The analyst gathers facts about the problem or opportunity, project scope and constraints, project
benefits, and estimated development time and costs. The end product of the preliminary
investigation is a report to management.
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Interaction with Managers and Users
Before beginning a preliminary investigation, a memo or an e-mail message should let
people know about the investigation and explain your role. You should meet with key
managers, users, and IT staff to describe the project, explain your responsibilities,
answer questions, and invite comments. This starts an important dialogue with users
that will continue throughout the entire development process.
A systems project often produces significant changes in company operations.
Employees may be curious, concerned, or even opposed to those changes. It is not surprising to encounter some user resistance during a preliminary investigation. Employee
attitudes and reactions are important and must be considered.
When interacting with users, you should be careful in your use of the word problem,
because generally it has a negative meaning. When you ask users about problems, some
will stress current system limitations rather than desirable new features or enhancements.
Instead of focusing on difficulties, you should question users about additional capability