Project Management

Initiating projects, determining project feasibility, scheduling projects, and planning and then managing activities and team members for productivity are all important capabilities for the systems analyst to master. As such, they are considered project management fundamentals. A systems project begins with problems or with opportunities for improvement in a business that often come up as […]

Project Initiation (Project Management)

Systems projects are initiated by many different sources for many reasons. Some of the projects suggested will survive various stages of evaluation to be worked on by you (or you and your team); others will not and should not get that far. Businesspeople suggest systems projects for two broad reasons: because they experience problems that […]

Defining the Problem in Project Initiation (Project Management)

Whether using the classical SDLC or an object-oriented approach, the analyst first defines the problems and objectives of the system. These form the foundation of determining what needs to be accomplished by the system. Methods like Six Sigma (refer to Chapter 16 for details) start with a problem definition. A problem definition usually contains some […]

Selection of Projects

Projects come from many different sources and for many reasons. Not all should be selected for further study. You must be clear in your own mind about the reasons for recommending a systems study on a project that seems to address a problem or could bring about improvement. Consider the motivation that prompts a proposal […]

Feasibility Study – Determining Whether the Project is Feasible

Once the number of projects has been narrowed according to the criteria discussed previously, it is still necessary to determine if the selected projects are feasible. Our definition of feasibility goes much deeper than common usage of the term, because systems projects feasibility is assessed in three principal ways: operationally, technically, and economically. The feasibility […]

Technical Feasibility – Ascertaining Hardware and Software Needs

Assessing technical feasibility includes evaluating the ability of computer hardware and software to handle workloads adequately. Figure below shows the steps the systems analyst takes in ascertaining hardware and software needs. First, all current computer hardware the organization owns must be inventoried to discover what is on hand and what is usable. The systems analyst […]

Acquisition of Computer Equipment – Technical Feasibility

The three main options for acquisition of computer hardware are buying, leasing, or renting it. There are advantages and disadvantages that ought to be weighed for each of the decisions, as shown in the table illustration below. Some of the more influential factors to consider in deciding which option is best for a particular installation […]

Software Evaluation in Technical Feasibility

Analysts and organizations are increasingly faced with a make, buy, or outsource decision when assessing software for information systems projects, particularly when contemplating upgrades to existing or legacy systems. You have seen the decisions that analysts make when deciding about renting, buying, or leasing hardware. Some of the decision making surrounding purchase of commercial off-the-shelf […]

Economic Feasibility – Identifying & Forecasting Costs & Benefits

Costs and benefits of the proposed computer system must always be considered together, because they are interrelated and often interdependent. Although the systems analyst is trying to propose a system that fulfills various information requirements, decisions to continue with the proposed system will be based on a cost-benefit analysis, not on information requirements. In many […]

Comparing Costs and Benefits – Economic Feasibilty

There are many well-known techniques for comparing the costs and benefits of the proposed system. They include break-even analysis, payback, cash-flow analysis, and present value analysis. All these techniques provide straightforward ways of yielding information to decision makers about the worthiness of the proposed system. Break-Even Analysis By comparing costs alone, the systems analyst can […]