1. Commerce 3KA3 System Analysis & Design
Course Web site 1

2. Instructor Information
Name: Dr. Y. Yuan 
Office: DSB AIC Wing A204 
Phone: (905) Ext 23982 
Web Site:

3. TA: Zhiling Tu Office: DSB A211 Office Hours:
make appointment through
Tel: (905) x 26034

4. TA: Reza Ariaeinejad Office: DSB A211 Office Hours:
Mondays 5:45-6:45 pm, DSB B107
Tel: (905) x 26398

5. Course Description Why should I take this course?
What can I learn from this course?
What is the business value of this course?
How can I get a good grade from this course?

6. Course Objective
This course introduces the process and methodology for system analysis and design. Students will learn the process of system development, the traditional structural approach and modern object-oriented approach for system analysis and design, system development strategy and new trends of system development.

7. Course topics The role of system analysts
Information systems development lifecycle
System analysis approaches and methodologies
Requirement analysis using structured approach and object-oriented approach
System design and development strategy
System architecture and user interface
Security and reliability issues
Advances of system development approaches

8. Business value of the course
Knowing systems analysis and design is essential for any IT related job.
Understand how to do system analysis for a e-business application
Understand how to select the appropriate development methodology and technology

10. Sample of Job Postings
Business systems analyst   Posted: 23/08/2011 23:31:54
Location: Hamilton, ON
Specific Skills: Confer with clients to identify and document requirements, Conduct business and technical studies, Design, develop and implement information systems business solutions, Provide advice on information systems strategy, policy, management and service delivery, Assess physical and technical security risks to data, software and hardware, Develop policies, procedures and contingency plans to minimize the effects of security breaches, Develop and implement policies and procedures throughout the software development life cycle, Conduct reviews to assess quality assurance practices.

11. Teaching Philosophy Self-motivated active learning
Learning by doing. Combination of theory and practice
Learn from each other through class discussion and information sharing
To be sensitive to the real world business problems

12. Textbooks Required: References:
G. B. Shelly, T. J. Cashman, H. J. Rosenblatt, Systems Analysis and Design, Seventh Edition, Thomson, 2008.
References:
[S] J. W. Satzinger, R. B. Jackson, and S. D. Burd, Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, Forth edition. Thomson, 2007,
[H] J. A. Hoffer, J. F. George, and J. S. Valacich, Modern Systems Analysis and Design, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 2008.
[C] J. Conallen, Building Web Applications with UML, Addison-Wesley, 2000.

13. Course evaluation Assignments 20% Term Project 30% Midterm Exam 20%
Proposal 5%, Presentation 10%, Report 15%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%

14. Assignments
System analysis and design for an online student housing service
Requirement gathering
Structured modeling
Object-oriented modeling
Data modeling and interface design

16. Term Project Hands-on experience
Conduct requirement analysis for a small e-business company
Real or hypothetic case
Idea team with 2 -3 members
Proposal and project agreement

17. Questions? Suggestions?

18. Information Systems Information systems
Crucial to success of modern business organizations
Constantly being developed to make business more competitive
Great impact on productivity and profits
Keys to successful system development
Thorough systems analysis and design
Understanding what business requires

20. Systems Analysis and Design
Systems analysis – process of understanding in detail what a system should accomplish
Systems design – process of specifying in detail how components of an information system should be physically implemented
Systems analyst – uses analysis and design techniques to solve business problems using information technology

21. The Analyst as a Business Problem Solver
Understands business problems
Has information technology knowledge and expertise
Is more of a business problem solver than a technical expert

22. Understand information system users and their needs
A systems analyst must understand the company’s organizational model in order to recognize who is responsible for specific processes and decisions and to be aware of what information is required by whom.

23. Analyst’s Approach to Problem Solving
Research and understand the problem
Verify benefits of solving problem outweigh the costs
Define the requirements for solving the problem
Develop a set of possible solutions (alternatives)
Decide which solution is best and recommend
Define the details of the chosen solution
Implement the solution
Monitor to ensure desired results

24. Required Skills of the Systems Analyst

25. Systems Development Tools and Techniques
Systems analysts must know how to use a variety of techniques such as modeling, prototyping, and computer aided systems engineering tools to plan, design, and implement information systems.
Systems analysts work with these tools in a team environment.

26. Typical Job Titles and Places of Employment
Job titles of systems analyst vary greatly, but entail same thing
Places of employment vary from small businesses to large corporations
Analysts can be internal employees or outside consultants
Analysts can be developing solutions for internal business managers or for external clients and customers

27. Business Analyst vs. System Analyst
Business Analyst (BA) - Responsible for working with the end users to determine the required/desired functionality, and documenting those requirements in a clear, organized manner.
Systems Analyst (SA) - Responsible for the technical design of the system, based on the requirements gathered by the BA. The SA makes technical decisions about HOW to best implement the system.
In practice, one person may act as both BA and SA, handling the entire process from gathering requirements to designing (and possibly building) the system.

28. A sample job description for a business analyst
Our client, a leader in the Equity and Capital markets arena, is looking for Business Analyst to join their team. Role specific accountabilities will include collaborating with Business and IT stakeholders to gather, confirm and document functional and non-functional requirements; consistently managing expectations and negotiating with stakeholders in order to determine the most accurate and appropriate definition of scope, quality and priorities; providing assistance to project stakeholders; defining and documenting requirements into Use Cases and creating Use Case Models; creating and maintaining requirements documentation according to organization standards and best practices; and providing assistance in the review of QA test cases and scenarios.

29. Project Management and Preliminary Investigation

30. Project Management
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.
You may be a project leader or member.

31. Role of the Project Manager
Project management – organizing and directing people to achieve a planned result within budget and on schedule
Success or failure of project depends on skills of the project manager
Beginning of project – plan and organize
During project – monitor and control
Responsibilities are both internal and external

32. Project Management Tasks
Beginning of project
Overall project planning
During project
Project execution management
Project control management
Project closeout

33. Key Elements of Project Management
Risk
Cost
Time
Quality
Scope

34. How to make a project succeed?
Project management is important for the success of system development
2000 Standish Group Study
Only 28% of system development projects successful
72% of projects canceled, completed late, completed over budget, and/or limited in functionality

35. Reasons for Project Failure
Incomplete or changing requirements
Limited user involvement
Lack of executive support
Lack of technical support
Poor project planning
Unclear objectives
Lack of required resources

36. Reasons for Project Success
Clear system requirement definitions
Substantial user involvement
Support from upper management
Thorough and detailed project plans
Realistic work schedules and milestones

38. Project Initiation and the Project Planning Phase
Driving forces to start project
Respond to an opportunity
Resolve a problem
Conform to a directive
Project initiation comes from
Long-term IS strategic plan (top-down) prioritized by weighted scoring
Department managers or process managers (bottom-up)
Response to outside forces

39. Make a Business Case Why are we doing this project?
What is the project about?
How does this solution address key business issues?
What is the benefit and cost of this project?
What is the risk of doing or not doing the project?
How will we measure success?

40. Preliminary investigation
Understanding the problem or opportunity
Define the project scope and constraints
Perform fact-finding
Evaluate feasibility
Estimate project development time and cost
Present results and recommendations to management

41. Activities of the Project Planning Phase

42. Activities of Project Planning

43. Defining the Problem Review business needs
Use strategic plan documents
Consult key users
Develop list of expected business benefits

44. Identify the Scope of the Project
Identify expected system capabilities
Define scope in terms of requirements
Scope defines the system boundary: what to do and what will not do

45. Risk Management
A risk is an event that could affect the project negatively.
Risk management is the process of identifying, evaluating, tracking, and controlling risks to minimize their impact.

46. Risk Analysis

47. Identifying risks and Confirming Project Feasibility
Assessing the risk to the project
Economic feasibility
Cost/benefit analysis
Sources of funds (cash flow, long-term capital)
Organizational and cultural feasibility
Technological feasibility
Schedule feasibility
Resource feasibility

48. Economic Feasibility
Do the projected benefits outweigh the estimated total cost of ownership including acquisition, ongoing support and maintenance costs?
Does the organization have adequate cash flow to fund the project?

49. Cost / Benefit Analysis
Tangible :
can be expressed in monetary terms
tangible cost : hardware, software, development and operating costs
tangible benefits : increase in sales/profit, cost savings

50. Cost / Benefit Analysis
Intangible :
difficult to make monetary measurement, but is not impossible to quantify
intangible cost : employee frustration, loss of customer goodwill
intangible benefit : better customer service, less errors

51. Approaches to Cost/Benefit Analysis
Break-even Approach - attempts to measure the time it will take to recoup in benefits the original dollars invested
Present Value Approach - attempts to value future dollars in terms of their values today
Internal Rate of Return Approach - calculates the rate of return on the project investment
Portfolio Analysis - analyze and balance risk and benefit among alternatives
Scoring methods - multi-objective rating

52. Operational feasibility
Operational Feasibility - the willingness and ability of management, employees, customers, suppliers, etc. to operate, use and support the proposed system
Will the proposed system be used effectively by the users?
Will users be capable of using the system?
Will users be happy to adopt the system?

53. Organizational and Cultural Feasibility
Each company has own culture
New system must fit into culture
Evaluate related issues for potential risks
Low level of computer competency
Computer phobia
Perceived loss of control
Shift in power
Fear of job change or employment loss
Reversal of established work procedures

54. Technological Feasibility
Technical Feasibility - whether reliable hardware and software needed can be acquired or developed in the required time
Does system stretch state-of-the-art technology?
Does in-house expertise presently exist for development?
Does an outside vendor need to be involved?

55. Schedule Feasibility Can it be implemented in an accepted time?
Estimates needed without complete information
Management deadlines may not be realistic
Project managers need to
Drive realistic assumptions and estimates
Recommend completion date flexibility
Assign interim milestones to periodically reassess completion dates
Involve experienced personnel
Manage proper allocation of resources

56. Resource Feasibility
Are the resources available, trained, and ready to start?
Develop resource plan for the project
Identify and request specific technical staff
Identify and request specific user staff
Organize the project team into workgroups
Conduct preliminary training and team building exercises

57. Launching Project Key launch question: “Are we ready to start?”
Scope defined, risks identified, project is feasible, schedule developed, team members identified and ready
Oversight committee finalized, meet to give go-ahead, and release funds
Formal announcement made to all involved parties within organization

58. Initiate your own project
Find a partner
Find an interesting project
Make sure the project is doable
Wrote a project proposal
Get feedback from instructor

59. Project Proposal
You may discuss your idea with the instructor to get some advice.
The proposal should include the project title, names of team members, the organization involved, and the brief description of the objective and the scope of the project. The proposal should be typed with no more than two pages. Handwriting is unacceptable.
The proposal draft is due next week. You will get feedback and submit the formal proposal later for grade.