Lecture 1

Administration, SDLC & Purpose of

Analysis

Systems Analysis and

Modelling
(6365, 6677)
Unit Convener: Dr. Saif Dewan

Systems Analysis and Modelling School of Information Systems and Accounting

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 Lecture Outline
• Unit Context
• Outline Walkthrough
• What is Systems Analysis?
• What is Modelling?
• Some other Terminologies
• The Role of BA

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 Unit Context

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 Purpose of the Unit
• This unit is about designing information
systems that solve an organisation need.

• It takes you through the process of

designing a rather small information
system.

• The rest of the semester will elaborate on

the basic processes touched on today.

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 Learning Outcomes
• Analyse IT-supported business processes and hence
derive appropriate system models;
• Use abstraction as a modelling device;
• Use international standard systems description paradigms
and languages;
• Explain the role of analysis within various systems
development life cycles;
• Describe and discuss the role of systems models in the
synthesis of systems; and
• Apply tools for managing analysis processes.

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 Key Topics

• Systems Analysis

• Structured Modelling

• Object Oriented Modelling

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 Assignment
Part Mode Presentatio Report Week Due
n Mark Mark

Part 1 Group 5% 15% Week 5

Part 2 Individual 5% 15% Week 9

Part 3 Individual 5% 15% Week 13

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 Assignment (continued)

• All three parts are based on your chosen case

study.

• You can choose from four given case studies .

• Part 2 requires part 1 to have been completed.

• Part 3 requires part 1 to have been completed.

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 Assignment (continued)

• Specific questions about Case Studies

– Use forums, there will be one per case study
– Ask your tutor

• Aid with assignments

– Ask your tutor
– Come during my Consultation
– You can also make an appointment to discuss your assignment
(bring your work to date and your questions)

• Your assignment case study will be confusing and

incomplete.

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 Assignment (continued)

• Submit via moodle

– Late submissions are recorded on moodle

• Must include cover sheet

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 Tutorials
• Tutorials start from Week 2.
• Tutorial exercises normally cover materials
from the previous week’s lecture.
• Students should attend tutorials and
participate in tutorial discussions.
• Completing the tutorial exercises is highly
recommended.
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 Tutorials (continued)

• Please note the tutorial timetable in Allocate+.

• If there are announcements about tutorials they

will be put up in Moodle.

• The lecture time is fixed. I do not expect it to

generally run much more than 60 minutes.

• There will be recording of lectures.

• If you have any tutorial issues, please contact me.

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 Communication with the
Lecturer
• Moodle will be my primary mode of
communication.

• My consultation hours: TBA

• Forums: please check the existing forum

entries before asking a question.

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 Textbook

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 Administration question?

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 Some Terminologies
• Computer Application (app): A computer
software program that executes on a
computing device to carry out a specific set
of functions
– Modest scope

• Information System: A set of interrelated

components that collects, processes, stores
and provides as output the information
needed to complete business tasks
– Broader in scope than “app”
– Includes database and related manual processes
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 Some Terminologies (continued)

• Project: A planned undertaking that has a

beginning and an end, and that produces
some definite results
– Used to develop an information system
– Requires knowledge of systems analysis,
and systems design tools and techniques
– Project Plan specifies WHO and WHEN

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 Some Terminologies (continued)

Systems Analysis:
• The activities that enable a person to
understand and specify what an information
system should accomplish.
• The activities aim to establish a complete
and unambiguous set of functional
requirements that can be demonstrably
tested.
• It is about defining WHAT the system is to
do (the requirements).
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 Some Terminologies (continued)

Systems Design:
• Those activities that enable a person to
define and describe in detail the system
that solves the organisation need.

• Uses outputs from analysis as inputs.

• Specifies also HOW the system is to be built.

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 Some Terminologies (continued)

• Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC): The

entire process which consists of all the activities
required to build, launch, and maintain an
information system
– Identify the problem or need, and obtain approval;
– Plan and monitor the project;
– Discover and understand the details of the problem or
need;
– Design the system components that solve the problem
or satisfy the need;
– Build, test, and integrate system components; and
– Complete system tests and then deploy the solution.
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 Some Terminologies (continued)

Model:
• A representation of some aspect of the system
being built

• Types of Models
– Textual model: something written down, described
– Graphical models: diagram, schematic
– Mathematical models: formulas, statistics, algorithms

• Unified Modelling Language (UML): Standard

graphical modelling symbols/terminology used for
information systems
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 Modelling
• In this unit we will concentrate on
various visual models (diagrams).
• “All Models are wrong but some are
useful”.
• Models ignore some aspects of the
real world to better focus on other
aspects (abstraction).
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 Why Models?
• Standard modelling notations provide
common understanding.
• Information Systems will usually be modelled
using either Structured models or Object Oriented
models, or both.
• Age of project, industry sector, project type,
organizational standards affect the choice of
models.

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 What Are Requirements?
• System Requirements include:
– Functional requirements
– Non functional requirements
• Functional Requirements: the activities the
system must perform
– Business uses, functions the users carry out
– Use cases
• Non Functional Requirements: other system
characteristics
– Constraints and performance goals

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 Non Functional Requirements
• Requirements not related to a
capability/function of the system, including:
– Performance,
– Conformance to standards (e.g. User interface
standards),
– Constraints (e.g. Must run on existing infrastructure),
and
– Legislative Compliance (e.g. Privacy).

• Most non functional requirements are design

considerations.
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 FURPS+ Requirements Acronym
• Functional requirements
• Usability requirements
• Reliability requirements
• Performance requirements
• Security requirements
• + even more categories…
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 FURPS+ Requirements Acronym

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 Functional requirements should
be:
• Unambiguous
• Complete
• Verifiable
• Consistent
• Modifiable
• Traceable

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 Systems Analysis Activities
• Gather Detailed Information
– Interviews, questionnaires, documents, observing business
processes, researching vendors, comments and suggestions
• Define Requirements
– Modelling functional requirements and non functional
requirements
• Prioritize Requirements
– Essential, important, vs. nice to have
• Develop User-Interface Dialogs
– Flow of interaction between user and system
• Evaluate Requirements with Users
– User involvement, feedback, adapt to changes

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 Inputs to Systems Analysis

• Business Case
– Business Case specifies WHY
• Market / Domain Research
• Users / Stakeholders
• Existing System / Documentation
• Informal Requirements Documents
(Brief)
• …
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 Why do Analysis?

• To build the right system

• To document the functions of the

system
– So that we can test if the system satisfies the
requirements
– Mitigate impact when staff changes
– Have a basis for change control

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 Business Analyst (BA) Role
• Conduit between Business and IT;

• You will translate business requirements into IT

projects;

• You will investigate, analyse and suggest

improvements in business processes; and

• You will design business process requirements to

enhance with ICT development to related business,
financial and operations systems critical to core
organisational functions.

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 Some BA Responsibilities
• Identify Stakeholders;
• Communicate with Users and Stakeholders;
• Discover business rules;
• Capture business rules;
• Convert business rules into requirements
and document requirements; and
• Prepare analysis and design
documentation.

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 BA Knowledge and Skills
• Technical knowledge;
• Strong oral and written
communication skills;
• Analytic ability;
• Understanding of business
operations;
• Critical thinking skills; and
• Research skills.
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 A Sample Structured Model

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 Some OO Models

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 Questions?

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