The later in the system development life-cycle that major errors are discovered the more expensive it is to fix them. But the earliest stages of the systems development lifecycle (SDLC) are most often the least consistently executed. This paper describes a methodology that brings the early stages of the SDLC up to a high level of maturity: consistent, proven, and optimized for success.
Getting Business Requirements Right Fixing t he highest-leverage stages in the System Development Life Cycle
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The later in the system development life-cycle that major errors are discovered the more expensive it is to fix them: defects found in released software are 80 times more expensive to fix than defects found in the specification stage. But the earliest stages of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) are most often the least consistently executed. "Defining Project Scope" and "Eliciting Requirements" are, in the terms of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), neither repeatable, defined, nor managed well - let alone optimized.
This paper describes a methodology that brings the early stages of the SDLC up to a high level of maturity: consistent, proven, and optimized for success. This drastically reduces the downstream problems that plague many IT projects, and substantially enhances the predictability of cost and timelines. The larger the project, the higher the risk, therefore a sound business and software elicitation and definition methodology is an essential element in the selection of an ERP system, or in contemplating an enterprise-class application.
The methodology focuses on two intertwined steps, defining project scope, and eliciting requirements, solving the problems that account for 98% of the errors in these two stages:
? How do you know if the requirements are complete?
? How do you know if the requirements have been correctly and unambiguously identified?
This paper provides the answer to these questions, and how to get this answer this in a highly compressed timetable, putting a project on a stable foundation, and engaging stakeholders to secure their buy-in and enthusiasm.
New Castle DE www.iag.biz 1 800-209-3616
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 2
CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. 3
THE EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT ON INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY ................................................. 4
GETTING BETTER AT REQUIREMENTS ELICITATION AND MANAGEMENT .................................... 5
THE POWER OF THE BUSINESS ACTIVITY AS A UNIT OF ANALYSIS............................................... 7
GETTING THIS INFORMATION ..................................................................................................... 8
IMPACT OF HIGHER QUALITY REQUIREMENTS ON COST AND QUALITY ...................................... 9
IMPACT OF HIGHER QUALITY REQUIREMENTS ON STAKEHOLDER TIME TO DO REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................................................................. 10
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................ 11
ABOUT IAG CONSULTING ......................................................................................................... 12
New Castle DE www.iag.biz 1 800-209-3616
THE EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT ON INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY
Large-scale systems projects fail with alarming regularity. The predictability of schedule and budget is shockingly low. The Standish Group reported that the typical project over-ran its budget 189%, and over-ran its schedule by 222%. With this kind of industry track record it?s no wonder that CIO credibility is at an all-time low.
A combination of technology improvements (e.g., software development kits, configuration management systems, and automated regression testing) and process improvements (e.g., CMMI and ISO 9000 standards) has been proven to make a big difference. Research from a number of sources shows that an investment in software productivity improvement can yield as much as:
? 67% reduction in rework costs. ? 30% to 40% reduc... [download for more]
