Purpose of this assignment

Understand the importance of systems analysis and design within the software development lifecycle. Demonstrate the use of system analysis tools in order to design a new product.

Task 1

1.1 Evaluate the different systems lifecycle models.

Mention at least four of the following:
1. Waterfall
2. Spiral
3. Incremental and iterative
4. Agile
5. Rapid prototyping

1.2 Discuss the importance of following a procedural/staged lifecycle. How is the process of software development enhanced by having defined set of steps?

Task 2

2.1 Discuss the components of a feasibility report. Mention SWOT and PESTLE analysis.

2.2 Assess the impact of different feasibility criteria on a systems investigation. What evidence will enable a systems analyst to decide that a new project should go ahead?

Task 3

Introduction

SpanishHolidayHomes.com requires a new web site as it doesn't meet the needs of an increasing user base. The web site is targeted towards the UK market and there are offices at holiday centres in the South of Spain and a small UK head office. There is a mixture of spreadsheet and database usage causing data havoc. The web users and staff have complained of a lack of functionality in the system. Response times are slow especially at peak hours. A user spec has been agreed between the system analysts and management.

Scenario

A Salesperson will supervise a meeting with the Owner, and may view any Owner details but not change them. The Salesperson may assign and unassign their contacts. She may view the booking details of all homes.

An Owner may view all his homes and bookings. He may also remove a home from display (as it may be undergoing refurbishment). The Owner may view his Salesperson's details but not change them.

A Customer may view all villas (excluding ones that are 'hidden' by the Owner). A Customer may place a booking but only after registering. After a booking has been placed a secure payment can be made. A print out may be made of a booking confirmation. A booking may also be cancelled.

A Customer will be met by at the local office by a Salesperson when they arrive. If they are late they will be met at their villa. In any event they will both be in email contact.

An Owner or Salesperson may change the category of a holiday home (from 2 bed to 3 bed). Only a Salesperson may add a new category. A Salesperson will agree a new price with an Owner, but only a Salesperson will update the system.

The system is to be installed on the company's existing PC network using Windows 7 Professional. It needs to be easy to use and incorporate a small number of well-defined principles. Each page view must take a maximum of 1 second.

3.1

1 Identify the information gathering methods used by a systems analyst. Discuss how these methods might benefit the company.

2 Construct a questionnaire that can provide a basis for an investigation for a computer system upgrade. Use a different type for each question (e.g. multiple choice). The questions can be targeted towards web users or staff.

3 Carry out a "requirements" analysis based on the above requirements specification from the Scenario. The outcome of which will be the following:
• Functional requirements
• Non-functional requirements
• Any obvious omission
• Platitudes

3.2 Complete a 'Use Case' diagram using your functional requirements

In Visual Paradigm create an entity relationship diagram (ERD). Read questions A-D first. You may copy the text of the following file.

A. From the below specification identify and create the all the entities using the correct names.
B. Show the cardinality or degree of the relationship for all the entities
C. Name each relationship between the entities (you may use a text box).
D. Find two directly related entities and add the following for these two entities:
• State the name of these entities in a text box.
• Create a primary key (key attribute) and one non-key attribute.
• Add a suitable data types
• Make sure you identify both primary keys as unique.
• If you choose to allow null values for an attribute then this choice must make sense.

Specification (SpanishHolidayHomes.com)

An owner owns a least one villa. Each villa belongs to a particular category but a category may contain no properties. A villa may be subject to a number of bookings over a period of time. A customer will place a least one booking and if they are satisfied with the service make additional bookings. Finally, a salesperson is responsible for a number of owners.

3.3 Create documentation to support a systems investigation. Maintain your findings in a report. Diagrams should be explained by means of screen shots.

3.4 Evaluate how user and systems requirements have been addressed. Will the new database design cover all data inputs? Is their further information to store