CHAPTER 2: ANALYZING THE
BUSINESS CASE
KP24103 SYSTEM ANALYSIS &
DESIGN
BUSINESS CASE
• The term business case refers to the reasons, or justification,
for a proposal.
• To analyze the business case for a specific proposal, the
analyst must consider the company’s overall mission,
objectives, and IT needs.
• A framework for IT systems development involves strategic
planning and SWOT analysis.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
• Strategic planning is the process of identifying long-term
organizational goals, strategies, and resources.
• A strategic plan looks beyond day-to-day activities and focuses
on a horizon that is three, five, ten, or more years in the
future.
• A company requires information technology to support its
strategic goals.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
• Strategic planning starts with a mission statement that
reflects the firm’s vision, purpose, and values.
• Mission statements usually focus on long-term challenges
and goals, the importance of the firm’s stakeholders, and a
commitment to the firm’s role as a corporate citizen.
SWOT
• The letters SWOT stand for strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats.
• A SWOT analysis can focus on a specific product or project, an
operating division, the entire company, or the mission
statement itself.
• The overall aim is to avoid seeking goals that are unrealistic,
unprofitable, or unachievable.
• A SWOT analysis examines a firm’s technical, human, and
financial resources.
SWOT
SWOT EXAMPLE (personal)
LO CARB MEALS
• Lo Carb is a successful new company that has
published several cookbooks and marketed its own
line of low-carbohydrate meals. Joe Turner, Lo
Carb’s president, has asked your opinion. He wants
to know whether a mission statement really is
necessary. After you review the chapter material,
write a brief memo with your views. Be sure to
include good (and not-so-good) examples of actual
mission statements that you find on the Web.
SYSTEMS REQUESTS
• A formal way of asking for IT support.
• Six main reasons for system request:
•Effective controls to ensure
Stronger data is secure and accurate
controls
•Product upgrade •Current system
More could be
support Reduced expensive to
cost operate or
System maintain
request •When the
More system
•Provide Improved Information produce
valuable Service insufficient ,
service incomplete
•Increased Better information
customer perfomance •When current system might not
satisfaction meet performance requirements
Preliminary Investigation
• A system analyst conducts a preliminary investigation to study
the systems request and recommend specific action.
• After obtaining an authorization to proceed, the analyst
interacts with managers and users, as shown below:
The end product
Problem
of the /opportunity
preliminary
investigation is a
report to
management
Project
scope &
constraints
Fact-finding Benefits
Costs
Interaction with Managers and Users
• Before starting a prelimenary investigation, it is important to
let people know about the investigation and explain your
role.
• You should meet with with key managers, users, and IT staff to
describe the project, explain your responsibilities, answer
questions, and invite comments.
• Interactive communication with users starts at this point and
continues throughout the development process.
Interaction with Managers and Users
• Using this approach, you highlight ways to
improve the user's job, you get a better, more
positive relationships with users.
a. Should be careful in your use of the word 'problem' because it has the --ve meaning.
b.Should question users about additional capability they would like to have.
Planning the Preliminary Investigation
• Six main steps in a preliminary investigation:
i. Understand the problem or opportunity
ii. Define the project scope and constraints
iii. Perform fact-finding
iv. Study usability, cost, benefit, and schedule data
v. Evaluate feasibility
vi. Present reccomendations to management
• The exact procedure depends on the nature of the request,
the size of the project, and the degree of urgency.
•Need to determine which departments, users, and business processes are involved.
•Popular techniques for investigating causes and effects: fishbone diagram or Ishikawa
Understand
problem/ diagram.
opportunity
or opportunity • Determine which departments, users, and business process are involved
Understand the problem
• Graphical model can be used to show the systems, people, and business processes that will be affected.
constraints
Define the project scope and • Defining specific boundaries, or extent, of the project.
• Analyze organization chart, interviews, review documentation, observe operations, conduct survey, analyze data.
Perform fact-finding • To gather data about project usability, costs, benefits, and schedules.
•What information must be obtained? How will you gather and analyze the information?
•How many people will be interviewed?
Study usability, cost, benefit,
and schedule
•Operational feasibility (user needs, requirements, expectations), Technical feasibility (hardware,
software, network resources), Economic feasibility (cost-benefit analysis, cost estimation),
Evaluate feasibility
Schedule feasibility (timing, completion dates, task duration, milestones).
•Introduction of the report, systems request summary (basis of system request), Findings
Presents recommendations (project scope, constraints, feasibility), Case for action (specific recommendation), Project roles
to management
(the people who will participate in the project), Time and cost estimates, Expected benefits
(benefits and time table that shows when they are to occur), Appendix (supporting information)
ATTAWAY AIRLINES
You are the IT Director at Attaway Airlines, a small regional air carrier. You chair
the company’s systems review committee, and you currently are dealing
with strong disagreements about two key projects.
Dan Esposito, the marketing manager, says it is vital to have a new
computerized reservation system that can provide better customer service
and reduce operational costs.
Molly Kinnon, vice president of finance, is equally adamant that a new
accounting system is needed immediately because it will be very expensive
to adjust the current system to new federal reporting requirements.
Molly outranks Dan, and she is your boss. The next meeting, which promises
to be a real showdown, is set for 9 am tomorrow.
How will you prepare for the meeting? What questions and issues should be
discussed?
THE END
