UNIT 15 SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN ASSIGNMENT 1

P1 Principles of System Analysis.

Development Lifecycle Models: Is a tool used by system engineers to help

manage a project with strict guidelines and clear goals; there are many different
types of lifecycle models, like waterfall, spiral, RAD, and Agile models. The
waterfall model is a software development process which only goes through each
stage after the previous is completed and it cannot be revised in the future.
While the spiral model allows back tracking, so a stage can be completed and
the project can finish all the stages and still go back to the first phase for revision
if needed.

Developmental Tools and Techniques:

Data Flow Diagrams Is a graphical version of a systems beginning; usually
the prototype of a project. This is used as an overview and will help the later
stages simply because it can be revised and altered to the changing of the
requirements and design of the project.
Activity Diagrams Is a visual representation that shows a sequence of
activities of a system, much like a flowchart of data flow diagram.
Gathering Information There are various ways to gather information; like
surveys, interviews or questionnaires. While surveys are good a person might not
be able to expand on an answer if the space is not provided. While with
questionnaires, the type that done with a person asking you the questions right
there and then can have the answers elaborated on. That can also happen with
interviews however they might be too formal for just simple information
gathering.

Key Drivers:
Growth Since businesses have to keep expanding and growing to compete
with others, its systems need to grow and expand with it. For instance, if a
companys internal system could only support 50 users and how finds
themselves with 350 users itll need to upgrade its system to accommodate
them.
Increase Productivity Businesses also need to stay up to date with current
trends and other such things. In order to do that new systems, need to be
introduced with the more upgraded technology that meet the requirements and
software from recently and not years prior.
The above help (or force) businesses to upgrade their computer systems to help
improve their current. When the computers are too old, or the systems are no
longer meeting the requirements, then they have to be upgraded and changed.
This also helps keep the business up to date and running against competitors.

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P2 Generate a leaflet illustrating and outlining the stages of a

lifecycle model.

Lifecycle Model WATERFALL:

The waterfall model is a popular version for systems development; the basic
approach. The waterfall model describes development method that is sequential.
Literally like a waterfall, once the water goes over the edge of a cliff or mountain
it cannot turn back. So once the program has completed once phase it cannot
turn back and attempt to revise that phase.

Requirement and
Analysis can
sometimes be in the
same stage.

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Requirements and Analysis: All Requirements of the system are created,

released and recorded in this stage. Usually budget, what the system is for, what
it does, target audience, to name a few, are decided during this phase.
System Design: The requirements from the first stage are considered and
studied during this phase, the second phase, and the system design begins to
take shape. Through this phase hardware and system specific requirements are
created and documented. This stage helps with defining the systems overall
structure.
Implementation: During this stage the comments and concerns from the
second stage are taken and small programs (called units) are developed which
will be used in the fourth stage. Each program will be tested for workability.
Testing: Fourth stage; testing, the units from the previous stage,
implementation, will be tested for functionality. The entire system is also tested
for errors, faults and other such things as well.
Deployment: Once the testing has been completed the program is then
released into the market.
Maintenance: If issues occur within the client environment, issue patches will
be released to help keep the program alive and running smoothly. Maintenance
also helps with keeping it updated and introduce new ideas.

Below are a few of the advantages and the disadvantages of waterfall

model.

Pros
Simple and easy to
understand.
Easy to manage due to the
strictness of the model.
Phases are done and
complicated in order and
one at a time.
Good for smaller projects.
Defined stages and easy
goals.
Tasks are easy to arrange
Cons
Working software is
produced close to the end of
the cycle.
High amounts of risk for
larger projects.
Wont be good for complex
and object oriented
projects.
If requirements have a high
risk of changing its not
suitable.
Difficult to measure
progress in the stages.
Requirements MUST not
change.

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M1 Generate a report illustrating another lifecycle model.

Another Lifecycle Model SPIRAL:

The spiral model is favoured by large, expensive and complicated projects. It has
four phases, Identification, Design, Construct or Build and finally the Evaluation
and Risk Analysis Phase. The project will repeatedly pass through these phases
until its quality is deemed satisfactory or good. This model is heavily based on
customer evaluation and feedback and requires a lot of communication to be
successful.
Identification: During this stage the business or basic requirements are
gathered in the baseline spiral. As the project progresses the system, subsystem
and unit requirements are all created within this stage. Constant communication
is made between the customer and the system analyst during this phase to
ensure that each party understands how things will work out.
Design: In the base spiral, the first designs are created and the logical design of
modules, product design and final design are done in the later spirals.
Construct or Build: Production of the actual software product is done at every
spiral during this stage. During the basic spiral the product is created and
designed. A Proof of Concept (POC) is developed in this stage to provide to
customers to get feedback on the design. During the later spirals, with more
specific requirements a working model of the product can be created and is
produced with a creation number. These are always sent to get customer
feedback.
Evaluation and Risky Analysis: Identifying, estimating, monitoring technical
feasibility, management risks are found out during the risk analysis stage of this
phase. After testing the product, the customer will provide feedback on the build.

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Below are a few of the advantages and the disadvantages of spiral

model.

Pros Cons
Changing of requirements is The end of the project might
allowed. not be known so easily.
Uses a lot of prototypes. Not suitable for small or low
Requirements can be made risk projects and it can be
more accurately. costly.
Users can test and see the Process is complex.
product early and provide Spiral can go on indefinitely.
feedback or ideals.
Development can be divided
into smaller sections and
the riskier parts of the
product can be developed
earlier if needed.

Using the spiral model provides minimum risk for the customer as well as the
development firms. The spiral model is good to use if:
The project is medium to high risk.
Customer is not sure of their requirements.
Requirements are complex and need evaluations (usually multiple)
Significant changes are expected during the development cycle.

The Spiral model is used mainly when the customer isnt sure of the
requirements of the project because it has more flexibility in comparison to the
waterfall model. It is made while the customer is aware of the all the happenings
in the software development cycle; while in the waterfall model, the customer is

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not involved, this can often lead to situations where the product doesnt meet
the customers expectations.
In the waterfall model, there is no going back to previous stages once the stage
is completed and this might lead to stagnation within the project. An example of
this is, sometimes the design looks manageable on paper but when it comes to
implementation it might be difficult to achieve while code. The spiral model
allows for changes in all stages since it can repeat indefinitely.
The Spiral Model is often complex, time consuming and often expensive as well
as difficult to keep track of the process simply because of the lack of
documentation while the waterfall model is well documented and set milestones
to reach and stages to be completed before the analyst moves onto the next.

P3 Benefits of structured analysis.

Structured System Analysis and Design Methods helps projects in the long run as
it goes through many different phases (see models above); which can help the
project and developers get to the maximum the project can possibly give out
while taking the minimum from the developers. It can also help the simplify the
processes for the clients so they can make sure everything is going according to
their plan.

Benefits of Key drivers: (Benefits of Structured Analysis)

Budgets and Time Constraints:

- While using structured analysis models both time and money can
potentially be saved. The reason being is that the analysts can check
calculations and other such things quick and easily and make sure the
project is running correctly and on time. This is because during the
design/introduction or requirement stages the budget and time needed
to create the program is usually formed then.

Meeting requirements:
- Because of the strictness of some of the development lifecycle models,
you might not be able to move on from a stage should it not meet the
requirements of the customer. So, using structured analysis, you can

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find faults and understand why the project isnt meeting requirements,
is it a problem with the project itself or the requirements are too board
etc. Once a problem is found it can be resolved and future time and
money can be saved which links to the point above.

Managing the project:

- Structured analysis helps a project to be more manageable as during
the first phases of a project the requirements and other such things are
created, like certain dates and deadlines to meet as well as how many
people might be needed on the project. Because things like this will be
measured and found during the opening stages it helps make the
project more manageable in the long run.

Maintainable Systems and code:

- Because structured analysis uses stages it creates both
manageable(above) and maintainable systems and code. This happens
during the first phase, the design/introduction phase because a small-
scale prototype or design will be created to make sure the project is do-
able and it also helps developers see which design will be more
efficient and reliable.

Resilient Systems:
- If the structured system analysis and design method (SSADM) is done
correctly, the project should go through at least do testing phases. This
helps test to see whether the project is resilient and doesnt have any
errors proving reliable for the future customers; some lifecycle models
have more than one testing phase (see spiral model above).

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