Best Practices Conference 2010 August 24, 2010 Washington, DC, USA

1. How to Best Gather Requirements
for SharePoint Projects
Dux Raymond Sy, PMP
Screencast: http://vimeo.com/14460673

2. What Does This Mean?
8 5 4 9 1 7 6 3 2 0
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3. How About This?
SharePoint
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4. Session Objectives
 In this presentation, you will learn the best practices in developing
requirements for SharePoint projects
 In addition, you will be able to identify:
 Why having a well defined business case is necessary to effectively initiate
requirements gathering
 The key components of requirements gathering process
 Why requirements traceability is paramount in defining ROI in SharePoint
projects
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

5. Presenter: Dux Raymond Sy, PMP
 Managing Partner, Innovative-E, Inc.
 Author, “SharePoint for Project Management”
by O’Reilly Media
 For more information, connect with Dux
 E-Mail: dux.sy@innovative-e.com
 Twitter: twitter.com/meetdux
 LinkedIn: meetdux.com/li
 Blog: meetdux.com
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

6. How to Best Gather Requirements for SharePoint Projects
 What are Requirements?
 Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering
 Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis
 Too Legit to Quit?
 Put it on Paper
 Summary
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

7. Why Are Requirements So Difficult?
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8. Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

9. What is a Requirement?
 A requirement is something wanted or needed
 Formally documented and written statements
 Capabilities needed to solve a problem
 Conditions of a delivered system, services, product, or process
 Constraints on the system, service, product, or process
 Requirements are not
 Verbal, informal statements or conversations in the hallways
 Solutions that state how to solve the problem or meet the objectives
 Characteristics of other systems, services, products, or processes
 Project budgets, plans, or implementation details
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10. What’s So Special About SharePoint?
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11. BP
Requirements Focus
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12. Example: Defining a Business Need is a Must
 In a recent study, information workers today spend 45 mins/day searching for
information
 In a team of 20 people, that’s 900 mins/day
 In 3 months, that’s 54000 mins or about 37 person days
 How much does this cost in time & money?
 What if search productivity can be increased by 15%?
 That’s gaining 7 mins back from the 45 mins lost
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

13. Example: Mapping Needs to SharePoint Requirements
 Business requirements
 SharePoint shall increase user productivity by 15 percent
 User requirements
 The user shall be able to retrieve search results within five seconds of
submitting a search request that can support a maximum of 10,000
simultaneous search requests
 System requirements
 SharePoint server shall have two web front ends and a dedicated SQL
Server which has at least dual processors
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

14. BP
How do You Develop Requirements?
 Requirements development is iterative
 Business
 User
 System
 Key Steps
1. Requirements Elicitation
2. Analyzing Requirements
3. Validating Requirements
4. Documenting Requirements
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

15. How to Best Gather Requirements for SharePoint Projects
 What are Requirements?
 Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering
 Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis
 Too Legit to Quit?
 Put it on Paper
 Summary
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

16. Requirements Elicitation
 Elicitation: gathering and understanding what stakeholders and users need
 Done at both an organizational (business) and a more detailed user level
 Elicitation is a human-based activity
 Determine requirements sources
 Decide how to gather information
 Involves research, reading, talking, and observing
 Business-level context and framework
 How the end users do their jobs
 What would help them do their jobs better
 Within the scope of our system, product, or process
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17. BP
Elicitation Process
1. What do I need to know?
2. Where do I get this information?
3. Get the information
4. Organize what you know
5. Do I have enough information?
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18. Goal is to Identify Potential SharePoint Solution
 How would you like to drive a Lamborghini Diablo?
 BTW, you just learned how to ride a bike yesterday
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19. How to Best Gather Requirements for SharePoint Projects
 What are Requirements?
 Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering
 Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis
 Too Legit to Quit?
 Put it on Paper
 Summary
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

20. Requirements Analysis
 Requirements analysis takes elicited information and makes sense of it
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21. BP
Analysis Process
1. Profile Users
2. Model stated requirements
3. Gap analysis
4. Identify the real requirements
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22. Example: Process Flow Diagram
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23. How to Best Gather Requirements for SharePoint Projects
 What are Requirements?
 Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering
 Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis
 Too Legit to Quit?
 Put it on Paper
 Summary
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

24. BP
Requirements Validation
 Requirements validation allows the user(s) to confirm and prioritize the real
requirements
 Essential to identify what it will take to deploy SharePoint
 Resources
 Time
 Skillsets
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25. Example: Prioritizing SharePoint Features
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26. How to Best Gather Requirements for SharePoint Projects
 What are Requirements?
 Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering
 Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis
 Too Legit to Quit?
 Put it on Paper
 Summary
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

27. BP
Generate a Requirements Document
 Formally communicates
 Overall quantitative and qualitative characteristics
 Functionality of the desired end result or outcome
 Should include
 Requirement Statements
 Process Diagrams
 Traceability Matrix
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

28. What Makes a Great Requirement?
Content + Structure = Readability
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29. Example: Mapping Needs to SharePoint Requirements
 Business requirements
 SharePoint shall increase user productivity by 15 percent
 User requirements
 The user shall be able to retrieve search results within five seconds of
submitting a search request that can support a maximum of 10,000
simultaneous search requests
 System requirements
 SharePoint server shall have two web front ends and a dedicated SQL
Server which has at least dual processors
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

30. Example: Intranet Requirements Document
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

31. How to Best Gather Requirements for SharePoint Projects
 What are Requirements?
 Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering
 Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis
 Too Legit to Quit?
 Put it on Paper
 Summary
Twitter: @meetdux Hashtag: #bpc10 #spreq

32. Resources
 Article: How to Prioritize Business Needs Before Implementing SharePoint
http://bit.ly/8sCiVR
 Article: How to Define Measurable and Traceable Requirements for SharePoint
Projects
http://bit.ly/9AzTDy
 Article: Project Management Resources for SharePoint 2010 Projects
http://bit.ly/cBYl7X
 Download: Innovative-e Requirements Development Sample Templates
http://www.meetdux.com/dl/req4sp.zip
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33. Questions?
 E-Mail: dux.sy@innovative-e.com
 LinkedIn: meetdux.com/li
 Blog: meetdux.com
 Twitter: twitter.com/meetdux
Provide feedback to get a chance to win
“SharePoint for Project Management” ebook
http://meetdux.com/feedback
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34. Thank You!
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