The systems analysis module was very useful. This was because it showed be how important a systems analyst is to the completion of the project, it also taught me about project management and cost benefit analysis. I also found the lecture dealing with feasibility studies extremely useful. This is because the feasibility study is the most important part of the systems development life cycle.

I feel systems analysis is an important part of the education of all computer based education course because all students should learn about what goes into a major project, learning about feasibility, methodologies and other qualities and tasks involved in the systems development life cycle. The implementation, test plan and the review stages are important for anyone involved in computers to learn, because even if they are not a project manager the will still be involved in this stage of the project.

I feel like a good knowledge of business and information systems could prove extremely useful, this is because a project manager with little or no experience with business systems may make a lot of mistakes regarding decisions about the software being created. A better understanding of any project could prove imperative in the implementation of any type of project. Information systems are a high percentage of the software available on the market and there is a high demand for new versions to be released every year.

The feasibility study was the most useful topic. This is because the feasibility study is designed to work out whether the project will be a success or a failure, it is during this period the systems analyst finds out what work needs to be done during the project. If the feasibility study fails the project will not go ahead. To decide if a project will pass the feasibility study the systems analyst must conduct a study that involves interviews, observation, researching through old documents and questionnaires.

I think that all the topics in the module were useful in some way as they all helped in my understanding of how systems analysis is important. I don’t think there are any topics that were not vital in the course

I think there could have been more information about time management, for example Gantt charts and other tools used to keep projects on schedule. I think than there was too much emphasis on how the project goes wrong rather than advice and techniques that could be used to keep projects running on time. I also think that a few case studies and in-depth examples of actual failed projects could help us understand how easy it is to fail rather than just mentioning that project have a high failure percentage.

“A survey completed in 1998 by Bull, a French computer manufacturer and system integrator, showed the following failure criteria:

• Missed deadlines (75%)

• Exceeded budget (55%)

• Poor communications (40%)

• Inability to meet project requirements (37%)

Also a study, conducted by KPMG Canada, found that one of the main factors in failure was lack of management involvement and support.”

http://www.it-cortex.com/Stat_Failure_Cause.htm

The study shows an accurate representation of the problem on the communication side of the project. Programmers are too busy to explain problems or successes to their managers and the managers are in so many meetings with the end user and other stakeholders that the managers do not have enough contact with the programmers.

The communication problems between end user and complex system analysis come from both sides! For example; in the case of the systems analysis, the information given to install a system can be very complicated to understand especially if you are a novice user. In the case of the end user, they may not even pick up the instructions when attempting to install. This leads to big problems, which is why a lot of instructions now come with diagrams and pictures.

 Diagrams and why they are useful.

 Information flow diagrams

An information flow diagram shows how the information comes into the business, what processes it goes through and where the information is needed. It will also show how and why each department is linked. The example I have shown you is an information flow diagram that I created last year for a fictional business called Brian’s Bakery. Each arrow leads the information and as you can see the information has a lot of places to go.

Advantages

•  Easy to see where the information is going
• Processes are mapped out clearly
• Pictures to help users understand
• Also shows where the costs are involved

 Organisational charts

 Organisational charts provide managers with information they need to make important decisions. The chart visualises the structure of the company, this helps improve the company’s ability to meet current and future goals. The chart is created by the personnel department and then distributed to the Brian and the managers of each department.Organizational charts provide management with a planning and feedback system. An organisational chart also defines a leadership as well as responsibilities, dependencies and relationships throughout the organisation. the organisational chart below is also based on the fictional company of Brian’s bakery. Brian (red) is in charge each person in the diagram answers to him. The people in the pink are in charge of the people in the green if the boxes are linked then the people in the green are in charge of the people in the blue if their boxes are linked and so on. E.G. the financial manager is in charge of the accountant ant the pay roll clerk. The manufacturer supervisor is in charge of distribution but the manufacturer can also assume this duty.

 Advantages

• Shows each individual person were they belong in the company
• Shows who is in charge of each department
• Separates the employees who are separate from the business I.E. catering staff
• Lets employees know how the answer to

 Organisational diagrams

 Organisational diagrams show a certain process takes place within a business. It is different to an information flow diagram because it shows the actual process takes place and not how the process takes place in a business. Below is a diagram that shows how an order is carried out in a car parts business. This is also a fictional document that I created for an assignment last year.

Advantages

• A simple way to organise one process
• Acts as a guidline to a person carrying out the process
• Shows what data needs to go where

 How useful are these diagrams?.

 My personal opinion is that these diagrams are fundamental in any business, they save time by showing each person in the business what they are supposed to be doing and why. This make it easier to train new staff and bring in new procedures. The diagrams are easy to edit and are therefore changeable when circumstances change. Each member of staff will work more efficiently when these methods are in place.

Below I have explained the percentage of time in a day that programmers spend in meetings and other duties like phone calls and answering emails. 

• Programmers

Software developers and programmers spent a lot of time in meetings and doing tasks like answering emails and phone calls. The time spent doing tasks that do not involve programming are organisational tasks. These are done so the programming task runs smoothly any needed changes can be implemented at the request of the end-user. A programmer will spend 20% of his day in meetings and answering communications.

EVIDENCE http://climbing-the-hill.blogspot.com/2009/04/programmers-work-day.html

• Systems analysts

A system analysts job is to organise and control the project and typically a systems analyst could be spending 100% of the day in meetings, discussions with colleagues and answering communications. This seems like a lot of talking, but a systems analyst needs to be involved at all times and this communication is vital Try to back up your estimate with some factual evidence.

EVIDENCE http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=797&languageId

• The purpose of a Post Implementation Review meeting.

A post implementation review is extremely important to the end of the project; this takes place in the evaluation and review stages of a system’s life cycle. The developers will compare the finished product to the brief and then they will meet to discuss their findings. Discussions will include what the successes and the failures of the project were and what the developers think of the finished product. This review is sometimes carried out by an independent party. Others things that could be brought up in the meeting are time schedules and whether the project took too long, a common problem with software development are time constraints, over running the time can be seen as unprofessional.

• What happens before, during and after a Structured Walkthrough

A structured walkthrough is a tool used to find errors in a program and make sure that the product is built to the correct specification.

“The number of errors in production systems decreases by as much as 90% in organizations that use walkthroughs diligently.”

There is a group of 4 or 5 people who are not familiar with the product and they must review the product, before this takes place they will receive two hours to prepare. This can only begin when the developers have decided the product is ready. The group will then spend ninety minutes of less reviewing the project and noting their findings this could lead to projects being ‘thrown out’ because or the project is not good enough or if it is up to standard it will be released and the structured walkthrough will mean that the upgrade will be easier to implement because of the notes taken at this review. The main benefit of the structured walkthrough is that it gives different opinions on the software’s successes and failings

• The roles of ‘chicken’ and ‘pig’ in a Scrum meeting

 The chicken in a scrum meeting is the person who will be doing all the work on the project.

And the pig is the person who has a high stake on the success of the project.

 So the lead programmer will be a chicken ‘laying the eggs’ for the success of the project.

The systems analyst and the product owner will be the pigs, they will want to ensure that the project is a success and so will be the driving force behind the team in the scrum meeting.

Questionnaire

Emma carter is opening a vegetarian restaurant on the Jordanstown campus of the University of Ulster. She has employed me to analyse the demand for such an establishment and if the demand will allow the cafe to succeed.

The technique I will use to find the information I need from the students at the campus, is questionnaire. I think this is the best method because there is a large amount of people in the campus and interviewing would be extremely time-consuming.

The surveys can be found on the links below;

Survey 1a

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=rZ1r4g8nVqKEKGbcfUOqvg_3d_3d

Survey 1b

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2bUzEsyxegMP8ubXjZPOtQ_3d_3d

Please note that survey 1b is recommended to be taken by vegetarians only. I have designed it in this way so I can find out more about the customers that have a specific need for a vegetarian outlet. I have chosen a few questions from both questionnaires to explain my method and reasoning.

To; Seamus O’Kane

I will investigate the advantages and disadvantages of a new system relating to ABC bakeries. I will clearly outline the economic feasibility and the costs of the project. I will also relay the details of my team members and the piece of the project they be working on.

From; Seánín Ledgewood

Advantages of proposed system,

• More business generated by online customers
• Availability of the bakery on search engines
• Advertising revenue
• A lot of bakeries can be found online but they are normally just advertising products there aren’t that many e-commerce bakeries, it could be a niche in the market
• Low cost to maintain, you don’t pay rent on a website

Disadvantages of proposed system,

• More staff will be needed to help process and manage online orders
• Cost to implement
• Current staff  will need training

When designing a system, the most important part is the feasibility study if the feasibility study is conducted and fails the project is not feasible. This is the main decision making point. One of the most important factors of the feasibility study is the cost benefit analysis. this will determine whether the benefits of the system are worth the costs that go into the development of the system.

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Analysis must be carried out to ensure that the ideas involved in the site are suitable and the site is the correct size for your needs. Also we must decide what hardware we are going to use, what internet connection we will need and what software will be needed

-       Hardware

We will need a PC, a Server and a Modem

-       Software

We will need an IMB (see below), a shopping cart software system like SoftCart and a web design software package like Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage

      We will also need images, icons and logos; these can be obtained from companies like PhotoBucket.  

-       Internet connection

The internet will need to be connected through a high speed DSL line. The internet will need to be fast and reliable when taking money and orders online. 

Getting an Internet Merchant Bank Account

Many different banks offer an internet merchant banker (IMB) account such as RBS and Alliance and Leicester, also your company could use PayPal. PayPal is an online bank that allows users to make an online payment to your business for a small fee on your part; PayPal is a great idea if your sales do not meet the requirement for an IMB. An IMB account can cost £200 to set up and charges will be sent from the bank that you use.

Web hosting is a process in which you buy your chosen website name (Domain Name) from a web hosting company. You can buy a site for £7.00 GBP per year. The web name you choose is entirely up to you and the only barrier that restricts you is the fact that the name may already be taken.

Registering Your Domain Name

After you have chosen your domain name you must register to get online. You also must choose a company to register with. 1&1 is the most popular registrar in the UK and specialises in .co.uk domain names and web space. The registration will cost up to £150 GBP, you will also be charged a yearly fee which varies. To have emails forwarded to your email address will cost extra.

TOTAL COSTS

To start an e-commerce business, you need a website this can cost up to £700 along with a yearly maintenance of £200. It will cost you £200 to set up an Internet merchant banker account and £150 to register your Domain and £30 each year. Your host will charge you up £10 per year for your name and web space. Shopping cart software will cost you between £20 and £100.

The minimum cost is £1210 GBP. The main cost which I cannot account for is staff re-training and new staff members. I feel that setting up this site is a worthy investment and that staff re-training can only add as an asset. When I account for my team’s costs, fees and wages, the price will increase to £4210 as my company charges up to  £3000 per website. Also there is an optional maintenance fee of £40 per month is available

The majority of online users are online shoppers, this was proven in a survey conducted by Nielson in January of 2008

Nielsen has published new statistics on the overall online shopping trends – Over 875 Million Consumers Have Shopped Online – the Number of Internet Shoppers Up 40% in Two Years.

Among Internet users with Internet access using it shop, the highest percentage shopping online is found in:

• South Korea (99%)
• UK (97%)
• Germany (97%)
• Japan (97%)
• US (94%)

http://www.multilingual-search.com/world-statistics-on-the-number-of-internet-shoppers/28/01/2008

I think that the money spent on the site will come back to the company quickly. There are plenty of customers online and an online bakery could take of as there is a niche in the market.

Take for instance the wedding market. Booking cakes online for a specific date could be an ideal option for a busy bride.

Also taking into consideration the statistics above, internet usages is increasing along with the amount of people who shop online . Looking at examples of e-commerce sites like ebay, or amazon only reinforces this fact.

The enrolment consisted of handing in an enrolment form, producing past exam results, bringing a passport photo and having a photo taken. We then had to make our way to the computer enrolment session and detail checking in the LRC. when this was finished we went to the assembly hall to register with finance, then with the university and we also received our student ID cards. At this final stage we could also talk to Student Finance NI about our student loans and fees.

• How well or badly did the system work?

I left the lecture and went straight to the queue for handing in my enrolment form. This was a bad part of enrolment the queue was far too long and the two administration officers looked flustered. I would estimate that i was about fiftieth in the queue, and there was about one hundred and fifty behind me. The process was very long and would have benefited from a few extra administration staff. The next part was the computer enrolment in the LRC. This was relatively simple. after you logged in you had to answer a few simple questions about yourself and your course. the main problem I had with this was that the course that I did before university was not on the list so I had to choose A level. When I moved on to the assembly hall there were lots of older students in the hall, they were registering student, I got signed off at each stage easily, and this was the most successful part of enrolment.

• How easy was it for you to go through?

I found the whole process quick and simple.

• Would it have been harder for someone coming from a non IT back ground? If you entered the course from a non IT background, do you think that made the system harder to use?

In some ways it could be harder but there was lots of help coming from the students working at the enrolment day to make it easier on people not coming from an IT background.

• How well or badly did the manual and the computer based parts of the system fit together?

Surprisingly they worked quite well together, in my case there was no complications and the process seemed to be organised well.

• Is the user interface well designed?

From what I can remember the interface was well designed, and easy to interact with. The questions and instructions were clear and concise. The colours were neutral and the text was readable but not too big.

• Was there any problems other with the enrolment that you may not have spoken about yet?

I feel that the main problem for me was the GCSE results and the passport photo. Although I received the letter  I seemed to have missed the part about the results and the photo, I don’t know how I missed it but i feel like this should have been made clearer in the letter because it is a very important part of enrolment. I had my GCSE results in my folder along with my BTEC national diploma results so I was lucky but i did not have the photo. This meant I had to get a photo and leave it into the school office after my enrolment was finished.