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How to Organize and Prioritize Requirements
The document outlines strategies for organizing and prioritizing requirements, emphasizing the importance of a structured approach to requirements analysis. It details methods for organizing requirements using a RACI matrix and prioritizing them with techniques like the MoSCoW method and scoring for importance. Challenges in the process are also addressed, highlighting the roles of various stakeholders involved in the requirements management process.
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How to Organize and Prioritize Requirements
- 1. How to Organizeand Prioritize Requirements IIBA Event October 27, 2009 Patrick van Abbema
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- 3. Organize Requirements Don't agonize,organize. 3
- 4. Organize Requirements What is What are Why? the the Purpose? objectives? 4
- 5. Organize Requirements • Organizational Process Assets Inputs • Requirements • Solution Scope Organize • Organize Task Requirements Requirements • Requirements Outputs Structure 5
- 6. Organize Requirements Elements – Model Selection 6
- 7. Organize Requirements Stakeholders RACI NAME Role Responsibilities * R A C I - Coordinates participation across the stages of the project work HR Business for user readiness and A C I Lead organization re-design activities - Role design and user procedure definition Procurement Advises on purchasing policies and A C I Advisor processes 7
- 8. Organize Requirements Output REQUIREMENTS TRACEABILITY MATRIX Project Name: Business Analyst: Patrick van Abbema Project Manager Name: Project Description: <required> Initiative Process M or Req Requirement Description/ ID Req ID ID R? Source Notes / Questions I5 - Select Shall be and Section 508 Implement BReq1 Compliant M a Learning for Manageme Criteria: accessibility nt System - Support JAWS reader 8
- 9. Prioritize Requirements If youdon't know where you are going, then any path will take you there... 9
- 10. Prioritize Requirements WHY? What is the Purpose? 10
- 11. Prioritize Requirements • Business Case • Business Need Inputs • Requirements • Reqs. Mgt. Plan • Stakeholder List Prioritize • Prioritize Requirements Task Requirements • Assess Proposed Solution • Allocate Req. Outputs • Validate Solution • Requirements Mgt.& Com. 11
- 12. Prioritize Requirements Techniques MoSCoW Must Should Could Won’t 12
- 13. Prioritize Requirements Examples Weighing your requirements Multiplying Compatibility Importance factor 13
- 14. Prioritize Requirements Elements Indicateyour Products Ceiling Score with the requirement 1 = Out-of-the-box 2 = Standard tailoring 3 = Customization required 4 = Partner 5 = Future release 6 = Not available 14
- 15. Prioritize Requirements Examples Indicate how important the requirement is 1 = Very Low 2 = Low 3 = Medium 4 = High 5 = Very High 15
- 16. Prioritize Requirements Challenges Challenges in facilitating a requirements prioritization session include Non-negotiable Demands Unrealistic 16
- 17. Prioritize Requirements Stakeholders Implementation Domain SME Project Manager Sponsor SME 17
- 18. Prioritize Requirements Output Req. Requirements Importance Notes Ceiling ID to <XX> Score The Product shall Mandatory 1) Identify 3 full-scale 2 integrate with implementations of The Peoplesoft (v8.8) HR Product with integration with and Financials. Peoplesoft v8.8 HR and Financials. Who are these clients and what is their contact information? 2) What are the resources required by the Supplier to successfully complete the implementation? 18
- 19. Questions? 19
Editor's Notes
- #5 The definition of the business need is frequently the most critical step in any business analysis effort. Can you explain why?Give an example of what has happened in your world when the business need was not clearly identified and defined.Purpose - To create a set of views of the requirements for the new business solution that are comprehensive, complete, consistent, and understood from all stakeholder perspectives Two Objectives - To understand which models are appropriate for the business domain and solution scopeIdentify model interrelationships and dependencies
- #7 Can you explain what the desired outcome should do, if it isn’t a solution ? (page 84)In reality, desired outcomes should address a problem or opportunity, and support the business goals and objectives. Proposed solutions must be evaluated against desired outcomes to ensure they can deliver those outcomes.The business analyst determines which types of models will be required to describe the solution scope and meet the informational needs of stakeholders. Modeling concepts relative to Business Analysis:User Classes, Profiles or RolesConcepts and Relationships Events Processes Rules
- #8 Remember – any changes to the scope need to be approved by the sponsor!Domain SME, End User, Implementation SME & SponsorAffected by analysis techniques used to organize requirements since they need to verify and validate the requirements. The business analyst tailors the approach to meet the needs of key stakeholder groups, and must determine which models will be useful to each.Project ManagerUses the organized set of requirements to verify the scope of the solution and assess the work that needs to be done in the project.
- #9 The deliverable is a statement of the business need. Requirements Structure: The output of this task is an organized structure for the requirements and a documented set of relationships between them. This structure is distinct from tracing and is used so that the analyst and stakeholders know where a specific requirement should be found
- #10 The definition of the business need is frequently the most critical step in any business analysis effort. Can you explain why?Give an example of what has happened in your world when the business need was not clearly identified and defined.
- #11 The definition of the business need is frequently the most critical step in any business analysis effort. Can you explain why?Give an example of what has happened in your world when the business need was not clearly identified and defined.Purpose:Ensures that analysis and implementation efforts focus on the most critical requirements. DescriptionA decision process used to determine the relative importance of requirementsImportance may be based on the relative value, risk, difficulty of implementation, or on other criteria Priorities are used to determine which requirements should be targets for further analysis and to determine which requirements should be implemented first
- #15 What is the definition of a goal? Section 5.1.4 of the BABOK®defines them as longer term, ongoing, and qualitative statements of a state or condition that the organization is seeking to establish and maintain. Goals and objectives can relate to changes that the organization wants to accomplish, or current conditions that it wants to maintain. High-level goals can be decomposed to break down the general strategy into distinct focus areas that may lead to desired results, such as increased customer satisfaction, operational excellence and/or business growth. How can goals eventually be linked to specific measures? (page 83) As goals are analyzed, they are converted into more descriptive, granular, and SPECIFIC (remember the S in SMART!) objectives, and linked to measures that make it possible to objectively assess if the objective has been achieved. .1 Basis for PrioritizationRequirements may be prioritized using a number of different criteria:Business ValueBusiness or Technical RiskImplementation DifficultyLikelihood of SuccessRegulatory or Policy ComplianceRelationship to Other RequirementsStakeholder AgreementUrgency
- #17 What is the definition of a goal? Section 5.1.4 of the BABOK®defines them as longer term, ongoing, and qualitative statements of a state or condition that the organization is seeking to establish and maintain. Goals and objectives can relate to changes that the organization wants to accomplish, or current conditions that it wants to maintain. High-level goals can be decomposed to break down the general strategy into distinct focus areas that may lead to desired results, such as increased customer satisfaction, operational excellence and/or business growth. How can goals eventually be linked to specific measures? (page 83) As goals are analyzed, they are converted into more descriptive, granular, and SPECIFIC (remember the S in SMART!) objectives, and linked to measures that make it possible to objectively assess if the objective has been achieved. .2 ChallengesChallenges in facilitating a requirements prioritization session include:Non-negotiable Demands - Stakeholders attempt to avoid difficult choices, fail to recognize the necessity for making tradeoffs, or desire to rank all requirements as high priority. Unrealistic Tradeoffs - The solution development team may intentionally or unintentionally try to influence the result of the prioritization process by overestimating the difficulty or complexity of implementing certain requirements.
- #18 Remember – any changes to the scope need to be approved by the sponsor!Domain SMEMay be invited to participate in the prioritization of requirements, to assess the relative business need, and to negotiate their importanceImplementation SMEMay be asked to evaluate the relative complexity or risk associated with the implementation of certain requirementsProject ManagerIs responsible for the implementation of the solution and will use the priority of requirements as an input into the project planSponsorSince sponsors are ultimately accountable for the business solution and major project decisions, they need to be invited to participate in the discussion.
- #19 The deliverable is a statement of the business need. Requirements [Prioritized]: A prioritized requirement has an attribute that describes its relative importance to stakeholders and the organization. At the completion of this task, each requirement should have an assigned priority. The priorities may apply to a requirement or to a group or related requirements.
- #20 Remember – any changes to the scope need to be approved by the sponsor!Domain SMEMay be invited to participate in the prioritization of requirements, to assess the relative business need, and to negotiate their importanceImplementation SMEMay be asked to evaluate the relative complexity or risk associated with the implementation of certain requirementsProject ManagerIs responsible for the implementation of the solution and will use the priority of requirements as an input into the project planSponsorSince sponsors are ultimately accountable for the business solution and major project decisions, they need to be invited to participate in the discussion.