System Analysis and Design

Unit -1

Systems
 A system is a set of components that interact to accomplish some purpose.

 System are all around us.

Example

1) We can experience physical sensations by means of a complex nervous system ,a set of parts including
brain ,spinal cord ,nerves ,and special sensitive cells under skin ,that work together to make feel hot ,cold and so
on.

2) We communicate by using language ,which is a highly developed system of words and symbols that
conveys meaning to others.

3) A business is also a system .It has different components like marketing ,manufacturing ,sales ,research
,shipping ,accounting and personnel .All these components are working together to create a profit.
Each of these components is itself a system.
for example , consider accounting department ,it consists of different components like accounts payable
,accounts receivable ,billing ,auditing etc.

 Figure

Business

Manu Acco Perso

Mark Resea Shipp
factur Sales unthi nla
eting rch ing
ing ng

Account Account
Billing Auditing
Payable Recivable

 In general, a system is co-operating software and hardware providing a solution for a specific (business
or otherwise) problem.

 Therefore, a software system can be viewed as a software solution to a specific real-world problem
System Characteristics

The system characteristics are

1)Organization

2)Interaction

3)Interdependence

4)Integration

5)Central objective

 Organization

• It implies structure and order.

• It specifies the arrangement of components that helps to achieve objectives.

• For example ,in the design of business system ,the hierarchical relationship starting with the president
on the top and downward to the workers represents the organization structure.

 Interaction

• It represents the relationship among the system .i.e. in which manner each component functions
interacted with other components.

• For example ,in a computer system ,the CPU must interact with the input device to solve a problem.

• In an organization ,purchasing must interact with production ,advertising must interact with sales and so
on.

 Interdependence

• Interdependence means that parts of an organization depend on one another. They are coordinated and
linked according to a plan.

• The output of one subsystem is the required input for another subsystem for proper functioning.

 Integration

• Integration is concerned with how a system is tied together .i.e. parts of the system work together with
in the system even though each part performs a unique function.

 central objective

• Objectives may be real or stated.

 • The important point is that users must know the central objectives of a computer application early in the
analysis for a successful design and conversion.

 Types of Systems

 System have been classified in different ways. Common classifications are

• Physical or abstract

• Open or closed

• Information systems

Physical or Abstract Systems

• Physical systems are tangible or real entities that may be static or dynamic in operation.

• For example ,the physical parts of the computer center are the offices ,desks and chairs that facilitate
operation of the computer center. They can be seen and counted ,they are static.

• In contrast ,a programmed computer is a dynamic system .Data ,programs ,output and applications
change as the user’s demands.

• Abstract systems are conceptual or nonphysical entities.

• They may be as straightforward as formulas of relationships among sets of variables or models.

Open or Closed System

• Each system has its own purpose .

• To achieve their purposes system interact with their environments.

• The system ,which interact with their environment (i.e. receive input from environment and produce
output to environment) are known as open system.

• The system which does not interact with their environment are known as closed system.

• All systems are open systems . Closed system exists only as a concept .So this is also known as
conceptual system.

Information system or Computer based system

 The system which can be used to send information or data from one place to another place or from one
person to another person or from one department to another department is known as information
system or computer based system.
  Some technologies or medium are used to send data or information from one place to another place.

Example : Internet ,intranet ,telephone etc.

Types of information system

 Mainly 3 types of information systems are there

A) Transaction Processing System

B) Management Information System
C) Decision Support System

1) Transaction processing system

 In an organization ,the most fundamental computer based system is used for transaction processing.

 A transaction is any event or activity that affects the organization.

 All organization depends on some routine business activities .Transaction processing system are used
for improving these routine activities

 Common transactions are placing orders ,billing customers ,hiring employees and depositing checks
etc.

 The type of transaction vary from organization to organization.

 All firms process transaction as a major part of their daily business activities.

 The most successful firms carry out this work in an orderly and efficient manner.

 Transaction processing including set of procedures for handling the transactions and also some
activities like,

1) calculation
2) classification
3) sorting
4) storage and retrieval
5) summarization

 In any organization ,the transaction processing is occur at operations level.

 Each firm exists some similar characteristics.

 Based upon these characteristics ,we can establish some routines for handling the transactions.
  The routine describes what to look for in each transaction ,what steps to take and what procedures to
follow and what to do when exceptions occur.

 Transaction processing procedures are also known as standard operating procedures.

 The routines associated with general banking transactions use the standard operating procedures for
handling of deposits and withdrawals ,cashing of checks ,and other processes.

 Automated teller system (ATM) is an example for computer based transaction processing system.

 The procedures are built in to the computer s/w that runs the system.

 For example ,when customers make withdrawals at automated teller machine ,the s/w used to operate
the system ensures that proper procedures are followed.

Customer activity System activity

Enter a/c. no verify that the a/c number is acceptable
Enter password verify password is valid for a/c
Enter withdrawal amount verify that the amount
is within limit sets by the bank
Verify that the amount is
within a/c balance
Record transactions in ledger
Dispense money
Issue receipt for transaction

Remove receipt and money prepare for next transaction

 This activity will be repeated many times in a day.

 Most firm uses computer assistance because of the need to develop more effective and efficient ways to
process transaction data.

 TPS provides speed and accuracy.

 So TPS substitutes computer based processing for manual procedures

2) Management Information System (MIS)

  Transaction system are operation oriented .But MIS are used to assist managers in decision making and
problem solving.

 Also used to store the result of transaction processing.

 In an organization ,the decision must be made on many issues.

 For making decision ,the manager should know what factors to consider and which variables most
influence.

 The MIS is developed for supporting these decision making process.

Example – In a banking system ,MIS will provide reports based on the transaction level activities.
This will be helpful for bank officers to keep information about performance of each individual branches and
make decision about how much interest should be paid to each customer etc.

 So MIS provides i/p to be used in the managerial decision process.

 It deals with supporting well structured decision situation.

3) Decision Support system (DSS)

 DSS assists managers who must make decisions about unstructured situations (also known as
unstructured or semi structured decision).

 A decision is considered unstructured ,if there are no clear procedure for making
the decision and if all the required factors can not be identified in advance.

 So a key factor in the use of DSS is determining what information is needed.

Example :if a bank officer must decide whether to begin offering cash management accounts or installing
automatic teller machines –both completely new banking services.

 Many questions should be considered in this case

1)what will each service cost?

2)how many teller locations will be needed?

3) how will be the competition respond to this?

4) what limit should be placed on withdrawals at any one time?

 In such cases ,it is impossible to pre design system reports formats and contents.

 A DSS must therefore have greater flexibility than other IS.

 So DSS provide information to managers who must make judgment about particular situations

 It supports decision makers in situations that are not well structured.

System control model

  Some control will be there to manage the proper functionality of the system.

 System work best when they are operate in control.

 Also all system have acceptable level of performance called standards ,against which actual
performance are compared.

 Based upon this comparison ,informing the control elements about the differences ,this is known as
feed back.

 If the activities are too far or below the standard ,then it should be noted and some adjustment can be
made
 So every system use a basic control model which consists of

• A standard for acceptable performance

• A method for measuring actual performance
• A means for comparing actual performance against the standard.
• A method for feedback.

Figure – Basic system model control elements

System Boundary

Actual
Performance System components

Input Output
Actul
Standard

Means of comparison

Feed back of results of comparison

System Analysis and Design

 These two are the major components of system development

System design

 Is the process of planning a new system or planning a new system to replace an existing system.
 In this case ,before planning for a new system ,we should understand very well about the old system
and determine how the new system can be used in a better way to make its operations more effective.

System Analysis

 Is the process of gathering and interpreting facts ,diagnosing problems and using the information to
recommend improvements to the system .This is the job of system analyst.
Example : suppose we want to computerize the stock room operations of a clothing store.

Before we design a system ,we need to know more about how the store currently operates ,what forms are
being used to store information manually (e.g. requisitions ,purchase orders and invoices) and what reports are
being produced and how they are being used.

 To proceed ,we have to find out the information about list of reorder notices ,outstanding purchase
orders ,records of stock on hand and other reports.

 We also need to find out where this information originates ,whether in the purchase department ,stock
room or accounting department .

 i.e. we must understand how the existing system works.

 We must also find out why the store wants to change the current operations .Does the business have
problem due to current system? Does it require a more efficient system? etc

 Only after we collected all these information ,we can determine how and where a computer information
system can benefit for all the users of the system.

 This accumulation of information is called a system study.

 It must be done before design .it is the basic for all other analysis activities.

 Once this is made ,a plan is developed to implement this.

 The plan includes all system design features such as new data capture needs ,file specification
,operating procedures and equipment and personnel needs.

 Design for the stock room will provides ways to capture data about orders and sales to customers and
specify the way the data will be stored, whether on a paper or on a computer readable medium such as
magnetic tape or disk.

 Each design describes the output to be produced by the system such as inventory reports ,sales
analysis ,purchasing summaries and invoices.

 Analysis specifies what the system should do

 Design states how to accomplish the objective

  Each process involves people.

 So manager and employees should have good idea about what works and what does not ,what flows
smoothly and what causes problems .where change is needed and where it is not and especially about
where changes will be accepted and where will not.

 Even though technology is there ,people are still the key factor that makes the organizations work

 So communicating and dealing with people are very important

Role ,task and attribute of the system analyst.

 System analyst – definition

• A person who conducts a methodical study and evaluation of an activity such as a business to identify
its desired objective in order to determine procedures by which these objectives can be gained.

 Task of system analyst

• The task of the system analyst is to elicit needs and resource constraints and to translate these in to a
viable operation

 Skills required for analyst

 Academic and personal qualifications

Skills required for analyst

• An analyst must possess various skills to effectively carry out the job.

• These skills are mainly divided in to two categories – interpersonal and technical skill. Both are
required for system development.

• Interpersonal skills deal with relationships and the interface of the analyst with people in business.

• They are useful in establishing trust ,resolving conflict ,and communicating information.

• Technical skills focus on procedures and techniques for operations analysis and computer science.

• The interpersonal skills relevant to system work include the following

1)Communication – having the ability to express and speak the language of the user. Communication is not
just reports ,telephone conversations and interviews .it includes all the activities like ,talking ,listening ,feeling
and understanding the reactions and feeling of other people etc. So this quality is must for system development.

2)Understanding – identifying problems and assessing their outcome

3)Teaching – educating people in use of computer systems ,selling the system to the user and giving support
when needed.

4)Selling – selling ideas and promoting innovations in problem solving using computers.
 • Technical skills include the following

1)Creativity – helping users model idea in to

concrete plans and developing candidate systems to match user requirements.

2)Problem solving - reducing problems to their elemental levels for analysis ,developing alternate solution to a
given problem ,and describing the pros and cons of candidate system.

3)Project management – scheduling ,performing well under time constraints ,coordinating team efforts ,and
managing cost and expenditures.

4) Dynamic interface – combine technical and non-technical considerations in functional specification and
general design.

5)Questioning attitude and inquiring mind – knowing the what ,when ,why ,where ,who ,and how a system
works.

6)Knowledge of the basic of the computer and the business function.

 Figure –interpersonal and technical skills necessary in system development.

Explanation
 During analysis there is a greater need for interpersonal skills –working with the user to

determine requirements and translate them in to design criteria.

 During design ,the important work is to develop a detailed design of the candidate system .so highly
technical procedures and methodologies are required .so more technical skills are needed.

 During implementation ,technical and interpersonal skills converge .The technical

aspects focus on proving the software and preparing for the final conversion of files and documentation.

The interpersonal aspects deal with user training and selling the user on the benefits and potential of the
candidate system.

 During the maintenance stage ,the role of the analyst drops off ,except when unanticipated problems
develop.
Academic and personal qualifications

 An analyst can acquire all the required skills

through education ,experience and personality.

 The background and experience of analyst include

1) A background in system theory and organization behavior.

2)Familiarity with different areas like financial accounting ,personal administration ,marketing sales etc

3)Practical knowledge of one or more programming and data base languages.

4)Experience in hardware and software specifications.

Attributes of system analyst

 The attributes are

1)Authority – the confidence to tell people what to do.

2) Communication skills – ability to articulate and focus on a problem area for logical solution.

3)Creativity – trying one’s own ideas ,developing candidate system using unique tools or methods.

4)Responsibility – making decisions on one’s own and accepting the consequences of these decisions
5) Varied skills – doing different project and handling change.

Role of system analyst

 An analyst performs different roles like,

 Change agent
 Monitor
 Architect
 Psychologist
 Salesperson
 Motivator
 Politician

1)Change Agent

 An analyst is viewed as an agent of change.

 In the role of a change agent ,the system analyst may select various styles to introduce change to the
user organization.

 The style ranges from persuader to imposer .In-between there are the catalyst and the confronter roles

2) Monitor and investigator

 To define a problem ,an analyst has to consider all the piece of information to determine why the
present system does not work well and what changes will correct the problem. This work is similar to
that of an investigator.

 To undertake and successfully complete a project ,the analyst must monitor programs with time ,cost
and quality.

3)Architect

 As an architect ,the analyst creates a detailed physical design of candidates system.

 An analyst aids users in formalizing abstract ideas and provides details to build the end product.

4) Psychologist

 In system development ,systems are build around people.

 In this situation ,an analyst plays the role of a psychologist in the way he/she reaches people ,interprets
their thoughts ,assesses their behavior ,and draws conclusion from these interactions.

5)Sales person

 Selling change can be as crucial as initiating change.

 Selling the system actually takes place at each step in the system life cycle.
  So sales skill and expressiveness are crucial to the success of the system.

6)Motivator

 A candidate system must be well designed and acceptable to the user.

 System acceptance is achieved through user participation in its development ,effective user training
,and proper motivation to use the system.

 The analyst’s role as a motivator becomes obvious during the first few weeks after implementation and
during times when turnover results in new people being trained to work with the candidate system.

7)Politician

 In implementing a candidate system, the analyst tries to appease all parties involved.

 Diplomacy and finesse in dealing with people can improve acceptance of the system

 Analyst’s goal to have the support of the user’s staff .He/she represents their thinking and tries to
achieve their goals through computerization.

The work of system analyst vary from organization to organization

 Depending upon the organizations, system analyst has to perform different tasks

 In some organization ,they have to perform only system analysis .In some other organization they have
to perform both system analysis and design .In some other organization they are performing multiple
tasks like analysis ,design and programming.

Overview of unit-1