System Analysis

ICM Single Subject Diploma in

The need for systems analysis for business systems
The role of the systems analyst
The role of other people in defining a new system and updating an existing one
Differences between the development of a new system and a major upgrade of an existing system
SSADM – an overview. CASE tools.

The sequence of stages in the life cycle. Time scales.
Initial investigation
Feasibility study. Initial briefing statement. Contents of the report. Possible management decisions on reading and discussing the report. Cost/benefit analysis. User needs.
Analysis stage. Investigations into current systems through questionnaires, interviews, observation of everyday usage, documentation. Evaluation of the relative merits of these methods. Who to interview. Techniques for maximizing information. Identifying the main processes needed. Recording the results.
Design stage
Implementation stage. Program production or acquisition. Testing methods. Training. Documentation completion. Hand-over. For system upgrade – methods of file conversion and changeover.
Maintenance and review. Reasons for each. Differences between them. How each is completed and by whom and when.

Students may be required to draw one of the charts/tables for a given system during the examination.

Deciding the most appropriate data capture method for a given system.
Data-entry form design. Factors that make a form effective and user-friendly?
The need for data to be coded. The advantages of data coding. Types of data codes – sequence, block, facetted, hierarchical. Coding data for a given application. Check digit systems.
Output design. Making screen outputs effective and user-friendly. Limitations of screen output.
Printout design. Standard outputs (e.g. the invoice, account statement).
Identify necessary files, organization methods, and access methods. Identify files that must be accessed for different purposes and the subsequent effect this has on the organization method.
Identify the contents of each file.
Plan and schedule the development process. Deciding the method of obtaining programs and language/platform to be used.

Analyst the initial briefing of the programming team. Subsequent collaboration between analyst and programmer. Time scales and planning.
Analyst role in testing. Test plan. Design of test data. Testing log. Testing at different levels – module, program, system, and user acceptance.
Training of users. Production of documentation.

Define privacy as the need to build in safeguards for the data subjects
Define security as the need to safeguard hardware, software, and data
Building REALISTIC security into a system. The differences between small and large business security systems
Use of passwords and encryption for privacy
Methods to secure hardware, software, and data

System specification and its contents
Program specification and its contents
User documentation and its contents. Maintenance documentation and its contents. The differences between these three.

Describe the main elements of the following processes:
file sort
merging of files
search a files for records which meet a given condition
produce a printed report following a search
Identify method of data capture, main processing, required outputs, files (contents, organisation and access), manual processes and people involved for:
Stock control
Retail systems
Mail-ordering systems
Staff payroll and personnel records
Medical records
Library administration
Club membership