3. The system analyst

The system analyst's role is to liaise with the end user and to gather a complete understanding of:

• The system they want delivered
• What they want the system to be able to do
• What their current problems are with the current system
• The current processes that they use

The systems analysis will initially conduct a feasibility study to find out whether the system can be developed:

• With the skills of the team available
• Within budget
• Within timescales

They will also determine whether the project will bring a significant benefit to the business in terms of increased productivity, cost savings or efficiency.

This data will be fed back to the project manager and senior management and a decision will be made whether to go ahead with the project or not

Once the project is given the ‘go ahead’, the analyst will conduct a thorough investigation into the current system to find out the exact problems with it and also how the users use it for their day to day work.

They will use various methods to do this:

• interviews
• questionnaires
• observations
• paper trails

The systems analyst will then go back to the project manager, designers and programmers to find out what is feasible and how long it will take to deliver.

Finally, the systems analyst will write the Requirements Specification