Clearly defining the scope and objectives of a project is one of the most important stages in business analysis solutions. Project scoping is identified as a key start-up activity for any successful software development project.
Scope of a project is often wrongly associated with stating of project cost and time schedule. But time and costs of a project are merely outcomes of project scope.
Defining project scope entails developing and documenting a clear understanding on ‘why’ the project is being done and ‘what’ it plans to achieve.
Thus a detailed project scoping should clarify and document the following elements:
- Purpose of the project
- Goals of the project
- Enterprise elements included in the project and those that are not
- Assumptions on which the project is based
- Implementation options
The project scope should be documented in as much detail as is possible. Business analysts should use diagrammatic representations where necessary to make all aspects of the scoping clear to all stakeholders and project teams.
Business analytics techniques for defining project scope approach the process from different perspectives.
The main scoping techniques deployed at joinBurak are:
- Definition of project deliverables/outcomes
- Definition of project functionality
- Definition of Technical Structure of the project
Requirements Gathering
Trends in business analysis solutions advocate the identification of the 'users' or ‘stakeholders’ of the proposed application, before going into the detailed requirements gathering process. Business analytics processes are streamlined when business analysts identify exactly who the 'end-users' or ‘stakeholders’ are and by approaching only the relevant people for requirements gathering.
Stake-holder interviews, focus group studies, use cases, data flow diagrams, prototypes etc are business analytics tools in use for requirements gathering. Existing corporate documentation such as process flow charts, training modules, user manuals and research findings are also referred to, in order to make the requirements gathering as detailed and exhaustive as possible.
Requirements Analysis and Documentation
Once the software requirements are elicited, they are thoroughly analyzed by business analysts. Requirements analysis helps review, validate and assess the feasibility of requirements. Some of the techniques used for requirements analysis are requirements animation, automated reasoning, analogical and case-based reasoning.
Business analysts document the Software Requirements Specification based on the results of the requirements analysis. Software requirement specifications serves as the base for the software design and development and can run into many pages depending on the complexity of the software application, size of the user groups and number of users.
A well-written software requirements specification not only lists out stakeholders’ requirements but also communicates these requirements to the technical community for design and development of the system.
Communicating Requirements
The Requirements Specification document drafted during the course of the software business analysis process serves as the basis for Systems Design by the development teams. It is also used as a contract between the client and the Project Team and for planning project schedules, formulating test plans and validation of project goals. Thus, a clear communication of the requirements specification to all associated groups is necessary.
Communication of requirements is a crucial stage in software business analysis. The requirements specification has to be communicated clearly to the customer, project manager, development team, testers and end-users to make sure that all involved in the software development process are clear on what their expected deliverables are. Formal and informal meetings, written documentation, process flow charts and diagrammatic representations are used extensively to communicate the specifications of the project to all team members. Business analysts need to have excellent communication and presentation abilities, strong inter-personal skills and sound conceptual knowledge on software development platforms.
The customers and end-users tend to view an application from the functionality aspect, while Project Managers, development teams and testers will have completely technical approach to the project. A skilled business analyst ensures that the project specifications are communicated to both the technical and non technical users with maximum clarity.
Designing the Solution
At this stage, the development team sets to work on identifying and designing a solution that best meets the stated requirements. The basic solution architecture is also determined during this stage of the software business analysis process. During each step of software consulting there is repeated interaction between the developer group and business analyst to ensure that the proposed solution is comprehensive and complete.
The application development team focuses on all aspects of solution design starting from a prototype of the User Interface to creation of implementation models and test models from use cases.
Implementation and Testing the Solution
Once the design has been finalized and accepted by the customer, the systems team moves on to developing code based on the design and implementation models. A continuous process of testing goes on as each module is developed. The code is tested against requirements, test cases and test plans.
Integration and Quality Testing is carried out before the application is presented for demonstration and client acceptance. Through these stages the business analyst has to ensure that the application meets the requirements specifications and project goals. The application is debugged and fine-tuned based on client feedback. This is followed by actual deployment of the application on live servers at the customer site.
Here at joinBurak
Business analysis is a critical first step in all our software consulting projects. We employ skilled business analysts who conduct detailed review, analysis and documentation of your business processes and requirements. A clear and unambiguous documentation of all these requirements serves as the basis for the application design, development, implementation and testing of customized software solutions that are guaranteed to meet your needs. Our business analysis processes ensures that we develop robust, scalable and superior software solutions that exceed your expectations and at affordable rates.
Want to know more...?
Scope of a project is often wrongly associated with stating of project cost and time schedule. But time and costs of a project are merely outcomes of project scope.
Defining project scope entails developing and documenting a clear understanding on ‘why’ the project is being done and ‘what’ it plans to achieve.
Thus a detailed project scoping should clarify and document the following elements:
- Purpose of the project
- Goals of the project
- Enterprise elements included in the project and those that are not
- Assumptions on which the project is based
- Implementation options
The project scope should be documented in as much detail as is possible. Business analysts should use diagrammatic representations where necessary to make all aspects of the scoping clear to all stakeholders and project teams.
Business analytics techniques for defining project scope approach the process from different perspectives.
The main scoping techniques deployed at joinBurak are:
- Definition of project deliverables/outcomes
- Definition of project functionality
- Definition of Technical Structure of the project
Requirements Gathering
Trends in business analysis solutions advocate the identification of the 'users' or ‘stakeholders’ of the proposed application, before going into the detailed requirements gathering process. Business analytics processes are streamlined when business analysts identify exactly who the 'end-users' or ‘stakeholders’ are and by approaching only the relevant people for requirements gathering.
Stake-holder interviews, focus group studies, use cases, data flow diagrams, prototypes etc are business analytics tools in use for requirements gathering. Existing corporate documentation such as process flow charts, training modules, user manuals and research findings are also referred to, in order to make the requirements gathering as detailed and exhaustive as possible.
Requirements Analysis and Documentation
Once the software requirements are elicited, they are thoroughly analyzed by business analysts. Requirements analysis helps review, validate and assess the feasibility of requirements. Some of the techniques used for requirements analysis are requirements animation, automated reasoning, analogical and case-based reasoning.
Business analysts document the Software Requirements Specification based on the results of the requirements analysis. Software requirement specifications serves as the base for the software design and development and can run into many pages depending on the complexity of the software application, size of the user groups and number of users.
A well-written software requirements specification not only lists out stakeholders’ requirements but also communicates these requirements to the technical community for design and development of the system.
Communicating Requirements
The Requirements Specification document drafted during the course of the software business analysis process serves as the basis for Systems Design by the development teams. It is also used as a contract between the client and the Project Team and for planning project schedules, formulating test plans and validation of project goals. Thus, a clear communication of the requirements specification to all associated groups is necessary.
Communication of requirements is a crucial stage in software business analysis. The requirements specification has to be communicated clearly to the customer, project manager, development team, testers and end-users to make sure that all involved in the software development process are clear on what their expected deliverables are. Formal and informal meetings, written documentation, process flow charts and diagrammatic representations are used extensively to communicate the specifications of the project to all team members. Business analysts need to have excellent communication and presentation abilities, strong inter-personal skills and sound conceptual knowledge on software development platforms.
The customers and end-users tend to view an application from the functionality aspect, while Project Managers, development teams and testers will have completely technical approach to the project. A skilled business analyst ensures that the project specifications are communicated to both the technical and non technical users with maximum clarity.
Designing the Solution
At this stage, the development team sets to work on identifying and designing a solution that best meets the stated requirements. The basic solution architecture is also determined during this stage of the software business analysis process. During each step of software consulting there is repeated interaction between the developer group and business analyst to ensure that the proposed solution is comprehensive and complete.
The application development team focuses on all aspects of solution design starting from a prototype of the User Interface to creation of implementation models and test models from use cases.
Implementation and Testing the Solution
Once the design has been finalized and accepted by the customer, the systems team moves on to developing code based on the design and implementation models. A continuous process of testing goes on as each module is developed. The code is tested against requirements, test cases and test plans.
Integration and Quality Testing is carried out before the application is presented for demonstration and client acceptance. Through these stages the business analyst has to ensure that the application meets the requirements specifications and project goals. The application is debugged and fine-tuned based on client feedback. This is followed by actual deployment of the application on live servers at the customer site.
Here at joinBurak
Business analysis is a critical first step in all our software consulting projects. We employ skilled business analysts who conduct detailed review, analysis and documentation of your business processes and requirements. A clear and unambiguous documentation of all these requirements serves as the basis for the application design, development, implementation and testing of customized software solutions that are guaranteed to meet your needs. Our business analysis processes ensures that we develop robust, scalable and superior software solutions that exceed your expectations and at affordable rates.
Want to know more...?
