Systems Analysis and Design

3rd Edition

4-1
 Requirements Determination

Chapter 4

4-2
 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
The System Proposal is the key
deliverable from the Analysis Phase
4-3
 Key Ideas
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.
The System Proposal is presented to the
approval committee via a system walk-through.
Systems analysis incorporates initial systems
design.
Requirements determination is the single most
critical step of the entire SDLC.

4-4
 REQUIREMENTS
DETERMINATION

4-5
 What is a Requirement?

A statement of what the system must do

A statement of characteristics the system
must have
Focus is on business user needs during
analysis phase
Requirements will change over time as
project moves from analysis to design to
implementation
4-6
 Requirement Types

Functional Requirements
A process the system has to perform
Information the system must contain
Nonfunctional Requirements
Behavioral properties the system must have
Operational
Performance
Security
Cultural and political
4-7
 Documenting Requirements

Requirements definition report

Text document listing requirements in
outline form
Priorities may be included
Key purpose is to define the project
scope: what is and is not to be
included.

4-8
 Determining Requirements
Participation by business users is
essential
Three techniques help users
discover their needs for the new
system:
Business Process Automation (BPA)
Business Process Improvement (BPI)
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

4-9
 Basic Process of Analysis
(Determining Requirements)
Understand the “As-Is” system
Identify improvement opportunities
Develop the “To-Be” system concept
Techniques vary in amount of change
BPA – small change
BPI – moderate change
BPR – significant change
Additional information gathering
techniques are needed as well
4 - 10
 REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS
TECHNIQUES

4 - 11
 Business Process Automation
Goal:

Efficiency
for users

4 - 12
 Identifying Improvements in As-Is
Systems
Problem Analysis
Ask users to identify problems and solutions
Improvements tend to be small and
incremental
Rarely finds improvements with significant
business value
Root Cause Analysis
Challenge assumptions about why problem
exists
Trace symptoms to their causes to discover
the “real” problem
4 - 13
 Root Cause Analysis Example

4 - 14
 Business Process Improvement

Goal:

Efficiency
and
effectiveness
for users

4 - 15
 Duration Analysis
Calculate time needed for each process step
Calculate time needed for overall process
Compare the two – a large difference indicates
a badly fragmented process
Potential solutions:
Process integration – change the process to use
fewer people, each with broader responsibilities
Parallelization – change the process so that
individual step are performed simultaneously

4 - 16
 Activity-Based Costing
Calculate cost of each process step
Consider both direct and indirect
costs
Identify most costly steps and focus
improvement efforts on them

4 - 17
 Benchmarking
Studying how other organizations
perform the same business process
Informal benchmarking
Common for customer-
facing processes
Interact with other
business’ processes as if
you are a customer

4 - 18
 Business Process Reengineering
(BRP)
Goal:

Radical
redesign of
business
processes

4 - 19
 Outcome Analysis
Consider desirable outcomes from
customers’ perspective
Consider what the organization
could enable the customer to do

4 - 20
 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 and how
the business might benefit
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 Activity Elimination
Identify what would happen if each
organizational activity were
eliminated
Use “force-fit” to test all possibilities

4 - 22
 Your Turn
How do you know whether to use
business process automation,
business process improvement, or
business process reengineering?

4 - 23
 Comparing Analysis Techniques

Potential business value

Project cost
Breadth of analysis
Risk

4 - 24
 Project Characteristics

4 - 25
 REQUIREMENTS-GATHERING
TECHNIQUES

4 - 26
 Interviews

Most commonly used technique

Basic steps:
Selecting Interviewees
Designing Interview Questions
Preparing for the Interview
Conducting the Interview
Post-Interview Follow-up
4 - 27
 Selecting Interviewees

Based on information needs

Best to get different perspectives
Managers
Users
Ideally, all key stakeholders
Keep organizational politics in mind

4 - 28
 Three Types of Questions

4 - 29
 Designing Interview Questions

Unstructured interview useful early

in information gathering
Goal is broad, roughly defined
information
Structured interview useful later in
process
Goal is very specific information

4 - 30
 Top-Down and Bottom-up
Questioning Strategies

4 - 31
 Preparing for the Interview

Prepare general interview plan

List of question
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

4 - 32
 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

4 - 33
 Post-Interview Follow-Up

Prepare interview notes

Prepare interview report
Have interviewee review and
confirm interview report
Look for gaps and new questions

4 - 34
 Joint Application Development (JAD)

A structured group process focused

on determining requirements
Involves project team, users, and
management working together
May reduce scope creep by 50%
Very useful technique

4 - 35
 JAD Participants

Facilitator
Trained in JAD techniques
Sets agenda and guides group processes
Scribe(s)
Record content of JAD sessions
Users and managers from business area
with broad and detailed knowledge

4 - 36
 Preparing for the JAD Sessions

Time commitment – ½ day to

several weeks
Strong management support is
needed to release key participants
from their usual responsibilities
Careful planning is essential
e-JAD can help alleviate some
problems inherent with groups
4 - 37
 JAD Meeting Room

4 - 38
 Conducting the JAD Session

Formal agenda and ground rules

Top-down structure most successful
Facilitator activities
Keep session on track
Help with technical terms and jargon
Record group input
Stay neutral, but help resolve issues
Post-session follow-up report
4 - 39
 Post JAD Follow-up
Post session report is prepared and
circulated among session attendees
The report should be completed
approximately a week to two after
the JAD session

4 - 40
 Questionnaires

A set of written questions, often sent to a large

number of people
May be paper-based or electronic
Select participants using samples of the
population
Design the questions for clarity and ease of
analysis
Administer the questionnaire and take steps to
get a good response rate
Questionnaire follow-up report
4 - 41
 Good Questionnaire Design

4 - 42
 Document Analysis

Study of existing material describing the

current system
Forms, reports, policy manuals, organization
charts describe the formal system
Look for the informal system in user additions
to forms/report and unused form/report
elements
User changes to existing forms/reports or non-
use of existing forms/reports suggest the
system needs modification

4 - 43
 Observation

Watch processes being performed

Users/managers often don’t accurately recall
everything they do
Checks validity of information gathered other
ways
Be aware that behaviors change when people
are watched
Be unobtrusive
Identify peak and lull periods
4 - 44
 Selecting the Appropriate
Requirements-Gathering Techniques
Type of information
Depth of information
Breadth of information
Integration of information
User involvement
Cost
Combining techniques

4 - 45
 Comparison of Requirements-
Gathering Techniques

4 - 46
 Summary
The analysis process focuses on capturing the
business requirements for the system
Functional and non-functional business
requirements tell what the system must do
Three main requirements analysis techniques
are BPA, BPI, and BPR
These techniques vary in potential business
value, but also in potential cost and risk

4 - 47
 Summary, continued
There are five major requirements-
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.

4 - 48