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CHaPtEr 1 Part I

Systems Analysis
Fundamentals

Systems, Roles, and

Development Methodologies

Learning Objectives

Once you have mastered the material in this chapter you will be able to:
1. Understand the need for systems analysis and design in organizations.
2. Realize what the many roles of a systems analyst are.
3. Comprehend the fundamentals of three development methodologies: SDLC, the agile
approach, and object-oriented systems analysis and design.

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Organizations have long recognized the importance of managing key
resources such as people and raw materials. Information has now moved
to its rightful place as a key resource. Decision makers now understand
that information is not just a by-product of conducting business; rather,
it fuels business and can be the critical factor in determining the success
or failure of a business.
To maximize the usefulness of information, a business must manage
it correctly, just as it manages other resources. Managers need to understand that costs are
associated with the production, distribution, security, storage, and retrieval of all informa-
tion. Although information is all around us, it is not free, and its strategic use for positioning
a business competitively should not be taken for granted.
The ready availability of networked computers, along with access to the Internet and
the Web, has created an information explosion throughout society in general and business in
particular. Managing computer-generated information differs in significant ways from han-
dling manually produced data. Usually there is a greater quantity of computer information
to administer. Costs of organizing and maintaining it can increase at alarming rates, and
users often treat it less skeptically than information obtained in different ways. This chapter
examines the fundamentals of different kinds of information systems, the varied roles of
systems analysts, and the phases in the systems development life cycle (SDLC) as they relate
to human–computer interaction (HCI) factors; it also introduces computer-aided software
engineering (CASE) tools.

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