CHAPTER 14

WRITING AND PRESENTING THE SYSTEMS PROPOSAL

EFFECTIVELY ORGANIZING THE PROPOSAL CONTENT

WRITING THE PROPOSAL IN AN APPROPRIATE STYLE

ORALLY PRESENTING AN INFORMATIVE SYSTEMS PROPOSAL

PREPARING AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEMS PROPOSAL

MAIN SECTIONS OF THE WRITTEN SYSTEMS PROPOSAL:

ORGANIZING THE SYSTEMS PROPOSAL

1. COVER LETTER2. TITLE PAGE3. TABLE OF CONTENTS4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY5. OUTLINE OF STUDY6. DETAILED RESULTS7. SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES8. RECOMMENDATIONS9. SUMMARY10. APPENDICES

BUSINESS STYLE OF WRITING

USE COMBINATION OF WORDS AND FIGURES

TABLES—FOR PRESENTING STATISTICAL OR ALPHABETICAL DATA IN AN ORGANIZED WAY.

LINE GRAPHS—SHOW TREND OR CHANGE OVER TIME.

COLUMN CHARTS—DISPLAY COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO OR MORE VARIABLES OVER TIME OR AT A PARTICULAR TIME.

BAR CHARTS—ONLY USED FOR SHOWING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES IN A CATEGORY OR CLASS DURING A SPECIFIED TIME.

  PIE CHARTS—SHOWS HOW 100 PERCENT OF AN ENTITY IS DIVIDED UP AT A PARTICULAR TIME PERIOD.

  SCHEDULING CHARTS—ARE USED FOR SCHEDULING THE PROJECT E.G. GANTT CHARTS, PERT CHARTS

WRITING STYLE

WRITING STYLE

VISUAL AND FORMATTING CONSIDERATIONS

 USE WHITE SPACE

USE HEADINGS AND SUBHEADINGS

USE PAGE NUMBERS

USE REFERENCES AND APPENDICES

GUIDELINES FOR USING TABLES AND GRAPHS

IF POSSIBLE INTEGRATE THE FIGURE INTO THE BODY OF THE PROPOSAL

INTRODUCE FIGURES IN TEXT BEFORE THEY APPEAR

DISCUSS THE FIGURES IN THE TEXT

PROVIDE TITLES FOR FIGURES, LABEL EACH AXIS, AND USE LEGENDS IF NECESSARY

DO NOT CLUTTER THE FIGURES. USE MORE THAN ONE FIGURE TO MAKE YOUR POINT CLEAR.

ORAL PRESENTATION

SYSTEMS ANALYST MUST KNOW FOUR ELEMENTS AHEAD OF TIME:

AUDIENCE

TOPIC OF PRESENTATION

ALLOTTED TIME FOR PRESENTATION

EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE