Documentation is the recording of the information relevant in system development. It
involves the recording of information that is relevant to the systems maintenance and
running of the system. The documents prepared during SDLC are:
(i) Terms of reference
This document is made by the steering committee in the preliminary study. The document
acts as a reference document throughout system development stages. This document
contains:
o Project title.
o Subject of study.
o Purpose of study.
o Personnel.
o Reports.
o Available resources and constraints.
o Estimate duration and schedule.
It is important because:
o It provides information about the proposed solution.
o It acts as an authorisation document.
o It acts as a reference document.
o It sets out objectives of the proposed system.
o It acts as a control document.
(ii) Feasibility study report
This is the report that contains the findings and recommendation from the feasibility
study. After the technical and operational feasibility and cost-benefit appraisal, a report is
prepared that gives recommendations on whether or not to commit any further resources
to the project. Its contents are:
o Introduction.
o Description of the alternative proposed solution in terms of the inputs, outputs,
etc.
o Quantification to justify the cost of running the proposed system.
o Recommendation on the most effective alternative.
o Recommendations on the new system.
(iii) Fact finding reports
This is a report that contains information resulting from fact finding. Facts are recorded
through the use of procedure charts, organization charts, decision tables, grid charts and
pseudocode. These reports are relevant to the next stage of SDLC.
(iv) Statement of requirements
This is a formal report prepared after analysis of facts in SDLC. It‘s contents are:
o Description of initial system goals and whether they are being met.
o Description of whether the existing system is cost effective.
o Information on whether the output is effective.
o Description of existing system efficiency.
o This document is important as it helps the systems developer to understand the
existing system and facilitate coming up with an efficient new system.
(v) System specification
This is a document prepared at the end of the design stage. It represents the conceptual
system/logical system. Its contents are:
o Introduction of the existing system.
o Description of the proposed system.
o Justification of the proposed system as a solution to the specified problem.
o Comparison of the existing and proposed systems.
o Proposed system files descriptions.
o Proposed system control specifications.
gregorymasila answered the question on February 15, 2018 at 20:37
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