Systems analysis

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Systems analysis" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may lend undue weight to the subject's applications in the field of information technology.. Please help improve it by rewriting it in a balanced fashion that contextualizes different points of view. (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Futures studies
Concepts
Accelerating change Cashless society Existential risk Future Earth Mathematics Race Climate Space exploration Universe Historical materialism Kondratiev cycle Kardashev scale Moore's law Peak oil Population cycle Resource depletion Singularity Swanson's law
Techniques
Backcasting Causal layered analysis Chain-linked model Consensus forecast Cross impact analysis Delphi Real-time Delphi Foresight Future-proof Futures wheel Futures workshops Horizon scanning Reference class forecasting Scenario planning Systems analysis Threatcasting Trend analysis
Technology assessment and forecasting
Critical design Design fiction Exploratory engineering FTA Hype cycle Science fiction prototyping Speculative design TRL Technology scouting
v t e

Systems analysis is "the process of studying a procedure or business to identify its goal and purposes and create systems and procedures that will efficiently achieve them". Another view sees systems analysis as a problem-solving technique that breaks a system down into its component pieces and analyses how well those parts work and interact to accomplish their purpose.^[1]

The field of system analysis relates closely to requirements analysis or to operations research. It is also "an explicit formal inquiry carried out to help a decision maker identify a better course of action and make a better decision than they might otherwise have made."^[2]

The terms analysis and synthesis stems from Greek, meaning "to take apart" and "to put together", respectively. These terms are used in many scientific disciplines, from mathematics and logic to economics and psychology, to denote similar investigative procedures. The analysis is defined as "the procedure by which we break down an intellectual or substantial whole into parts," while synthesis means "the procedure by which we combine separate elements or components to form a coherent whole."^[3] System analysis researchers apply methodology to the systems involved, forming an overall picture.

System analysis is used in every field where something is developed. Analysis can also be a series of components that perform organic functions together, such as systems engineering. Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed.