ICT Chapter 1

Definition; initial look at existing system to see how it can be improved or if it is possible to meet the needs of the end user. Analyst needs to identify why the current system is not meeting the needs of the organisation and need to take into account the time, budget, and hardware/software choices.

Investigation and Analysis; investigating the full nature of the business. Methods include questionnaires, interviews, meetings, and observations. These results need to be fully analysed and during the end of this stage is when you take into account user requirements.

Design; this follows the set of objectives (requirements and specification) defined in the investigation stage. Methods of data capture have to be considered. Validation routines, data structure, and the design of queries and reports must be considered also.

Implementation; uses the design specification and is about taking the design into practice. Programmers will develop user interfaces and outputs, as well as any macros. A decision will then be made on whether to take this design forward. The output will be the creation of a software code ready for testing.

Testing; tests the outputs from the implementation stage and sees if there are any errors, and if it meets the user requirements. Generally time consuming and expensive.

Installation; the completed and tested software code. Four main strategies discussed in chapter 10 (pilot, parallel, phased, direct).