systems analysis this article is about the interdisciplinary field for the analysis of systems in electrical engineering see system analysis the merriamwebster dictionary defines system analysis as the process of studying a procedure or business in order to identify its goals and purposes and create systems and procedures that will achieve them in an efficient way another view sees system analysis as a problemsolving technique that breaks down a system into its component pieces for the purpose of the studying how well those component parts work and interact to accomplish their purpose the field of system analysis relates closely to requirements analysis or to operations research it is also an explicit formal inquiry carried out to help a decision maker identify a better course of action and make a better decision than she might otherwise have made the terms analysis and synthesis stem from greek meaning to take apart and to put together respectively these terms are used in many scientific disciplines from mathematics and logic to economics and psychology to denote similar investigative procedures analysis is defined as the procedure by which we break down an intellectual or substantial whole into parts while synthesis means the procedure by which we combine separate elements or components in order to form a coherent whole system analysis researchers apply methodology to the systems involved forming an overall picture system analysis is used in every field where something is developed analysis can also be a series of components that perform organic functions together such as system engineering system engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed information technology the development of a computerbased information system includes a system analysis phase this helps produce the data model a precursor to creating or enhancing a database there are a number of different approaches to system analysis when a computerbased information system is developed system analysis according to the waterfall model would constitute the following steps the development of a feasibility study determining whether a project is economically socially technologically and organizationally feasible factfinding measures designed to ascertain the requirements of the systems endusers typically involving interviews questionnaires or visual observations of work on the existing system gauging how the endusers would operate the system in terms of general experience in using computer hardware or software what the system would be used for and so on another view outlines a phased approach to the process this approach breaks system analysis into 5 phases scope definition clearly defined objectives and requirements necessary to meet a projects requirements as defined by its stakeholders problem analysis the process of understanding problems and needs and arriving at solutions that meet them requirements analysis determining the conditions that need to be met logical design looking at the logical relationship among the objects decision analysis making a final decision use cases are widely used system analysis modeling tools for identifying and expressing the functional requirements of a system each use case is a business scenario or event for which the system must provide a defined response use cases evolved from objectoriented analysis policy analysis the discipline of what is today known as policy analysis originated from the application of system analysis when it was first instituted by united states secretary of defense robert mcnamara practitioners practitioners of system analysis are often called up to dissect systems that have grown haphazardly to determine the current components of the system this was shown during the year 2000 reengineering effort as business and manufacturing processes were examined as part of the y2k automation upgrades employment utilizing system analysis include system analyst business analyst manufacturing engineer system architect enterprise architect software architect etc while practitioners of system analysis can be called upon to create new systems they often modify expand or document existing systems processes procedures and methods researchers and practitioners rely on system analysis activity system analysis has been already applied to various research and practice studies including business management educational reform educational technology etc related topics system thinking system architecture software architecture enterprise architecture systems analyst systems design policy analysis program designer cybernetics systems theory types of system analysis accident analysis business analysis costeffectiveness analysis costbenefit analysis dsrp failure analysis logicolinguistic modeling morphological analysis soft systems methodology software prototyping spiral model waterfall model system thinkers donella meadows nancy leveson russell l ackoff howard t odum henry paynter jay forrester gregory bateson stewart brand buckminster fuller robert s mcnamara stafford beer ludwig von bertalanffy selected publications bentley lonnie d kevin c dittman and jeffrey l whitten system analysis and design methods 1986 1997 2004 hawryszkiewycz igor t introduction to system analysis and design prentice hall ptr 1994 whitten jeffery l lonnie d bentley and kevin c dittman fundamentals of system analysis and design methods 2004 wikimedia commons has media related to systems analysis look up systems analysis in wiktionary the free dictionary a useful set of guides and a case study about the practical application of business and system analysis methods a comprehensive description of the discipline of system analysis from simmons college boston ma usa archive of original from wwwsimmonsedu system analysis and design introductory level lessons vtesystems engineeringsubfields aerospace engineering biological systems engineering configuration management earth systems engineering and management electrical engineering enterprise systems engineering performance engineering reliability engineering safety engineering processes requirements engineering functional specification system integration verification and validation design review concepts business process system system lifecycle vmodel systems development life cycle tools decisionmaking function modelling idef optimization quality function deployment system dynamics systems modeling language systems analysis systems modeling work breakdown structure people james s albus ruzena bajcsy benjamin s blanchard wernher von braun kathleen carley harold chestnut wolt fabrycky barbara grosz arthur david hall iii derek hitchins robert e machol radhika nagpal simon ramo joseph francis shea katia sycara manuela m veloso john n warfield related fields control engineering computer engineering industrial engineering operations research project management quality management risk management software engineering category 