Introduction There are some projects where data may play an important part and hence the elicitation of data requirements and understanding the techniques to use as a result are necessary. This article aims to cover these techniques and to provide a guide of how to use them. Examples of data centric projects could include: Bringing data together into… Read More »
This article is about providing some guidelines for writing good business requirements. Consequences for not getting this right could lead to the project failing as the solution provided will be dependent on this being correct and interpreted in the right way. Resist temptation to write down the requirements in narrative form too early Techniques such as using diagrams… Read More »
Commercial off the shelf packages (COTS) are packaged solutions that can be used out of the box or configured to meet the business needs. This is instead of creating software from scratch. The benefit of the latter is that the solution can be developed to meet the requirements exactly. Using COTS may involve requirement trade-offs but: May be… Read More »
Key performance indicators are a method for setting out criteria for measuring performance and understanding success. When is the technique applicable They can be defined for a number of reasons: To assess performance of current state To determine whether future state has been achieved or whether further action required To identify whether business objectives have been achieved To… Read More »
You have the vision of what the project is about and some high-level objectives. If not refer to the article around how to identify scope. The correct stakeholders have been identified and have turned up for the meeting with you to discuss their requirements. However in the meeting you aren’t getting much information and nothing has been written… Read More »
When is the technique applicable If gathering requirements for an IT system then inevitably some of the requirements will mean storing data or doing something with data. A logical data model can be a technique for gathering these. It is very useful because it enables a diagram to be drawn up which can be discussed to improve the… Read More »
This article is to provide you with techniques for eliciting requirements by providing step by step instructions to produce a use case model for an IT system. A company intranet will be used throughout to provide examples. Use cases were first used by Ivar Jacobson to describe an amount of work to be done. Use cases break down… Read More »
There are different levels of requirements gathering which need to be conducted at different periods of time during the lifecycle of a project. This article sets out a brief description of each of the type of requirements, why, how this relates to traceability and some examples. Further articles on gathering goals / objectives – How to gather benefits… Read More »
Purpose of article: To explain the reason for business process modelling and provide guidance on techniques for doing it. Purpose of process modelling: Required to understand the business processes that need to happen to make improvements for a new process or discover inefficiencies. For example if there is a “as is” process showing many hand offs or duplication… Read More »
The techniques in this article use a NLP technique called the Milton model, which can be used to identify intentions when interviewing stakeholders. When to use: Opportunities and benefits unclear or not yet defined To uncover justifications behind requirements Writing a business case or Vision document If stakeholders go straight into the solution and need a technique to… Read More »