System Analysis Of A New RequirementIt is not always necessary that the analysts are required to
conduct the analysis of the existing system. In a number of cases when legacy
systems have outlived their utility or a new business environment requires a
totally radical approach, the analyst is called for redesigning the processes,
practices and procedures. Today's business world of a company is beyond the four walls of the organization. The vendors and the customers are being treated as trusted business partners of the organization. This change in the management policy calls for a change in the information management function in the organization. It cuts across all the facets of processing the data and the information, right from the input to the output and its distribution. The conventional confidential access to the information, and the practice of authorizing a person to make decisions has undergone a substantial change. The decision centres in the organization have been diffused and a substantial delegation of decision making has taken place at the lower level. The characteristic change in the organization is that it is being looked as a process organization as against a functional organization. The work culture is changing from the single hierarchical command control principle. These work groups are empowered to make decisions with an access to support the information. In such changed environment, the information system architecture, the design and processes, and the hardware-software configuration should be structured to meet this changed requirement of information. The trend is towards building a system which is potentially flexible, adaptable to the new technology, easy to use, and which enables the user to meet his own needs through his knowledge and expertise. The system analyst, in such a virgin situation of policy change, has to think globally, taking into consideration the technology, the user, and the business it serves. He is required to make analysis to evolve the system and the technology strategy, and configuring them to work for executing the business strategy through the information support. Hence, the System Analysis and Design, in such situations, in an exercise at a macro level with a top-down approach in understanding the requirement. The information system development cycle for a new application consists of the five major stages:
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