A systems analyst researches problems, plans solutions, recommends software and systems, at least at the functional level, and coordinates development to meet business or other requirements. Although they may be familiar with a variety of programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms, they do not normally involve themselves in the actual hardware or software development. Because they often write user requests into technical specifications, the systems analysts are the liaisons between vendors and information technologyprofessionals. They may be responsible for developing cost analysis, design considerations, staff impact amelioration, and implementation time-lines.
A systems analyst may:
- Identify, understand and plan for organizational and human impacts of planned systems, and ensure that new technical requirements are properly integrated with existing processes and skill sets.
- Plan a system flow from the ground up.
- Interact with internal users and customers to learn and document requirements that are then used to produce business requirements documents.
- Write technical requirements from a critical phase.
- Interact with designers to understand software limitations.
- Help programmers during system development, ex: provide use cases, flowcharts or even database design.
- Perform system testing.
- Deploy the completed system.
- Document requirements or contribute to user manuals.
- Whenever a development process is conducted, the system analyst is responsible for designing components and providing that information to the developer.
The system development life cycle (SDLC) is the traditional system development method that organizations use for large-scale IT Projects. The SDLC is a structured framework that consists of sequential processes by which information system are developed.
- System Investigation
- System Analysis
- System Design
- Programming and Testing
- Implementation
- Operation and Maintenance
System analysts are IT Professionals who specialize in analyzing and designing information systems.
Once a development project has the necessary approvals from all participants, the systems analysis stage begins. System analysis is the examination of the business problem that organizations plan to solve with an information system. The main purpose of the systems analysis stage is to gather information about the existing system in order to determine the requirements for an enhanced system or a new system. The end product of this stage, known as the deliverable, is a set of system requirements.
Perhaps the most difficult task in system analysis is identfying the specific requirements that the system must satisfy. These requirements often are called user requirements because users provide them. When the system developers have accumulated the user requirements for the new system, they proceed to the system design stage.
The American humor publication The Onion consistently features a systems analyst on its (fake) panel of "American Voices," a spoof of man-on-the-street journalism. The systems analyst's take on the issue at hand is typically given next to two other individuals with absurd professions (such as "spelunking instructor").
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