is 421 information systems analysis james nowotarski 30 september 2002

IS 421Information Systems Analysis

James Nowotarski

30 September 2002

• Recap points regarding system request and feasibility analysis

• Understand the big picture of the analysis phase• Understand the objectives and techniques for

gathering business requirements (e.g., what to ask in an interview)

• Understand expectations for Assignment 2

Today’s Objectives

Course Map

Contents

1. Introduction

Planning Phase2. Project Initiation3. Project Management

Analysis Phase4. Systems Analysis5. Gathering Information6. Process Modeling7. Data Modeling

1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 115

Assignments

QuizzesFinal

Week

CoreExamReview

Topic Duration

• Recap Planning Phase 30 minutes

• Analysis Phase Overview 40 minutes

*** Break 15 minutes

• Information Gathering Techniques 60 minutes

• Interviewing Exercise 30 minutes

• Assignment 2 Intro 15 minutes

Today’s agenda

SDLC

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a description of the phases of an information system

Planning Analysis Design Implementation

Sep. 23 focus Sep. 30 - Oct. 28 focus

SDLC: Planning Phase

IdentifyBusinessValue

Analyze TechnicalFeasibility

Analyze EconomicFeasibility

Analyze OrganizationalFeasibility

ProjectManagement

Project Initiation

Approval Approval

SDLC: Planning Phase

IdentifyBusinessValue

Analyze TechnicalFeasibility

Analyze EconomicFeasibility

Analyze OrganizationalFeasibility

ProjectManagement

Approval Approval

Deliverables SystemRequest

Feasibility Analysis

Key Roles

• Project Sponsor– The project sponsor is a key person proposing

development or adoption of the new information

technology

• Approval Committee– The approval committee reviews proposals from

various groups and units in the organization and decides which to commit to developing

Technical Feasibility

Familiarity with applicationKnowledge of business domain

Familiarity with technologyExtension of existing firm technologies

Project sizeSchedule, quality, workdays, personnel.

Technical feasibility addresses the question: Can we build it?

Economic Feasibility

Benefits (cash inflows)Development costs (initial cash outflows)Operational costs (ongoing cash outflows)Totals

Economic feasibility addresses the question: Should we build it?

Payback Period


Total (benefits - costs)

Total costs

RETURN ON INVESTMENT EQUALS

Divided by


(1 + interest rate)n

Some amount of money

NET PRESENT VALUE EQUALS

Divided by

Where “n” equals the number of periods

Organizational Feasibility

Stakeholder analysisProject champion(s)Organizational managementSystem users

Organizational feasibility addresses the question: If we build it, will they come?

Summary

Project initiation involves creating and assessing goals and expectations for a new system

Identifying the business value of the new project is a key to successFeasibility study is concerned with insuring that technical, economic, and organizational benefits outweigh costs and risks

Topic Duration







Today’s agenda

Key Definitions

• The As-Is system is the current system and may or may not be computerized

• The To-Be system is the new system that is based on updated requirements

Why Do Analysis

THE ANALYSIS PHASE

Analysis Phase

Key Question: Deliverables

Steps Techniques

What does the system need to do?Functional requirementsQuality requirementsData modelProcess model

1. Gather requirements2. Create data model3. Create process model

InterviewingObservationEntity-relationship modelingNormalizationData flow modeling

Analysis Phase

Analysis Phase

FromPlanningPhase:

System requestFeasibility analysisWorkplan . . .

DevAnalysisPlan

Examine-As-is

IdentifyImprove-ments

DevelopBasicSystemConcepts

DevelopDataModel

DevelopProcessModel

PrepareProposal

SystemWalkthrough

ToDesignPhase:

Deliverables:

Analysis Plan Functional Requirements

Quality Requirements

SystemConcept

Data Model

Process Model

System Proposal

Analysis Phase

FromPlanningPhase:


DevAnalysisPlan

Examine-As-is



DevelopDataModel

DevelopProcessModel

PrepareProposal

ToDesignPhase:

Deliverables:



SystemConcept

Data Model

Process Model

System Proposal

Develop Conceptfor To-Be System

Analysis Phase

FromPlanningPhase:


DevAnalysisPlan

Examine-As-is



DevelopDataModel

DevelopProcessModel

PrepareProposal

ToDesignPhase:


Gather Analyze Specify

Analysis Plan/Strategy

Begin with the End in Mind

• Table of contents• Executive summary• System request• Work plan• Analysis strategy• Recommended

system• Feasibility analysis

• Process model• Data model• Appendices

System Proposal Outline

Three Fundamental Analysis Strategies

• Business process Automation (BPA)• Business Process Improvement (BPI)• Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

High-Level Work Plan for Analysis

Step Deliverable Technique

Planning PhaseAnalysis Phase

Examine As-Is System Information SummariesUse CasesProcess ModelData Model

Gather Information

Develop Process ModelDevelop Data Model

Identify Improvements Ideas for System Problem AnalysisRoot Cause AnalysisDuration AnalysisActivity-based CostingInformal BenchmarkingFormal BenchmarkingOutcome AnalysisBreaking AssumptionsTechnology AnalysisActivity EliminationProxy BenchmarkingProcess Simplification

Develop Concept for To-Be System

System ConceptUse CasesProcess ModelData Model

Gather Information

Develop Process ModelDevelop Data Model

Topic Duration







Today’s agenda

Understand As-Is

Analysis Phase

FromPlanningPhase:


DevAnalysisPlan

Examine-As-is



DevelopDataModel

DevelopProcessModel

PrepareProposal

ToDesignPhase:

Deliverables:



SystemConcept

Data Model

Process Model

System Proposal


As-Is System

What is the purpose of studying the current As-Is system?

Is there ever a situation in which the As-Is system should not be studied extensively?

Information Gathering Techniques

• Interviewing• Joint application design• Questionnaires• Document Analysis• Observation

Interviews

Interviews -- Five Basic Steps

• Selecting Interviewees• Designing Interview Questions• Preparing for the Interview• Conducting the Interview• Post-Interview Follow-up

Selecting Interviewees

• Based on Information Needed• Often Good to Get Different Perspectives

– Managers

– Users

– Ideally, All Key Stakeholders

Types of Questions

Types of Questions Examples

Closed-Ended Questions * How many telephone orders are received per day?

* How do customers place orders?* What additional information would you like the new system to provide?

Open-Ended Questions * What do you think about the current system?* What are some of the problems you face on a daily basis?* How do you decide what types of marketing campaign to run?

Probing Questions * Why?* Can you give me an example?* Can you explain that in a bit more detail?

Designing Interview Questions

• Unstructured interview– Broad, Roughly Defined Information

• Structured interview– More Specific Information

Questioning Strategies

High LevelVery General

Medium-LevelModeratelySpecific

Low-LevelVery Specific

TOP DOWN

BOTTOM UP

EXAMPLES?

Interview Preparation Steps

• Prepare General Interview Plan– List of Questions– Anticipated Answers and Follow-Ups

• Confirm Areas of Knowledge• Set Priorities in Case of Time Shortage• Prepare the Interviewee

– Schedule– Inform of Reason for Interview– Inform of Areas of Discussion

Conducting the Interview

• Appear professional and unbiased• Record all information• Check on organizational policy regarding tape

recording• Be sure you understand all issues and terms• Separate facts from opinions• Give interviewee time to ask questions• Be sure to thank the interviewee• End on time

Conducting the InterviewPractical Tips

• Don’t Worry, Be Happy• Pay Attention• Summarize Key Points• Be Succinct• Be Honest• Watch Body Language• And, don’t ask unnecessary questions!

Post-Interview Follow-Up

• Prepare Interview Notes• Prepare Interview Report• Look for Gaps and New Questions• “If it isn’t in the fieldnotes, it never happened.”

Interview Report

INTERVIEW REPORT

Interview notes approved by: ____________

Person interviewed ______________Interviewer _______________Date _______________Primary Purpose:

Summary of Interview:

Open Items:

Detailed Notes:

JOINT APPLICATION DESIGN (JAD)

JAD Key Ideas

• Allows project managers, users, and developers to work together

• May reduce scope creep by 50%• Avoids requirements being too specific or too

vague

Joint Application Design (JAD) Important Roles

• Facilitator• Scribe

Joint Application Design (JAD) Setting

• U-Shaped seating• Away from distractions• Whiteboard/flip chart• Prototyping tools• e-JAD

JAD Meeting Room

JPEG Figure 5-5 Goes Here

The JAD Session

• Tend to last 5 to 10 days over a three week period• Prepare questions as with interviews• Formal agenda and groundrules• Facilitator activities

– Keep session on track

– Help with technical terms and jargon

– Record group input

– Help resolve issues• Post-session follow-up

Managing Problems in JAD Sessions

• Reducing domination• Encouraging non-contributors• Side discussions• Agenda merry-go-round• Violent agreement• Unresolved conflict• True conflict• Use humor

QUESTIONNAIRES

Questionnaire Steps

• Selecting participants

– Using samples of the population• Designing the questionnaire

– Careful question selection• Administering the questionnaire

– Working to get good response rate• Questionnaire follow-up

– Send results to participants

Good Questionnaire Design

Begin with non-threatening and interesting questions

Group items into logically coherent sections

Do not put important items at the very end of the questionnaire

Do not crowd a page with too many items

Avoid abbreviations

Avoid biased or suggestive items or terms

Number questions to avoid confusion

Pretest the questionnaire to identify confusing questions

Provide anonymity to respondents

Document Analysis

• Provides clues about existing “as-is” system• Typical documents

– Forms

– Reports

– Policy manuals• Look for user additions to forms• Look for unused form elements

Observation

• Users/managers often don’t remember everything they do• Checks validity of information gathered other ways• Behaviors change when people are watched• Careful not to ignore periodic activities

– Weekly … Monthly … Annual

Criteria for Selecting the Appropriate Techniques

• Type of information• Depth of information• Breadth of information• Integration of information• User involvement• Cost• Combining techniques

Selecting the Appropriate Techniques

Interviews JAD Questionnaires Document Observation Analysis

Type of As-Is As-Is As-Is As-Is As-IsInformation Improve. Improve. Improve. To-Be To-Be

Depth of High High Medium Low LowInformation

Breadth of Low Medium High High LowInformation

Integration Low High Low Low Lowof Info.

User Medium High Low Low LowInvolvement

Cost Medium Low- Low Low Low- Medium Medium

• Suggest how CD Selections should proceed in eliciting requirements.

• Consider steps, techniques and goals, who and how.

• How would you identify possible improvements?

• What possible improvements would you suggest?

Summary

• There are five major information gathering techniques that all systems analysts must be able to use: Interviews, JAD, Questionnaires, Document Analysis, and Observation.

• Systems analysts must also know how and when to use each as well as how to combine methods.

Topic Duration







Today’s agenda

End of Slides

is 421 information systems analysis james nowotarski 30 september 2002

Documents

focus slide

new project

break15 minutes information

success feasibility

payback period slide

summary project initiation

organizational benefits

business value