At Blue Rocket Ship we believe that a close working relationship between a system analyst and business analyst is necessary to ensure IT/Business alignment. Furthermore, we understand that a system offers little value to an organisation without people. The users of the system are as, if not more, important that the system itself.

Our experience and knowledge in business and technology coupled with strong people skills ensure that your system will be a success before it even begins.
In a course I designed and lecture at Varsity College I often use the following analogy to emphasise the importance of proper System Analysis and Design.

An analogy as safe as houses.

Consider building yourself a house. You would never just have a builder arrive with a truck load of bricks and cement and let him start building whatever he wants. You could end up with anything varying from a warehouse to an outhouse!

You would go through a planning phase, including all its elements. You have an idea to build a house, but you need to see if you can afford it and be able to maintain it. In other words is it financially feasible? You would decide when to build and where to build depending on factors such as your financial position and the availability of a stand. Other factors could be the distance to the nearest school and the safety of the area.

Next you will go into an analysis phase. At this stage you need to determine exactly what needs to be in the house. How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you want? Do you need a study and if so, how big must it be? Do you want a large kitchen and must it be open plan to the living area? Do you want a fireplace and where must it be? How many cars do you have? Is a single garage suitable?

The next obvious phase is to have the house designed. A draftsman will draw up plans for the house based on the information you have collected in the analysis phase. He will draw them to scale and position the house on your plot. He might have to redo it or make changes several times until you are 100% happy with his representation of your ideas. Only then will he draw up formal detailed blue prints for the builders.

Now you are ready to embark on your implementation phase. At this stage the builder can go on site and start with the brick work. Once the floors and walls are done someone will take over to do the roof. Next will be the doors, windows then fittings. Plumbing, electrics etc. During this phase minor changes might be made. A window might be moved slightly or made bigger to accommodate a view. Once everything is built and your furniture arrives, you can move in. Congratulations! Your implementation phase is complete.

Your project, however, is not complete. In fact the next phase (support phase) will continue for as long as you own the house. You need to maintain the garden, paint periodically, fix leaks and maybe add a room at some stage.

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