BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development A) The process of scheduling appointments of St. Margarets Surgery is feasible to computerize.

. When it comes about the feasibility of computerization of a manual system, there are some certain facts and factors are needed to be considered. Technical Feasibility

By verifying the technical feasibility it is determined that the computerization is technically feasible. The technology of todays world is high and the knowledge about the technology is growing in a gigantic measure. There are many new and useful technologies are introduced. Therefore with the help of these technologies computerizing a manual system is very much useful and practical. Especially when it comes to scheduling appointments it can be made through online by emailing or by making a call rather than a direct visit to the Surgery, by which the risk of confusion and confliction about the time or other facts are reduced and the patient or the guardian of the patient might not be needed to visit the Surgery only to make an appointment. The records and the information about a particular patient will be stored in a database in a sorted form which helps to reduce the wastage of time spends to search that particular information than finding for a file in a huge cupboard or in a room, by a valuable percentage and will make the work faster. It will also not be necessary to duplicate the same information several times since it is feasible to store only in one common centralized database and to retrieve it from the needed terminals. The valuable details or information will be maintained easily and it will be easy to keep backups in a secured manner where the manual papers or books or files may get corrupted by the natural disasters or by insects or by any other physical threats. Economical Feasibility

When it comes to economical feasibility there are two main facts to be considered: 1. Tangible Benefits a. Saving money which means salary savings, hardware savings, maintenance savings, increased revenue, and savings from reduced employee pilfering and etc. b. Saving time c. Reducing the errors by which generally saves money and time. 2. Costs Development (including cost of systems analysis, employee time for study), purchase, construction (cost of developers time, software, employee time for user centered development), installation, training, maintenance, repair, running costs (salaries, hardware, software, licenses, peripherals )

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development However, Computerization for St. Margarets Surgery is economically feasible because the investment of resources will be worthwhile. Other intangible benefits to consider: more professional appearance to customers image employee satisfaction employer satisfaction etc. Legal Feasibility

Computerization is legally feasible because, by computerizing a patients personal information and the details of his illness will be secured and the patient will get escape out of being isolated or ill-treated. Operational Feasibility

Computerizing the process of scheduling appointments will be open to idea by staffs, because it will make their work easier, quicker and reduces mistakes. Management will also support the system because they need to improve the surgery and increase the revenue and the system helps them to do so. An impression of the new system on work practices will be increased because, itll give more professional appearance to customers and anticipated performance and outcomes of the new system compared to the existing manual system will be increased.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development B) (a) List of questions to use in interview 1. Are you able to manage all the patients with only 9 GPs? 2. Will increasing the number of staffs be useful? 3. How do you keep records of the patients? 4. Do you feel easy to maintain records as you said above? 5. How do you conduct the clinic? 6. How does a patient make an appointment? 7. What are the difficulties you face when it comes to clinic? 8. Why do you choose to move to a computer system? 9. What do you expect from by moving to a computer system? 10. What about maintaining a pharmacy in future? 11. Are you ready to spend money for this computer system in case of buying some new computers and terminals? 12. How do you think about the future of this Surgery? How do you want this Surgery to be in future? (b) At the interview 1. Are you able to manage all the patients with only 9 GPs? Yes No 2. Will increasing the number of staffs be useful? Yes No 3. How do you keep records of the patients? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. Do you feel easy to maintain records as you said above? Yes No 5. How do you conduct the clinic? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6. How does a patient make an appointment? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development 7. What are the difficulties you face when it comes to clinic? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8. Why do you choose to move to a computer system? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9. What do you expect from by moving to a computer system? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10. Yes Do your staffs have sound knowledge of using computer and internet? No

11. Are you ready to spend money for this computer system in case of buying some new computers and terminals? Yes No 12. How do you think about the future of this Surgery? How do you want this Surgery to be in future? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development B) (c) Problem Definition At present St. Margarets surgery is supposed to face many difficulties in many areas because of the manual system and mainly because of the high volume of paperwork they are used to. 1. Need to duplicate the same thing over and over again Since the Surgery does not use computers it needs to write or type every thing to document everything. Therefore it may have to write or type something again and again due to different reasons. Example: For a patient who comes to the clinic a GP may have to write the same prescription several times, one for the patient to get the medicine from a pharmacy and another to be kept in the patients file. In some situation the patient might not need to be seen by a GP but might get the prescription. 2. Need to maintain the records of the patients carefully The staffs are responsible for the records of the patients from getting spoiled or corrupted being wrong and also they have to keep the details about the patients in a secured manner. However, When the records are maintained in papers as manually its not easy to keep them secure because they can get spoiled may be because of the natural disasters or insects and there are many opportunities to lose them. 3. Difficult to find a record of a particular patient In a situation of clinic, the patients file needs to be found and it is practically difficult to find one particular patients record out of thousands. At the same time, that particular patient might have been under vaccination or any other treatments and its not practical to remember or to find all those details manually whether the patient has gone through any other treatments. 4. Inconvenience when making an appointment To make an appointment the patient or the guardian of the patient needs to visit the Surgery and needs to wait in queue for long time. This makes the patient to feel inconvenient. Even an appointment is made through phone, the engagement will cause this inconvenient. 5. Wastage of resources Time Because of the duplication of same process, finding a file/ record out of thousands, waiting in queue and other unnecessary activities wastes the valuable time of all Money Money may be spending worthlessly in many ways such as for papers. Other valuable resources There are many other resources which are wasted in vain such as an extra room to keep the files and records of patients.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Terms of References (by the St. Margarets Surgery Partners) Objectives Our vision is to minister with compassion and concern for the sick through giving affordable, quality health care to persons and communities. We intend the need of affordable quality health care for all those in need of such assistance. This we intend doing by setting up a surgery which will model a general practice medical and clinic. Our goal would be to minister to the whole person i.e. physically, mentally and socially. From the time a person enters the reception and as they progress through the various areas in the Surgery and meet the different persons in the organization, the person will be ministered to physically and socially. Through out this process we want to reach out to the other districts with in the country (Sri Lanka). Scope Due to high volume of paper work now we would like to computerize the manual operations of our St. Margarets Surgery such as scheduling appointments, prescribing treatments for the patient and other relevant processes. Resource Available At present we dont use computers, but we are ready to spend money for this project of computerization because we understand that this investment would be a worthwhile. Time We know that this project takes time to become normal but, we need this project within four months and sooner than four months would be preferred.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development C) Technical Feasibility Though the St. Margarets does not use computers, the staffs especially the GPs, nursing staffs and the receptionists have sound knowledge about using the computer and handling the internet, so they will be able to use the computer system proposed. Economic Feasibility The financial side of St. Margarets Surgery is strong and they are willing to spend money for this project as needed for any hardware and software because the Surgery knows that this investment will be a worthwhile. Legal Feasibility St. Margarets Surgery needs a computer system for scheduling appointments and to secure the records of patients and this will be done by the proposed computer system. Operational Feasibility At present the staffs are stressed with the high volume of paperwork and by the proposed system their working hours reduced which means that the receptivity of them to change into a computer system is operationally feasible.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development

----- END OF TASK 1-----

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development

A) Technical Feasibility Though the St. Margarets does not use computers, the staffs especially the GPs, nursing staffs and the receptionists have sound knowledge about using the computer and handling the internet, so they will be able to use the computer system proposed. The computer system will be developed by using VB.Net language because it is a computer language which supports more object oriented concept When it comes to scheduling appointments it can be made through online by emailing or by making a call rather than a direct visit to the Surgery, by which the risk of confusion and confliction about the time or other facts are reduced and the patient or the guardian of the patient might not be needed to visit the Surgery only to make an appointment. The records and the information about a particular patient will be stored in a database in a sorted form which helps to reduce the wastage of time spends to search that particular information than finding for a file in a huge cupboard or in a room, by a valuable percentage and will make the work faster. It will also not be necessary to duplicate the same information several times since it is feasible to store only in one common centralized database and to retrieve it from the needed terminals. The valuable details or information will be maintained easily and it will be easy to keep backups in a secured manner where the manual papers or books or files may get corrupted by the natural disasters or by insects or by any other physical threats. Economic Feasibility Owner/ manager currently spend 5 hours/month producing health & safety reports; proposed system will take 20 minutes. Time savings for owner/manager can be redirected to strategic initiatives for organization. Creating reports is slow, proposed system will be faster. Current billing system averages 7 billing errors per week, out of an average 200 bills/week. Under-billing averages Rs 25,000 per week (Rs1300000/year). Current billing system averages 0.1% errors per week A larger amount and capacity of data can be stored in an electronic format in a server or in external storages (such as optical disks, magnetic tapes etc) in a very small space by which the valuable spaces will be available for the organization to be used for various other purposes. And also the computer system will gives more professional appearance to the patients, so they get confident in the treatment offered by the Surgery and it increases the image of the Surgery among the society. The computer system reduces the risks and stresses of staffs and make will work easier by which the staffs or the employees get satisfied by that the employers get satisfied too. Legal Feasibility Computer system will have different kinds of logins (Username & password) according to the staffs who will be handling the system and it will have its own

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development restrictions by which a patients personal information and the details of his/her will be secured and will prevent the patient from being isolated or ill-treated Operational Feasibility Computerizing the process of scheduling appointments will be open to idea by staffs, because it will make their work easier, quicker and reduces mistakes. Management will also support the system because they need to improve the surgery and increase the revenue and the system helps them to do so. An impression of the new system on work practices will be increased because, itll give more professional appearance to customers and anticipated performance and outcomes of the new system compared to the existing manual system will be increased.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development B) From: S. Varaprasath, System Analyst To: The Partners, St. Margarets Surgery Subject: Feasibility Study Report Introduction: This is a report to disclose to the view that computerizing the manual operations of St. Margarets Surgery is possible in the views of technical, economic, legal and operational Company Background: Staffs in St. Margarets Surgery 9 General Practitioners (GPs) 5 reception staffs A number of nursing staffs A team of distinct nurses Functions of St. Margarets Surgery Visits patients in their homes Runs a number of clinics such as Baby care, Asthma, Diabetes Patients are allocated to one of the GPs, However they may make an appointment to see any of the GPs Reasons for computerization There are many difficulties and problems the Surgery has to face in the existing manual operations and mainly because of the high volume of paperwork the Surgery likes to develop a computer system to cover this part of its operation. Problem Definition Need to duplicate the same thing over and over again Since the Surgery does not use computers it needs to write or type everything to document everything. Therefore it may have to write or type something again and again due to different reasons. Example: For a patient who comes to the clinic a GP may have to write the same prescription several times, one for the patient to get the medicine from a pharmacy and another to be kept in the patients file. In some situation the patient might not need to be seen by a GP but might get the prescription. Need to maintain the records of the patients carefully

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development The staffs are responsible for the records of the patients from getting spoiled or corrupted being wrong and also they have to keep the details about the patients in a secured manner. However, when the records are maintained in papers as manually its not easy to keep them secure because they can get spoiled may be because of the natural disasters or insects and there are many opportunities to lose them. Difficult to find a record of a particular patient In a situation of clinic, the patients file needs to be found and it is practically difficult to find one particular patients record out of thousands. At the same time, that particular patient might have been under vaccination or any other treatments and its not practical to remember or to find all those details manually whether the patient has gone through any other treatments. Inconvenience when making an appointment To make an appointment the patient or the guardian of the patient needs to visit the Surgery and needs to wait in queue for long time. This makes the patient to feel inconvenient. Even an appointment is made through phone, the engagement will cause this inconvenient. Wastage of resources Time Because of the duplication of same process, finding a file/ record out of thousands, waiting in queue and other unnecessary activities wastes the valuable time of all Money Money may be spending worthlessly in many ways such as for papers. Other valuable resources There are many other resources which are wasted in vain such as an extra room to keep the files and records of patients. Feasibility Technical Feasibility Though the St. Margarets does not use computers, the staffs especially the GPs, nursing staffs and the receptionists have sound knowledge about using the computer and handling the internet, so they will be able to use the computer system proposed. The computer system will be developed by using VB.Net language because it is a computer language which supports more object oriented concept When it comes to scheduling appointments it can be made through online by emailing or by making a call rather than a direct visit to the Surgery, by which the risk of confusion and confliction about the time or other facts are reduced and the patient or the guardian of the patient might not be needed to visit the Surgery only to make an appointment. The records and the information about a particular patient will be stored in a database in a sorted form which helps to reduce the wastage of time spends to search that particular information than finding for a file in a huge cupboard or in a room, by a valuable percentage and will make the work faster. It will also not be necessary to duplicate the same information several times since it is feasible to store only in one common centralized database and to retrieve it from the needed terminals.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development The valuable details or information will be maintained easily and it will be easy to keep backups in a secured manner where the manual papers or books or files may get corrupted by the natural disasters or by insects or by any other physical threats. Economic Feasibility Owner/ manager currently spend 5 hours/month producing health & safety reports; proposed system will take 20 minutes. Time savings for owner/manager can be redirected to strategic initiatives for organization. Creating reports is slow, proposed system will be faster. Current billing system averages 7 billing errors per week, out of an average 200 bills/week. Under-billing averages Rs 25,000 per week (Rs1300000/year). Current billing system averages 0.1% errors per week A larger amount and capacity of data can be stored in an electronic format in a server or in external storages (such as optical disks, magnetic tapes etc) in a very small space by which the valuable spaces will be available for the organization to be used for various other purposes. And also the computer system will gives more professional appearance to the patients, so they get confident in the treatment offered by the Surgery and it increases the image of the Surgery among the society. Legal Feasibility Computer system will have different kinds of logins (Username & password) according to the staffs who will be handling the system and it will have its own restrictions by which a patients personal information and the details of his/her will be secured and will prevent the patient from being isolated or ill-treated Operational Feasibility Computerizing the process of scheduling appointments will be open to idea by staffs, because it will make their work easier, quicker and reduces mistakes. Management will also support the system because they need to improve the surgery and increase the revenue and the system helps them to do so. An impression of the new system on work practices will be increased because, itll give more professional appearance to customers and anticipated performance and outcomes of the new system compared to the existing manual system will be increased. Conclusion St. Margarets Surgery needs to computerize their manual operations to reduce the difficulties and problems found in it. Computerizing the manual operations of St. Margarets Surgery is feasible and will be practical and very much useful as it is concerned in the views of technical, economic, legal and operational as it the problems in the current system and the feasibility of a computerized system are analyzed as above.

C) Suitable Computer Systems

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Option 1 Description A Server (Quad Core processor 1.8 GHz - 4.0 GB RAM - 500 GB Hard Drive) 4 Clients (P4 processor, 80GB HDD, 512MB RAM) Windows XP 1 LCD monitor (for Reception) 4 CRT monitors (for GPs 10 000 x 4) MS SQL Server 2005 Total Cost Table 2.1 Option 2 Description A Server (Quad Core processor 1.8 GHz - 4.0 GB RAM - 500 GB Hard Drive) 4 Clients (P4 processor, 120GB HDD, 512MB RAM) Windows XP 5 LCD monitor (for Reception 15 000 x 5) MS SQL Server 2005 Total Cost Table 2.2 Price (Rs.) 100 000.00 40 000.00 15 000.00 75 000.00 16 000.00 246 000.00 Price (Rs.) 100 000.00 40 000.00 15 000.00 15 000.00 40 000.00 16 000.00 226 000.00

Option 3

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Description A Server (Quad Core processor 1.8 GHz - 4.0 GB RAM - 500 GB Hard Drive) 4 Clients (Dual Core processor) Windows XP 5 LCD monitor (for Reception15 000 x 5) MS SQL Server 2005 Total Cost Table 2.3 With any of the options (1, 2, 3) given above the other costs given below also will be included Other Costs Description Switch Network Cable 50ft (2200 x 5) Internet Rental Annual Maintenance Cost Consultation Fee Printer (Dot Matrix) Printer (Inkjet) Total Cost Table 2.4 Price (Rs.) 9 000.00 11 000.00 1 500.00 70 000.00 20 000.00 6 000.00 9 000.00 126 500.00 Price (Rs.) 100 000.00 60 000.00 15 000.00 75 000.00 16 000.00 266 000.00

D) List of Constrains

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Although the problem definition and terms of references are made, it will not be possible to computerize whole system in the times scale available if any of the following unavoidable circumstances raises: Resignation of one or more of our staffs or they get ill The cost or price go beyond the expected level Inability of completing of one or more modules Problems with data standards or data structure or with data entry Any natural disaster Failure of any hardware or software Patient 1

Patient

E) Appointment Level 0 Data Flow Diagram (DFD) for the Proposed System for St. Margarets Surgery Patient 2 Schedule Doctor

2 Patient Payment 3 Payment

Patient Appointment System

3 Doctor Scheduling 2 Schedule

Doctor

Doctor 4 Treatment 4 Treatment

Patient Figure 2.1 Level 1 Data Flow Diagram (DFD) for the Proposed System for St. MargaretsPatient 1 Surgery 5 Doctor Generate Report 2 4 Schedule Treatment

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development

Brief Explanation of the Data Flows Shown In the Level 1 Data Flow Diagram Figure 2.2 Shown Above The patient may inquire for appointment and will be getting the details regarding appointment from the schedule data store processed by appointment process. Then the

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development patients details will be added to the system as requested by the system. The doctor will be getting the patient and appointment details by requesting from the system. To make an appointment, the patient would be requested for the patient and payment details and will have to provide them. To make the schedule of treatments and doctors the doctor will be supposed to provide the necessary details as requested. Actually this is done by the management but for the appointment system proposed for St. Margarets Surgery the management is not needed to be shown. For the treatment process the doctor should give and get the appropriate details of treatments so that the details of treatments are secured and can be used in future treatments. Therefore the patient will also get the treatment details. The doctor will be getting the reports about the patients, treatments done and schedules so that he/she will be able to refine and make sure the treatment should be done.

F) The Proposed System At present St. Margarets Surgery is facing many difficulties and problems with the existing manual system which will be reduced by the proposed computer system as follows:

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development The proposed computer system saves the time takes to repeat or to duplicate the prescription or any other documents, by simply taking several printouts as needed and even it is not needed to get them printed because the proposed system has the online facility so that the needed document can be sent to many as needed. By the proposed system the data and records of the patients are secured and protected and also the keeping backups of them is possible by the system so that even in a case of misplace or lose of data it will be very effective to recover them back. A server will be maintained with a database management system in the proposed system and the data or the necessary details (it may be for a GP or for the reception) can be retrieved easily without any delay from the database by any of the clients as needed so it makes the process to move faster. When it comes to scheduling appointments it can be made through online by emailing or by making a call rather than a direct visit to the Surgery, by which the risk of confusion and confliction about the time or other facts are reduced and the patient or the guardian of the patient might not be needed to visit the Surgery only to make an appointment. The computer can process faster than human, so the process will be done quickly and will reduce the time spent unnecessarily. Ex: Owner/manager currently spends 5 hours/month producing health & safety reports; proposed system will take 20 minutes. Time savings for owner/manager can be re-directed to strategic initiatives for organization. NOTE: Creating reports is slow, proposed system will be faster. A larger amount and capacity of data can be stored in an electronic format in a server or in external storages (such as optical disks, magnetic tapes etc) in a very small space by which the valuable spaces will be available for the organization to be used for various other purposes. And also the computer system though it initially needs more financial support, it actually saves the money in a long time basis rather than the unnecessary expenditures made by the existing system. The proposed system also reduces the errors made by the human and it will be more accurate and adequate. Ex: Current billing system averages 7 billing errors per week, out of an average 200 bills/week. Under-billing averages Rs. 25,000 per week (Rs1300000/year). NOTE: Current billing system averages 0.1% errors per week

----- END OF TASK 2----List of Entities for the Proposed System for St. Margarets Surgery Doctor Patient Nurse Appointment

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Payment Clinic Treatment

Entity-Relationship (ER) Diagram for the Proposed System for St. Margarets Surgery Appointment Is attend has make Doctor prescribe is prescribed does help Clinic

see

is prescribed

Treatment

Payment

Patient

does

does

visit

Nurse

Figure 3.1 To be seen by a doctor, a patient may make an appointment as well as a doctor may have an appointment or not. A particular appointment may be for a clinic or just to be seen by a doctor. In an appointment the doctor may prescribe more than one treatment. A patient can be prescribed one or more treatments at an appointment. A patient may or may not be visited by nurses and a nurse may or may not visit patients. A nurse may help in a clinic or not. However, a clinic is helped by nurses. A nurse does minor procedures in treatments and a treatment may done by nurse. A patient can do payments but a particular payment is done only by one patient. In a clinic many treatments can be prescribed. ----- END OF TASK 3----SSADM The Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM) has been developed and mainly used by government departments. This is why it is mainly designed for large-scale Information Systems with high volume business events. SSADM specifies exactly the flows and tasks of a development project and produces a

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development detailed documentation of the project. SSADM sticks to the traditional waterfall model, which allows review of each stage but requires its accomplishment before the next one can begin. SSADM focuses on the Analysis and Design stages of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). SSADM combines three methods, complementing each other within a systems development cycle: Logical Data Modeling Data Flow Modeling Entity Event Modeling. The Three Views of SSADM Data Processing Events (Time) Its main benefits are: Improvement of quality Detailed documentation of the development stages Reusability for similar projects that follow. Timelines Theoretically, SSADM allows one to plan, manage and control a project well. These points are essential to deliver the product on time. Effective use of skills SSADM does not require very special skills and can easily be taught to the staff. Normally, common modeling and diagramming tools are used. Commercial CASE tools are also offered in order to be able to set up SSADM easily. Improvement of productivity By encouraging on-time delivery, meeting business requirements, ensuring better quality, using human resources effectively as well as trying to avoid bureaucracy, SSADM improves the overall productivity of the specific project and the company. Cuts costs SSADM separates the logical and the physical system design. So the system does not have to be implemented again with new hard -or software.7 Disadvantages of SSADM SSADM puts special emphasis on the analysis of the system and its documentation. This causes the danger of over-analysing, which can be very time and cost consuming. Due to various types of description methods, checks of consistence cannot be carried out. Especially with large systems, the outline diagram can become very unclear, because all relevant data flows have to be included. SSADM within the traditional SDLC As the name reveals, SSADM puts emphasis on the analysis and design stages of the SDLC. Version 4 of SSADM consists of 3 phases split into 6 or 8 stages, which do not

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development represent all of the SDLC stages, but fulfill the same tasks. The number of stages differs, because the feasibility stage is not imperative. Using SSADM, each stage is reviewed and has to be completed before commencing the next one. This is probably the most important reason, why SSADM is, on the one hand very time-consuming, but on the other hand, widely regarded as an improvement to the quality of a system. The Possition of SSADM in SDLC

M A N A G E M E N T Full Study C O N T R O L Implementation Development Physical Design (PD) Construct and Test Requirement analysis (RA) Requirement Specification (RS) Logical System Specification (LSS) SDLC SSADM Feasibility Study (FS) Strategic Planning

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development

Feasibility Study Module 1 the feasibility study consists of a single stage (Stage 0 Feasibility), which involves conducting a high level analysis of a business area to determine whether a system can cost effectively support the business requirements. Following are the main feasibility checks during this module: Technical Feasibility Economic Feasibility Legal Feasibility Operational Feasibility Cultural Feasibility Schedule Feasibility Requirements Analysis Module 2 requirements analysis consists of 2 stages; Stage 1 Investigation of Current Environment and Stage 2 Business System Options (BSO). During stage 1 the Figure 4.1 systems requirements are identified and the current business environment is modeled in terms of the processes carried out and the data structures involved. During stage 1 Dads and a Logical Data Structure (LDS) are used to produce detailed logical models of the current Requirements Specification Module 3 Requirements Specification consists of a single stage (Stage 3 Definition of Requirements) which involves further developing the work carried out in module 2, detailed functional and non-functional requirements are identified and new techniques are introduced to define the required processing and data structures. In stage 3 the Dads and LDS are refined and cross validated in the light of the chosen business system option. The LDS is enhanced using relational data analysis (normalization). The Dads and LDS are validated against the Entity Life History (ELHs) also produced during this stage. Data Flow Diagram (DFDs), LDS and ELHs are used as input to the subsequent stages of SSADM. Logical System Specification Module 4 Logical System Specification consists of 2 stages; Stage 4 Technical System Options and Stage 5 Logical Design. In stage 4 up to 6 technical options (specifying the development and implementation environments) are produced, one

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development being selected. In stage 5 the logical design of update and enquiry processing and system dialogues (menus etc.) are carried out. Physical Design Module 5 Physical Design consists of a single stage in which the logical system specification and technical system specification are used to create a physical database design and a set of program specifications.

Traditional Life Cycle

User Requirements Requirement Analysis Negotiated Statement of Requirement Document Specification

System Specification Verification & Validation Design Document Implementation Design

Programs Maintenance

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Figure 4.2

User Requirement This is the stage in which we identify whether the user has requirements and what are they. According to the Case Study of St. Margarets Surgery we get to know that they have a main requirement of reducing the high volume of paper work involved in scheduling appointments. Requirement Analysis In this stage the system requirements and user requirements are identified where analyst will go through functional requirements and non-functional requirements. Requirements are categorized as follows: Functional Requirements Functional requirements are associated with specific functions, tasks or behaviors the system must support. The functional requirements address the quality characteristic of functionality. Followings are functional requirements in relation to the St. Margarets Surgery Implementing and Maintaining Records Retention Schedules Systems managing electronic records shall allow for the rescheduling of records already in the system by custodians of information resources. Identifying and Filing Records Systems managing electronic records shall provide users with the capability to select and assign a record series item number and/or an agency item number to a record. Storing Records Systems managing electronic records shall provide or interface to a repository for storing electronic records and prevent unauthorized access to the repository. Scheduling Records Systems managing electronic records shall provide the capability to automatically track the retention period of records. Selecting Records Systems managing electronic records shall provide for viewing, saving, and printing list(s) of records regardless of media within record series based on retention code; retention time, record series item number; and/or agency item number to identify records due for disposition processing. The information contained in the list(s) shall be user definable record profile attributes. Transferring Records Systems managing electronic records shall, using the retention period for the record category, identify and present those records eligible for transfer. Transfer actions include: a) Transfer of records to agency storage facilities or to the State Records Center b) Transfer of records from one agency to another Destroying Records Systems managing electronic records shall, using the retention period for the record, identify and present records that are eligible for destruction.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Non-Functional Requirements Non-functional requirements are constraints on various attributes of these functions or tasks. The other quality characteristics are concerned with various kinds of nonfunctional requirements. . It can be helpful to think of non-functional requirements as adverbially related to tasks or functional requirements: how fast, how efficiently, how safely, etc., is a particular task carried out by a particular system? Followings are to be concerned in the system for St. Margarets Surgery Run - time Qualities. Informally we can think of functional requirements capturing what the system must do, and the run-time qualities as describing how well these functional requirements are satisfiedwhere how well is judged by some externally observable/measurable property of the system behavior, not its internal implementation. In other words, how well may be judged by the user in terms of some characteristic that the user values or is concerned about. Run-time qualities include: a) Usability (ease-of-use, learn ability, memo ability, efficiency, etc.) b) Configurability and supportability c) Correctness, reliability, availability d) Quality of service requirements such as performance (throughput, response time, transit delay, latency, etc.) e) Safety properties (so-called because they prevent bad things from happening), such as security and fault tolerance f) Operational scalability including support for additional users or sites, or higher transaction volumes Development-time Qualities In addition to developing systems that satisfy their users, the development organization has a vested interest in the properties of the artifacts (architecture, design, code, etc.) of the development process. Qualities of these artifacts influence the effort and cost associated with current development as well as support for future changes or uses (maintenance, enhancement or reuse). Examples of development-time quality requirements are: g) Localizabilityability to make adaptations due to regional differences h) Modifiability or extensibilityability to add (unspecified) future functionality i) Resolvabilitysupport for new capabilities or ability to exploit new technologies j) Compos abilityability to compose systems from plug-and-play components k) Reusabilityability to (re)use in future systems Specification In this stage it explains what the system is to do and the problem solution is formulated or designed. At this stage there is a heavy negotiation between the customer and the system analyst. Several different Business System Options (BSOs) are proposed by the analyst including functions, data and events to be presented in the new system. For St. Margarets Surgery the BSO is as follows: NO. Requirements Rs. 35 000 Rs. 50 000 Rs. 60 000

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Register Patient Inquiry Handling Online system Appointment Cancellation Option Days in advance to add appointment slots Days in advance to display appointment Minimum number of hours away to be offered an appointment - Delay time X X X X X

Table 4.1 Design In this stage the designing activities take place. based on system specification. A system is designed using program design language (PDL) to provide a solution for a particular user problem. This is also called as coding and the output of this stage will be Design Document Implementation This is the stage where the end product(Software) is introduced to the customer at customers site At this stage the system is introduced to the user and output is program and documentation. Maintenance This is the stage it helps to support to keep the program in a proper order. When system gives bugs (i.e. Errors and Problems) still the system should work correctly in continuous manner. When you fix the bugs it has to be updated in the documentation. Verification and Validation Verification and Validation provides quality assurance activities. Therefore it is done right through a software life cycle. The standard definition of Verification goes like this: "Are we building the product RIGHT?" i.e. Verification is a process that makes it sure that the software product is developed the right way. The software should confirm to its predefined specifications, as the product development goes through different stages, an analysis is done to ensure that all required specifications are met. Validation is a process of finding out if the product being built is right? i.e. whatever the software product is being developed, it should do what the user expects it to do. The software product should functionally do what it is supposed to, it should satisfy all the functional requirements set by the user. Validation is done during or at the end of the development process in order to determine whether the product satisfies specified requirements.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development

Definition of Prototype An easily modified and extensible model (representation, simulation or demonstration) of a planned software system, likely including its interface and input/output functionality The Prototyping Process Perform customer needs analysis in a JAD session but leave requirements incomplete. Build a low-fidelity prototype to clarify initial requirements. Iterate (re-specify, re-design, re-evaluate) until the team, both users and developers, agree that the fidelity and completeness of the evolving prototype are sufficiently high. Freeze these specifications. Finish building the product exactly as prototyped. NOTE: The prototyping process experiences a series of birthdays while traditional software development experiences a series of deadlines. The Throw-Away Prototyping The throw-away Prototyping is most appropriate in the project acquisition phase where the prototype is used to demonstrate the feasibility of a new concept and to convince a potential sponsor to fund a proposed development project. In such a context, available resources are limited and the ability to communicate the advantages of a new Prototyping through a very low cost demonstration can be critical for creating a new project. The most apparent disadvantage of a throw-away prototype is spending implementation effort on code that will not contribute directly to the final product. There is also the temptation to skip or abbreviate documentation for throw-away code. This temptation is harmful because the lessons learned from the prototyping effort may be lost if they are not recorded Outline User Outline User Outline User Requirement Requirement Requirement

Outline User Requirement Page 28 Outline User Requirement Outline User Requirement Figure 4.1. Throwaway Prototype Outline User Requirement

BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development

Evolutionary prototyping model This type is designed to be the forerunner for the final project. In other words, the initial prototype will eventually become the final product after a pre determined state of functionality has been achieved. This is not a feasible option, however, when making a car. It is only useful in software development. Evolutionary prototyping model is a software development lifecycle model in which software prototype created for demonstration and requirements elaboration. Evolutionary prototyping model includes the four main phases: Definition the basic requirements Creating the working prototype Verification of the working prototype Changing or elaboration the requirements Advantages The model can be used when the requirements cannot or will not be specified. The user can experiment with the system to improve the requirements. Disadvantages Use of the method is exploratory in nature and therefore constitutes a high-risk endeavor. Strong management is required. This method is used as an excuse for hacking to avoid documenting the requirements or design, even if they are well understood.

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Requirements Gathering

Quick Design

Build Prototype Evaluate and Refine Requirements

Engineer Product Figure 4.2. Evolutionary Prototype

Exploratory This is basically producing an initial basic model to show customer to get their comments and feedbacks. Then we refine the model until it reaches to the acceptable system. There can be similar type of prototype models previously designed which help developers to avoid redesigning a prototype. The system use a iterative process to refine the initial model and the success of the model totally depend on how fast the developers can do refining and iteration to get the final system. Prototype Model Refine Model

Use the Refined Model

Check to see if the Model meets the User Requirements

Prototype Model Figure 4.3. Exploratary Prototype Page 30

BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development SDLC vs. Prototyping Circumstances favoring SDLC There is significant experience with the type of system to be built Important system features can be easily identified Data requirements can be identified in advance Management requires a comprehensive "picture" of the new system before giving approval The development staff is not experienced with 4GL's or prototyping SDLC vs. Prototyping Circumstances favoring Prototyping Users do not have a feel for the information or systems capabilities required Rapidly changing user needs Little experience in delivering the type of system requested High risk of delivering the wrong system High level of user involvement is required for success Numerous alternative design strategies must be tested System must be developed quickly and/or at the lowest possible cost Comparing Prototyping with Life Cycles Though the prototype is not the real system, producing the prototype has several stages as the other Life Cycles have. A brief comparison between the steps involved in producing a prototype and other Life Cycles is shown below with the example:

Figure 4.4. Diagram to show the comparison between SDLC and Prototyping

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BTEC Higher National Diploma in Software Development Evolutionary Prototype and Rapid Development The stages in producing a Evolutionary prototype is some what similar to the stages in Rapid Development. Requirements Analysis and Specification Design

Coding Unit Testing

Integration Test Prototyping System and acceptance Test Figure first stage is considered In Rapid Development the 4.5. Rapid Development as the stage of Requirement Analysis and Specification while in Evolutionary Prototype the first stage is Requirements Gathering. Basically both these stages are same because these are the stages where the requirements for system are identified and specified. Then in Rapid development it is the design stage in which the specified requirements are designed while Evolutionary Prototype follows the same process of designing the requirements gathered. However in Evolutionary Prototype the design is done quickly. Thereafter in Rapid Development the developers code the design made in the previous stage and integrate each module and test them whether it is according to the design made in Design stage. Like wise while building the prototype the developers check it with the previous stages. Finally in Rapid Development before they test the system they use prototyping to make sure that the system meets the user requirements. In Evolutionary prototype after building the prototype they evaluate and refine the requirements with the requirements gathered in the first stage then they engineer the product and they evaluate and refine requirements until the product become acceptable.

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