Introduction to �Systems Analysis and Design������Text Book: System Analysis and Design �By: Elias M. Awad

What is Systems Analysis and Design?

• Systems are created to solve problems. �
• Think of the systems approach as an organized way of dealing with a problem. �
• System Analysis and Design, mainly deals with the software development activities.

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Defining A System�

• This term is derived from a Greek word systema which means an organized relationship among functioning units and components.

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• A collection of components that work together to realize some objective forms a system. �
• Basically there are three major components in every system, namely input, processing and output.

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• Systems Analysis: understanding and specifying in detail what an information system should do

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• System Design: specifying in detail how the parts of an information system should be implemented

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�System analysis and design focus on three main things:�

Systems: complete knowledge required for the makeup of the system which in turn requires knowledge about the functioning of an organization for which the system is being designed

Processes

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Technology

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• Thus a system is a way of thinking bout an organization and their problems which involves techniques that helps in solving those problems.

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Basic implications of a System �

• A system exists because it is designed to achieve one or more objectives.

As we know that the system consists of small sub systems where none of the sub systems is of much use as a single independent system

So there are three basic implications:

• A system must be designed to achieve predetermined objectives.
• Interrelationships and interdependencies must exist among the components.
• The objectives of an organization must be given higher priority than the objectives of the sub system.

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Characteristics of a system:

• organization (order),
• interaction,
• interdependence,
• integration
• central objective

Characteristics of a system contd..

1. Organization
• structure and order
• Example: Hierarchical organization in a company.
• Computer system: organization of various components like input devices, output devices, CPU and storage devices �
2. Interaction
• Between sub systems or the components
• Example: the main memory holds the data that has to be operated by the ALU.

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3. Interdependence
• Component linkage
• Component dependence

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• Integration
• How subsystems are tied together to achieve the system objective�
• Central Objective
• Should be known in early phases of analysis

Elements of a System

A system is a set of components working together to achieve some goal.

The basic elements of the system may be listed as:

• Resources-h/w, s/w and liveware (human)
• Example: Banking system- computers, trained staff�
• Procedures- set of rules to accomplish the goal of the system.
• Example: Banking systems have their predefined rules for providing interest at different rates for different types of accounts.
• Data/Information -inputs/outputs

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• Intermediate Data- intermediate transformation of data before final output
• Output depends on it

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• Processes-operational elements to convert i/p into o/p
• Example: the processing of a cheque as a process.
• A cheque passes through several stages before it actually gets processed and converted

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• Environment
• System should adapt to the environment

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• Example: Y2K problem for computer systems. Those systems, which are not Y2K compliant, will not be able to work properly after year 2000. For computer systems to survive it is important these systems are made Y2K compliant or Y2K ready.

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• Feed Back

Compares the output against a performance standard.

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Useful to improve the system to meet the user needs.

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• Boundaries and Interfaces
• Every system has defined boundaries within which it operates. Beyond these limits the system has to interact with the other systems. �
• Interfaces are another important element through which the system interacts with the outside world�
• Should be customized to the user needs. These should be as user friendly as possible.

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Types of Systems �

1.Physical or Abstract System

• Physical system: tangible entities
• static or dynamic in nature.
• Example : system-computer centre
• Desks and chairs are the static parts
• Programs, data, and applications can change according to the user's needs.

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• Abstract systems are conceptual. These are not physical entities. They may be formulas, representation or model of a real system.

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2.Open Closed System- Majority of systems are open systems

• open system has many interfaces with its environment
• can also adapt to changing environmental conditions
• can receive inputs from, and delivers output to the outside of system

Closed systems: Systems that don't interact with their environment. Closed systems exist in concept only.

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3.Man made Information System

• Information system is the basis for interaction between the user and the analyst.
• Main purpose-manage data for a particular organization.

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• Further Categorized as:
• Formal Information Systems:
• Responsible for flow of information from top management to lower management
• But feedback can be given from lower authorities to top management.

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• Informal Information Systems:
• Informal systems are employee based.
• These are made to solve the day to day work related problems.

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• Computer-Based Information Systems:
• This class of systems depends on the use of computer for managing business applications

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�1. Formal Information system� Management and information levels in an organization:�

Categories of information:�

• Information can be categorized as:
• strategic information
• managerial information
• operational information.

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Strategic information

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• Strategic information is the information needed by top most management for decision making.
• This information is not required by the lower levels in the organization.
• The information systems that provide these kinds of information are known as Decision Support Systems (DSS).
• For example the trends in revenues earned by the organization are required by the top management for setting the policies of the organization.

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Managerial information

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• required by the middle management
• used for making short term decisions and plans for the organization
• Management information system (MIS) caters to such information needs of the organization.
• Information like sales analysis for the past quarter or yearly production details etc. fall under this category.

Operational information

• relating to the daily or short term information needs of the organization such as attendance records of the employees.
• This kind of information is required at the operational level for carrying out the day-to-day operational activities.
• The information system is known as Transaction Processing System (TPS) or Data Processing System (DPS).
• Some examples of information provided by such systems are processing of orders, posting of entries in bank, evaluating overdue purchaser orders etc.

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2. Informal Information system

• “The system of relationships and lines of authority that develops spontaneously as employees meet; that is the human side of the organization.�

Basic Characteristics:

• Involves two or more people
• Informal relationships, groupings & interactions
• Involves the human need to socialize
• Includes both friendly and hostile relationships and interactions

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3. Computer based information systems�

a) Transaction Processing Systems or Data Processing Systems

• TPS processes business transaction of the organization.
• Transaction can be any activity of the organization.
• Transactions differ from organization to organization.
• For example, take a railway reservation system. Booking, canceling, etc are all transactions.
• Any query made to it is a transaction.
• Transaction processing systems provide speed and accuracy, and can be programmed to follow routines functions of the organization.

b)Management Information Systems

• These systems assist lower management in problem solving and making decisions.
• They use the results of transaction processing and some other information also.
• An important element of MIS system is database.
• And the information is accessed through DBMS.

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• But there are two drawbacks of database i.e. requirement of a specialized personnel and need to secure data from unauthorized access.

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The three sub-components:

• System emphasizing a fair degree of integration and a holistic view;
• Information stressing on processed data in the context in which it is used by end users;
• Management focusing on the ultimate use of such information systems for managerial decision making.

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Components of MIS

c) Decision Support Systems

• These systems assist higher management to make long term decisions.
• These type of systems handle unstructured or semi structured decisions.
• A decision is considered unstructured if
• there are no clear procedures for making the decision and
• if not all the factors to be considered in the decision can be readily identified in advance.
• The user should be able to produce customized reports by giving particular data and format specific to particular situations.

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• Three fundamental components of a DSS architecture are:

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• the database (or knowledge base).

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• the model (i.e., the decision context and user criteria), and

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• the user interface.

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• The users themselves are also important components of the architecture.

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Classification of DSS

• Using the relationship with the user as the criterion: 
• A passive DSS is a system that aids the process of decision making, but that cannot bring out explicit decision suggestions or solutions.

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• An active DSS can bring out such decision suggestions or solutions.

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• A cooperative DSS allows the decision maker (or its advisor) to modify, complete, or refine the decision suggestions provided by the system, before sending them back to the system for validation.

•  Using the mode of assistance as the criterion :
• A communication-driven DSS supports more than one person working on a shared task; examples include integrated tools like Microsoft's NetMeeting or Groove.

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• A data-driven DSS or data-oriented DSS emphasizes access to and manipulation of a time series of internal company data and, sometimes, external data.

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• A document-driven DSS manages, retrieves, and manipulates unstructured information in a variety of electronic formats.

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• A knowledge-driven DSS provides specialized problem-solving expertise stored as facts, rules, procedures, or in similar structures.

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• A model-driven DSS emphasizes access to and manipulation of a statistical, financial, optimization, or simulation model.

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• Model-driven DSS use data and parameters provided by users to assist decision makers in analyzing a situation; they are not necessarily data-intensive

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Basic Principles of a successful system

• System should be of use for the user.
• Ready in time.
• Visible benefits
• Maintained effectively
• Well documented.

Man Made and Automated systems� Man-made systems

Man-made systems include such things as:

1. Social systems: organizations of laws, doctrines, customs, and so on.

2. An organized, disciplined collection of ideas.

3. Transportation systems: networks of highways, canals, airlines and so on.

4. Communication systems: telephone, telex, and so on.

5. Manufacturing systems: factories, assembly lines, and so on.

6. Financial systems: accounting, inventory, general ledger and so on.

Most of these systems include computers today.

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Automated systems:�

• Some information processing systems may not be automated because of these common reasons:
• Cost; Convenience; Security; Maintainability; Politics.

Automated systems are the man-made systems that interact with or are controlled by one or more computers.

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We can distinguish many different kinds of automated systems, but they all tend to have common components:

• Computer hardware (CPUs, disks, terminals, and so on).
• Computer software: system programs such as operating systems, database systems, and so on.

3. People: those who operate the system, those who provide its inputs and consume its outputs, and those who provide manual processing activities in a system.

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4. Data: the information that the system remembers over a period of time.

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5. Procedures: formal policies and instructions for operating the system.

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Real-Life business sub system

1. Production sub system:
• Related to production of goods and services.
• Main problems involved are:
• Plant Location
• Plant layout
• Production policy(how much unit has to be produced)
• Purchase and inventory control.
• Production planning and control
• Quality and cost control.

2. Materials Management sub system
• Purchase of material(quality and cost)
• Storage and handling of material.
3. Financial Management sub system
• Proper utilization of funds
• Various issues involved like dividend policy etc.
4. Personnel Management sub system
• Deals with people at work
• Planning man-power
• Recruitment
• HR policies
5. Marketing Management sub system
• Marketing strategies
• Increasing the sales and thus the profit.

Real-Time system

• Real-time systems have been defined as: "those systems in which the correctness of the system depends not only on the logical result of the computation, but also on the time at which the results are produced“
• Real-time systems often are comprised of a
• Controlled system
• environment.
• Controlling system: acquires information about environment using sensors and controls the environment with actuators.

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Controlling

System

Environment

Con trolled System

Hard versus soft real time system

• Hard: failure to meet constraint is a fatal fault.
• Validation system always meets timing constraints.
• Deterministic constraints
• Probabilistic constraints
• Constraints in terms of some usefulness function.�
• Soft: late completion is undesirable but generally not fatal.
• No validation or only demonstration job meets some statistical constraint.
• Occasional missed deadlines or aborted execution is usually considered tolerable.
• Often specified in probabilistic terms

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Distributed system

• A distributed system is a collection of independent computers that appear to the users of the system as a single system.
• Examples:
• Network of workstations
• Distributed manufacturing system (e.g., automated assembly line)
• Network of branch office computers

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Advantages of Distributed Systems

• Economics: cost effective way to increase computing power.
• Speed: a distributed system may have more total computing power than a mainframe.
• Ex. 10,000 CPU chips, each running at 50 MIPS. Not possible to build 500,000 MIPS single processor since it would require 0.002 nsec instruction cycle.
• Reliability: If one machine crashes, the system as a whole can still survive. Higher availability and improved reliability.
• Incremental growth: Computing power can be added in small increments. Modular expandability

• Data sharing: allow many users to access to a common data base
• Resource Sharing: expensive peripherals like color printers
• Communication: enhance human-to-human communication, e.g., email, chat
• Flexibility: spread the workload over the available machines

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Disadvantages of Distributed Systems

• Software: difficult to develop software for distributed systems
• Network: saturation, lossy transmissions
• Security: easy access also applies to secrete data

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