Systems Analysis

and Design

Topic 3
Information Systems & Project
Management
Learning Objectives
ü Explain the process of managing an information systems
project.
ü Describe the skills and activities of a project manager
during project initiation, project execution, and project
closedown.
ü Describe various types of feasibility studies
Systems Analyst

n The systems analyst plays a key role in IS

development projects.
n The systems analyst works closely with all project
team members so that the team develops the right
system in an effective way.

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Systems Analyst
n Systems analysts must understand how to apply
technology in order to solve problems.
n Systems analysts may serve as change agents
who identify organizational improvement
needed, design systems to implement those
changes, and train and motivate others to use
the systems.

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Systems Analyst Skills

n Technical – Must understand the technical

environment, technical foundation, and technical
solution.
n Business – Must understand how IT can be
applied to business situations.
n Analytical – Must be problem solvers.

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Systems Analyst Skills (cont’d)

n Interpersonal – Need to communicate effectively.

n Management – Need to manage people and to
manage pressure and risks.
n Ethical - Must deal fairly, honestly, and ethically
with other project members, managers, and
systems users.

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Roles
n Business analyst - Focuses on the business issues
surrounding the system.
n Requirement analyst - focuses on eliciting the
requirements from the stakeholders associated with the
new system.
n Infrastructure analyst - Focuses on technical issues
(hardware, software, networks and databases).
n Change management analyst - Focuses on the people
and management issues surrounding the system
installation.

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Career Paths for Systems Analysts

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Managing the
Information Systems Project
n A Project Manager is a systems analyst with a
diverse set of skills – management, leadership,
technical, conflict management, and customer
relationship – who is responsible for initiating,
planning, executing, and closing down a project.
Managing the
Information Systems Project (Cont.)
n The project manager’s environment is one of
continual change and problem solving.

n The project manager’s understanding of the

project management process is critical.
Managing the Information Systems
Project (Cont.)
n Project – a planned undertaking of related
activities to reach an objective that has a
beginning and an end

n Deliverable – an end product of an SDLC

phase
Managing the Information Systems
Project (Cont.)
n System Service Request (SSR) – a
standard form for requesting or proposing
systems development work within an
organization

n It includes the contact person, a problem

statement, a service request statement, and
liaison contact information.
Managing the Information Systems
Project (Cont.)
n Project management: a controlled
process of initiating, planning, executing,
and closing down a project.
n Project Management Process
¨ Initiating
the Process.
¨ Planning the Project.
¨ Executing the Project.
¨ Closing down the Project.
Project Management Activities
System Request
n The document that describes the business reasons for
building a system and the value that system is expected
to provide.
n The completed system request is submitted to the
approval committee for consideration.
n The committee reviews the system request and makes
an initial determination, based on the information
provided, of whether to investigate the proposed project
or not.
n If so, the next step is to conduct a feasibility analysis.
 Feasibility Analysis

n Feasibility analysis guides the organization in

determining whether to proceed with a project.
n Feasibility analysis also identifies the important
risks associated with the project that must be
addressed if the project is approved.
Feasibility Analysis
n As with the system request, each organization
has its own process and format for the feasibility
analysis.
n Various techniques to assess :
¨ Technical feasibility
¨ Economic feasibility
¨ Operational feasibility
n The results of these techniques are combined
into a feasibility study deliverable that is given to
the approval committee at the end of the project
initiation.
Technical Feasibility
n Technical feasibility is the extent to which the
system can be successfully designed, developed,
and installed by the IT group.
n Essentially, a technical risk analysis strives to
answer the question: “Can we build it?”
Technical Feasibility
n Risks can endanger the successful completion of
a project. The following should be considered:
¨ Users’ and analysts’ should be familiar with the
application.
¨ Familiarity with the technology
¨ Project size
¨ Compatibility of the new system with the technology
that already exists
Economic Feasibility
n Economic feasibility is also called a cost-benefit
analysis, that identifies the financial risk
associated with the project.
n This attempts to answer the question, “Should
we build the system?”
Economic Feasibility

n The costs and benefits and be broken

down in to four categories:
¨ Development costs
¨ Operational costs
¨ Tangible benefits
¨ Intangibles
Economic Feasibility – development costs

¨ Tangible expenses that are incurred during

the creation of the system such as:
n Salaries
n Hardware and software expenses

n Consultant fees

n Training

n Office space and equipment

Economic Feasibility – Operational Costs

n Operational costs are those tangible costs that

are required to operate the system and are
considered ongoing cost. This will include:

¨ Salariesfor operation staff

¨ Software licensing fees
¨ Equipment upgrades
¨ Communications charges
Economic Feasibility – Tangible Benefits

n This includes revenue that the system enables

the organization to collect, such as increased
sales.
n The system may enable the organization to
avoid certain costs, which may lead to another
type of tangible benefit such as, cost savings.
Economic Feasibility – Intangible Benefits

n Intangible costs and benefits are more

difficult to incorporate into the economic
feasibility analysis as they are based on
intuition and belief rather that on “hard
numbers.”
Economic Feasibility
Assign Values to Costs and Benefits

n Once the types of costs and benefits have been

identified, you will need to assign specific dollar values to
them.
n The most effective strategy for estimating costs and
benefits is to rely on people who have the best
understanding of the them.
n If predicting a specific value for a cost or benefit proves
difficult, it may be useful to estimate a range of values for
the cost or benefit and then assign a probability estimate
to each value.
Assign Values to Costs and Benefits
n Once the types of costs and benefits have been identified, the systems analysts needs
to assign specific dollar values to them.

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Organizational Feasibility
n Organizational feasibility of the system is how well the
system ultimately will be accepted by its users and
incorporated into the ongoing operations of the
organization.
n There are many organizational factors that can have an
impact on the project, and seasoned developers know
that organizational feasibility can be the most difficult
feasibility dimension to assess.

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Organizational Feasibility (cont’d)
n In essence, an organizational feasibility analysis
is to answer the question “If we build it, will they
come?”
n One way to assess the organizational feasibility
is to understand how well the goals of the project
align with the business objectives and
organizational strategies.

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Organizational Feasibility (cont’d)

n A second way to assess the organizational

feasibility is to conduct stakeholder analysis.
n A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization
that can affect a new system
- Project champion
- System users
- Organizational management
- Other stakeholders
Assessing Other Feasibility Concerns
n Political Feasibility
¨ Assessment of key stakeholders’ view in organization
toward proposed system
n Schedule Feasibility
¨ Assessment of time-frame and project completion
dates with respect to organization constraints for
affecting change
n Legal and Contractual Feasibility
¨ Assessment of legal and contractual ramifications of
new system