Before your company launches its next package selection, implementation or upgrade, make sure you don't cripple the project from the start by failing to identify your requirements - the number one reason that projects spin out of control. This white paper summarizes some of the key lessons we have learned through our industry-leading requirements definition practice.
Getting Consensus on Business Requirements: Tips and Traps
New Castle DE www.iag.biz 1 800-209-3616
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Out of every 100 IT projects started, 94 will start over again at least once. Before your company launches its next package selection, implementation, or upgrade, make sure you don?t cripple the project from the start by failing to identify your requirements - the number one reason that projects spin out of control. Make sure that your company has a clear understanding of how important the requirements definition stage is, has a proven way to carry it out properly, and doesn?t skip this critical phase in the rush to get an RFP out the door. This white paper summarizes some of the key lessons we have learned through our industry-leading requirements definition and management practice. Here are tools and ideas you can put into practice immediately: ? A self diagnosis - does your company have a requirements gap that affects the probability of success for all projects, not just the complex ERP package implementations?
? What can you do in the requirements stage to improve the probability of project success dramatically?
? Tips and traps we have learned in consistently building consensus around a robust and detailed definition of requirements
New Castle DE www.iag.biz 1 800-209-3616
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 2
CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. 3
SYMPTOMS OF A REQUIREMENTS GAP ...................................................................................... 4
WHAT IS THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE IN IMPROVING THE WAY A COMPANY DEALS WITH REQUIREMENTS? ........................................................................................................................ 5
A LOOK AT THE WAY SYSTEM SELECTION IS OFTEN DONE .......................................................... 6
TWO WEEKS THAT WILL SAVE YOUR PROJECT, AND YOUR SANITY ............................................. 7
TIPS AND TRAPS IN GETTING CONSENSUS ON REQUIREMENTS .................................................. 9
Stakeholders must OWN the requirements ....................................................................... 9 Speed and efficiency are the essence of the process ........................................................ 9 Defined beginning and end point in the requirements gathering stage ........................ 10 Getting too focused on a technology too early in the process ....................................... 10 Insufficient detail in how the data flow needs to be handled ........................................ 11 "Best Practices" Trap ....................................................................................................... 11
THE BENEFITS OF BETTER REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................... 12
ABOUT IAG CONSULTING ......................................................................................................... 13
New Castle DE www.iag.biz 1 800-209-3616
SYMPTOMS OF A REQUIREMENTS GAP
How do you know you have a requirements gap on a project? You probably won?t until the project is late, over-budget, and the scope is creeping out of sight. No amount of project management can fix a project where requirements are poorly defined. A failing project will eventually die under the weight of user frustration and antipathy. However:
Sometimes it is not the project, but the corporation that has a requirements gap.
How can you recognize if your company has a requirements gap?
Score your company using this simple test on a scale of 1 to 5:
1 = never a problem on projects 3 = this problem sometimes impact projects 5 = this always occurs in projects Your co mpany cannot launch a requirements gathering stage and predict how long the requirements phase will take +... [download for more]
