problem. The quality of the initial planning will have a significant influence on the ability of the final product to solve the problem. The Planning Phase: identifying constraints Because we do not live in a perfect world, there will be negative factors limiting the nature of the system to be developed or modified. These constraints might include a fixed budget, necessity for quick implementation, integration and compatibility with existing systems or even issues related to staffing and retraining. Any adverse factors must be taken into account as part of the feasibility study. Feasibility Study Question 1 Can the system be created? The first question that needs to be asked - Can the system be created? - seems like a rather obvious question. It is not as clear as it might seem. Often, when a system is being developed specifically for an organisation, there will be no existing system on which to base comparisons on. It may be that what seems like a simple idea cannot be created for whatever reason. While this step does not look in exacting detail, it will look at what the system is required to do, and if this should be able to be achieved. Feasibility Study Question 2 Does the company have the ability to create the system? Once it has been established that the system can be created, the next question is - Can the company actually produce it? - in simple terms, does it have the expertise that will be required to create the system. This encompasses the project managers, programmers, technical experts etc. that will be needed during the project. If the expertise is not currently available, allowances need to be made in the project for this - either by outsourcing aspects of the project or employing the appropriate personnel to ensure the company has the appropriate skills available to complete the project. Feasibility Study Question 3 If the system was developed, does the company have the ability to keep it operating at an acceptable level? Once it has been established that the organisation has the appropriate skills to develop the system, the feasibility study must determine if the company will be able to keep the system operating at a level which will enable it to meet the original goals. In order to do this, it must first be determined what the level of operation will need to be to meet the goals, and once this is determined, it can be established what resources will be

needed to allow the system to run at this level. It will then be possible to evaluate if the organisation has the appropriate resources - including human, technical and physical. It might be possible for the organisation to be able to implement the system without the need for additional resources, however it is also quite likely that the organisation will need to provide additional resources for the system to be implemented. If the organisation needs to alter the nature of the resources it has available, it should be identified in the feasibility study. Feasibility Study Question 4 Can the system development costs and ongoing costs be justified on the improvements it will deliver? At this point in the feasibility study, the costs associated with the proposed system will be clearer. The costs will be divided into two categories - establishment costs and ongoing costs. Establishment costs are those associated with the actual creation of the system. This would include all development costs, hardware purchases and the like. The establishment costs are one off costs and will not be repeated during the life of the system. Ongoing costs are the costs that will be faced each year in running the system. It includes the human resource costs, system consumables costs and the like. The ongoing costs must be low enough to justify the development of the system. That is, there is no point developing a new system to perform a job if the current system does it cheaper - unless there is some overwhelming need for change. The establishment costs will be incurred in the initial setting up of the system, however they will usually be viewed over the anticipated life of that system. Feasibility Study Question 5 Is there a better way of solving the problem? Having established what the proposed system will deliver and at what cost, the next step in the feasibility study is to review this material against other possible solutions. At this point, it may become clear there are better ways of achieving the desired outcomes - this may be because the system cannot deliver all of the required objectives, or enabling the system to do so would cost far more than can be justified. By revisiting other options, the company ensures the system which is finally approved is one which provides the best system for the money which is spent on it. Feasibility Study Question 6 Should the system development go ahead? At the conclusion of the feasibility study, it must provide a recommendation for the course of action. This recommendation will fall into one of three categories:

to proceed with the system as initially planned to proceed with the system, but with alterations to the initial plan not to proceed with the system as planned and to conduct further investigations into the options available.

Feasibility Study

Once the problem identification process has been completed and an idea of a solution (or a number of possible solutions) have been established, but before any large project is approved, a thorough

investigation of the implications, costs and benefits of the system should be undertaken. This investigation is referred to as the Feasibility Study.

The main reason for conducting a feasibility study, in broad terms, is to see if creating the system will be worthwhile. What defines "worthwhile" will vary from company to company and system to system. Generally speaking, it is a balancing act - can the cost of developing the system be justified by the benefits the system will deliver?
The issues that a feasibility study will look at include: can the system be created? does the company have the ability to create the system? if the system was developed, does the company have the ability to keep it operating at an acceptable level? can the system development costs and ongoing costs be justified on the improvements it will deliver? is there a better way of solving the problem? should the system development go ahead?

Information Technology -> The planning phase - creating project proposals Creating Project Proposals The feasibility study will be presented to the management of the organisation who will make the final decision on whether to proceed with the proposed system development. If the proposal is given the approval to begin, the first step will be the analysis phase of the system development life cycle. Information Technology -> The planning phase - establishing control mechanisms Establishing Control Mechanisms A clear set of procedures and techniques must be established to ensure that proper controls exist on any data gathered in subsequent stages to ensure that it is valid. For example, it is often necessary to follow-up an interview or survey with direct observation to confirm your findings. Click here to view an example of a feasibility matrix.

Key Issues Weighting Operational 25% - meet requirements - level of security provided - education and training - business competence Technical - new equipment 30%

A 9 7 4 6 6.5

B 8 9 9 7 8.25

C 10 6 7 8 7.75

D 6 7 10 8 7.75

10

8 5

required utilization of current equipment technical support during and after installation expertise in developing systems for similar needs 15%

5 8 7 7.25

3 8 7 7

8 6 5 6.75

6 9 9 8

Scheduling - timeframe for development and full implementation Economic - costs to develop - payback time Ranking

Less 2 months 3-5 4 months than 3 months months 10 7 8 6 30% $75,000 $100,000 $85,000 $90,000 2 years 3 years 2.5 years 2.75 10 7 9 years 8 100%

The Analysis Phase of the SDLC

Announcing the Project The Analysis Phase of the SDLC begins with members of the organisation being notified that system changes are under investigation so that they can be prepared to participate in the decision making if required. It also keeps people informed as to the progress of the changes at each stage.

The Analysis Phase: creating the project team

Whilst the Project Manager has overall responsibility for the proposed system changes, other personnel are needed to provide specialist input. For example, the project team would include system analysts who provide links with the users and technical analysts who determine the technical feasibility of the project.

The Analysis Phase: defining information needs

The process of analysing a computer system starts with a broad look at the system which is then broken down into smaller parts. Each of the smaller parts can then be broken down into even smaller parts and so on. This approach enables a complete analysis to occur, without the initial task appearing to be a task so large as to be unable to be completed. The purpose of the analysis phase of the system development life cycle is to document what the current system does, and highlight the strengths and deficiencies in it. In the analysis of the system, the following should occur:

identification and evaluation of sources of information identification and description of the types of information needed to analyse the system identification and description of the types of information needed to design the system information flow and needs documented using system modeling tools identification and description of problem areas in the current system, which are grouped and become the basis for the development of the new system.

The Analysis Phase: identification and evaluation of sources of information

When deciding what type of network was required for a new information system 3RRR management consulted staff extensively. View a video in which Kath Letch, Station Manager, discusses this process. In order to perform an analysis of a system, the first step must be to identify the sources of information that will provide views on the running of the current system. This will involve the users of the information the system produces, users of the actual system and people who support the system. Each of the groups will provide information that contributes to the construction of an overall picture of the running of the system. In each of the broad groups identified above, there will be different categories or subgroups within it. It is important that input is received from all of these parties so that a well-balanced overall view of the system can be developed. In order to perform an analysis of a system a number of people must be consulted: users of the information the system produces, users of the actual system and people who support the system. When performing an analysis of the current system, the views of the users of the system are paramount in successfully recognising the strengths and identifying weaknesses present. The first task of the analyst will be to identify who they need to consult to find out about the current system. In doing this, they will need to identify the following users of the system: those who provide data, those who input data, those manipulate the data and those who receive data. As well as these groups, they will need to identify the group above this - those who own or run the organisation - for they will also have ideas as to what the system is doing, what it can be doing or what it should be doing. Although you would imagine the discussion with the users of the system would uncover this information, it is surprising just how often management's idea of what is happening is different to that of the users of the system. The Analysis Phase: identification and description of the types of information needed to analyse the system Having identified the sources of information, the next step the analyst must take is to establish what information can be gained from them. The information which can be gained from the manager will be different from the data entry clerk, which will be different from the customers and so on. The analyst must decide what information should be obtained from each source identified. It is unusual for one user to be the exclusive source of information about the system. Most aspects of the system will have some degree of overlap - it may be that significant detail will come mainly from one source, but there will usually be other users who are also impacted, and information must be collected from them as well. As well as identifying who will be capable of supplying what information in this step, the analyst must also make decisions about the reliability and suitability of the sources. Information collected must be evaluated for bias and relevance and given the appropriate weighting in the overall analysis of the system. For example, while a manager and a data clerk would both have opinions on the usefulness of the financial

reports produced by a particular system, the manager's opinion would have more weighting, but conversely, the data clerk's opinion has more significance in areas relating to the ease of data entry. Sometimes, the analyst will identify the need for other information in order to fully analyse the system. In this case, they would need to document where this information can be obtained. An example of this would be the need to conform to government privacy regulations with regard to the release of confidential data on individuals. The Analysis Phase: identification and description of the types of information needed to design the system The analyst must ensure the new system meets all relevant regulations and standards - and to do this, they must first identify who the appropriate authorities are, and investigate and document the standards that are relevant to this system. Having established the type and sources of information needed to analyse the existing system, the next step is to identify and describe the information that will be needed to design the new system. While this sounds very similar to the previous step, there are some differences that must be noted. Much of the information needed to design the new system will come from the same sources used previously. The designer of the new system must take into account information from all relevant sources. Some of this information will relate to mandatory standards (that is, minimum standards imposed by government or regulatory authorities - usually relating to Occupational Health and Safety issues, or data security/privacy law). The analyst must ensure the new system meets all relevant regulations and standards - and to do this, they must first identify who the appropriate authorities are, and investigate and document the standards that are relevant to this system. There will be other external sources of information that an analyst may need in the design of a new system. These sources will usually provide the analyst with expert advice on various aspects of the proposed system - focusing on areas where time and/or money can be saved through applying skills or designs from other projects to this system. In essence, the system allows for the incorporation of developments in other projects into this one to ensure that the final product uses the most appropriate technologies available. The Analysis Phase: information flow and needs documented using system modeling tools Seavision Multimedia. Information flow within the company showing how the various employees interact with each other in the system. An important phase in the development of the new system is the documentation of the information flow within the existing system. In this step, all the data in the system is recorded from when it is received, through manipulation in the system, until the final information is produced. In each phase it is important to note who is providing the system with the data, performing the manipulation and receiving the information that is produced. There are a number of tools that are used to represent these features - Data flow Diagrams (DFDs), Context Diagram and Entity Relationship diagrams. The reason why this stage is so important, is that it allows the analyst to develop a complete understanding of the way in which the various parties interact with each other in the system, and thus design a system that will be responsive to the needs of all of the parties involved. It also has the benefit of identifying the areas in which the company has direct control, and those for which it must rely on outside sources. Obviously, when designing a new system, there is no point in changing areas which the company has no control over, such as specifying data must be received in a particular way, when the person who is supplying that data is under no pressure or obligation to change the way in which they supply the data

The Analysis Phase: identification and description of problem areas in the current system In the final stage of the Analysis Phase the analyst will reconstruct the DFDs to outline where proposed changes to the system will take place.

Identification and description of problem areas in the current system, which are grouped and become the basis for the development of the new system is the final stage of the analysis phase. Here the analyst will look at all of the data that they have collected and decide where the current system's performance can be improved. The analyst will then reconstruct the DFDs to represent the proposed changes, as well as detailing the processing that will take place in each part of the system. In this final stage, the analyst will describe what has to happen at each point in the proposed system. These descriptions will form the basis for the development of the new system. Information Technology -> The Analysis Phase: defining system performance criteria
The Analysis Phase: defining system performance criteria These outline the standards that the system must achieve. In other words, what is the minimum level of tasks that the system can handle. This would include the objectives that the proposed changes are to achieve. These criteria must exceed the levels of performance of the old system. The Analysis Phase: creating a design proposal The final part of this stage involves summarising all the data gathered and linking it to the problem. From this a broad proposal for a system design is constructed. It recommends the main areas of change based on the analysis. This is the deliverable part of the Analysis stage of the SDLC. The Design Phase of the SDLC Detailed system design The design phase of the System Development Life Cycle follows the planning and analysis phases. Once a broad proposal has been drawn up, the individual components must be broken down and specific designs created. This will include designs for desired Input and Output.