INFT2150-CS - cheat sheet PDF

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SDLC – Identifying problems ,opportunities & objectives . Determining human information requirements . Analysis system needs . Designing recommended system . Developing and documenting software . testing maintaining the system . implementing and evaluating the system. || The SDLC is a phased approach to analysis and design which holds that systems are best developed through the use of a specific cycle of analyst and user activities. AGILE Approach – it is a software development approach based on values, principles and core practices. Agile methods can ensure successful completion of a project by adjusting the important resource of time, cost quality and scope . Core agile particles include e.g. 40-hour work week, hosting an onsite customer, pair programming, etc. . Projects are characterised as interactive and incremental. Object Oriented System Analysis & Design - Complicated IT systems which are undergoing continuous maintenance, adaptation, and redesign. o Uses UML to break down a system into a use case model Object = a computer representation of some actual thing or event (e.g., items, customers, orders, etc.) . Objects are represented by and grouped into classes that are optimal for reuse and maintainability. A rich picture is a pictorial technique offering a free ‐format approach that allows analysts to document whatever is of interest or significance in the business situation. It originated from the soft systems methodology. Mind maps are a useful tool for summarising a lot of information in a simple visual form that highlights connections between different ideas and topics. Project Initiation – there are 2 main reasons (i) problems in the organisation (ii) Opportunities for improvement. Problem Definition – Problem Statement, Issues, Objectives, Requirements, Business analysis is the set of tasks and techniques used to work as a liaison among stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organisation, and to recommend solutions that enable the organisation to achieve its goals. A system is a collection of interrelated elements that interact to achieve an objective. System elements can include hardware, software, and people. One system can be a sub-element (or subsystem) of another. An IT System is a set of automated components hosted on one or more computers that work together in order to provide services to the system users. A Business System is a set of business components working together in order to achieve a defined purpose. The components of a business system include people, IT systems, processes and equipment. Each component may be a system in its own right. Potential Range of Business Analysis – Strategic Analysis and Definition . Business Analysis. IT System Analysis 4 Views of a Business System - Processes: Are they well defined and communicated? Is there good IT support, or are several ‘workarounds’ in existence? Does the process require documents to be passed around the organisation unnecessarily? People: Do they have the required skills for the job? How motivated are they? Do they understand the business objectives that they need to support? Organisational context: Is there a supportive management approach? Are jobs and responsibilities well defined? Is there effective cross-functional working? Technology: Do the systems support the business as required? Do they provide the information needed to run the organisation? Business Analysis Maturity Model (1) IT System improvement (ii) Process Improvement. (iii) Business Improvement. Organisations as Systems - Organisations and their members are usefully conceptualised as (business) systems designed to accomplish predetermined goals. (Inputs) all systems process inputs from their environments  organisations must be able to import people, raw materials, and information through their boundaries. (Outputs) outputs serve as feedback that compares performance with goals  organisations must be able to exchange their finished products, services, or information with the outside world Levels of Management – Strategic Management(Executive Information Systems), Managerial Planning and Control (Decision Support Systems), Operational Control(Transaction Processing System). Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, which achieves advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a changing environment and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. 3 levels of strategies – Corporate, Business Unit, Operational PESTEL Factors – Political Influences, Economical Influences, Sociocultural Influences, Technological Issues, Legal Issues, Environmental Issues. How to conduct PESTLE analysis – (i) Understand the segment of the environment being analysed (ii) Understand inter-relationships between trends (iii) Relate Trends to issues (iv) Forecast the future direction of issues (v) Derive implications Five Forces Industry Analysis – (i) Threat of new entrants (ii) Bargaining Powers of Suppliers (iii) Bargaining Power of buyers (iv) Threat of substitute product or services (v) Degree of rivalry among existing competitors How to conduct Five Factor Industry Analysis (i) Collect Information (ii) Assess and evaluate (iii) Develop a strategy SWOT(Situation) Analysis Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats How to conduct SWOT Analysis  Quadrant 1: Strengths/Opportunities (SO)  How does the company use the strengths to take advantage of the opportunities?  Quadrant 2: Weaknesses/Opportunities (WO)  How does the company overcome the weaknesses that prevent it from taking advantages of its opportunities?  Quadrant 3: Strengths/Threats (ST)  How does the company use its strengths to reduce the likelihood and impact of the threats?  Quadrant 4: Weaknesses/Threats (WT)  How does the company address the weaknesses that prevent it from avoiding or overcoming the threats? SWOT Analyse & Rank Factors(I – Strengths) – (Make table with checkbox) o Valuable. VRIO Criteria - (V) means that the customers desire the item and will pay for it o Rare (R) is a resource or capability that other competitors do not possess o Inimitable (I) is a resource or capability that most or all other companies cannot acquire without putting themselves at a major cost disadvantage o Organisationally feasible (O) represents a valuable, rare, inimitable resource or capability that fits the organisation’s purposes and can be used to help achieve its strategy Priority (P) – in 1,2,3, form SWOT Analyse & Rank Factors(2 – Weakness) Rare(R). It needs to be rare. Not all competitors have this weakness. o Inconvertible(I). Changing it from a weakness into a strength would require more resources than it is worth, i.e., this weakness is economically inconvertible. o Costs(C). The costs associated with this weakness cannot be passed on or allocated to another stakeholder Priority(P) SWOT Manage Opportunity & Threats(3) Importance Imminence Matrix (IIM) Importance 1. (High)- Address When Possible & Critical 2. (Low) Monitor For Changes & Address When Possible. Implementing Strategy Time, Scope, Capability, Readiness, Strategic Leadership A stakeholder is a group or person with interests that may be affected by the business analysis project or that have influence over it. Stakeholder Categories/E.G. – Customers, Partners, Suppliers, Owners, Employees, Competitors & Regulators, Managers Analyse Stakeholders Attitudes, Influence, Authority Levels. No Power/No influence – For practical purposes these stakeholders can be ignored as regards day-today issues on a project, and no special effort is required to persuade them of its benefits. It is probably wise to inform them occasionally (e.g., through newsletters) about what is going on, as stakeholders can change positions on the map! Some or High Interest, No Power/Influence This group may be frustrated because they feel powerless to shape the project’s direction in any way even though they are directly affected by its results. Keep these stakeholders informed of what is going on and of the reasons for the proposed change. Frequent and focused communication of progress. No, Some or High Interest, Some Power/Influence This includes, for instance, middle and senior managers who are not directly affected, and regulators. Keep these stakeholders supportive of the project by frequent, positive communication with them and also by involving them more in the project. Their perspective on how they are affected by the project and also their power/influence can change, so better involve them early in the project. No Interest, High Power/Influence For instance, very senior managers who have no direct interest in the project (e.g., because it is too small or unimportant or because it is in an area that does not interest them). Carefully watch whether the project might become of greater interest to them. Consider and highlight any aspects of the project that will have a direct or indirect impact upon the stakeholder‘s business (or private) area. Some Interest, High Power/Influence For instance, stakeholders who have an indirect interest caused by the fact that the project is happening within, or affecting, their part of the organisation. In most cases, keep these stakeholders satisfied so that they do not feel the need to take a greater interest in the project. Sometimes it can be necessary to get the stakeholder more actively involved in the project (e.g., when this involvement might be a powerful force for success) High Interest, High Power/Influence Key players – the people who are interested in the project and also have the power to make it work or shut it down (e.g., directly affected managers). They need to be kept informed and actively managed at all stages of the project so that none of the recommendations comes as a shock to them. 5 Steps in Interview Preparation 1. Reading background material 2. Establishing interviewing objects 3. Deciding whom to interview 4. Preparing the interviewee 5. Deciding on question types, structure and location Interview Structures -Pyramid (Starting with closed and working towards open ended questions). Funnel (Starting with open and working towards closed ended questions) Diamond(Staring with closed moving towards open and ending with closed ended questions) Preparing Workshop objectives of the workshop, people to be invite, participant’s interests, structure and techniques, suitable venue. Discovery Techniques Brainstorming, Round Robin Discussion, Brainwriting, Stepwise Refinement, Break -out Groups. JAD (Joint Application Design) Workshops Observation – Formal Observation, Protocol Analysis, Shadowing, Ethnographic Studies. STROBE method for Structured Observation of the Environment Types of Prototype – Patched up Prototype, Non-operational Prototype, First of a series prototype, Selected features prototype. Mockups show what the output and input will look like before programming the underlying code to make the program or application functional helps to plan, overall, navigational & interface design Features of critical thinking critical thinking I reflective, critical thinking involves standards, critical thinking is authentic, CT involves being reasonable. 3 Parts of critical thinking Asking the questions, reasoning it out, believing the results. Impediments to Critical Thinking News, Movies, Magazines. . all – or – nothing thinking, certain fears, egocentrism, developmental patterns, commitments & experiences Cognitive biases in business analysis escalating commitment, groupthink, illusion of control, the prior hypothesis bias, simplification representativeness, tool rut, convenience shopping. SEE-I approach – (S) State (E) Elaborate (E) exemplify (I) Illustrate 8+ Elements Response Question at Issue, Assumptions, Implications & Consequences, Information, Concepts, Conclusions,, Interpretations, Alternatives, Context, Standards of Critical thinking Clearness, Accuracy, importance, relevance, sufficiency, depth& breadth, precision, critical & non-critical Character Traits Critical Thinking – have confidence in reason, have intellectua humility, are intellectually courageous, intellectually empathetic, have intellectual integrity, are fair minded, are intellectually engaged, have intellectual perseverance. Six Thinking Hats is a technique that aims at providing a simple way of facilitating critical thinking for groups through parallel thinking. Process maps show sets of related processes in a single diagram. Each process set is shown as a box, and the arrows between them show their interdependencies. A business process refers to an entire set of activities and is triggered by a business event. Business Process Model & Notation (BPMN) 1) Tasks / activities 2) Process flow 3) Decision points 4) Actors / roles (that carry out the tasks/activities) 5) Outcome of the business process . Identifying Problems : Piecemeal Modifications Over time, processes usually undergo a number of (often undocumented) piecemeal modifications in order to react to changing business needs. (Paul et al., 2014, Ch. 7) Common Problems: • Duplication of work (tasks may be carried out even though they duplicate other actors’ tasks or record the same information) • Lack of standardisation (all of the different parts of the business are expected to operate in an integrated fashion) • Inconsistent measurement or control (where business processes have developed over time, measurement might be inconsistent or non-existent) Approaches for improving the Business Process Simplify the process, remove bottlenecks, change sequence of tasks, redesign the process, redefine boundaries, understand people Process Measurement Designing business processes also involves defining process measures and how well a process has to be carried out. Two perspectives need to be considered: • Internal measures – Usually derived from organisational objectives, critical success factors and key performance indicators. – Often focused on what the organisation wants to achieve and not on what the customer values • External measures – Concerned with what the customer or a customer group expects to be delivered from the organisation. Major Areas, - Time, Financial, Quality Requirements management involves planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling any or all of the work associated with requirements elicitation and collaboration, requirements analysis and design, and requirements life cycle management. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is a systematic approach for analysing, tackling and providing solutions for (messy) real-world problems The 4-Activities Model replaces the original 7-Stage Approach and builds on the following four activities:  Activity 1: Finding out about a problem situation  Activity 2: Formulating some relevant purposeful activity models  Activity 3: Debating the situation, using the models, seeking from that debate both: a) Changes which would improve the situation and are regarded as both desirable and (culturally) feasible b) The accommodations between conflicting interests which will enable action-to-improve to be taken.  Activity 4: Taking action in the situation to bring about improvement 3 E’s Efficacy, Efficiency, Effectiveness...