In order to develop a system successfully, it is managed by breaking the total development process into smaller basic activities or phases. Any system development process, in general, is understood to have the following phases.
• Investigation,
• Analysis,
• Design,
• Construction and testing,
• Implementation, and
• Maintenance.
A brief description of the above-mentioned stages is discussed as follows.
We’ll be covering the following topics in this tutorial:
System Investigation
Some problem may be bothering a business organization. The managers in the organization (user) may not be very clear about the problem. Preliminary investigation is the first step in the system development project. The preliminary investigation is a way of handling the user’s request to change, improve or enhance an existing system. System investigation includes the following two sub-stages.
• Problem definition, and
• Feasibility study.
System Analysis
Analysis is a detailed study of the various operations of a business activity (system), along with its boundaries. The objective of this phase is to determine exactly what must be done to solve the problem. Many system analysts have a technical background. The temptation of many technically trained people is to move too quickly to program design, to become pre-maturely physical. System analysis involves a detailed study of:
• The information needs of the organization and its end users.
• Existing information systems (their activities, resources and products).
• The expected information system (in terms of capabilities of IS required to meet the information needs of users).
System Design
System analysis describes WHAT a system should do to meet the information needs of users. System design specifies HOW the system will accomplish this objective. The designing of the system refers to the technical specification that will be implied in constructing the system. The output of the system analysis phase is the input to the system design phase.
The System design should stress on the following three activities.
• User interface
• Data design, and
• Process design
Construction and Testing
Once the system specifications are understood, the system is physically created. The required programs are coded, debugged, and documented. The system should be tested with some test data to ensure its accuracy and reliability. In fact, construction of the system takes place on the basis of the system design specifications.
Implementation
The system implementation stage involves hardware and software acquisition, site preparation, user training and installation of the system. Then testing of the system, involving all components and procedures should be done. It must be realized that implementation may be the most crucial phase of system.
Maintenance
System maintenance involves the monitoring, evaluating and modifying of a system to make desirable or necessary improvements. In other words, maintenance includes enhancements, modifications or any change from the original specifications.
Dinesh Thakur holds an B.C.A, MCDBA, MCSD certifications. Dinesh authors the hugely popular