IT-295 System Analysis & Design

Course Description: 

This comprehensive study of the five phases of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and the System Analysis Toolkit shows the importance of communications, economic analysis, and project planning skills with current technologies across all phases of the SDLC. Students gain an in-depth understanding of how Information Systems support business requirements in today's intensely competitive environment. Several real world projects are assigned to students on an individual basis and as a member of a systems development team, which allows students to apply their knowledge and skills to act as a System Analyst and develop an information system for problems that arise in typical business organizations.

Personal Reflection:

Systems Analysis and Design is a comprehensive course covering the processes involved in planning a new business system or replacing an existing one by defining its components to meet explicit requirements. For example, as a consultant, a vehicle repair company asks you to design a system that flawlessly manages accounting, inventory, employee and customer management, and accounting. Before designing the system, you must:

  1. Determine if a new system is required or if improving the existing system is best. Consequently, you must look at all the company information to understand the company structure and culture.
  2. Define the problem, system capabilities, and business benefits to understand the system's needs.
  3. Evaluate the project feasibility and risks, then finally, you can decide whether to begin the system design followed by implementation.

I learned a lot from the final group project that the course entailed. As the group leader, I ensured that all deliverables were on time and quality. We chose a unique project for system analysis and design to challenge our problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Our team's communication was excellent, and all but one member always submitted top-quality, authentic work. I used my leadership skills to reach out to members with difficulties with specific topics, such as creating UML Graphical Models and Use Case diagrams. I helped by explaining those topics in layman's terms.

Our final project titled "Gracious Givers Homeless Charity" involves researching, designing, and implementing a new system for a homeless charity to collect and store information on shelters, donations, and inventory. The implementation of the system is through the use of suitable existing software capable of meeting the system's requirements. Although we selected appropriate cloud software for our system, we also created a frontend website to access the system. Screenshots of our frontend website are available via our project linked here.