In our previous post we discussed how to evaluate and analyze various business processes with-in your organization. Today we are going to review how to capture and identify business requirements - one of the most important steps in ensuring that your software implementation project is a success. Failure to execute the requirements gathering step thoroughly will land you into the 47% of IT Projects that fail.
(According to Forrester Research)
So let’s dig in:
Identifying business requirements is about capturing events and tasks that must be done in order to fulfill a specific task. To start review the processes that were identified in step 2 of the 9 critical steps and document the specific details. Ensure your elicitation is specific and detail oriented.
Be Specific: Properly documented details and pre-conditions will translate to increased effectiveness in enhancing business processes.
Let’s say your organization identified a need to improve their order fulfillment process. You’ve met with various stake holders to document specific requirements related to recording customer and order information.
In order to stay organized number the requirements, state the goal and summarize the description in point form. Treat the following table as a high level summary for the specific process you are studying.
Requirement 1 - Record Customer and Order Information
| Goal |
To capture both customer and order information |
| Description: |
Once a web-site user has decided to order a pair of running shoes, information needs to be captured in order to process payment and ship the shoes to the customer. In order to accomplish this we need to:
• Capture Customer Information
• Record Product Information (What Sku # was ordered?)
• Process payment information
• Start the customer relationship process (assign an account manager, schedule a follow-up phone call, subscribe to the newsletter
|
With your summary information documented break down the bullet points into more specific detail oriented requirements. In our example we have taken the task of processing payment information and have defined nine additional requirements that relate to this task.
Requirement 1.3 Process Payment Information
| Goal |
To Process Payment Information
|
| Description |
Once a web-site user has decided to order a pair of running shoes, information needs to be captured in order to process payment. In order to accomplish this we need to:
• Offer multiple payment options (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Paypal)
• Apply tax calculations
• Ensure that the item is in stock
• Offer the ability to handle multiple currencies (USD, CAD & EURO)
• Ability to apply a discount coupon
• Apply shipping and handling charges
• Invoices must be able to be sent via email, fax or print mail
• Record Product Information (What Sku # was ordered?)
• Integrate process with the Accounts Receivable system.
• Notify warehouse to ship the order
|
The task of gathering business requirements is a tedious process but when done properly serves to provide clarity, accelerates future agility and reduces the need to conduct change requests after the project is implemented.