Systems Investigation and Analysis

Course contents:

Course benefits

Who should attend

Prerequisites

What you will learn

What you will cover

How you will learn

Duration and availability

Course of the month

Course directory

Public schedule and prices

Terms of business

Course benefits:

How many developments fail because analysis did not reveal the true needs, or the development team solved the wrong problem? How often do users find that the system is not what they expected? Why do projects go wrong? No matter what development approach or technologies an organisation employs, without effective analysis the solution will not be the optimum. To achieve effective but timely analysis requires skilled staff who know how to elicit needs and how to confirm them. Without the necessary skills analysis is either not conducted, or perhaps worse, conducted incorrectly.

Proficient analysis pays for itself in time saved later in the project. Cancelled projects and those that require major modification after implementation cost organisations dearly, not just in the direct and visible costs, but in the lost opportunity for the business and the loss of respect with users. Good analysis identifies problems and potential solutions early in the development life cycle, allowing omissions and errors to be identified and resolved at negligible cost. Getting requirements correct at the outset can save 50 to 200 times the cost of trying to correct for mistakes downstream (Boehm and Papaccio, 1988). This is the sort of saving that every organisation wants to achieve.

Who should attend:

This world-renowned course is a non-technical but intensive and participative introduction to the skills required during analysis. Its simple message - that effective systems result from sound problem and opportunity analysis - is aimed at any staff involved in business analysis, business re-engineering and systems analysis work.

• Business Managers and Staff
• Business Analysts
• Systems Analysts and Designers

Prerequisites:

There are no specific prerequisites for this course. Some experience of business or analysis would be useful but is not essential.

What you will learn:

On successful completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Initiate a business systems analysis project
• Investigate and document requirements
• Employ interactive workshop techniques to compress timescales and agree requirements
• Investigate and document requirements
• Analyse the problems and weaknesses of the current system
• Investigate and document requirements
• Identify business-oriented solutions together with opportunities for IS/IT support
• Investigate and document requirements
• Present clear statements of findings and recommendations, and gain acceptance of proposals for further work

What you will cover:

• Project Initiation - Understanding business objectives and constraints; information requirements; problems and weaknesses in the current system
• Information Gathering - Meetings and interviews; observation; questionnaires; interview technique; checklists and guides; listening, and analysing responses; discovering exceptions; note-taking and summarisation
• Interactive Workshop Planning and Execution - Workshop content, agenda and preparation; workshop dynamics and logistics; gaining consensus; follow up and resolving issues
• Analysis Documentation - Flow diagrams; collating and summarising quantitative data; identifying anomalies; walkthroughs and reviews
• Problem Analysis - Identifying, quantifying and analysing business problems; critical success factors; problem ownership; critical examination and cause effect analysis
• Outline Design - creative thinking; problem solving and potential problem analysis; right brain and left brain thinking; designing in teams; design constraints and validation
• Effective Communication - one way and two way communication; elements of the communication process; explaining and gaining acceptance of proposals; written and verbal communication skills

How you will learn:

This is a course where learning is achieved through practice. A case study runs throughout the week, culminating in a presentation of findings and proposals for change. Role play interviews and simulations allow attendees to practice gathering requirements and confirm their understanding. Instructors provide feedback on achievement but allow teams to find their own solutions.

Duration and availability:

Five days non-residential. In-house only.

 Top