Undertaking Systems Analysis

 

If a system is feasible and one alternative is chosen for development, the next stage is detailed systems analysis. There are few guidelines on the depth of analysis required when the design team examines present information processing procedures. All aspects of the present processing method must be understood and documented, and the analysis should identify key decisions as well as flows of data.

 

The design team must decide where to place the boundary on its studies. An expansive boundary may be appropriate, but a design team is well advised to take steps slowly in order to outline a manageable task. It is too easy to expand a simple processing problem into a huge system. What initially looks like an order-entry process turns into an accounts-receivable system and a production control system, because eager designers expand the boundaries of the problem into other areas.