Course Overview

Systems Development Essentials with Agile

Our Systems Development Essentials training courses are concerned with the fundamental skills of systems development in an Agile environment. It focuses on systems investigation and quality assurance as these underpin all successful system development work. The Systems Development Essentials with Agile course also introduces the candidate to how the systems development effort could be organised. The course distinguishes between generic lifecycle types, methods and approaches.

Whilst exploring the fundamental differences between object-oriented and structured systems development, the course also focuses on the basic principles of agile systems development and it recognises how a commitment to software package implementation changes the structure of the systems development approach.

Combined with Systems Modelling Techniques with UML this course provides delegates with a complete introduction to systems analysis and development.

Systems Development Essentials with Agile courses are delivered by trainers who bring their substantial experience of practical systems analysis projects to the programme. A comprehensive manual, containing detailed information about systems development techniques and providing references for further reading, is supplied as part of the course.

BCS Professional Certifications

This course prepares participants to sit the examination for the BCS Professional Certification (ISEB) in Systems Development Essentials. This involves a one-hour, open book examination that may be taken at the end of the course or at a public examination session. This certificate is a core certificate in the Diploma in Solution Development and is also a specialist certificate in the Diploma in Business Analysis.

SFIA Mapping

This course supports skill PROG, level 5.

Course Content

1. Roles in systems development
   • The purposes, objectives and tasks of systems development
   • Roles and responsibilities in systems development
   • Technical and interpersonal skills of the analysts
   • The emergence of skills frameworks
2. Systems architecture
   • Enterprise, systems and infrastructure levels of architecture
   • Inputs at an enterprise level
   • Inputs at system and infrastructure level
   • Model Driven Architecture
3. Development approaches
   • Bespoke development
   • Commercial off the shelf (COTS) software package solutions
   • Configuring and customising COTS software package solutions
   • Component-based systems development
   • Service-based solutions and other approaches
   • Evolutionary prototyping
4. Systems development lifecycles
   • Waterfall model
   • V model
   • Incremental model
   • Spiral (evolutionary) model
   • Advantages and disadvantages of each approach
   • Selection of an appropriate development approach
5. Methodologies
   • Traditional and structured approaches
   • Iterative systems development using the DSDM Atern methodology
   • Other agile development methodologies (The Unified Process (UP), SCRUM, eXtreme Programming)
   • Models of the Unified Modeling Language (UML)
   • Interpretation and principles of:
     • Use case diagram
     • Use case description
     • Class diagram
     • State machine diagram
   • Validating models using a CRUD matrix
6. Systems investigation
   • Fact finding approaches:
     • Workshops
     • Interviewing
     • Questionnaires
     • Scenario analysis, storyboarding & hot-housing
     • Model office & focus groups
     • Other approaches
   • Functional requirements definition
   • Non-functional requirements definition
   • Documenting & prioritising requirements
   • Human aspects of systems investigation and introducing change
7. Systems design, implementation and maintenance
   • Design principles and constraints (legal, ethical, financial)
   • Systems deployment and hand over
   • Post-implementation reviews
   • Different types of maintenance
   • Estimation and development planning
8. Quality assurance
   • Definitions of software quality
   • The V model
   • Requirements-driven testing
   • Static testing: types of walkthrough and inspection
   • Post-project reviews
9. CASE and CAST tools
   • Features of Computer-aided Software Engineering (CASE) and Computer-aided Software Testing tools (CAST)
   • Life-cycle coverage
   • Requirements traceability
   • Advantages and disadvantages