1. IS 421 Information Systems Analysis James Nowotarski 30 September 2002

2. 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

3. Course Map Contents 1. Introduction Planning Phase 2. Project Initiation 3. Project Management Analysis Phase 4. Systems Analysis 5. Gathering Information 6. Process Modeling 7. Data Modeling 1234678910115 Assignments Quizzes Final Week Core Exam Review

4. Topic Duration Recap Planning Phase30 minutes Analysis Phase Overview40 minutes *** Break15 minutes Information Gathering Techniques60 minutes Interviewing Exercise30 minutes Assignment 2 Intro15 minutes Today’s agenda

5. SDLC The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a description of the phases of an information system PlanningAnalysisDesign Implementation Sep. 23 focusSep. 30 - Oct. 28 focus

6. SDLC: Planning Phase Identify Business Value Analyze Technical Feasibility Analyze Economic Feasibility Analyze Organizational Feasibility Project Management Project Initiation Approval

7. SDLC: Planning Phase Identify Business Value Analyze Technical Feasibility Analyze Economic Feasibility Analyze Organizational Feasibility Project Management Approval Deliverables System Request Feasibility Analysis

8. 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

9. Technical Feasibility Familiarity with application Knowledge of business domain Familiarity with technology Extension of existing firm technologies Project size Schedule, quality, workdays, personnel. Technical feasibility addresses the question: Can we build it?

10. 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?

11. Payback Period

12. Economic Feasibility Total (benefits - costs) Total costs RETURN ON INVESTMENT EQUALS Divided by

13. Economic Feasibility (1 + interest rate) n Some amount of money NET PRESENT VALUE EQUALS Divided by Where “n” equals the number of periods

14. Organizational Feasibility Stakeholder analysis Project champion(s) Organizational management System users Organizational feasibility addresses the question: If we build it, will they come?

15. 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 success Feasibility study is concerned with insuring that technical, economic, and organizational benefits outweigh costs and risks

16. Topic Duration Recap Planning Phase30 minutes Analysis Phase Overview40 minutes *** Break15 minutes Information Gathering Techniques60 minutes Interviewing Exercise30 minutes Assignment 2 Intro15 minutes Today’s agenda

17. 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

18. Why Do Analysis

19. THE ANALYSIS PHASE

20. Analysis Phase Key Question:Deliverables StepsTechniques What does the system need to do? Functional requirements Quality requirements Data model Process model 1.Gather requirements 2. Create data model 3. Create process model Interviewing Observation Entity-relationship modeling Normalization Data flow modeling

21. Analysis Phase

22. From Planning Phase: System request Feasibility analysis Workplan. Dev Analysis Plan Examine- As-is Identify Improve- ments Develop Basic System Concepts Develop Data Model Develop Process Model Prepare Proposal System Walkthrough To Design Phase: Deliverables: Analysis PlanFunctional Requirements Quality Requirements System Concept Data Model Process Model System Proposal

23. Analysis Phase From Planning Phase: System request Feasibility analysis Workplan. Dev Analysis Plan Examine- As-is Identify Improve- ments Develop Basic System Concepts Develop Data Model Develop Process Model Prepare Proposal To Design Phase: Deliverables: Analysis PlanFunctional Requirements Quality Requirements System Concept Data Model Process Model System Proposal Develop Concept for To-Be System

24. Analysis Phase From Planning Phase: System request Feasibility analysis Workplan. Dev Analysis Plan Examine- As-is Identify Improve- ments Develop Basic System Concepts Develop Data Model Develop Process Model Prepare Proposal To Design Phase: Develop Concept for To-Be System GatherAnalyze Specify

25. Analysis Plan/Strategy

26. 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

27. Three Fundamental Analysis Strategies Business process Automation (BPA) Business Process Improvement (BPI) Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

28. High-Level Work Plan for Analysis

29. Topic Duration Recap Planning Phase30 minutes Analysis Phase Overview40 minutes *** Break15 minutes Information Gathering Techniques60 minutes Interviewing Exercise30 minutes Assignment 2 Intro15 minutes Today’s agenda

30. Understand As-Is

31. Analysis Phase From Planning Phase: System request Feasibility analysis Workplan. Dev Analysis Plan Examine- As-is Identify Improve- ments Develop Basic System Concepts Develop Data Model Develop Process Model Prepare Proposal To Design Phase: Deliverables: Analysis PlanFunctional Requirements Quality Requirements System Concept Data Model Process Model System Proposal Develop Concept for To-Be System

32. 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?

33. Information Gathering Techniques Interviewing Joint application design Questionnaires Document Analysis Observation

34. Interviews

35. Interviews -- Five Basic Steps Selecting Interviewees Designing Interview Questions Preparing for the Interview Conducting the Interview Post-Interview Follow-up

36. Selecting Interviewees Based on Information Needed Often Good to Get Different Perspectives –Managers –Users –Ideally, All Key Stakeholders

37. 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?

38. Designing Interview Questions Unstructured interview –Broad, Roughly Defined Information Structured interview –More Specific Information

39. Questioning Strategies High Level Very General Medium-Level Moderately Specific Low-Level Very Specific TOP DOWN BOTTOM UP EXAMPLES?

40. 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

41. 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

42. Conducting the Interview Practical Tips Don’t Worry, Be Happy Pay Attention Summarize Key Points Be Succinct Be Honest Watch Body Language And, don’t ask unnecessary questions!

43. 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.”

44. Interview Report INTERVIEW REPORT Interview notes approved by: ____________ Person interviewed ______________ Interviewer _______________ Date _______________ Primary Purpose: Summary of Interview: Open Items: Detailed Notes:

45. JOINT APPLICATION DESIGN (JAD)

46. 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

47. Joint Application Design (JAD) Important Roles Facilitator Scribe

48. Joint Application Design (JAD) Setting U-Shaped seating Away from distractions Whiteboard/flip chart Prototyping tools e-JAD

49. JAD Meeting Room JPEG Figure 5-5 Goes Here

50. 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

51. Managing Problems in JAD Sessions Reducing domination Encouraging non-contributors Side discussions Agenda merry-go-round Violent agreement Unresolved conflict True conflict Use humor

52. QUESTIONNAIRES

53. 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

54. 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

55. 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

56. 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

57. Criteria for Selecting the Appropriate Techniques Type of information Depth of information Breadth of information Integration of information User involvement Cost Combining techniques

58. Selecting the Appropriate Techniques Interviews JAD Questionnaires Document Observation Analysis Type of As-Is As-Is As-Is As-Is As-Is Information Improve. Improve. Improve. To-Be To-Be Depth of High High Medium Low Low Information Breadth of Low Medium High High Low Information Integration Low High Low Low Low of Info. User Medium High Low Low Low Involvement Cost Medium Low- Low Low Low- Medium Medium

59. Suggest how CD Selections should proceed in eliciting requirements. Consider steps, techniques and goals, who and how.

60. How would you identify possible improvements? What possible improvements would you suggest?

61. 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.

62. Topic Duration Recap Planning Phase30 minutes Analysis Phase Overview40 minutes *** Break15 minutes Information Gathering Techniques60 minutes Interviewing Exercise30 minutes Assignment 2 Intro15 minutes Today’s agenda

63. End of Slides