Assignment 6

 In this article I will tell about the conversation between two persons, John Juan the systems professional and Peter Pedro the manager of the department targeted for a new information system which John Juan will be working with. In this article I will try to analyze which of them should I sympathize most and I will try to to find a solution or method in their problem.

As I’ve understand in their conversation, John Juan is insisting that they should first analyze or examine the existing system the company has, then they will review the document and also observe all the employees on how they perform their task and then John Juan will determine all the possible aspects that is still OK and gather all the important data that can be preserved, but Peter Pedro is worried because they’ve been to this kind of projects before but they still got failed because as John Juan was insisting, Peter Pedro said that this kind of technique will just put them to failure because as Peter Pedro experienced before, they didn’t get a new system as promised but instead they get a modified version of the old system. John Juan promised to Peter Pedro that this will not happen, they just want to have a thorough understating to the existing system, they like to know what is working well and what is isn’t but Peter Pedro said that he is much comfortable if John Juan will analyze what really is the problem of their company, then John Juan will list it and it will serve as the requirements of the system and also Peter Pedro said that John Juan should determine what will be the purpose of the program to their department, then after doing this, John Juan and his team as Peter Pedro said will salvage or save the possible portion of the system that can still be save, because Peter Pedro doesn’t want that they will be force to use the old system of their department. Obviously these two professionals have different views on how the analysis phase should be conducted, for me their views have two sides, the negative and positive sides. Let’s talk first about the positive side of John Juan’s views, for me examining first the old system is the best way to gather some important information regarding to the capabilities of the system, being a systems analyst is that you should analyze first the existing system before creating a new one, and also the positive side of the views of John Juan is that it is right to review all the important documents and then observe the employees on how they do the task, being a systems analyst John Juan is doing his task well but for there is a negative side of John Juan's views, being a systems analyst is that you should understand well the needs of the client. In case of John Juan, he is insisting that they should preserved the old system and instead of making a new system they should modify it. And to the views of Peter Pedro I can say that it has a negative and a positive side also. For me Peter Pedro's views is correct also because he is the client and he is the one that has many experience regarding the works of the system and he is the one also who knows how their employees used the system and I understand the point of Peter Pedro on making a new system instead of a modified older version of the system, but on the negative side Peter Pedro doesn't understand well the views of John Juan, although Peter Pedro is the client and has many experience on their company, but we cannot deny the fact that John Juan is a systems analyst and he knows so much about this kind of job. And also being a systems analyst I agree with John Juan that they should preserved what can be preserved. But I agree also with Peter Pedro because by preserving some of the data from the older version, they can still have a modified version of the old system but not a new one. So to begin with the first question regarding whom do I sympathize most, I must explain first what is a systems analyst and what are the roles or skills of the systems analyst.

What is a Systems Analyst?

We all know that System Analyst is the one that investigates and analyze the existing system or the possible system an organization could have. System Analyst is the one responsible in making the plan strategy more capable of making the project being effective and efficient. As we know the major role of a System Analyst in a project team is System Analyst works primarily for an information system. System Analyst should interact with other people because it is the only way that they would know the capability of their employees. We all know that a System Analyst is expert in computer and System Analyst is very professional in investigating different kinds of situation.

Skills on being A System Analyst

As our lesson goes further, I learn that being a System Analyst is not an easy job. Being a system analyst, you should learn how to talk to the people and know what are their needs and concerns. Being a System Analyst is that we all should research, plan, coordinate and recommend other software’s that will help or meet the organizations requirements. System Analyst has so many things to do, some of them are writing technical or methodological requirements from a critical phase, and also after that, System Analyst should cooperate with the designers or developers in order to fix and avoid system bugs. System Analyst is the one capable of testing the system, and it is also the one that deploys the system and determines the flow of the system.

The Three Major Skill of A System Analyst

1. Technical Skills
   When you are a system analyst you should be able to become a technical type of person, it simply means that you should know about computers, you should also know the easiest part of the computer that is very useful of becoming a system analyst and also the knowledge of computer in terms of peripheral devices(hardware), communication networks and connectivity, database and database management systems (DBMS), programming languages ( for example, VB.NET or Java), operating systems and utilities, software productivity packages, integrated development environment (IDEs) for programming languages, and CASE tools, testing documentation support, reverse engineering, configuration management, project planning, system analysis, systems design, database design, network design, construction, implementation, systems support.
2. Business knowledge and skill
   A Systems Analyst’ most important task is to solve business problems, thus he/she should know the business functions performed by the organization. Some of these are:
   •Business functions performed by organization
   - It is one of the important task of a system analyst is to know the business functions performed by the organization, for example it is important to know what kinds of business functions an employee is doing, because it enables the systems analyst to analyze well what is the function the system lacks.
   • Strategies, plans, traditions, and values of the organization
   - Being a systems analyst is all about investigating the current system of some organization in order to improve it for the greater good of the company. A systems analyst, should know all the plans or goals of the organization because it is the most important job of a systems analyst to know what he/she is working on and also by knowing the strategies and the traditions of the organization will help him or her to find the best way in improving the system used by the organization.
   • Organizational Structure
   - In starting an investigation, a systems analyst should know the organizational structure because it enables the analyst to be more precise and accurate of what he/she is doing. Organizational structure serves as the flow chart of an organization.
   • Organizational management techniques
   - Organizational management is the lifeblood of any company or group. Being a systems analyst, it is important to know the lifeblood of the company in order to understand well what the needs of the company are. OMT is the methods used to manage the company's daily activities, motivate employees to produce at a high level and guide the company's future path, by knowing all these a systems analyst can simply determine what is the thing that the people in the organization wants. Understanding successful organizational techniques are important to effective management. The first thing to keep in mind is that it helps to understand multiple methods to the several techniques so the approach can be adapted for any given situation.
   • Functional work processes
   - It is important for a system analyst to know the whole process done by organization or the business flow and the different functions happening because as I’ve mentioned earlier it enables the systems analyst to analyze well what the system really lacks.
3. People Knowledge and Skills

A systems analyst need to understand important things regarding the people. Some of these are:
• Think
- It is very important that a systems analyst should know what do people are thinking because it will help or it is a guide to know what does the people really wants and a systems analyst must understand what their needs are.
• Learn
- It is important that a systems analyst should learn from the people around because learning in line with teaching the people to will create a good bond to the system and the people using it.
• React to Change
- It is important that a systems analyst would realize that the people will surely react to the change, and a systems analyst must analyze well the system and make sure that the system can be easily adopt, it is the role of a systems analyst to realize that.

• Communicate
- A systems analyst must communicate well to the people because it will help an analyst to gather more information and the people will have a trust to tell all the data he/she needs from them, and also by communicating well, an analyst can understand the complexity of the employees doing. It is important to make sure that an analyst must be good in communicating in order to motivate people and also provide necessary support
• Work
- An analyst should know what kind of work the people are doing in order so that they can easily adapt to the changes.

After discussing about what is a systems analyst and what are the skill and roles of a systems analyst, I came with a decision on whom I sympathize the most. In my opinion I sympathize the both of them but I sympathize the most is John Juan, because John Juan is just doing his job, even though Peter Pedro has more experience about their system but as I reviewed about what is the systems analyst, John Juan is just doing what a systems analyst should be doing. In John Juan's point what he wanted to do is to examine first the old system and try to recover the important features of the system that can be preserved and can be useful to create a new system. What John Juan was pointing is that he just wanted to get the information from the old system so that he can analyze well the needs of the employees, He is just trying to explain that in the old system maybe they can find something useful in their study and so they can insert it to the new system they will create, but Peter Pedro does not understand John Juan's point, although I understand Peter Pedro, because he is just afraid of the plan of John Juan, because he experienced it before, instead of making a new system, they got a modified version of the old system, but as I've understand that John Juan will make a new system, he is just gathering some important details and he is observing the works of the employees and how do they use the system. I sympathize also with the point of Peter Pedro, because he wants to make a new study of what are the needs of the system and it will serve as their requirements to create the new system but I think John Juan has a better idea because I think John Juan is just using the most used method of being a systems analyst which is the waterfall method. Let me discuss what is the waterfall method.

What is the Waterfall Method

The waterfall model is the earliest method of structured system development, nowadays this model is still widely used even though in the recent years It has come under attack for being too severe and impractical when it comes to meeting customer’s needs. It is most closely resembles a “generic” model for software development. According to some study waterfall model is a sequential design process, often used in used in software development process, it is called a waterfall model because as it seen that its progress if flowing steadily downwards life a waterfall. In 1970 up to now it has become the fundamental model for software development in many software companies. This model was introduced by Winston W. Royce. As I’ve understand waterfall model has its personal feature that sets it apart from other software development models, this feature is, waterfall model does not allow a simultaneous execution between phases, it simply means that a second phase cannot be executed when the first phase in not finish, this kind of approach is easy to implement and there is transparency in every stage. Systematic documentation is done at every phase of waterfall model. To verify whether the development process is on track and meets customer’s requirements, review meetings are conducted at the end of every stage. The waterfall model consists of the following steps; these are problem definition, feasibility study, requirement analysis, system design, coding and testing, implementation, and system maintenance. In Problem Definition Phase ,this is where we define the problem, it is not an easy job because defining the problem is more likely solving the problem, because when you find what really is the problem we can find the right solution for the problem, this phase requires a critical thinker that has the ability to think what really is the problem, identifies what is the characteristics of the problem. In Feasibility Study Phase, it aims to accurately and logically uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest term, the two criteria to judge feasibility are cost required and value to be attained. In Requirement Analysis Phase, this is the phase of the waterfall model which includes a meeting with a customer to understand his/her requirements, in this phase an analyst must perform a full and complete analysis to the current situation of the customer. This phase also refers to the gathering of system requirements; an analyst should gather all the important requirements with the goal on determining how these requirements will be accommodated in the system. In System Design Phase, this is the phase where the designing of the system takes place. This explains why the waterfall model has a unique feature because you cannot proceed with the designing if you are not finished with analyzing. Once the requirements have been collected and analyze, it Is necessary to identify in detail what should be the design of the system or how the system should be constructed in order to perform necessary tasks, the main objective of the system design phase is to focus on the data requirements for example “what information will be processed in the system?” it is focus also in the software construction for example “how will the application be constructed?” and also it is focus in the interface construction for example “what will the system look like? What standards to be followed?” In Coding and Testing Phase,this is the phase where the analyst is not capable of doing. This is the time when you gather all the needed information from the start up to this, this time the programmer takes place. In coding the programmer is the one capable of doing, after understanding all the gathered information the programmer converts this information into a machine readable computer code. In the Implementation Phase, this phase is the realization of the application; it is the time when the developer executes the plan, and ideas. According to some study it is a realization of a technical specification or the realization of a technical description or algorithm as a program, software component, or other computer system through programming and deployment. In the Maintenance Phase, this is the final phase of the waterfall model the maintenance phase, in this phase the developer checks the processes made by the system from time to time. He/she will update the system if it has some errors or bugs.

Proceeding with the next question about what is the method would I propose that they should take. In my opinion they could use the usual method, all they need is understanding. For me they should plan first what should really be the problem of the system, they should understand and know all the possible problems that they could encounter and next is that they should analyze the problem well if they can analyze the problem well they can get a better solution to it, and also John Juan should understand well Peter Pedro, he should explain well what he was doing. I think the best solution to their problem is that they should combine their ideas for example John Juan will examine the old system but he should still find a new way or new requirements in making a new system, then after that they should ask the employees what are things that is lacking in the system and what should be out in the system after doing this they design a new system that fits their needs.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, for me their conversation is not about quarreling, it is just about a two experts, expressing their ideas to make an efficient and effective system, the two of them has a point on their views, Peter Pedro wants a new system and also John Juan but John Juan wants that they should examine first the old system and if they find something useful they can insert it to the new system. As I've observed good communication is the most important way to have a good relationship between the client and the analyst. An analyst should develop good communication skills in order to communicate well with the client.

Assignment 5

In this article my goal is to know how the life cycle is develop specifically in the university, I was wondering at first what is the life cycle of the university, but As I’ve understand it is all about the life cycle of the systems that our university develops so that’s why I should discuss about the SDLC or Systems Development Life Cycle and then the vision mission goals of the school and the systems develop by our school.

Systems Development Life Cycle

When we say life cycle of the system, we talk about the SDLC or systems development life cycle. Systems Development Life Cycle is the cycle of the system that every analyst follows, there are five stages of Systems Development Life Cycle; these are project planning, analysis, design, implementation, support, when we say planning the analyst initiates the problem, the analyst plan for the possible problem, and also the analyst ensures feasibility, and also the analyst makes a plan schedule in order to arrange the works that they will do, and also involves in planning is the approval of the project or to obtain the approval of the project, to sum it all up in planning an analyst plans for the possible work to do, the analyst assigns different task to its co analyst, the analyst makes a schedule so that the amount of work will be divided and also the work will be organize. The next stage of Systems Development Life Cycle is the analysis, when we say analysis the analyst understand business needs and processing requirements, it simply means that the analyst analyzes the problem of the system, the analyst provides an investigation to the system in order to obtain the needs of the system, the analyst looks for some requirements needed in order to have an effective and efficient system, and also conducts an interview to the possible users of the system, it will serves as a guide to the analyst, in order to know well the things that the system and user needs, in this stage the analyst will have a good relationship to the users, this stage is the most difficult stage because analyzing the problem well or knowing what is really the problem will help the developer to do the right solution to the problem. The third stage of the SDLC is the design, in this stage the analyst is no longer need, it is time for the developer. When all the data that are gathered by the analyst, it is the time for the design stage, this is where they define the solution based on the requirements and the analyst decisions, it simply means that in designing the system the developer designs for the right interface of the system, the developer designs the system based on the studies gathered by the analyst and also the developer designs it based on the requirements the client wants and also based on the users, in this stage the developer designs only the system the will not implement it yet. The fourth stage of the SDLC or Systems Development Life Cycle is the implementation, after the developer designs the possible interface of the system it is time for the implementation of the system, implementation is the stage where the users of the system are involved because it is the time to install the system, teach the users how to use it, it is the time to construct the system, in other words implementation is the final stage in case of building the system because this is the stage where the system is fully operational, it is the time when the users use it, and also it is the time when the systems will be observed and tested. The final stage of the SDLC or Systems Development Life Cycle is the support, when we say support it is like maintenance, support to the system, this is where the developer keeps the system and running, after building the system the developer observes for the possible errors and bugs of the system, this is the support stage, the developer will keep improving the system until it gets the final output that has no bug s and errors. To sum it all up SDLC is very important and analyst still uses it until now.

My School

                My school is the USEP or University of Southeastern Philippines, it is the university located at the southeastern part of Mindanao, and our university aims to be the premiere university in the ASEAN region. Our school visualizes that is should be the center of excellence and development that is responsive or reactive to fast changing environments, and our school also wants to be the leading university in the country that fosters innovation or invention and applies knowledge to create value towards, social, economic and technological developments. Our school has a mission of producing a world-class graduate and relevant research extension, it means that our school will have a good graduate that has a contribution to the society, and In order to achieve this, the school will provide quality education and sustainable resource management. Particularly our school is devoted to provide quality education for students to grow in knowledge, and to be better especially in technological aspects and also our school is committed to promote our well-rounded development and make us globally competitive in the world of work and help us to be independent when the time comes. Our school is committed also in engaging high impact research, not only for knowledge’s but also for its particular benefits to society and the USEP is committed to promote entrepreneurship and industry collaboration, aligned with the vision and mission of USEP our school has goals also these are; USEP will produce globally competitive and morally upright graduate, USEP shall develop a strong Research, Development and Extension culture with competent human resource and responsive and relevant researches that are adopted and utilized for development. Our school has a total of seven thousand plus students most likely the number of girls is higher than the number of boys. Our school is a state university, it is the cheapest school in Davao but the most standardized school and the most strict school in Mindanao.

                The main system that is developed in our school is our enrollment system; we all know that this system is present on all schools. As a student in the University of Southeastern Philippines I am very familiar with our enrollment system, although this system is not perfect for me but our enrollment system is much faster than in the past years, the steps of our enrollment system is first a student is required to provide a cleared clearance , this will enable the student to proceed to the enrollment and also the student must get all the subject grades form the previous semester and after proceeding to the proper enrollment the student is require to pay for the minor fees such as OSCS fee, headlight fee and our local council fee, and after paying this minor fees, the student will go to their respective adviser for the advising part, this is where the adviser analyzes the students grade and this where the adviser tell the students whether they can take this subject or not, this is where the student will get its PRF or Pre Registration From, PRF is where the subject of the students is listed, when the adviser finished listing the subject of the student the student will get the schedules of the subject he/she is allowed to and then after that the students will go back to the adviser and the student will get the advisers signature then after that the student will go to their respective councils for encoding, in encoding the students subject will be encoded to the registrar’s copy but the student is not yet enrolled, after the encoding process is where the most tiring process, this is where the students go to the cashier to pay the enrollment fee, this is the process where all the students lined up, imagine 7000+ students will be enrolling, sometimes the line in the cashier goes up to the second floor of our building because of so many students paying their bills, this is one of the problem of our system, the line that is too long, it has not been solve for so many years up to now, after the students pay his/her bills at the cashier, it is the time for the last stage of the enrollment and it is the most tiring part because there are so many students lining up, this is the time for the registrar’s office, this time the student will represents all the receipts including the OSCS fee, headlight fee, the local council fee and specially the enrollment fee receipts, in the registrar the subject that are encoded at the encoding office will be validated, after validating the subject the students is now officially enrolled, but the steps above is almost similar to the scholars, the different is the scholars has a different window at the cashiers office this is the students account, in the students account the students will be checked whether they are still scholars or not but before going to the students account the scholars need to go to the OSS, this is where they will get a sign representing that they are scholars and this sign is the only proof at the students accounts that the student is still a scholar. The steps above is only for the old students but for the new students it takes a long process because first the students is required to have an entrance exam result and in the entrance exam if the student does not pass the passing grade for the English subject, the student will have to undergo English Bridge program, this is a 10 day class with an English Subject only and the certificate in program is useful in enrollment to, this will serve as a proof that a student is enable to take the subject English. The new comer will choose their NSTP, whether the student wants to join the ROTC or the CWTS and the remaining step are mentioned above. Our enrollment system is not a perfect system because of the unwanted lining up of the students. As a student I can described well the problem of our system but I don’t have the solution on how to solve this. Our enrollment will last for a week; it only takes one day for every year level, that’s why I think with such a small duration of enrollment time, the student will lined up and make a long line. The main problem of this system is when the other year level is not finished enrolling in their specified enrollment date; they will go back again and joined up with the other year level. The other system our school has is the online grading system; it is the system where you can browse your grades through internet, this system is a good system because the student can view his/her previous grades from the moment he/she studied at USEP or University of Southeastern Philippines, this system is useful also when you lost your handbook or booklet because all the grades written on your passbook or handbook are all encoded in the system, just by browsing the net you can print this grades and this will serves as a temporary handbook. Online grading system is always updated by the registrar, every time there is changes in the registrar, there is changes also in the online grading system and also our school has a library system too, this system enables a student to find the books in a fastest way, the student will just type the name of the book and the system will give the location where the book is located and also another system our school has is the university logger, it is a system that allows the student to use the computer at our school, it is login system that only the validated library cards are allow to used but this logger is not efficient because a student can still log in without validating the library card or your id number just by simple computer tricks. These are some of the systems our school develops although these are not perfect systems but still good enough to make us technically advance.

How Do You Know That the Life Cycle Was Developed Specifically For the University?

                All the systems that our university has undergo life cycle, analyst in our school analyzes the problem of our systems, it is the main role of the analyst to analyze the system, I think the systems of our school has undergo planning, analyzing, designing, implementation and testing, for example our enrollment system, although this is not a perfect system but some part of it enables the student to have an easy enrollment. The enrollment system our school has, has a good plan in what is the process of our enrollment, it is a good plan to provide so many processing windows at the registrar. Our enrollment has been analyzed well by our analyst, if only the students will not go back and if only if the students can finish an enrollment in one day our system will be perfect. I can tell that the life cycle was developed in our school because as I can see for now it undergoes development and improvement, because our enrollment in the past three years is very different than now, it is much faster and much easier because of the improvement they make.

How Do We Know That It Meets Our Needs for the University?

                In a system there is a client an analyst and a developer and also the user, in our case at school we are the clients, the user are the ones at the office and the analyst and the developer are the one who made the system. Being a client I can tell that it meets my needs, based on my experience at our enrollment system, I am satisfied with the process because it is being planned and analyze well. And I can say also that it meets the needs of the university also, although it is not still perfect because of the unwanted long line, but it only needs development and a proper instruction to the student I know that the one maintaining the systems at our school is doing their best to make an effective and efficient system.

Conclusion

                To sum it all up or to summarize it, systems development life cycle or SDLC is very important in the need of the system; SDLC serves as a guide in building a better system. I also conclude that all the systems at our school undergo planning, design, analysis, implementation and testing. Systems like enrollment system at our school is the best system they develop, but hopefully it will be perfect soon and hopefully someday there will be an online enrollment system at our school like in the others.

               

Assignment 4

What is the Purpose of System Development Models?

                System development models are used to guide the analysis, design, development and maintenance of the system. System development Models is very useful in developing systems because it serves as the guide in order to create an effective and efficient information system. Some of the system development models are waterfall model, prototyping model, and spiral model. Each of these models has different designs and specific purpose or reasons, some of these models has similar goals and also has similar task. And also these models have different problems and challenges. This paper will explore the similarities and differences among these various models and will also discuss how different approaches are chosen and combined to address practical situations.

Waterfall Model

                The waterfall model is the earliest method of structured system development, nowadays this model is still widely used even though in the recent years It has come under attack for being too severe and impractical when it comes to meeting customer’s needs. It is most closely resembles a “generic” model for software development. According to some study waterfall model is a sequential design process, often used in used in software development process, it is called a waterfall model because as it seen that its progress if flowing steadily downwards life a waterfall. In 1970 up to now it has become the fundamental model for software development in many software companies. This model was introduced by Winston W. Royce. As I’ve understand waterfall model has its personal feature that sets it apart from other software development models, this feature is, waterfall model does not allow a simultaneous execution between phases, it simply means that a second phase cannot be executed when the first phase in not finish, this kind of approach is easy to implement and there is transparency in every stage. Systematic documentation is done at every phase of waterfall model. To verify whether the development process is on track and meets customer’s requirements, review meetings are conducted at the end of every stage. The waterfall model consists of the following steps; these are problem definition, feasibility study, requirement analysis, system design, coding and testing, implementation, and system maintenance.

1.       In Problem Definition Phase

-          In this phase is where we define the problem, it is not an easy job because defining the problem is more likely solving the problem, because when you find what really is the problem we can find the right solution for the problem, this phase requires a critical thinker that has the ability to think what really is the problem, identifies what is the characteristics of the problem. As an analyst we should ask our client also, because our client knows what really the main problem is, analyst can get ideas in the client, and client can help the analyst in defining the problem because the client knows what they really needs. Good relationship between client and the developer is very useful.

2.       In Feasibility Study Phase

-          In this phase, it aims to accurately and logically uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest term, the two criteria to judge feasibility are cost required and value to be attained. As such, a well-designed feasibility study should provide a historical background of the business or project, description of the product or service, accounting statements, details of the operations and management, marketing research and policies, financial data, legal requirements and tax obligations. Generally, feasibility studies precede technical development and project implementation.

3.       In Requirement Analysis Phase

-          This is the phase of the waterfall model which includes a meeting with a customer to understand his/her requirements, in this phase an analyst must perform a full and complete analysis to the current situation of the customer. This phase also refers to the gathering of system requirements; an analyst should gather all the important requirements with the goal on determining how these requirements will be accommodated in the system. Extensive communication between the customer and the developer is needed and essential. According to some information this is the most crucial phase because any misconception at this phase may give rise to authentication issues later. Analyst must be detailed and precise with no doubts in defining the software.  It is very important to understand the customer requirements and expectations so that the end product meets his/her specifications. The main goal of an analyst in this phase it that an analyst should understand the customers well, analyst should understand what are the kinds of things that customer needed, good relationship is needed between the analyst and the customer. Analyst should conduct an interview with the customer. In requirement analysis phase an analyst should also understand what kind of system he/she is going to work with and he/she should understand that if it is not a big system, a day by day interview with the client is not necessary because a small system can easily be defined and can easily be analyzed so it is better when the system is not big it is necessary to ask some questions or to prepare only questionnaires not interviews. And also on important thing is, we all know some of the client wants to have a good system but sometimes other clients are exaggerated to what they need so being an analyst we should guide our client and tell them the right needs of their company. To sum it all up, requirement analysis varies on how the analyst communicate with the customer, analyzing the problem well is the main objective in this phase, analyst should gather important data’s and analyst should know what the problem is and analyze what is the body of the system.

4.       In System Design Phase

-          This is the phase where the designing of the system takes place. This explains why the waterfall model has a unique feature because you cannot proceed with the designing if you are not finished with analyzing. Once the requirements have been collected and analyze, it Is necessary to identify in detail what should be the design of the system or how the system should be constructed in order to perform necessary tasks, the main objective of the system design phase is to focus on the data requirements for example “what information will be processed in the system?” it is focus also in the software construction for example “how will the application be constructed?” and also it is focus in the interface construction for example “what will the system look like? What standards to be followed?” These questions are the main function of the system design phase, it is very important to ask these questions. It tells about the software construction, developer should know well that in software construction we should understand what the system are capable of, we should understand the way the system works and how it processes. It tells about the interface construction, a developer must understand that a simple system in terms of design is very good because developing a system does not need a good interface but a good functionality and also the developer should also understand the needs of the user and lastly it tells also about the data requirements, being a developer identifying the data requirement will help in terms of knowing the need of the system.

5.       In Coding and Testing Phase

-          This is the phase where the analyst is not capable of doing. This is the time when you gather all the needed information from the start up to this, this time the programmer takes place. In coding the programmer is the one capable of doing, after understanding all the gathered information the programmer converts this information into a machine readable computer code. The main objective in coding phase is to create the system software. Programmer makes flowcharts in order to have a guide or steps to make good software. Algorithm is the main ingredient in this phase, algorithm is the one that will solve the problems of the software and coding phase is very important because you cannot proceed with the testing phase without coding phase because you don’t have thing to be tested. And in testing phase this is the time the programmer checks for possible bugs and errors, programmers run the program several time in order to find the possible loopholes and fix it. As I’ve experience in creating a program, I divide the program into three different types, the declaration, implementation and the main program, this will help me to identify errors and this will help me to fix it easily. According to some information testing is focused in two areas: internal efficiency and external effectiveness. As I’ve understand the goal of external effectiveness testing is to verify whether the program if functioning according to the systems design and also if the program is performing all necessary functions or sub-functions and also the goal of internal testing is to know whether the computer code is efficient, uniform and well documented. It is necessary that a program should be efficient in able to avoid program crashing.

6.       In the Implementation Phase

-          This phase is the realization of the application; it is the time when the developer executes the plan, and ideas. According to some study it is a realization of a technical specification or  the realization of a technical description or algorithm as a program, software component, or other computer system through programming and deployment.

7.       In the Maintenance Phase

-          I think this is the final phase of the waterfall model the maintenance phase, in this phase the developer checks the processes made by the system from time to time. He/she will update the system if it has some errors or bugs.

The Advantage of Waterfall Model

                For me waterfall model is the commonly used model by all the systems analyst, developer and designer because it is very simple and easy to understand and the steps of waterfall model for me are the proper steps in developing a good system.

Problems or Challenges Associated with the Waterfall Model

                We all know that the waterfall model has been used extensively over the years in the production of many quality systems, but with all this the waterfall model encounter some problems. In recent years according to the study waterfall model undergo some attacks due to its rigid design and fixed procedure. Some blames fall into these categories. Some of them says that developing a system using the waterfall model can be a long, painstaking process that does not yield a working version of the system until late in the process and also at the beginning of most projects there is often a great deal of uncertainty about requirements and goals, and it is therefore difficult for customers to identify these criteria on a detailed level. The model does not accommodate this natural uncertainty very well and also in reality some projects rarely follow the steps that waterfall model proposes.

The Prototyping Model

                Some of the analyst has a difficulty in knowing the requirements at the beginning of the project, that’s why a prototyping model was created. Some of the users know how many of the objectives that they wish to address with a system but according to study they do not know all the distinctions of the data nor do they know the details of the system features and capabilities. That’s why prototyping model is created because it allows and offers a development approach that yields without first requiring all information up-front. The main function of prototyping model is that the developer builds a simplified version of the proposed system and presents it to the customer for consideration as part of the development process. In this case the customer also provides feedback to the developer, the customer goes back to the developer and improve the system requirements and incorporate additional information’s.  New programs are developed once requirements are identified. Prototyping model is consisting of the following steps; these are requirements definition/collection, design, prototype creation or modification, assessment, prototype refinement, system implementation.

1.       In Requirements Definition or Collection Phase

-          This phase is the same phase related to waterfall model but not as broad, this phase refers to the consideration of all aspects of the targeted business functions or process, with the goals of determining how each of those aspects relates with one another, and which aspects will be incorporated into the system. In this phase the information collected is usually limited to a subset of the complete system requirements. The main objective of this phase is to collect all the system requirements; it is the collection of data needed by the system.

2.       In Design Phase

-          This phase is not similar in the design phase of the waterfall model because in the waterfall model you design the whole system based on all the gathered information but in prototyping, developer is just designing a part of the system whether it is correct or not but the developer only pictures out what would be the perfect design for the system, it simply means that the design phase in prototyping model is simply a quick design, designing only what have been discovered. The main objective of this phase is just to design the initial layer of the information that is collected.

3.       In Prototype Creation or Modification Phase

-          In this phase all the information gathered is being moved in to a prototype it simple means that information is gathered to make a prototype of the system. In modification it simply means a new model is modified and united into some software or pre-develop system.

4.       In Assessment Phase

-          When the prototype is made, it is presented into the customer and customer will make its comment and suggestion and it is collected by the developer. This assessment is very helpful to the developer because it helps the developer to adjust to the problems of the system and in order for the developer to create a new kind of prototype if needed.

5.       In Prototype Refinement Phase

-          This phase is the refining of the prototype, when all the comments, suggestion are collected from the customer; the developer is now ready for refinement. The developer is ready to revise it to make the system more efficient and effective and more useful to the users,

6.       In System Implementation Phase

-          I think this is the last phase of prototyping model. In this phase once all the requirements are understood, it is time to implement the system.

Problems or Challenges Associated with the Prototyping Model

                Prototyping Model has its own problem or challenges also, some of these problems as I’ve researched is prototyping can lead to false expectations because some of the customers really believes that the systems is finished according to what I’ve said above that when designing a system using the prototyping model only a part of it a developer is designing because when the developer gathers a part of the information, the developer designs it already to make a prototype that’s why some of the customers mistakenly believes that the system is finished when in fact it is not. When prototyping work such as database normalization, documentation, testing and reviews for efficiency have not been done, some of the problem also is prototyping can lead to poorly designed systems, because we all know the primary goal of prototyping is rapid development it means that the goal of prototyping is a fast development of the system that’s why according to the study that the design of the system sometimes suffers because the system is built in layers.

Spiral Model

                Spiral Model is derived from the best features of waterfall model and prototyping model and it introduces a new component called risk assessment. Spiral is used to describe the process that is followed as the development of the system takes place. It has a similarity to the prototyping model because prototyping model designs an initial version and it is repeated after the customer tells its comment and suggestions but they are different also because in spiral model the development of the system is carefully designed. Spiral Model uses the step of the waterfall model that’s why the best features of the two models above were combined in this model. The spiral model is made up of the following steps: these are project objectives, risk assessment, engineering and production, planning and management.

1.       In Project Objectives Phase

-          In this phase the analyst should determine the objectives, it is important to determine the objectives because it serves as a guide or it serves as the goal. In this phase also possible obstacles are recognized and alternative methods are weighed.

2.       In Risk Assessment Phase

-          In this phase some of the problems are identified and possible replacements are examined by the developer. It is evaluated and weighed in the consideration of project continuation. According to the study sometimes prototyping is used to clarify needs.

3.       In  Engineering and Production Phase

-          In this phase all the detailed requirements are being determined and process and it’s time to develop some piece of the system.

4.       In Planning and Management Phase

-          This is the last phase of the spiral model. In this phase the customer is involve because the customer is given an opportunity to analyze the results of the version create in the Engineering step and to offer comment to the developer.

Problems or Challenges Associated with the Spiral Model

                Spiral model has problems also but it is difficult to understand what its strengths and weaknesses. According to the study that risk assessment component of the spiral model provides both developers and customers with a measuring tool that earlier Process Models do not have.

Conclusion

               

                To sum it all up, system development models is very important in designing a system, with these models any developer can make an effective and useful system. Although this is just a guide but any developer should follow this because without this there are no good systems present in this time.

Assignment 3

Systems Analyst as a Project Manager

What is an Analyst?

We all know that System Analyst is the one that investigates and analyze the existing system or the possible system an organization could have. System Analyst is the one responsible in making the plan strategy more capable of making the project being effective and efficient. As we know the major role of a System Analyst in a project team is System Analyst works primarily for an information system. System Analyst should interact with other people because it is the only way that they would know the capability of their employees. We all know that a System Analyst is expert in computer and System Analyst is very professional in investigating different kinds of situation. Systems Analyst is the one that determines the problem and identifies how to solve it.

What is a Project?

                A project is a planned thing undertaking with a certain amount time; it is done by groups or a team and even individually. The real meaning of a project is it is a thing or a product that hasn’t existed before, so it means that a project sometimes is unique and if it is unique it means it has never been done before. Maybe it’s been done before but it is not exactly the same, maybe it is done with similar fashion. The main essence of a project is it has a start and an end and it is usually constrained by schedule and resource.

Why a Project Fails?

                There are so many reasons why a project fails example of this reasons are incomplete or changing requirements, it means that a team is unable to decide what is the right thing to do or simply they don’t know their goals, another reason is limited user involvement, it means that when we make a system we should know the one that will use it if ever we don’t know we are not sure what are the function of the system that we will make, another reason is lack of executive support, we cannot deny the fact that we need a person that is good in decision-making or the one that administrate a team, another reason is lack of technical support, technical support is very important in making the project because it is the procedure on how we make the project, another reason also is poor project planning, in making a system we should plan it well because it is the first step on making the project, when this planning lacks the remaining will be affected also, another reason again is unclear objectives, any person who don’t know the real objective of what are they doing cannot proceed with the project, and also another reason why the project fails is unclear resources, resources is very important in making a project because it serves as a guide, it serves as an idea  for example in when we talk about resources in a business, it serves as the funds or the capital of the business.

Reasons Why the Project Successes

                If there’s a reason why the project fails there is also a reason why the project successes one reason is clear system requirement definitions, when we know the system requirements, we can set our focus to this requirements, because it is the only thing the user wants and if we know this there will be a great chance of success, another reason also is substantial user involvement, it is important from time to time the user tests the capability of a system in order for the developer to know what to do next or what to avoid, with this a large chance of success awaits, another reason is support from upper management, it is very important when we make a system that we have a support from the upper management it is the same as our parents that bring us to school that’s why we can study, with a proper support the project will be a sure success, and also the reason why the project successes is thorough and detailed project plans, any developer wants that the project plan will be clear because it is the only thing that serves as their guide with a proper project plan a proper way of thinking and a proper way of making the project and another important reason is realistic work schedules and milestones, when making a project it is very important that we have a work schedules and milestones because its serves as a sign and also a guide.

Systems Analyst as a Project Manager

                As I’ve interviewed one of the systems analyst, I realize being a systems analyst is not an easy job; it takes a lot of skills. He says being a project manager is very challenging because a project manager serves as the brain of the team; a project manager is like the stem of the tree when you cut it the tree will fall. He says that project manager has so many responsibilities, first of all he says that the project manager is the one that identifies the task and also the one that create the work schedules and also being a project manager you’re the one that recruit members and when you recruit member you make sure that these members are capable of what they are doing, project manager is the one that assigns the different task to the members, a project manager is the one that coordinate activities of members and sub teams. The main role of the project manager is it the one that reports the status and progress to the clients and also the difficult part of being a project manager is it is the one that establishes good working relationships with those who identify the needed system requirements specially with the people who uses the system.

Conclusion

                With the things that I observe being a systems analyst is a very difficult task what more if an analyst is the project manager. Being a project manager is like spider man “With great powers comes with great responsibilities” and also when the project manager fails all fails.