Mastering Software Project Requirements

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Direct Price: $54.95

A Framework for Successful Planning, Development & Alignment
By Barbara Davis
Hardcover, 6×9, 296 pages
ISBN: 978-1-60427-091-4
September 2013

LEARN & EARN: Get 6.4 PDUs in the PMI skill areas of Technical or Strategic and Business Management Skills

Description

This book is a concise step-by-step guide to building and establishing the frameworks and models for the effective management and development of software requirements. It describes what great requirements must look like and who the real audience is for documentation. It then explains how to generate consistent, complete, and accurate requirements in exacting detail following a simple formula across the full life cycle from vague concept to detailed design-ready specifications.

Mastering Software Project Requirements will enable business analysts and project managers to decompose high-level solutions into granular requirements and to elevate their performance through due diligence and the use of better techniques to meet the particular needs of a given project without sacrificing quality, scope, or project schedules.

Key Features

  • Identifies the attributes of good requirements and illustrates the life cycle from elicitation to analysis, specification to validation, explaining how to estimate, measure, benchmark, plan, manage, and deliver great software project requirements
  • Presents a solid and reproducible framework for generating great requirements within the parameters of a specific project or enterprise architecture methodology and in projects that are agnostic of methodology
  • Explains how various methodologies impact the results of requirements activities and provides strategies for adapting and aligning requirements activities to project frameworks and corresponding methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, WAgile, TOGAF and DO-178) to ensure the integrity of the requirements is maintained across multiple project frameworks
  • Covers every shred of requirements documentation that a business analyst or project manager will consume and produce, as well as the context and audience of each artifact and deliverable created
  • Re-defines the requirements process in pragmatic detail, and enables technology and business organizations to: reduce operating costs, increase alignment between technology products and business needs, and maximize return on investment of every implemented business solution by providing detailed task descriptions, key performance indicators, and benefits realization planning
  • WAV offers downloadable templates for every aspect of requirements including estimation, and provides materials for academic instruction — available from the Web Added Value™ Download Resource Center

About the author(s)

Barbara Davis is President of RQX Global Training & Consulting, LLC, an organization that provides technology management and profit management solutions for projects, resources, portfolios, and IT services. Mrs. Davis is a proven thought leader and expert in business analysis, project management, and various aspects of IT management and business. She has been a champion of business analysis and technology standards and infrastructure for the past 13 years, during which time she developed the world’s first university accredited business analysis diploma program, proprietary resource maturity and requirements methodologies, and a global online business analysis training program.

Prior to entering the technology field, Barbara gained more than 15 years of functional business experience in operational management, project management, change management, and training. She currently works with Fortune 500 companies to align business analysis services, critical projects, and operational infrastructure to ensure successful outcomes in the face of conflict and very challenging circumstances. Davis is also an international speaker and author of Managing Business Analysis Services: A Framework for Sustainable Projects and Corporate Success (2012).

Table of Contents

PREFACE

SECTION I: IDENTIFYING & UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS SOLUTION

CHAPTER 1: IDENTIFYING THE SOLUTION
    Defined Verses Undefined Solution Starting Points
    Defining the Business Need, Vision & Mission
    Managing to the Exception
    Understanding Business Architecture
    Benefits Realization Planning

CHAPTER 2: STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT & MANAGEMENT
    The Seinfeld Approach to Requirements
    Setting & Managing Expectations
    Beyond RACI: Getting Sponsors, Business Owners and User Groups Involved
    RACI Matrix
    Why Some People Contribute and Others Don’t
    Why Opportunity Alone Does Not Equal Contribution and Increase Participation
    Types of Participation
    Creating the Right Conditions and Environment Increases Participation
    Informational Activities
    Input Funnels

SECTION II: REQUIREMENTS PLANNING & MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 3: THE EVOLUTION OF REQUIREMENTS ON A PROJECT
    Inherent Project Risks to Requirements
    Risks from Project Inception
    Risks from Project Resources
    5 Critical Requirements Steps That Get Missed: What Business Analysts Are Not Doing (Consistently)
    Research
    Gap Assessment (vs. Gap Analysis)
    Ambiguity Management
    Requirements Validation
    Facilitated Sign-Off
    Quantifying Effectiveness of Requirements Activities
    The Golden Rules of Requirements
    Attributes of Great Requirements

CHAPTER 4: REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
   Developing a Requirements Management Strategy
   Planning Requirements Management
   Preparing for Requirements Management
   Requirements Management Activities
   Tools and Techniques for Requirements Management
   Traceability
   Change Control
   Ambiguity Management
   Requirements Management Tool
   Naming & Numbering Conventions

CHAPTER 5: ESTABLISHING METRICS & BENCHMARKS
   Inputs for Metrics and Benchmarking
   Outputs as Quantifiable Results
   Measuring Requirements Effectiveness
   Calculating the Requirements Effectiveness Index
   Calculating the Requirements Quality Index
   Calculating the Requirements Productivity Index
   Business Priority & Criticality
   Functional Complexity
   Estiminating Requirements Activities

SECTION III: ALL THINGS REQUIREMENTS

CHAPTER 6: ELICITATION
   From Business Objective and Problem, to Scope and Requirements
   Inputs & Outputs of Elicitation
   Knowing Where to Find Sources for Requirements
   Why Each Source Is Valuable in Elicitation
   Tribal Knowledge
   Project Scope
   Project Charter
   Project Plan
   High Level Requirements
   Business Architecture Documentation
   Enterprise Architecture Documentation
   What Information Is Collected During Elicitation?
   The Risks of Excluding Business Analysts in Implementing COTS
   How Is This Information Used During Elicitation?
   What Artifacts and Deliverable Will Be Created In Elicitation?
   High- to Mid-Level Requirements Evolution (Refinement)
   Tools and Techniques for Defining the Future State
   Business Process Modeling
   Business Rule Scope and Dependencies
   Who Will Use the Artifacts and Deliverables From Elicitation?
   How Are the Artifacts and Deliverables from Elicitation Used?
   Tasks & Activities of Eliciting Requirements
   Joint Application Development (JAD) Sessions

CHAPTER 7: ANALYSIS
   Inputs & Outputs for Analysis
   How Is This Information Used During Analysis
   Business Process Models
   Current State Definition
   Future State Definition Outline
   Business Architecture
   Enterprise Architecture
   What Artifacts Are Created During Analysis?
   Scenario Definition
   Gap Analysis
   Cause and Effect Tables
   Who Will Use the Artifacts & Deliverables?
   How Will the Artifacts & Deliverables Be Used?
   Gap Analysis
   Scenarios
   Activity Diagrams
   Use Case Definition Outlines
   Cause and Effect Tables
   Exit Criteria For Analysis

CHAPTER 8: SPECIFICATION
   Writing Testable Requirements
   Inputs/Outputs of Specification
   What Artifacts and Deliverables are Created in Specification?
   Requirements Document
   Who Signs Off on Low Level Requirements?
   Finalized Business Rules
   Business Rules Refinement
   Use Case Definition/Refinement
   Who Will Use the Artifacts and Deliverables from Specification?
   How the Artifacts and Deliverables from Specification can be Utilized – Contributed by James Canter
   Tasks and Activities of the Specification Stage
   Business Rules
   Low-Level Requirements Document
   Individual Requirement Structure
   Updating Use Cases
   Future State Definition Refinement
   Exit Criteria for Specification

CHAPTER 9: VALIDATION
   Inputs & Outputs of Validation
   What Artifacts & Deliverables Are Created in Validation?
   Who Signs Off on Validation?
   Requirement Traceability
   Tasks & Activities In Validation
   Assessing Business Criticality and Priority
   Techniques for Validating Requirements
   Cause & Effect (Decision) Tabling
   Scenarios
   Use Cases
   Ambiguity Reviews and Tracking
   Tools and Techniques for Ambiguity Reviews
   Ambiguity Workshops
   Numbering Requirements
   Facilitated Sign-Off of Requirements
   Exit Criteria for Requirements Validation

SECTION IV: IN CONTEXT OF PROJECT & ARCHITECTURE METHODOLOGIES

CHAPTER 10: IMPLICATIONS OF AGILE ON REQUIREMENTS
   Misconceptions About Agile
   Impacts of Agile on Requirements
   Strengths of Agile
   Risks of Agile SDLC

CHAPTER 11: IMPLICATIONS OF WATERFALL ON REQUIREMENTS
   Misconceptions About Waterfall
   Impacts of Waterfall on Requirements
   Using Waterfall to Manage Change
   Change Management
   Change Control
   Strengths of Waterfall
   Risks of Waterfall SDLC

CHAPTER 12: IMPLICATIONS OF WAGILE ON REQUIREMENTS
   Misconceptions About WAgile
   Impacts of WAgile on Requirements
   Strengths of WAgile
   Risks of WAgile SDLC

CHAPTER 13: IMPLICATIONS OF TOGAF ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE ON REQUIREMENTS
   Misconceptions About TOGAF
   Impacts of TOGAF on Requirements
   Strengths of TOGAF EA Methodology
   Risks of TOGAF EA Methodology

CHAPTER 14: HOW BUSINESS ANALYSIS CAN LEVERAGE DO-178C AVIATION ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS
   DO-178 Framework
   Software Planning Process
   Software Development Process
   Software Requirements Process
   Software Design Process
   Software Coding Process
   Integration Process
   Traceability
   Correctness, Confidence and Control Process
   Verification
   Configuration Management
   Quality Assurance
   Transferrable DO-178 Elements (Applicability & Implications To Commercial Software)
   Strengths of DO-178

APPENDIX A: WRITING EFFECTIVE EMAILS

APPENDIX B: SAMPLE DOCUMENT TEMPLATES
   Ambiguity Log Content Sample
   BA Deliverables and Artifacts Index Content Sample
   Business Rules Content Sample
   Change Control Log Document Content Sample
   Current State Document Content Sample
   Future State Definition Document Content Sample
   GAP Analysis Content Sample
   High Level Requirements Document Content Sample
   Requirements Document Content Sample
   Requirements Risk Assessment Document Content Sample

Reviews

Mastering Software Project Requirements is an eye-opening look inside the world of requirements analysis that outlines the main reasons software and IT projects fail, and then shows how to succeed. It explains why requirements analysis is much more than just a list of features, and details multiple strategies and tactics to create the right requirements for any project.”
Vincent Serpico, CEO, Spotlight Software

“Mastering Software Project Requirements is a fabulous book that should appeal to and provide value for novices and experts alike.  The breadth of what it covers is pretty remarkable for a book this size.  While I found literally every section had something very useful to offer, the chapter on ‘Establishing Metrics and Benchmarks’ is particularly interesting and brimming with potential.  This is an area that is so incredibly important (“you can’t control what you can’t measure” – DeMarco), and yet so rarely do you open a book on business analysis or requirements these days and find anything significant on the topic.  True to form, the author lays out a pragmatic approach for establishing a requirements measurement framework that any organization could adopt – regardless of their maturity in the area.

After taking you through a journey from ‘Defining the Business Need, Vision, and Mission’ all the way through ‘Elicitation’, ‘Analysis’, ‘Specification’ and ‘Validation’ of the solution requirements, you then find a fantastic section on how all these requirements practices are adjusted/bent/shaped/twisted when applied in contrasting real-world situations.  One thing is obvious when reading this book—the author is relating lessons that were learned the hard way, and is doing the reader a favor by passing them on.  If you’re a business analyst, new to the role or experienced, do yourself a favor – and read this book.”

Tony Higgins, VP Product Marketing, Blueprint Software Systems

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