Chapter Three

The System Development Life Cycle

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3.1 Systems Analysis and Design – core
concepts
Systems Analysis
 Systems Analysis is the study of a business

problem domain for the purpose of

recommending improvements and specifying the
business requirements for the solution.
 Systems Design

 Systems Design is the specification or

construction of a technical, computer based

solution for the business requirements identified
during systems analysis

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Systems Analysis and Design (SAD)
 Information systems analysis and design is

a method used by companies to create and

maintain information systems that perform
basic business functions.
 The main goal of SAD is to improve

organizational systems through developing

or acquiring application software that
can help employees accomplish key
business tasks more easily and efficiently.

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 An application software is designed to
support a specific organizational function or
process, such as inventory management,
payroll. The goal of application software is
to turn data into information.
 An Information System is developed by

following Software Engineering Process,

which consists of proven methodologies,
techniques and tool. These three process
work together to form an organization
approach to SAD
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◦ Methodologies are sequence of step by step
approaches that helps to develop the final product.
The methodologies incorporate techniques like, direct
observations and interviews with users.
◦ Techniques provide support for a wide range of tasks
including conducting interviews with users, planning
and managing the activities of a project and designing
the reports.
◦ Tools are computer programs, such as computer aided
software engineering (CASE) tools, that make it easy
to use specific techniques.
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3.2 Approaches to Systems Analysis and Design
 Every Information System consists of three key

components that anyone who analyzes and designs

must understand, they are data, data flows and
processing logic.
 Data are raw facts that describe people, objects

and events in an organization. Ex. Customers

account no, account type, balance amount
 Dataflow are groups of data that move and flow

through a system
 Ex. customers account number is captured when he

uses a credit card for purchase

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Figure-3.2: Data
flow

Processing Logic describes the steps that

transform the data and the events that
trigger these steps. Ex. processing logic in a
credit card bill preparation


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Process Oriented approach
 Traditionally, Systems Analysts designed an

Information System based on what the

system was meant to do, such as billing or
inventory control.
 The focus was on outputs and processing

logic, in other words, on the flow, use and

transformation of data.
 The data used as inputs were seen as

important also, but secondary to the

application

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 Each system would contain its own files and
data storage areas
 The data in each system would match the

specifications for that system only

 Each systems was considered ( looked at)

separately
 The analysis involved in creating drawings /

diagrams that show how the data moves

around the system and where it is stored in
between flows.

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 The problems with this approach are, first
the existence of several files of data each
locked with different applications and
programs. Second, many of the files in
different applications contain same data,
updating the data becomes tedious process,
it also difficult to combine data files created
for specific applications.

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 Figure-3.3: Process Oriented Approach

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2. Data Oriented approach
 Over time the approach changed to being a more

data-oriented. This was a response to the problems

above
 This approach tends to focus on how the data should

be represented independently of where and how data

are used in the system
 A data model is produced, which describes the data

and relationships between the data. Business rules

define how the organization deals with the data
 Databases are designed around the subjects such as

customers, suppliers, parts. This lets use the dame

databases for many different applications

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 This means that the application is
independent of data and data definitions it
is called as application independence

Figure-3.4: Data Oriented Approach

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Systems Integration approach
 Today, systems development focuses on

systems integration. Systems integration

allows hardware and software from different
vendors to work together in an application

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Role of the System Analyst
◦ A system analyst bridges the communication gap
between those who need the information system
and those who understand the technology
 A system analyst facilitates the study of the
problems and needs of a business to
determine how the business systems and
information technology can best solve the
problem and accomplish improvements for
the business

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◦ Involving End users – it is important to include
the people (users or end users) who are involved
in the system. Since,
 They use the system, or will use the new system
 They know about the data and / or processes in the
system
 They require reports from the system

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◦ Involving mangers – managers in the business
also need to be considered, since
 They define the business goals for projects
 They need to know what resources are required for a
project
 They need to know how long the project will take
 They make the decisions

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◦ To succeed as a systems analyst, the skills
needed are analytical, technical, managerial and
interpersonal.
◦ Analytical skill enables to understand the
organization and its functions, to identify
opportunities and problems and to analyze and
solve problems
◦ Technical skill helps to understand the potential
and the limitations of information technology.
Must be able to work with programming
languages and operating systems.

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◦ Managerial skill helps to manage project,
resources, risk and changes.
◦ Interpersonal skill enables to work with end
users as well as other analysts and programmers.
Effective written and oral communication
skills: a system analyst plays a major role as
liaison among users, programmers and other
analyst.

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 System development life cycle (SDLC)
 Businesses and organizations use various types

of information systems to support the many

processes needed to carry out their business
functions. Each of these information systems
has a particular purpose or focus, and each has
a life of its own. This “life of its own” concept is
called the systems development life cycle or
SDLC, and it includes the entire process of
planning, building, deploying, using, updating,
and maintaining an information system.

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 These activities, or phases, usually include
planning, analysis, design,
implementation, and maintenance
/support.
 The series of steps used to mark the phases

of development for an information system.

It is a common methodology for systems
development

Figure: System Development Life Cycle

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 Once complete, the system is installed in the
organization, and after proper training, the users
begin to incorporate the new system into their daily
work.
 The common four SDLC steps are 1) Planning and
selection 2) Analysis 3) Design and 4) Implementation
and operation.
 The specific steps and their sequence are meant to
be adapted as required for a project, if necessary the
project can return to an earlier phase. Some activities
in one phase in parallel with some activities of another
phase.
 Sometimes the life cycle is iterative. Each phase has
specific outcomes and deliverables that feed
important information to other phase. These
deliverables are reviewed by parties outside the
project team, including managers and executives. The
SDLC is a structured approach; it uses data-oriented
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Figure3.6 -: Software Development Life Cycle- Detailed

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1. Systems Planning and Selection
 Planning the system requires the user to define

what the problem is. The planning may also

include how the user would like to solve the
problem. Defining the scope of the problem is
also important in this stage as well. Defining the
scope helps to prevent the project from scope
creep. Once the problem is determined, and one
or more solutions have been selected, planning to
implement the solution begins. Multiple scenarios
may be enacted to determine the best course of
action for implementing the system.

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Within the planning according to the John
Sazinger "five of the main activities must
exist" as he explains the fives activities
should include:
 Define the problem
 Produce the project schedule Confirm

project feasibility Staff the project

 Launch the project
 Goals specifications

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 One of the most difficult decisions in
planning is to know when to pull the plug on
a project. This will require an effective
control and monitoring system. If you
cannot monitor a system you cannot control
it. No organization wants to admit failure
but there may come a point when a project
can no longer be salvaged. This is especially
critical with Information Technology projects
because of rapidly changing technologies.

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 . In general there are two types of
monitoring "INFORMAL" and "FORMAL".
Informal are typically general meetings,
email, and observing. The formal include
status reports, scheduled milestones,
audits, reviews, and benchmarks. The
formal reviews are generally more costly
and are used during system development
processes. Both systems can be used in
combination and involve the questions:
"what performance

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Ass. Prof.), Department of Manag
Systems Implementation and operation
◦ In this phase the information system is coded,
tested and installed in the organization, and in
which the information system is systematically
repaired and improved
◦ Planning for both testing and installation is to be
done as early as the project planning and
selection phase, because they both require
analysis in order to develop
extensive
exactly the right approach.

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 This phase also includes the initial training to the
users and documentation of the system
documented throughout the life cycle.
 During operation part, the problems faced by the
users should be solved, and changes and
enhancements (new versions) are to be made as
per the users’ desire to reflect changing
business conditions.
 There inevitably comes a time, when an
information system is no longer performing as
desired, when the costs of keeping a system
running become prohibitive, or when an
organization’s needs have changed substantially.
Such problems indicate that it is time to begin
designing the system’s replacement, thereby
completing the loop and starting the life cycle
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 This information will become the projects
charter and the basis for initiating the
project. The project then follows the PLAN-
DO- CHECK-ACT cycle

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Prepared by Dr. Girma Negussie (
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Traditional Waterfall SDLC
 Often considered the classic approach to the

systems development life cycle, the waterfall

model (mostly predictive) describes a
development method that is linear and
sequential. Waterfall development has
distinct goals for each phase of development.
Once a phase of development is completed,
the development proceeds (drops over the
waterfall) into the next phase and there is no
turning back.

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 The advantage of waterfall development is
that it allows for departmentalization and
managerial control.
 A schedule can be set with deadlines for

each stage of development and a product

can proceed through the development
process like a car in a carwash, and
theoretically, be delivered on time.
Development moves from concept, through
design, implementation, testing,
installation, troubleshooting, and ends up at
operation and maintenance.
 Each phase of development proceeds in

strict order, without any overlapping or

iterative steps.
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 The disadvantage of waterfall
development is that it does not allow for
much reflection or revision. Once an
application is in the testing stage, it is very
difficult to go back and change something
that was not well-thought out in the concept
stage.
 This pure waterfall model makes it very

difficult because there is no room for error

and that is virtually impossible when
dealing with humans.
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Problems with Waterfall Approach
 System requirements “locked in” after being determined

(can't change) Limited user involvement (only in

requirements phase)
 Too much focus on milestone deadlines of SDLC phases to the
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Approaches for Development
(Alternatives to Traditional Waterfall
SDLC)
 Prototyping, rapid application development

(RAD), Joint application design (JAD) and

Participatory design (PD) are four
approaches that streamline and improve the
systems analysis and design process.

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 Prototyping - Designing and building a scaled-down
version of the desired information system with the
help of CASE tools. Prototyping is a key tool that
supports rapid application development. The
prototyping-based methodologies perform the
analysis, design, and implementation phases
concurrently, and all three phases are performed
repeatedly in a cycle until the system is completed.
With these methodologies, a basic analysis and
design are performed, and work immediately begins
on a system prototype, a “quick-and-dirty” program
that provides a minimal amount of features.

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 Rapid Application Development- RAD involves
gaining user acceptance of the interface and
developing key system capabilities as quickly as
possible. RAD-based methodologies adjust the
SDLC phases to get some part of the system
developed quickly and into the hands of the
users. In this way, the users can better
understand the system and suggest revisions
that bring the system close to what is needed.
There are process-centered, data centered, and
object-oriented methodologies that follow the
basic approaches of the RAD.

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 Joint Application Design- In the late 1970
systems development personnel at IBM
developed a new process for collecting IS
requirements and reviewing system design. It is
called JAD (Joint Application Design). It is
structured process in which users, mangers, and
analysts work together for several days in a
series of intensive meeting to specify or review
system requirements Participatory design- End
users are involved in the SD around a table in
one room to agree about system requirements
and system design.

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Thank You

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