System Analysis and Design

System analysis and design (SAD) is an exciting, active field in which analysts continually learn new techniques and approaches to develop systems more effectively and efficiently. System analysis and design consists of four major phases and they are the planning phase, the analysis phase, the design phase and the implementation phase.

The planning phase is the fundamental two-step process of understanding why an information system should be developed and creating a plan for how the project team will develop it. The deliverables from this phase is the project plan. The analysis phase answers the questions of who will use the system, what the system will do, and where and when it will be used. A system proposal is the deliverable of this phase. The design phase decides how the system will operate. The final stage is the implementation phase, during which the system is actually built or purchased in the case of packaged software design.

The system development life cycle (SDLC) is the process of understanding how information system can support business needs, designing the system, building it, and delivering it to users.

The system analyst plays a key role in information systems development projects. The system analyst assists and guides the project team so that the team develops the right system in an effective way. System analysts also identify the needs of the organization and design systems to implement those changes. Analysts must have the technical skills to understand the organizations existing technical environment, the new systems technology foundation, and the way in which both can fit into an integrated solution. Often, analysts need to communicate effectively, one-to-one with users and business managers and with programmers.

In many ways building an information system is like building a house. It starts with a basic idea, which is then transformed into a simple drawing that is shown to the customer until the customer agrees about what he or she wants. A set of blue prints is then designed that presents much detailed information about the system to be developed.

The SLDC has a similar set of four fundamental phases: planning, analysis, design, and implementation. (Dennis, Wixom, Roth, 2009, p10)

The planning phase is the fundamental process of understanding why an information system should be built and determining how the project team will go about building it. It has two steps: project initiation and project management. During project initiation, the system's business value to the organization is identified – how it will lower cost or increase revenues. The feasibility analysis examines key aspects of the proposed project like:- technical feasibility ( can we build it), the economic feasibility (will it provide business value) and the organizational feasibility ( if we build it will it be used). The system request