Chapter 1

System Concepts and the Information

Systems Environment
Introduction
In this article, we are talking about Rajshahi College. Rajshahi College is situated in the city
center, adjacent to Rajshahi Collegiate School and is very near to the famous Barendra
Museum. It is said to be the third oldest institutions of higher education in Bangladesh after
Dhaka College and Chittagong College. Established in 1873 and within a short period after
establishment, the college became one of the main centers of higher education for the
inhabitants of East Bengal, North Bengal, Bihar, Purnia and Assam.

Fig 1.1: A Front View of Rajshahi College

Rajshahi College was the first institution in the territories to offer bachelor and honor’s degree
courses in various disciplines since 1878. The postgraduate Departments in Arts and in Law
started in 1881 and continued till 1909 when they were withdrawn because the college could
not meet the requirements of the New Regulations of the University of Calcutta but started
again in 1993 under the affiliation of National University. The daily affairs of the college are
run on the basis of guidelines prescribed by the Ministry of Education.
Rajshahi College stopped enrolling Higher Secondary students in 1996. But again, with the
help of some dedicated teachers and administrator, Rajshahi College started enrolling them
from session 2010-2011.
Rajshahi college is probably the sole institutes dares to manage its all data and information
digitally and has become a pioneer institute to do this job online through setting an own server
station along with LAN and Broadband Leased Line connection.
Objectives of Rajshahi College
(a) The first and important objective of this college is to find out a very good environment to
teach the students.
(b) Creating a good relationship among the teacher, student and the workers of this college.
Finding out the good quality student and also find out the worst student to develop them.
(c) In this college specially the principal is very much dedicated to implement the National
University section of this college.
(d) Reducing the politics and violence of this college campus.

Characteristics of Rajshahi College (RC)

(a) As an organization it has a structure and order. For formal organizational position they have
principal and vice principal. Under the vice principal they have qualified departmental head,
under the departmental head they have the qualified and respected teachers. For helping them
they have some workers, they are always helpful.
(b) In this college each component functions with other components. Example: When the
principal want to deliver a notice for the students, then he calls a meeting with other teachers
and vice principal, then the notice is produced and through workers it goes to the student of
this college.
(c) In this college each section is dependent with each other, the departmental heads can not
take a single decision without the other teacher, and vice principal and principal’s permission.
The other teachers give their opinion through meeting.
(d) The part of the college work together within the college even though each department of
this college performs a unique function.
(e) The central objective of this college is to find out a very good environment to teach the
students. For achieving this object, the teachers are working hard here.

Element of this College

(a) The input of this college is the students, the teachers are working hard to processing them.
After processing they make ready the students to go to the next step of their life.
(b) In this college the teachers are the processor, they modify the students totally or partially,
depending on the specification of the student’s goal.
(c) The Principal and the vice principal are responsible to control the all departmental head, the
departmental heads are responsible to control the teachers under him/her. The teachers are
responsible to guide and to teach the student.
(d) As an organization this famous college has the feedback element. The students give their
feedback for every class of the corresponding class. The teachers get the students’ feedback
through the answer script of the half yearly or the annual examination. If one student get more
then eighty plus mark then he/she is rewarded, if he/she get lower mark, then the college
administrative section or the corresponding teacher work to find out the reason and give more
effort to solve these problem of that student.
(e) The college is working very harder to give a very neat and clean campus for the student.
This college has much positive environment for studying.
(f) This college is not only working for the higher secondary education, it is also the part of
National University with some valuable department.
(g) This college is providing students facilities to compete with all other colleges all over the
country.

Why Rajshahi College is Open Organization?

A social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective
goals. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between
the different activities and the members, and subdivides and assigns roles, responsibilities, and
authority to carry out different tasks. Organizations are open systems, they affect and are
affected by their environment.
Rajshahi College is an open system because it takes the students from different areas of this
country and students are the main input here. It has also the quality of entropy, it resists entropy
by seeking new inputs or modifying the process to return to a steady state. This college has
some extraordinary teacher and they produce some qualified students. It has a greater
differentiation of their components. It arranges many paths for the student to achieve their goal,
so it has the property of equifinality. For these reason Rajshahi College is an open system.
Information about Rajshahi College include their policies, goals, objectives, structures. Their
policies are translated to rule and procedures for achieving goals. Their objectives are always
toward s achieving goals. This goal includes information from students’ manuals, orientation
pamphlets, and annual student report. There is always a chart or notice which represent an
achievement-oriented structure. It helps the students and also the teachers to understand the
general procedure in which the academic system will be considered. Work flow focuses on the
ongoing process of Rajshahi College system. The process of publishing result, admission in
intermediate and also in honors/degree level. It also includes the payment to the teacher and
other worker staff. A dataflow diagram represents the information generated at each processing
point in Rajshahi College and the direction it takes from source to destination. In fact, a system
flowchart describes the physical system. The information from such charts explains the
procedures used for performing tasks and work schedules and goals.

What Kind of Information this College Provides?

This college provides 3 kind of information:
(a) Formal Information: When the principal and vice principal organize a meeting, then they
call all the teacher through a formal information. The result of the meeting also published
through a formal way.
(b) Informal Information: The teachers suddenly want to take a class test within some days,
and he/she announces it through the students prior someday of the class test. This is one
example of informal way of this college, this kind of example is very much available here in
Rajshahi College.
(c) Computer Based Information: This college has a website (rc.edu.bd). Now all information
and notices are published through this website. The students are getting the much benefit
through this website. The teachers, the students, the workers all are thinking that it is now the
main source of information.
 Fig 1.2: The Information that Rajshahi College Provides

Source: http://rc.edu.bd/download/student-related/essential-forms/

Conclusion
Rajshahi College was the first institution in the territories to offer bachelor and honor’s degree
courses in various disciplines since 1878. This college is probably the sole institutes dares to
manage its all data and information digitally and has become a pioneer institute to do this job
online through setting an own server station along with LAN and Broadband Leased Line
connection. The first and important objective of this college is to find out a very good
environment to teach the students. As an organization this famous college has the feedback
element. This college is an open system because it takes the students from different areas of
this country and students are the main input here. Here it provides 3 kind of information.
 Chapter 2
The System Development Life Cycle
Introduction
System Development Life Cycle is a series of six main phases to create a hardware system
only, a software system only or a combination of both to meet or exceed customer’s
expectations.
System is a broad and a general term, and as per we can write the definition of system: “A
system is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole” it’s
a term that can be used in different industries.

The system development life cycle

A systems development life cycle is composed of a number of clearly defined and distinct work
phases which are used by systems engineers and systems developers to plan for, design, build,
test, and deliver information systems. Like anything that is manufactured on an assembly line,
an SDLC aims to produce high-quality systems that meet or exceed customer expectations,
based on customer requirements, by delivering systems which move through each clearly
defined phase, within scheduled time frames and cost estimates.
When the analysts of Rajshahi College is evaluating an existing operation, he/she is probably
thinking about an alternative way that would improve the system or wondering whether a given
piece of hardware would be critical cost item to consider for a candidate system. Therefore,
there can easily be overlap during any phase of the cycle.
There are six steps of the system development life cycle, described below:
1. Recognition of Need
2. Feasibility Study
3. Analysis
4. Design
5. Implementation
6. Post implementation and maintenance
Now, a figure for better understanding the system development life cycle of Rajshahi College
is given below.
Stage Key Question Result

What is the problem or Statement of scopes and

1. Recognition of Need opportunity? objective

Preliminary survey / initial investigation

of any problem in Rajshahi College
Is the problem worth Technical/ behavioral
2. Feasibility Study solving? feasibility

Evaluation of the existing system and How can the problem be System scope and
procedure that Rajshahi college has. redefined? objectives
Analysis of alternative candidate
systems that may be better for Rajshahi
college.

What must be done to Logical model of the

3. Analysis solve the problem? system.

Detailed evaluation of present system of DFD, Data Dictionary,

Rajshahi College DT
How must the problem be Design of alternative
4. Design solved? solutions
Programs
In this phase the system and software Test plans
design are prepared from the
requirement specifications which were
studied in the above phases.
What is the actual Training Program
5. Implementation operation?
Are user manual ready?
Implementation of the new system to
Rajshahi College. It is less creative than
system design.

User training
Is the key system running? User requirements met
6. Post implementation and Should it be modified? User standards met
maintenance

Evaluation
Maintenance
Enhancements

Fig 2.1: System Development Life Cycle

Recognition of
Need

Post-
Implementation Feasibility Study
and maintenance

Implementation Analysis

Design

Fig 2.2: System Development Life Cycle (Cyclic Form)

Impetus for System Change
The ideas for change may originate in the environment of Rajshahi College or from within the
firm Environment-based ideas originate from students, teachers, government sources, and the
like. For example, new bus schedule may make it necessary to change the procedure. Student
complaints about bus timing may prompt an investigation bus schedule. When investigated,
each of these ideas may lead to a problem definition as a first step in the system life cycle
process.

Major Sources of Change

Changes may also come from within the organization, top management, students, the analyst
etc. (see in Fig 2.3) As an organization changes its operations or faces advances in technology,
someone within the organization may need the feel to change or update the existing system and
improve procedures.

Fig 2.3: Major Sources of Change

Project Termination
Project termination is one of the most serious decisions Rajshahi College’s project management
team and its control board have to take. It causes frustration for those stakeholders who
sincerely believed - and in most cases still believe – that the project could produce the results
they expected, or still expect. The project manager and his or her team members, very important
stakeholders of the project as well, will feel that they personally failed. They also will be scared
of negative consequences for their careers; their motivation and consequently, productivity will
decrease significantly. Generally, projects are dropped if, after a review process, it is learned
that:
• Requirements or specifications of the project result are not clear or unrealistic.
• Requirements or specifications change fundamentally so that the underlying contract
cannot be changed accordingly.
• There is a sudden change in the user’s budget or an increase in design costs beyond the
estimate made during the feasibility study.
• The project greatly exceeds the time and cost schedule.
These are the reason why a project may be terminated in Rajshahi College.

Consideration for Candidate Systems

The basic problem is to match the demands for services with the available resources that
Rajshahi College holds. How much one project is favored over another depends on technical,
behavioral and Economic Factors.
The technical factor involves the system department’s ability to handle a project. It mostly
depends on the availability of the qualified analyst, designers and software specialist to do the
work.
The behavioral factors involve the users past experience with the existing system, the success
record of the analyst and the influence the user can exert on upper management to finance a
candidate system.
The most important criteria in selecting a project is the economic factor. It focuses on the
systems potential return on investment.

Conclusion
So, in this chapter we described how a project is completed or terminated in Rajshahi College.
We used the system development life cycle to see the steps of completing a project. After that
we discussed why a system in Rajshahi College needs to be changed and its criteria. Later we
discussed the reasons of terminating a project and considerations for a candidate system
 Chapter 3
The Role of the Systems Analyst
Systems Analyst
Systems analyst acts as a bridge between business requirements and the capabilities of the IT
staff. They are an IT professional who works on a high level in an organization to ensure that
systems, infrastructures and computer systems are functioning as effectively and efficiently as
possible. System analysts carry the responsibilities of researching problems, finding solutions,
recommending courses of actions and coordinating with stakeholders in order to meet specified
requirements. They study the current system, procedures and business processes of a company
and create action plans based on the requirements set.
Systems analysts need to be familiar with different operating systems, hardware configurations,
programming languages, and software and hardware platforms. They can be involved starting
from the analysis phase of the project until the post deployment assessment review. In this
lesson, we'll examine the role and responsibilities of the system analyst and different variations
of the job.

Roles of the Systems Analyst

The systems analyst is in a unique position since he or she acts as a liaison between the business
side of the house and the IT side of the house and collaborates with end users and IT staff to
evaluate computer systems and design new ones. Systems analysts help turn business goals
into technical requirements. Most of the time, the system analysts aren't the ones turning a
wrench or writing code, but they know enough about those things to speak intelligently to the
people who do.
There are different flavors of the job. Sometimes they're called business systems analysts, and
sometimes they're called computer systems analysts. There are also systems designers who find
technical solutions to business problems and software quality assurance. In addition, there are
analysts who troubleshoot systems, and programmer analysts, who actually write code. For the
purposes of this lesson, we'll focus on a more general description instead of taking a deep dive
into one of those specialty areas.

Responsibilities
Systems analysts transform user requests or requirements into technical design specifications
and act as a liaison between clients/IT professionals and technology vendors. The main
responsibility of systems analysts in the IT industry is to figure out how to solve a problem by
linking different computers or systems and to specify what platform, protocols, software,
hardware and communications medium can be used to solve that problem.
The systems analyst can work on projects that involve hardware and software. Here are some
typical responsibilities:
• Communicate with customers and stakeholders to learn and document requirements in
order to create a technical specification
• Interact and coordinate with developers and implementers
• Help perform system testing
• Deploy the system
 • Help with technical documentation like manuals
• Deliberate over post-project assessment
• 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
• Whenever a development process is conducted, the system analyst is responsible for
designing components and providing that information to the developer.

Systems Analyst in Rajshahi College

Like the other organizations, Rajshahi College also has a systems analyst to ensure the works
done properly. Md. Kafilar Rahman is the systems analysts and head of Information and
Communication Technology Center, Rajshahi College. There are some developers and
technicians working on his supervision. He has to interact and coordinate with developers and
technicians to maintain the whole system. The Systems of Rajshahi College are included with
Online Admission, Online Form Fill-up, Online Result Publication including HSC, Degree,
Honor’s, and Masters. Online Publications like Research Journal and College Magazine, SMS
Based Biometric Attendance System. The Systems analysts has to monitor all the system with
the help of the developers and technicians. Although the system analyst of Rajshahi College is
not like other organization but he does his works very well.

Interpersonal Skills of the Analysts

Fig 3.1: The Interpersonal Skills Relevant to Systems Work

The Multifaceted Role of the Analyst

Fig 3.2: The Multifaceted Roles an Analyst Performs

Conclusion
A Systems Analyst of Rajshahi College is not different from the Systems analyst of other
organizations. All the roles and responsibilities of other organizations are available there
except the role of being a salesperson. We have noticed that, the Analyst performs his roles
very effectively although the system of Rajshahi College is huge and updating in daily basis.
He monitors the system and motivates the developers and technicians and keeps the system
live for all the teachers, students, and who ever are interested in it.
 Chapter 4
System Planning and the Initial Investigation
Introduction
Planning information system has become increasingly important during the past decade.
Information is now recognized as a vital resource and must be managed. Once a data has been
collected it is must to bring the information in an organized & evaluated & conclusion drawn
for preparing a report to the used for final review and approval. There are many tools, which
are used for organizing & analysis on collected information. The tools used for that purpose
are input/output analysis, decision tables & structured chart.

What is System Planning?

System planning is the process of setting goals, developing strategies and outlining task and
program to accomplish the goal. Planning the information system in the business is very
important in today’s competitive environment to make the business high growable, and to make
business retain in adverse conditions because:
a.) Information is very important recourse for any company to be managed and it is equally
important as the cash, personnel etc.
b.) Financial resources are committed to the information system.
c.) To make the system growing and retain in the competitive environment.

Strategic MIS Planning

MIS stands for Management Information System. The management information system needs
good planning. This system should deal with the management information not with data
processing alone. It should provide support for the management planning, decision making and
action. It should provide support to the changing needs of business management. A long-range
MIS plan provides direction for the development of the system and provides a basis for
achieving the specific targets or tasks against time frame.
The MIS is the planning for information system development within the framework of the
organization. We can view the MIS through two dimensions:
(1) The time horizon dimension specifies whether is short range, which is tantamount to the
MIS yearly plan, midterm, or long range.
(2) The focus dimension tells whether the primary concern is strategic, managerial or
operational.
The MIS planning is an orderly approach that determines the basic objective for the user to
achieve, the strategies & policies ready to achieve the objectives and the tactical plan to
implement the strategies.

MIS Goals and Objectives

It is necessary to develop the goal and objectives for the MIS which will support the business
goals for Rajshahi College. The MIS goals and objectives will consider management
philosophy, policy constraints, Business risk, internal and external environment of the
organization and business. The goals and objectives of the MIS would be so stated that they
can be measured. The typical statements of the goals can be providing online information on
the stock and market; the query processing should not exceed more than three seconds and the
like. Managerial MIS planning integrates strategic with operational plans. It is a process in
which specific functional plans are related to a specific number of years to show how strategies
are to be carried out to achieve long-term-plans.

Fig 4.1: A Top-Down Approach to System Planning

Initial Investigation
The initial investigation is the first step in the analysis phase of any project in Rajshahi College.
It is a fact-finding mission in which the analyst aims to find out as much as he can about the
students, user, the current problem and what the user and the students need from a computer
system in order to solve the problem. The analyst will use a variety of methods of fact-finding
in order to give you as full a picture as possible.
What analyst finds out from his investigation will form the basis of the rest of the analysis
phase and the design phase and it is therefore essential that it is thorough and well-planned. It
is extremely difficult to create an appropriate and useful computer system and to write a quality
project report without first carrying out a genuine, well-planned and comprehensive initial
investigation with a real user or users.
As a starting point, you need your investigation to enable you to outline the following:
• Background to the problem/identify the problem
• Identify the user(s) having the problem
• Identify what the user(s) would need in order to be able to solve the problem
• Outline the limitations of the solution you propose
• Identify two or more possible ways of providing a solution
• Choose the best way of providing a solution and explain why it is the best way
• Identify the sources and destinations of the data used by the system and the processes used on
the data.
• Identify all the data used by the system data requirements and draw an ER model if
appropriate.
• Give a clear, comprehensive, specific list of objectives of the project (what the project will
need to do in order to be successful)

Needs Identification
The success of a system depends largely on how accurately a problem is defined, thoroughly
investigated, and properly carried out through the choice of solution. User need identification
and analysis are connected with what the user needs rather than what he/she wants.
Once the project is initiated the analyst begin to learn about the settings the existing system &
the physical process related to the revised system. For its important to understand structure of
the bank, who runs it, who reports to whom in the safe deposit area. The relationship between
the safe deposit & the teller line, accounting & customer service. The nature, frequency & level
of interaction between the staff & the department. It could be reorganized the staff to get the
better customer service. Therefore, analyst should prepare origination chart the list of
function’s required along with the people who performed them.
This stage determines the nature and scope of the development. If this stage is not performed
well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business’s needs. The key
project controls needed here are an understanding of the business environment and making sure
that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be reported
and a recommendation should be made to fix them.
Fig 4.2: User’s Request Form – An example of Correction Form

Source: http://www.rajshahieducationboard.gov.bd/
Conclusion
In this chapter we learnt about system planning and the initial investigation of a problem. For
creating a new platform, the system analyst of Rajshahi College must first plan the whole thing
and then start their initial investigation by questioning, on site observation etc.