Systems analysis

This article is about the interdisciplinary field. For the analysis of systems in electrical engineering, see system analysis.

Systems analysis is a problem solving technique that decomposes a system into its component pieces for the purpose of the studying how well those component parts work and interact to accomplish their purpose". According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, systems analysis is "the process of studying a procedure or business in order to identify its goals and purposes and create systems and procedures that will achieve them in an efficient way". Analysis and synthesis, as scientific methods, always go hand in hand; they complement one another. Every synthesis is built upon the results of a preceding analysis, and every analysis requires a subsequent synthesis in order to verify and correct its results.

This field is closely related to requirements analysis or operations research. It is also "an explicit formal inquiry carried out to help someone (referred to as the decision maker) identify a better course of action and make a better decision than she might otherwise have made."

Overview

The terms analysis and synthesis stem from Greek, meaning "to take apart" and "to put together," respectively. These terms are used in many scientific disciplines, from mathematics and logic to economics and psychology, to denote similar investigative procedures. Analysis is defined as "the procedure by which we break down an intellectual or substantial whole into parts," while synthesis means "the procedure by which we combine separate elements or components in order to form a coherent whole." Systems analysis researchers apply methodology to the systems involved, forming an overall picture. System analysis is used in every field where something is developed. Analysis can also be a series of components that perform organic functions together, such as system engineering. Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed.

Information technology

The development of a computer-based information system includes a systems analysis phase. This helps produce the data model, a precursor to creating or enhancing a database. There are a number of different approaches to system analysis. When a computer-based information system is developed, systems analysis (according to the Waterfall model) would constitute the following steps:

• The development of a feasibility study: determining whether a project is economically, socially, technologically and organizationally feasible
• Fact-finding measures, designed to ascertain the requirements of the system's end-users (typically involving interviews, questionnaires, or visual observations of work on the existing system)
• Gauging how the end-users would operate the system (in terms of general experience in using computer hardware or software), what the system would be used for and so on

Another view outlines a phased approach to the process. This approach breaks systems analysis into 5 phases:

• Scope Definition: denoting an instrument for observing, viewing, or examining
• Problem analysis: analyzing the problem that arises
• Requirements analysis: determining the conditions that need to be met
• Logical design: looking at the logical relationship among the objects
• Decision analysis: making a final decision

Use cases are widely used systems analysis modeling tools for identifying and expressing the functional requirements of a system. Each use case is a business scenario or event for which the system must provide a defined response. Use cases evolved from object-oriented analysis.

Practitioners

Practitioners of systems analysis are often called up to dissect systems that have grown haphazardly to determine the current components of the system. This was shown during the year 2000 re-engineering effort as business and manufacturing processes were examined as part of the Y2K automation upgrades. Employment utilizing systems analysis include systems analyst, business analyst, manufacturing engineer, systems architect, enterprise architect, software architect, etc.

While practitioners of systems analysis can be called upon to create new systems, they often modify, expand or document existing systems (processes, procedures and methods). Researchers and practitioners rely on system analysis. Activity system analysis has been already applied to various research and practice studies including business management, educational reform, educational technology, etc.

See also

Related topics

• Systems thinking
• System architecture
• Software architecture
• Enterprise architecture
• Systems analyst
• Systems design
• Policy analysis
• Program designer
• Cybernetics
• Systems theory

Types of Systems analysis

• Accident analysis
• Business analysis
• Logico-linguistic modeling
• Morphological analysis
• Soft systems methodology
• Software prototyping
• Spiral model
• Waterfall model

Systems thinkers

• Russell L. Ackoff
• Howard T. Odum
• Henry Paynter
• Jay Forrester
• Donella Meadows
• Gregory Bateson
• Stewart Brand
• Buckminster Fuller
• Robert S. McNamara
• Stafford Beer
• Gordon Pask
• Ludwig von Bertalanffy

Selected publications

• Bentley, Lonnie D., Kevin C. Dittman, and Jeffrey L. Whitten. Systems analysis and design methods. (1986, 1997, 2004).
• Hawryszkiewycz, Igor T. Introduction to systems analysis and design. Prentice Hall PTR, 1994.
• Whitten, Jeffery L., Lonnie D. Bentley, and Kevin C. Dittman. Fundamentals of systems analysis and design methods. (2004).

External links

• Introduction to Social Macrodynamics
• A useful set of guides and a case study about the practical application of business and systems analysis methods
• A comprehensive description of the discipline of systems analysis from Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA (Archive of original from www.simmons.edu)
• Systems Analysis and Design introductory level lessons