How useful is Systems Analysis?

I did not find that the systems analysis module was very useful for me as the majority of the module I had already covered at A-level and the module did not go into much more detail than what I had already covered and it was mainly just going over material that I already knew, however I feel that the module would be useful to those who did not study ICT at A-level as they would have no existing understanding of the module.

I am not sure of the usefulness of having a systems analysis module in the computer science and software engineering courses, especially as there module specifications move away from the business IT side and concentrate more on the software development side of IT.

I think that it would be very beneficial if a systems analysis module was included in the business and management courses as it would lead to a better understanding of how IT systems are developed and why they are not always on time or budget and the difficulties in changing a system to include new features or functions. It would also lead them to a better understanding of how IT systems work and when investing in a new IT system may not be the best solution to their problems or why their new IT system has not fixed all their problems.

The topic I found the most useful in the systems analysis module was on drawing/designing DFD’s as this was not covered to a great extent at A-level however I feel that this part of the course could be done in more detail with particular emphasis on drawing/designing DFD’s. I also feel that too much emphasis was put on economic feasibility during the feasibility study topic.

The topics that I feel where the least useful was the fact finding techniques as again I had covered this topic in detail at A-level (both in ICT and sociology) and a lot of it could be labelled as common sense, such as questionnaires and interviews, but again some of this would be useful to people who have not covered this at A-level as some techniques such as covert and overt observation may not be obvious and they would not have come across some of the other factors such as the Hawthorn effect.

Something I feel that could be covered would be giving examples of existing systems and problems with the systems and how they can be solved using systems analysis techniques to recommend what type of system the business actually needs and where the current system is flawed.

Blog week 7 – diagrams

Task 1

One of the major problems that systems analysts face is the problem of communication with the end user who may not understand technical terms or they’re may be a misunderstanding to what the end user is actually asking for and what the systems analyst thinks that the end user is asking for. There may also be the problem that the end user is not sure exactly want the new system to do and so they may not be able to explain to the systems analyst what they want. There is also the problem that the end user may not understand what the systems analyst is telling them about what the new system will be capable of doing or what process will be involved in the system as there may be process in the old system that where not implemented properly or have been left out or the systems analyst may not have even known that they existed in the old system or where meant to be included in the new system. Also the end user may not be willing to read though large technical document either as he may not understand it fully, does not have the time or simply could not be bothered with reading the document.

Task 2

In order to overcome some of these problems a variety of diagrams are used to help overcome the communication problem between the systems analyst and the end user, natural language is subject to misinterpretation, omissions and ambiguities. Diagrams are used to help communication and understanding and are unambiguous. They are presented to the end user to help them understand how the new system will work and if there are any process that have been left out or any that may have been misunderstood and implemented incorrectly the systems analyst can then amend the diagrams and present them to the end user again to see if the proposed system is correct this process is repeated until the diagrams accurately match what the system is meant to do and to what the end user thinks that the system is meant to do and that the process in the current system are going to be implemented correctly in the new system.

They are used to represent simple decision processes however when the processes become more complex they can become large and unwieldy to use. Although they are easy for the end user to understand, they also will have a real value even if little hard data and they can be combined with other decision techniques.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/technologies/tk869/tk769/images/0900aecd806cae97_null_null_null_09_11_07-5.jpg

They are similar to decision tables which contain a set of conditions which give rise to a set of actions covering all possible outcomes. Each decision is a procedure or operation to perform and the entry specifies which action to perform for the set of decisions that where made.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/472070739_7f30e1d5d1.jpg

They are easy to use and easy for the end user to understand however they can become large and unwieldy if the decision process is complicated.

Structure charts are also used to show the functions and sub functions of each part of the system and relationships between different modules in the system.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/512278675_2264836eeb.jpg

They are able to show an overview of the functions and sub functions that it represents which would otherwise be difficult to interpret and understand especially for end users.

While structure charts can be useful in showing the functions and sub functions of each part of the system they can get quite complicated as the functions become more complicated and the end user may not be able to follow the structure chart as easily or may not understand it at all. Context diagrams can also be used to show the interfaces between external entities and the system and they represent the system at a high level of detail (the system is represented as a single box) and data flows between the external entities and the system. Entity Relationship diagrams can also be used to show the relationships between entities in a database they often use symbols to represent the different types of information.Flow charts can also be used to represent a process, using different symbols to show each step in the process. Flowcharts are easy to understand, they provide a graphical representation of the process. However they can be time consuming to produce and again if the process becomes very complex or large they can be unwieldy to use.

Diagrams are useful for showing complex process in a form that the end user can understand more easily however if the process is quite large they can get messy and unwieldy to use, and not every business regards them as useful enough to warrant using. They can also be time consuming as the end user has to review the diagrams and the systems analyst has to make amends to the chart if the end user finds any faults with them, this process then has to be repeated until the diagrams are correct and accurately model the proposed system and the process that will be required in the system.

Blog week 6

Task 1

Programmers – programmers would spend most of their time in the development process either writing, editing or reviewing code. However they would still spend time in meetings with the system analysis’s in order to see what the requirements of the end user are for the new system and what they need to do in order to build it into the new system. They would also spend time in meetings when the system is complete and implemented to see if they’re any bugs in the system that fixed or if there is any perfective or/and adaptive maintenance that needs to be completed. Programmers would spend about 60% of their time actually programming.

System analysts – system analysts would spend a large amount of their time in meetings as they would need to meet with the end user regularly to find out what problems there are with the currant system and what the end user wants from the new system and they will have to meet again with the end user to show them the proposed system and would have to ascertain whether if this is what the end user had in mind or if they have been misunderstood they would also have to meet with the programmers/designers to tell them what the end user wants from the system and if there proposed idea are close to what the end user is looking.

Task 2

The post implementation review meeting is done after the project is finished and is to ascertain if the project costs went as where predicted and if the end user is happy with the new system as well as comparing the actual benefits and costs to a business to the costs and benefits that where proposed during the feasibility study and if the results that we where hoping to achieve where actually achieved

A structured walkthrough is used to review and discuss the technical elements of software development and maintenance. The main objectives of a structured walkthrough are to find errors and to improve the quality of the system. When the structured walkthrough is complete it is the responsibility of the designers to go though and to fix any errors that where found.

Before the walkthrough – the completed bit or work is proof-read and presented to be reviewed with any support materials, such as DFD’s, it should also be decided if the project size is appropriate for one walkthrough session, normally two hours, if the project is deemed too large it will be broken down into smaller sections and each section will be reviewed separately.

During the walkthrough – discussion should be kept to the identification of errors, as the solution to the errors is not part of the walkthrough process.

After the walkthrough – the walkthrough session will be reviewed for accuracy and any changes to the system will need to be marked and clarified if need be. A structured walkthrough management summery will then have to be completed with a description of the system, what, if any, changes have been proposed and the final status decision on the project i.e. accept as is, revise with no further reviews, revise with a further review or any other follow up activities.

Any necessary changes to the project will then be made using the structured meeting as a checklist to be sure that all errors have been dealt with and to prepare a summary of the information contained in the structured walkthrough.

The roles of the chicken and the pig in scrum meetings come from a joke about a chicken and a pig opening a restaurant:

“A pig and a chicken are walking down a road. The chicken looks at the pig and says, “Hey, why don’t we open a restaurant?” The pig looks back at the chicken and says, “Good idea, what do you want to call it?” The chicken thinks about it and says, “Why don’t we call it ‘Ham and Eggs’?” “I don’t think so,” says the pig, “I’d be committed, but you’d only be involved.”

The pig role is the ones that are committed to the project in the scrum process, usually the product owner and the team responsible for designing/building the system.  The chicken role is not actually part of the scrum process but they must be taken into account, they are the people who the software is being built for such as stakeholders and managers.

 

Emma’s Cafe

Task 1

Survey link – http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WzkbY_2bJPZL88gX2pJJwJOA_3d_3d

The questions I asked where to establish whether or not there would be a market for a vegetarian café in the jordanstown campus, would people be willing to go to it and whether there are any similar café/restaurants in the area and also to establish how much people would normally spend on their lunch and how much they would be willing to spend.

Question 1

Are you a vegetarian? – To determine how many vegetarians there are in the campus.

Question 2

Do you normally go to a café for lunch? – To determine if they normally go to a food outlet for lunch.

Question 3

How often do you go a week? – To determine how many times they go to a food outlet each week.

Question 4

If a vegetarian café opened in the campus would you go to it? – To determine if people would be willing to go to a vegetarian café.

Question 5

How much would you normally spend for lunch? – To determine how much people would normally spend on lunch each day.

Question 6

How much would you be willing to spend for lunch? – To determine how much they would be willing to spend.

Question 7

Do you know anyone else that would go to a vegetarian café? – To determine how many people would be willing to use the café.

Question 8

Do you know of any other vegetarian cafes’ in the area? – To determine if there will be any competition in the area.

Question 9

If so where? – To determine where the other outlets may be.

Question 10

Do you think there is a market for a vegetarian café in the campus? – To determine whether they think there will be a marker for such a café.

I have chosen a layout that is simple and uncluttered to ensure that the people filling the surveys in can see the questions clearly and will be able to read then easily. The questionnaire should give a good indication of the attitude towards a vegetarian café opening in the campus and will also give an approximation to how much people will be willing to spend.

 

Task 2

I will spend about a week observing what people buy and do in the campus. I will be using covert non-participant observation to observe what people actually buy in the food outlets in the campus I will be using covert non-participant observation to try to minimize the Hawthorne affect where people change their habit when they know that they are being observed. I will be spending a day in each of the food outlets, within opening hours, to gain a wide understanding of people’s habits throughout the week and to gain a good understanding on what they buy and how much they spend and compare it to what the results in the survey said and what the people themselves said.

The possible problems are the opening hours of the food outlets, most will close early on a Friday and a lot do not open on the weekend due to the amount of part-time students at the campus, so time at some outlets may be more limited than at others and I may not get as good an understanding of peoples habits as I would if they where open regularly each day. There fore creating a team of people to observe peoples buying habits may be a better alternative as it would allow more time to be spent at each outlet therefore gaining a better understanding of peoples buying habits throughout the day and throughout the week.

ABC Bakeries

Task 1

Memo

The following report will be an economic feasibility report on the proposed new system at ABC bakery. In the following report I will review the estimated total project costs and requirements as well as the estimated total project benefits to ABC bakery, along with the associate risk factors to designing and implementing the new system. If the benefits outweigh the costs then the system will be likely to be implemented provided no problems arise in the other feasibility areas.

Economic feasibility study

Total project costs – a determination of the economic feasibility of the new system at ABC bakery requires an identification of all potential costs associated with the new system. ABC bakeries can expect a higher initial outlay during the first year of the system being implemented due to hardware and software costs as well as either having to hire new staff to use and maintain the system or to consider sending their current staff on training in order to use and maintain the new system as well the management side which may have to undergo training if a MIS is implemented in the new system as well as to gain a better understanding of retail sales and management. There will also be other intangible costs of implementing the new system such as having to dismiss staff that work in their shops as they would be no longer needed due the business going web based, this could also lead to a drop in overall staff morale as they may think that they may be the next to go and as a result standards at the bakery could drop resulting in a loss of reputation and business. They will also have to take into consideration the disruption that implementing a new distribution/management system will have on their business, due to staff training and redesigning the production, distribution and management sides of the business as well as any bugs that may be in the system that may take a considerable amount of time to correct and any perfective and/or adaptive maintenance that may be required on the new system. They may also face the problem of a loss of customers who may not be willing to use an online system or may just go to another supplier instead to save themselves the hassle. ABC bakery also have to take into consideration of the amount time that will have to be spend transferring information from their old system over to the new system, any mistakes done in this cold lead to problems in the production, distribution and the management side of the business as they would be working off erroneous data which could lead to serious problems within the business, as well as any legal costs that may be required when designing and implementing the new system. They will also have to take into consideration maintenance and running costs of the new system over the long term.

Total project benefits – a determination of the economic feasibility of the new system at ABC backer requires an identification of all the potential benefits associated with the new system. They will have the benefit of having less staff so therefore there will be fewer salaries to pay and they will no longer have the problem of managing the staff that works in their stores as they will have been replaced by an online system. It should also improve the distribution and management problems as the implementation of the MIS will allow the mangers to make more informed decisions about running the business and will allow them to see how the new online section of the business is doing and to make decision on the web based section of the business more easily, as well as more efficient use of staff, equipment and time. They can also update the system in the future to meet their changing needs through adaptive maintenance. One of the large advantages of moving the specialist product side of the business online is that they will have access to a far bigger worldwide market for their products and may well see a large increase in sales due to this. The new system will also make it easier for the management to spot any problems in the production and distribution sectors of the business.

Task 2

Analyse – systems analyst are required to research, plan, coordinate and recommending software and system choices to meet a business’ requirements. The staff required for the analysis section of the project should be made up of a senior systems analyst and 1-2 junior analysts to aid in analysing the current system and finding out from the end user what the new system they are looking needs to do, any current problems that it needs to solve and anything else that the system requires.

Design – designers will use the ideas and information from the analysis section to produce what they think the system should be like. The systems design team will need to be made up from a group of designers in order to get the system designed in good time, with one designer working on a specific part of the system.

Implementation – The process of putting the designed system into place. This stage of the system development in which the hardware and software are implemented in the business and staff are trained on how to use the system and maintain it. It is normally overseen by a project manager who makes sure that the system is implemented correctly.

Task 1

In this blog I will be reviewing the enrolment system at the University of Ulster; how well the system worked, how the manual and computer based parts of the system fitted together and how well the user interface was designed.

How well or badly did the system work?

The online portion of the enrolment system worked well. The system was intuitive with basic step by step instructions to follow. The only criticism I would have of the system is that you cannot go back to change or view an answer that you had previously given, forcing you to restart the online portion of the enrolment system in order to change or view any answer you had given previously.

However the manual part of the enrolment system did not work as well, due to the amount of time it took to process each person manually resulted in there being large backlogs of students in the enrolment process especially when an electronic system could be implemented to do the same job but undoubtedly quicker.

How easy was it for you to go through? Would it have been harder for someone coming from a non IT back ground?

The online part of the enrolment system was very easy to go through and even students from a non IT back ground should have no problems in using the system, as it had a very intuitive graphical user interface which should pose no problems for students that do not have a background in IT. The only improvement that could be made would be to be able to go back to modify or to view previous answers.

How well or badly did the manual and the computer based parts of the system fit together?

In my opinion this is the biggest fault with the enrolment system as the manual parts of the enrolment where exceptionally slow and create large backlogs in the enrolment system whereas the online parts of the enrolment where quick and easy to complete and resulted in there being no back log and the queues flowing smoothly.

Is the user interface well designed?

Personally I felt that the user interface was well designed, it was clearly laid out and simple and easy to follow. It laid your information out clearly such as modules enrolled in and was intuitive and easy to follow. I wouldn’t think that the user interface would need to be improved upon.

 In conclusion while the computer based parts of the enrolment process worked well they did not fit well with the manual parts of the enrolment system which would need to either be improved up or else changed over to a fully computer based system.