The tools of structured

analysis

Traditional approach

The analyst collects a great deal of

unstructured data through interviews,
questionnaires

The approach is to organize and convert the

data through system flowcharts

Drawbacks

It is difficult to distinguish between what

happens and how it happens
No language in common
No tool to structure the details
English narratives are often too vague
Flowcharts commit to physical
implementation
System specifications are difficult to modify
They are monolithic

What is structured analysis?

Use graphics to help communicate better with the

user

Differentiate between logical and physical structure

Build a logical system model to familiarize the user

with characteristics and interrelationships

User procedures are documented in the earlier

stage

Tools for structured analysis

Data Flow diagrams (DFD)

Data dictionary
Structured English
Decision trees
Decision tables

Data dictionary

A structured place to keep details of the data

elements of DFD

It is valuable reference in any organization

It eliminates the need of documentation

Data description hierarchy

Data Element smallest unit of data that provides

for no further decomposition eg. Date (day, month
and year)

Data Structure a group of data elements eg.

BOOK DETAILS (title, author name, publisher and
ISBN number)

Data Flows and data stores data flows are data

structures in motion and data stores are data
structures at rest

Data elements

A different name P.O. or Purchase Order

Usage characteristics 0-10000 continuous
value or 100 for accounts payable , 102 for
accounts receivable
Control information source, date of origin,
users or access authorization
Physical location record, file or data base

Data structures

BOOK-DETAILS

Author name (Mandatory)

Title of the book (M)
Edition (M)
ISBN (Optional)
Publisher name (M)
Quantity ordered (M)

Data flows

BOOK-DETAILS From VinodPrint Bookstore

(source)
Author Name
Title
Edition
Recent edition
Quantity
minimum 40 copies

Data store
BOOK store Order
Book-Detail
Customer-Detail
Order-No

Illustration Discount policy

Bookstores get a trade discount of 25%; for

orders from libraries and individuals 5%
allowed on orders of 6-19 copies per book
title; 10% on orders for 20-49 copies per book
title; 15% on orders for 50copies or more per
book title.

Lect 7 Feasibility Study

System Performance
Definition
A systems required performance is defined
by describing its outputs in a user-acceptable
format and at a higher level of detail then
what was described in the initial investigation

3 step process

Statement of constraints
Identification of specific system objectives
Description of outputs

Statement of constraints

The President views safe deposit billing as

low priority
The senior Vice-President is worried that a
billing system might require the transfer of
safe deposit staff to other departments
The accounting department wants to install
computer based general ledger

Cont

Management has a limited knowledge of

computers.
Safe deposit while doing better than breaking
even is not projected to grow as fast
If the online system is to be installed then it
must interface with existing applications
The system designed must be compatible
with existing applications

Identification of objective

The steps are to state the systems benefits

and then translate them into measurable
objectives

Benefits to Objectives

Collection is improved by billing 30 days in

advance of the box renewal date and one
more notice is sent within 2 weeks

Cost reduction is realized. The new online

billing system requires less than 2 hours of
labor per week compared with 6 hours under
current system

Cont

Physical space is reduced by placing the

computer in place of one or four existing
desks

Customer service is improved by placing the

rental information online thus reducing the
waiting time

Cont

To establish a billing system with six five day

cycles per month
To mail the customer a reminder two weeks
after the initial statement
To speed collections
To evaluate the ratio of rented boxes to
available boxes

Description of outputs

An sketch of the format and contents of the

reports as well as specification of the media
used, their frequency and the size and no. of
copies required

Feasibility study

Three key considerations involved in the

feasibility analysis: economic, technical and
behavioral

Economic feasibility: cost-benefit analysis

Cont

Technical feasibility:

If the current computer is operating at 80%

capacity then running another application could
overload the system. If the budget is constrained
then project is judged not feasible

Cont

Behavioral feasibility

Introduction of a candidate system requires

special effort to educate, sell and train the staff on
new ways of conducting business

Steps in feasibility analysis

Form a project team and appoint a project leader

Prepare system flowcharts
Enumerate potential candidate systems
Describe and identify the characteristics of
candidate system
Evaluate performance
Weight system performance and cost data
Select the best candidate system
Prepare the report

Cost/Benefit analysis Cost

elements

Hardware relate to purchase or lease of

computer and its peripherals . In case of
sharing it is difficult to estimate the cost
compared to stand-alone system. Therefore it
is treated as operating cost in some
instances

Cont

Personnel costs Salary and benefits of the staff.

Also the pay is for those who are involved in
developing the system. The cost is known as
development cost. The cost incurred while
maintaining the system is recurring cost.

Facility cost expenses incurred in preparation of

the physical site where the application or the
computer will be in operation. This includes wiring,
flooring and air-conditioning. This is one-time cost

Cont

Operating costs The cost associated with

day-to-day working. The amount depends on
number of shifts, nature of the application
and caliber of the operating staff. The cost
can be treated as an overhead or separate
based on the output produced.
Supply costs this increases with the
increase of the usage of papers, disks

Benefits

Improving performance improvement in the

accuracy or easier access to information

Minimizing costs error control or reduction

of staff

Procedure for cost/benefit

determination

Identify costs and benefits pertaining to a

project
Categorize various costs and benefits for
analysis
Select a method for evaluation
Interpret the results
Take action

Cost and benefit

identification

The direct costs can be identified from the

invoice also the benefits may be direct in
certain instances. The costs which are not
easily identifiable are opportunity costs
Is price of disk an opportunity cost?

Classification of costs and

benefits

Tangible/intangible
Direct/indirect
Fixed/ variable

Lect - 8

Tangible or intangible
costs/benefits

Tangible costs The costs which can be measured

with ease

Intangible costs/benefits the cost of breakdown of

an online system during working hours,
improvement in customer satisfaction stemming
from a real-time order entry system
Management often tends to deal irrationally with
intangibles by ignoring them.

Direct or Indirect
costs/benefits

Direct costs/benefits From accounting point

of view they are those with which $ value can
be associated/ a new system that can handle
25% more transactions per day

Indirect costs Often referred to as

overhead. Example insurance,
maintenance, protection of the computer
center, heat, light and air-conditioning. They
are allocated according to a formula

Cont

Indirect benefits realized as a by-product of

another activity. For example, the proposed
safe deposit billing system that provides
profiles of the customer can be used for
advertising

Fixed or variable
costs/benefits

Fixed costs They are constant and do not

change. Also known as sunk cost. Examples
hardware purchase

Variable costs Incurred on a regular (weekly,

monthly) basis. They are usually proportional
to work volume and continue as long as the
system is in operation. Examples employee
forms

Cont

Fixed benefits They are constant and do not

change. Example decrease in the number of
personnel by 20% resulting from the use of new
computer. The benefit of personnel saving may
recur every month.

Variable benefits A safe deposit tracking system

saves 20 minutes preparing customer notices
compared with the manual system. The amount of
time saved depends on the number of notices
produced

Evaluation methods

Net benefit analysis

Present value analysis
Net present value
Payback analysis
Break-even analysis
Cash-flow analysis

Net benefit analysis

Involves subtraction of total cost from total

benefits
Does not take time value of money into
account

Present value analysis

Time value of money allows for interest rates,

inflation and other factors that alter the value of
investment
P = F/(1+i)^n
P - Present value
F- Future value
i Discount rate
n number of years

Role of human resource

information system

Integration of various HR applications

Collection of data at various points in the HR
function (HR database)
Developing intranet based application for
streamlining processes, co-ordination,
workflow
Web-based self service for ensuring
timeliness of services

HR applications

IS for recruitment and selection

IS for training and development
Employee relationship management through
IS
IS for performance management
IS for decision support
PCMM application
Employee portals for HR
IS for knowledge management

IS for recruitment and

selection

Access to global pool

Use of electronic forms which can be archived and
help in application tracking
Collaborative approach as different departments can
make decisions
Easy to rank candidates
IS can be used for managing interview process
schedules, selection of interviewers based on the
skill set
IS can be used for in-house recruitment
succession plan is ready, add new skill to the
database

IS for training and

development

Range of learning activities instructor led

live training courses, e-learning, self-paced
activities, web-based training, seminars,
conferences, white papers, books
Imparting targeted learning, career goals and
learning can be matched
Provide option to managers to approve the
training

Employee relationship
Today, organizations are keen to understand and know the details of their employees
management
and keep a tab on the latest developments in their personal life so that they can provide
best bargain to their internal customers

The labor market has taught businesses that employees are valuable and therefore the
effort should be made to retain them

Creates a gateway to the organization where employees and supervisors can manage
the relationship. Policies and programs can be easily transmitted to the employees.

Using intranet helps HR department empower managers and employees to perform

administrative tasks, such as updating personal information

Access vital company information that would help forge healthy two-way communication
with higher management

Some of the performance indicators of ERM are employee satisfaction, compensation

performance history (CPH) and indifference curve

Building effective career portal helps in retaining the employees. The HR strategies
should revolve round the competencies.

IS for performance
management

The PMS empowers the employees with clearly

identified performance targets, improved feedback and
reward processes
PMS enables managers and employees:
o
o

o
o
o
o

Collaboratively plan performance

Link strategic objective of the organization to employee
performance result
Track performance progress throughout the performance period
Rate and weigh results and competencies
Track performance review deliverables with alerts and reports
Identify top performers and those needing performance
improvement

Performance management

Performance planning:
o

o
o

Facilitates the establishment of objectives for a specified

period
Provides interim monitoring and coaching opportunities
Evaluate performance at the end of the period.

An individual may have multiple performance

plans active simultaneously

Performance management

Development planning:
o
o

Facilitates the establishment of longer career objectives

Creates a plan to acquire skills, knowledge, experience

Performance management

Assessment:
o

Facilitates the assessment of an individuals on-the job

performance by having one or more reviewers respond
to a series of questions related to job functions or
competencies, aggregating the results and producing a
report. It helps in 360 degree feedback.
The information system analyzer is used for identifying
trends, rank competencies, measure the effectiveness of
development initiatives, highlight organizations best
practice, identify future leaders

People capability maturity

model

PCMM is a framework which has been

developed by Software Engineering Institute
PCMM consists of 5 maturity levels
Each maturity level is a well defined
evolutionary plateau that institutionalizes new
capabilities for developing the organizations
talent pool

Philosophy implicit in PCMM

In mature organizations talent pool capability is

directly linked to business performance
Talent pool capability is a competitive issue and a
source of strategic advantage
Knowledge intensive work shifts the focus from job
elements to people competencies
Capability can be measured and improved at
multiple levels individual, workgroups
An organization should invest in building
competencies of those people who are part of core
business

IS for Knowledge
management

Knowledge management includes all

activities involved with the generation,
dissemination and maintenance of knowledge
to meet the organizational goals
Humans create knowledge by means of
transactions, consume knowledge by means
of decision making and transfer knowledge
by means of interacting with other humans
K-shop and KCUs at Infosys