System Life Cycle

• SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE is a process of stages which will be followed for the development of a new
ICT system.
The steps shown below will be followed to develop a new system which is fit for the purpose.
1- Analysis: Collecting information about the present system and identifying
problems.
2- Design: Designing a new system to correct the problems identified in the
analysis.
3- Development & Testing: Developing and testing new system.
4- Implementation: Replacing the old system with the new system.
5- Documentation: Creating technical and user documentation for new
system.
6- Evaluation: Evaluating whether the new system meets the requirements
of the design requirements.
Analysis
Analysis involves finding out how the current system works and what the requirements of
the client are for the new system.
Methods of Research
Questionnaires
• Questionnaires are used when information is required from a large number of users
when it would be impractical to interview them all.
• A mixture of multiple-choice questions, opinion ratings and open questions should be
used.
• This will provide a balance of quantitative analysis of closed questions and a qualitative
analysis of open questions where users are able to suggest alternative ideas to those
presented by the questionnaire.
• Questionnaires should ideally be completed online.
• This means that the results are immediately stored and readily available for detailed
analysis in the form of graphs and tables.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Questionnaires
Interviews
• Interviews involve a direct conversation between the analyst and the
client.
• Where there is a single end user or small group of end users then
interviews are the perfect solution, because questions can be asked of
the users and a conversation can take place which can expand upon
answers that are given with follow-up questions searching for further
detail.
Observation
• Observation involves the analyst watching the processes that take
place within an organization to find out how everyday tasks are
completed.
• This can involve sitting with users to understand the tasks they have
to complete, with an opportunity to ask questions
• Observation involves the analyst watching the processes that take
place within an organization to find out how everyday tasks are
completed.
• This can involve sitting with users to understand the tasks they have
to complete, with an opportunity to ask questions
Document Analysis

• Existing documents within an organization can tell an analyst a lot

about the information that is currently being used.
• The analyst will need to see examples of any documents that show
output information or give an indication of what data is being
collected for input to a system.
Specifications

Requirements Specification
• A requirements specification is a contract between the developer and
the client.
• It will specify exactly what the client needs the system to do so that
the developer can produce a system that meets the client’s needs.
A requirements specification should include:

1. The purpose of the system.

2. The main objectives of the system.
3. Data that must be output from the system (for example, invoices, sales reports).
4. Data that needs to be input to the system to generate the outputs, including
any screens or data collection forms.
5. Validation and verification that is needed for input data.
6. Processes that need to take place to convert inputs into outputs or to store
data.
7. Data that need to be stored.
8. Functional requirements such as performance measures.
9. Deadlines for each milestone within the project.
System specification
• It lists all the software and hardware that is needed for the new system.
• The software needs to be identified first as the hardware will depend upon what
• software is needed.
• Only software that is needed to run the system should be specified.
• There may be different software identified for different types of users and for
servers.
• Once the software is known, the minimum hardware required to run that
software can be identified. In addition to this, the analyst needs to consider how
much storage space is going to be required for the data being used by the
system.
• The analyst will probably also recommend higher than minimum specifications
so that the system functions at a reasonable speed.
Design Specification

• The design specification is produced by the designer and is an

illustration of how the system will look, what the data structures will
be and how the system will work.
• It is intended to give the user an idea of what the system will look like
before it is developed so that the user’s feedback can be incorporated
into the final designs.
• The developer will then follow the designs.
• flowcharts
• data flow diagrams
• data collection forms
• screen layouts
• validation routines
• data dictionary.
• house style (logos, colors, fonts, styles, sizes)
• screen sizes
• connectivity diagram to show links between screens
• purpose of calculations.