System Elements Documentation

System Elements - Documentation

Roles in Systems Development - System Analyst

Systems Development Life Cycle - Maintenance

CMGT 555 / Systems Analysis and Development

System Elements - Documentation

Documentation in any situation is important however, documentation in system development is imperative. Most often a very important, and most times overlooked, task is documenting the internal design of software for the purpose of future maintenance and enhancement. A project plan should identify the type and level of documentation personnel must produce during each step or phase of the project. Organizations should maintain detailed documentation for each system in production. Good documentation enhances an organizations ability to understand functionality, security, and control features and may improve its ability to use and maintain the system. Documentation should include detailed descriptions, programming documentation, and operating instructions (FFIEC 1996).

There are two basic types of documentation, system and user documentation. Systems documentation includes information needed for the on-going maintenance and operation of the computer system. Examples of system documentation include items such as, technical diagrams, flow charts, database management structures, and help documents. User documentation should be easy to read and follow. Help documents are normally written in a step by step format and are created for users at all levels to follow.

Documentation is important because it provides information for the staff to learn the new system. It ensures continuity of systems development after the system is delivered for use and the original programmers or developers move on to other projects. User documentation is needed for one to reduce the number of calls that the developer or programming staff would receive. It also can minimize the amount of system training needed. But, the assurance that the documentation is adequate comes after the end user has had an opportunity to use the system and the documentation that was provided and is able to successful find answers to their questions (Reese 2007).

Roles in Systems Development - System Analyst

A System Analyst is responsible for obtaining answers to the question: Who, what, where, when, and how? Who performs the procedures within the system, and are these the correct people and could other people perform these tasks? Then, what is being done and what procedures are being followed and why is that process necessary. Where, relates to the location of the operation, where is it being performed and the possibility of that tasks being performed elsewhere. When is the procedure performed, why is it being performed at that time, and is there a better time? How, is the procedure performed, why is it done that way and can it be performed better, more efficiently or less expensive in some other manner (Shelly 2004)?

One of the main goals of the System analyst is to understand the current system, what is currently being done. Then they can address the questions of what should be done, or how things can be improved. Another goal is understand the project and ensure it will support the requirements. They have to take the time to talk with users to understand their business and responsibilities as well as talk to other analysts to ensure compatibility between systems (Erdman 2007).

A system analyst must figure out how to use a system in order to be able to tell the company, business, or organization which systems or software to buy, and he or she will decide how to get those tools to work together. Once the analysts understand what the system needs to do, he/she will break the task down into small steps. They analyst will draw diagrams and charts to show how information will get into the computers, how that information will be processed, and how it will get to the people who need it. For example, analysts might decide how sales information will get into a store's computers and how the computer will add up the information in a way that makes it useful for store managers.

Analysts experiment with different computer system plans. They try various tools and steps until they find the system that is fastest, easiest, and costs less. Next, analysts decide which computers, software, and tools to buy. They also tell computer programmers how to make any new software that is needed. They give the programmers step-by-step instructions. The main job for some system analysts is getting computers to work together.

Systems Development Life Cycle - Maintenance

The SDLC process as I understand it is an organized way to determine customer needs and user requirements such that technology can be applied through systems development, and help customers and users perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently. The process ends with maintenance