1. Systems Analysis Strategies Chapter 4
Alan Dennis, Barbara Wixom, and David Tegarden
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Slides by Fred Niederman
Edited by Solomon Negash

2. Key Definitions
The _______________ is the current system and may or may not be computerized
The ________________ is the new system that is based on updated requirements
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

3. Key Ideas
The goal of the ________________ is to truly understand the requirements of the new system and develop a system that addresses them -- or decide a new system isn’t needed.
The line between systems analysis and systems design is very blurry.
Analysis across areas:
Combines business and information technology
Balance expertise of users and analysts
The goal of the analysis phase is to truly understand the requirements of the new system and develop a system that addresses them -- or decide a new system isn’t needed.

4. The SDLC Process

5. Three Fundamental Analysis Strategies
1. _______________________
2. _______________________
3. _______________________
Business process automation (BPA)
Business Process Improvement (BPI)
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

6. Business Process Automation (BPA)
Goal:
_____________
Goal: Efficiency for users

7. Identifying Improvements in As-Is Systems
______________________
Asking users to identify problems
Rarely finds significant monetary benefits
_______________________
Prioritizing problems
Tracing symptoms to their causes
Problem Analysis
Asking users to identify problems
Rarely finds significant monetary benefits
Root Cause Analysis
Prioritizing problems
Tracing symptoms to their causes

8. Root Cause Analysis Identify symptoms Trace each back to its causes
ROOT CAUSES

9. Root Cause Analysis Example

10. Business Process Improvement (BPI)
Introducing evolutionary changes

11. __________________ (What BPI method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Calculate time needed for each process step
Calculate time needed for overall process
Compare the two Develop process integration or parallelization
(What BPI method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Duration Analysis

12. __________________ (What BPI method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Calculate cost of each process step
Consider both direct and indirect costs
Identify most costly steps and focus improvement efforts on them
(What BPI method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Activity based costing

13. __________________ (What BPI method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Studying how other organizations perform the same business process
Informal benchmarking
Check with customers
Formal benchmarking
Establish formal relationship with other organization
(What BPI method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Benchmarking

14. Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
Radical
redesign of
business
processes

15. Consider desirable outcomes from customers’ perspective
__________________ (What BPR method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Consider desirable outcomes from customers’ perspective
Consider what the organization could enable the customer to do
(What BPR method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Outcome Analysis

16. __________________ (What BPR method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Identify fundamental business rules
Systematically break each rule
Identify effects on the business if rule is broken
(What BPR method uses the improvement identification steps shown below?)
Breaking Assumptions

17. Technology Analysis
Analysts list important and interesting technologies
Managers list important and interesting technologies
The group identifies how each might be applied to the business

18. Activity Elimination
Identify what would happen if each organizational activity were eliminated
Use “force-fit” to test all possibilities

19. Proxy Benchmarking List similar industries
Look for techniques from other industries that could be applied by the organization

20. Process Simplification
Eliminate complexity from routine transactions
Concentrate separate processes on exception handling

21. Developing an Analysis Strategy
Key factors in selecting appropriate analysis strategy:
Potential business value
Project cost
Breadth of analysis
Risk

22. Characteristics of Analysis Strategies
Business Business Business
Process Process Process
Automation Improvement Reeingineering
(BPA) (BPI) (BPR)
Potential Business Low-Moderate Moderate High
Value
Project Cost Low Low-Moderate High
Breadth of
Analysis Narrow Narrow-Moderate Very Broad
Risk Low-Moderate Low-Moderate Very High

23. Evaluating proposed IT systems
Methods of evaluating proposed IT systems:
cost-benefit analysis
risk analysis
capital investment analysis

24. Cost-Benefit Analysis
Systems benefits
      Tangible benefits
      Intangible benefits

25. Risk Analysis

26. Disaster Recovery Spending

27. Your Turn
How do you know whether to use business process automation, business process improvement, or business process reengineering?
Provide examples.
What will you use for your term project?

28. Avoid Classic Analysis Mistakes
Management
User
Developers
IT projects success partnership model
Reduced analysis time
Requirement gold-plating
User over-specification of features
Developer gold-plating
Too many “cool” features
Lack of user involvement

29. Summary The analysis process aims to create value for the organization
Three main analysis strategies are BPA, BPI, and BPR
These strategies vary in potential business value, but also in potential cost and risk
Three main analysis techniques are root cause, informal benchmarking, and breaking assumptions