Systems Investigation and Analysis
6.1 An Overview of Systems Development
6.1.1. Introduction
When an organization needs to accomplish new tasks or modify existing tasks, a new
system has to be developed or the existing system has to be modified.
The activity of creating or modifying existing systems is called Systems Development.
It includes all aspects of the process ranging from identifying problems to be solved to
implementation of the total solution.
6.1.2. Participants of the Systems Development
It is a well known factor that a team effort is required for a successful systems development.
The team usually consists of the following members:
Users
Managers
Systems Analysts – professionals who specializes in analyzing and designing
business systems.
Systems Developers or programmers – specialists responsible for modifying or
developing programs to satisfy user requirements and
Other support personnel
This team is also referred as the development team. This team is responsible foridentifying
the objectives of the information system and developing a system that meets these
objectives.
6.1.3. Initiating Systems Development
Development of a system begins when an individual or a group capable of initiating
organization change become aware of the need for a new or modified system.
Eg. Managers at a Railway company, for example , can initiate a systems development
project when they decide to expand the company’s Web site to allow the users to log on to
the site to reserve seats in a train, to look at the train schedule on a particular day etc.
The following diagram illustrates the typical reasons to initiate a systems development
project.
6.1.4. Information Systems Planning
Information Systems Planning involves the translation of strategic and organizational
goals into systems development initiatives. In other words Information systems planning
transforms organizational goals outlined in the strategic plan into specific systems
development activities.
Aligning IS and Corporate Goals – Aligning goals of the organization and the goals of the
information systems is very important for any successful systems development.
Benefits of Aligning IS and Corporate Goals
Information technology’s use in the organization will last a long way into the
future
It ensures better use of Information system resources including funds, personnel
and time
Developing a Competitive Advantage – Today, many companies look for systems
development projects that will give them a competitive advantage.
Improving company’s customer relationship may help the company to achieve a
competitive advantage.
Eg. A Bus company, for example, can initiate a systems development project when
they decide to develop a Web site to allow the users to log on to the site to reserve
seats in a bus, to look at the bus schedule on a particular day etc.
6.1.5. Establishing Objectives of Systems Development
Achieving the business goals by delivering the correct information to the correct
individual at the correct time is the overall objective of systems development.
Continued operations and goal achievements are more important for some systems
than others. These systems are called mission critical systems.
An example for a mission critical system is an order processing system. They clearly
would not meet set goals without it.
Defined Organization goals will in turn define the objectives for the
system.
Eg. A factory manufacturing computers, for example, might discover that minimizing
the total cost of owning and operating its equipment is critical to meet production
and profit goals.
Essential factors needed to the success of certain functional areas of an organization
are called Critical Success factors.
Critical factor for the above example would be ‘minimizing equipment maintenance
and operating cost’. This would be one of the objectives for the proposed system.
Another objective would be to alert the maintenance staff, when
inventory levels of the spare parts are below specified limits.
In addition to these objectives there are also performance objectives
and cost objectives.
Performance Objectives - The extent to which a system performs as
preferred can be measured through performance objectives.
Cost Objectives – All the costs associated with the system such as
development costs, fixed investments in equipments, and ongoing
operating costs for the system should be balanced with the benefits of
achieving performance goals.
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