The Important Factors in the Cost of Systems Design - Term Paper Example

The various factors that affect the cost of maintenance in terms of the modern system analysis and design include, a) Latent Defects, b) Number of customers for a given system and c) Quality of system documents. Latent defect refers to the possible internal defects that relate to a product. Secondly, the number of customers of a given system refers to the number of people using the system at a given point in time. The last factor that affects the cost of maintenance is the quality of the system's document, i.e. the documentation for the systems (Hoffer, George, and Valacich).

Of the above-mentioned factors the most important factor is the quality of systems design. Creating a well-documented system allows all other aspects of the systems to be traceable and with complete evidence. Hence any latent issue or technical issue that might come up can be easily resolved. Also, all the communication and messages are more accurately sent to the intended users. Although the development of strong and quality system documentation can prove to be an expensive and time-consuming task, this allows the other possible issues in the future to be resolved more easily and fast, which thereby lead to reduced maintenance costs (Hoffer, George, and Valacich).