Chapter 3Determining

Feasibility and Managing

Analysis and Design Activities

Systems Analysis and Design

Kendall & Kendall
Sixth Edition
Major Topics
Project initiation
Determining project feasibility
Project scheduling
Managing project activities
Manage systems analysis team
members

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Project Initiation
Projects are initiated for two
reasons:
Problems that need themselves to
systems solutions.
Improvement through
Upgrading systems.
Altering systems.
Installing new systems.

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Organizational Problems
Identify problems by looking for the
following signs:
Check output against performance
criteria
Too many errors.
Work completed slowly.
Work done incorrectly.
Work done incompletely.
Work not done at all.

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Organizational Problems

Observe behavior of employees

High absenteeism.
High job dissatisfaction.
High job turnover.

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Organizational Problems
(Continued)

Listen to feedback from vendors,

customers, and suppliers
Complaints.
Suggestions for improvement.
Loss of sales.
Lower sales.

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Possibilities for Improvement
Many possible objectives exist
including:
Speeding up a process.
Streamlining a process.
Combining processes.
Reducing errors in input.
Reducing redundant storage.
Reducing redundant output.
Improving system and subsystem
integration.

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Project Selection
Five specific criteria for project
selection:
Supported by management.
Have resources for that project.
It moves the business toward to its goals.
Practicable. (We can do it)
Important enough to be considered over
other projects.

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Feasibility Impact Grid (FIG)

A feasibility impact grid (FIG) is

used to assess the impact of any
improvements to the existing
system.
It can increase awareness of the
impacts made on the achievement
of corporate objectives

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Feasibility Impact Grid (FIG)
(Continued)

Current or proposed systems are

listed on the left.
Objectives are listed on the top.
Red arrows indicate a positive impact.
Green arrows indicate
implementation.
Figure 3.2 page 54
Figure 3.3 page 55
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Feasibility Impact Grid (FIG)

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Feasibility Impact Grid (FIG)

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Feasibility
A feasibility study assesses the
operational, technical, and
economic of the proposed project.
There are three types of feasibility:
Technical feasibility.
Economic feasibility.
Operational feasibility.

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Technical Feasibility
Technical feasibility assesses
whether the current technical
resources are sufficient for the
new system.
If they are not available, can they
be upgraded to provide the level
of technology necessary for the
new system.
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Economic Feasibility
Economic feasibility determines
whether the time and money are
available to develop the system.
Includes the purchase of:
New equipment.
Hardware.
Software.

Kendall & Kendall 2005 Pearson Prentice Hall

Operational Feasibility
Operational feasibility determines
if the human resources are
available to operate the system
once it has been installed.
Users that do not want a new
system may prevent it from
becoming operationally feasible.

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Activity Planning
Activity planning includes:
Selecting a systems analysis team.
Estimating time required to complete
each task.
Scheduling the project.
Two tools for project planning and
control are Gantt charts and PERT
diagrams.

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Estimating Time
Project is broken down into phases.
Project phases are broken down into
tasks or activities.
Finally project tasks is broken down into
steps or even smaller units.
Time is estimated for each task or
activity.

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Estimating Time

Kendall & Kendall 2005 Pearson Prentice Hall

Estimating Time

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Gantt Charts
A Gantt chart is an easy way to
schedule tasks.
It is a chart on which bars represent
each task or activity. The length of
each bar represents the relative
length of the task.
Easy to construct and use.
Shows activities over a period of time.

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Gantt Chart Example

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PERT Diagram
PERT-Program Evaluation and Review
Technique
PERT diagrams show precedence, activities
that must be completed before the next
activities may be started.
Once a diagram is drawn it is possible to
identify the critical path, the longest path
through the activities.
Monitoring critical path will identify shortest
time to complete the project.
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PERT Diagram Example

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PERT Diagram Advantages
Easy identification of the order of
precedence
Easy identification of the critical
path and thus critical activities
Easy determination of slack time

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Gantt chart and PERT digram

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 Gantt chart and PERT digram

10–20–40–50 has a length of 15

days, whereas path 10–30–40–50 has
a length of 11 days.
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Team Management
Teams often have two leaders:
One who leads members to
accomplish tasks.
One concerned with social
relationships.
The systems analyst must
manage:
Team members.
Their activities.
Their time and resources.
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Ecommerce Project Management

Ecommerce and traditional

software project management
differences:
The data used by ecommerce
systems is scattered across the
organization.
Ecommerce systems need a staff
with a wide variety of skills.
Security is of utmost importance.

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Project Failures
Project failures may be prevented
by:
Training.
Experience.
Learning why other projects have
failed.

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Extreme Programming Activities

The activities of extreme

programming are:
Coding.
Testing.
Listening.
Designing.

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Extreme Programming Core
Practices

There are four core practices in

extreme programming:
A short release time.
Working a 40-hour week.
Having an onsite customer.
Pair programming.

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Roles in Extreme Programming

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Roles in Extreme Programming

There are a 7roles played in XP:

Programmer.
Customer.
Tester.
Tracker.
Coach.
Consultant.
Big Boss.

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XP Development Process
XP projects are interactive and
incremental.
The five Stages of XP development
are:
Exploration.
Planning.
Iterations to the first release.
Production.
Maintenance.

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XP Development Process

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