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DEFINING EFFECTIVE BUSINESS & SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Effective business and system requirements are critical in the success of software projects. They help ensure the success of a project through the alignment and consensus of the business, technical, and management stakeholders. Individual team members often use an ad-hoc approach, technique, or tool. Any of these can lead to a lack of communication or misinterpretation of requirements because the requirements are defined in a way that may be effective for one group or person but not another. This is one reason why so many software projects fail.

This course provides a consistent approach to requirements definition based on proven results and industry-standard best practices. It shows how to tailor our approach to your specific organization and project. It provides a flexible yet step-by-step approach that benefits to every project stakeholder, the project itself, and your overall organization.

Course Benefits
  • Learn how to clearly define the scope of a project and how to manage scope creep
  • Learn how requirements can proactively guide a project towards success rather than just being historical documentation
  • Learn how processes impact your organization and projects
  • Learn how data requirements can provide a stable foundation for software that minimizes maintenance or rework
  • Learn the most effective way to harness use case requirements to connect business and technical team members
Course Outline
  1. Introduction
    • Define Business and System Requirements
    • Understand how requirements fit into the overall systems development life cycle
    • Learn how the requirements approach should vary for different types of projects
    • Realize the benefits of a visual modelbased approach
    • Understand how a requirement approach can help lead a project team

  2. Project Scope
    • Define project scope from five unique perspectives
    • Understand how project scope techniques vary based on project type
    • Apply scoping techniques to your projects
    • Exercises and Case Study

  3. The Process Model
    • Define Activities and Events
    • Map Business Processes
    • Improve Business Processes
    • Exercises and Case Study

  4. The Data Model – ERD
    • Define Entities, Attributes, and Relationships with an entity-relationship diagram (ERD)
    • Understand the differences, uses, and benefits of a conceptual, logical, and physical ERD
    • Understand the roles involved in a each type of ERD
    • Exercises and Case Study

  5. The Data Model – State Transition Diagram
    • Define the Life Cycle of Core Data
    • Integrate Process and Data Requirements
    • Exercises and Case Study

  6. The Use Case Model
    • Create a Use Case Diagram
    • Define User Interface Requirements
    • Define the Use Case Scenarios
    • Understand the differences between Business and System Use Cases
    • Exercises and Case Study

  7. Moving forward
    • Formal versus Informal Requirements Definition and Integration
    • Manage Change of the Requirements
    • Understand the Connection to Project Management Techniques
    • Use Requirements to Structure and Facilitate Team Meetings and Sessions
    • Review Requirements Modeling Tools
    • Transition Requirements into Design and Development
    • Understand how Requirements are used for Software Testing
Intended Audience

Everyone involved in a software project needs to understand the business and system requirements at some level. This course specifically addresses the needs of project team members including business analysts, developers, project managers, subject matter experts, systems analysts, and other stakeholders.

Frequently Asked Questions

How practical are the concepts presented in this course?
Every concept in this course drives the definition, improvement, and consensus of business and system requirements. As consultants, we have successfully used our approach on many different projects and have adapted it to each of their unique project needs. Only concepts that have specific and tangible benefit for a team role or the overall project are included in this course.

On what type of projects is this approach useful?
We will specifically cover how each requirement technique is useful for given types of projects including custom software development, off-the-shelf implementation, maintenance releases, etc.

Can we use our projects as examples in the class?
Yes. Each chapter covers how the presented techniques can be applied for your organization in general and for your specific project(s).

What type of approach or methodology does this course cover?
The approach and concepts presented in this course are based on the most effective elements of proven and industry leading techniques including UML, Agile, and IE .

Is this class for beginners or for those with more experience in business and system requirements?
This course is for anyone involved in a software project. Individual experience is helpful, but everyone on a project team must use the same approach, terminology, and techniques to work effectively as a team. This course will form that foundation.

Will we get to practice the techniques that we learn in class?
Yes. We will practice every technique presented in class in individual exercises and group case studies. We will practice the techniques using generic business examples to help reinforce the concepts and using your specific examples to help apply the concepts.

How much experience does the instructor have?
All our instructors are senior-level professionals that spend most of their time on actual project work for clients throughout the country. All instructors have worked on many different types of projects for organizations of different sizes and in different industries. Your instructor will use this experience to help you apply the concepts and techniques to your specific organization and project.

Course Quick Facts

Course Length: 2 days
Location: On Site / Public
Prerequisites: None


Course Details
Benefits Outline
Audience FAQ

With this course, you will receive:

  • A Certificate of Completion that demonstrates your fulfillment of the course objectives

  • A comprehensive workbook for use during the class that is also designed as an invaluable reference guide

  • Participation in exercises and case studies specifically designed to reinforce the skills that you'll learn

  • Understanding of how to apply each technique at your organization and on your project



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