Analysis
WE FOCUS ON YOUR NEEDS
WHY CARRY OUT ANALYSIS?
Though the benefits may seem obvious, the reality is most companies do not fully appreciate how their businesses can be helped by analysis and the improvements that can arise as a result.
Provides alignment throughout a change process particularly in terms of defining clear business requirements
Discover new organisational needs to help the business reach a better understanding of the changes required for continued success.
Reprioritise at different phases of the requirements lifecycle to guaranteeing that client efforts focus on what matters.
Individual projects may differ in the level of analysis required, let’s review the typical eight-step process below:
STEP 1 – ORIENTATION
Sometimes client projects are already underway, at other times there are vague notions about what the project should be or why it should exist.
Our analysts* take time to get oriented to ensure we are not only moving quickly but also able to be effective and confident contributors, the analyst undertakes the following tasks:
Identify All
To engage and define the project’s business objectives and scope, we identify the primary stakeholders, ‘subject matter experts’, products and customers.
The Role
The analyst inducts the client in their duties and responsibilities.
Project History
To avoid repeated work (that has already been done) or previously made decisions, the analyst needs to understand the project history.
Existing Systems
Also, need to understand current business processes and any existing systems.
* At IDC the analyst and product manager roles are interchangeable and undertaken by the same assigned IDC team member.
STEP 2 – OBJECTIVES
The quickest path to a successful project is to achieve client’s agreement on high-level needs early.
The analyst undertakes the following tasks:
The Why
Pinning expectations from the primary client stakeholders – essentially discovering the “why” behind the project.
Reconcile Expectations
Reconcile any potential conflicting issues: so that all client stakeholders and users enter into the project with a shared communal understanding of the business objectives, which are not unique to “one person’s perspective”.
Clear Objectives
Ensure business case is clear and actionable to provide the project team momentum and context while defining the scope and, later, detailed requirements.
STEP 3 – SCOPE
A clear and complete statement of scope helps the project team to envision implementation of the client ‘needs’ in tangible ways.
Typically the scope is defined collaboratively by the assigned analyst and scrum master (aka the project manager) and consists of:
Solution Approach
Definition of the high-level description of goals, risks and assumptions and business process changes required as part of the implementation to meet the primary business objectives.
The Stakeholders
Draft scope statements, reviewed by the key client and our technology team.
Confirm Case
Reconfirm the business case to ensure that it still makes sense for the client to continue investment.
STEP 4 – ELICIT
The gathering of information necessary to understand what the client requires of specific features or process change.
This may include the following methods:
121 Interviews
‘Subject matter experts’ explain exactly what their requirements are which also helps our team to understand the concept of the project as a whole.
Focus Groups
Focus groups (or JADs) are also useful to understand the requirements in a common solution approach.
Surveys
We can also send out surveys or questionnaires to help understand and perhaps prioritise needs. This can be done via online forms, email or other.
Other Methods
We can also elicit information from simple observations and or by prototyping.
STEP 5 – ANALYSIS
The wishlist is reviewed and probed further until we have are completely clear, and is undertaken in form of:
Prioritisation
Categorisation
Validatation
Futher Questions
STEP 6 – DOCUMENTATION
This is when all the gathered information is documented in the following form (as appropriate):
Requirements Management Plan
Business Requirement Document (BRD)
Process Flows / UMLs
Other
STEP 7 – COMMUNICATION
The requirements are presented to the client’s stakeholders and key users for a final sign-off.
STEP 8 – VALIDATE
To meet the business objectives, the analyst continues to support tasks during the entire technical implementation cycle, by ensuring:
Requirements
That the technical design meets the business requirements.
Goals
That the developed software meets the project goals.
Quality
The final product passes quality assurance tests and user acceptance.
