There are three possible areas in which requirements could potentially be flawed that could dramatically impact the amount of “Rework Tax” you’re paying.

1. Badly Formed Requirements. Industry organizations such as IEEE typically define the quality of requirements based on the degree to which they are “unambiguous, complete, correct, verifiable, consistent, modifiable, traceable, and useable.”  Falling short on any of these increases the likelihood that someone will misunderstand the intent behind the requirements and implement the wrong thing, leading to rework.
2. Missing Requirements. When requirements are missing, either something doesn’t get built or downstream practitioners are required to ‘fill in the blanks’ with assumptions that are often invalid, once again leading to rework.
3. Misunderstood Requirements. “Oh…I thought you meant this!”  Even the best-composed requirements that meet all the quality characteristics of Item 1 can still be misunderstood. How requirements are expressed and how clearly they are presented can determine whether or not they are understood. For example, giving end-users long text based requirements documents is akin to giving a builder a text-based description of a house instead of a set of blueprints.

The importance of having accurate, high quality requirements for the success of the application development process is often not recognized. That means stakeholders are often not as invested in the requirements development phase as they need to be to reduce the “Rework Tax” and deliver the right software, on time and on budget. Although key, lack of stakeholder involvement is just one of many challenges in producing good requirements. Others can include a lack of clear objectives, inconsistent information gathering, information overload, and poor expression.

New “For Dummies” book offers practical insights and best practice recommendations on how to author, validate and manage software requirements

Toronto, ON – April 29, 2013: Blueprint, the leading provider of enterprise Requirements Definition & Management (RDM) software, is pleased to announce the launch of its new desktop reference guide, Requirements Definition & Management For Dummies. This addition to the popular “For Dummies” series is jam packed with meaningful information about the critical role of the Business Analyst, and the vital role they play in the application development lifecycle.

“This comprehensive yet easy-to-read book is the definitive guide to understanding requirements definition and management and its direct impact on software project quality and delivery,” said Dan Shimmerman, President and CEO of Blueprint Systems. “Business Analysts, their managers and anyone involved in the requirements process will want to consult this resource to understand how the business environment is changing and what Business Analysts need in order to do their job more effectively.”

As a market leader, Blueprint saw the need to elevate awareness of the critical role of the Business Analyst and explore the emerging Requirements Definition and Management software category. This easy to read guide, covers the key concepts related to the Business Analyst’s role, job function and overall impact on software development and delivery success.

Requirements Definition & Management For Dummies examines:

• The critical role of the Business Analyst
• How Business Analysts are transforming business
• The ways in which Business Analysts are changing how requirements are defined and managed
• What Business Analysts need to succeed
• Tips to improve Business Analyst productivity

“Business analysis is a relatively new, but fast-growing corporate function and in fact, the number of Business Analyst positions has increased dramatically in recent years,” said Tony Higgins, Vice President of Product Marketing, Blueprint, and co-author of the book. “But in spite of the growing numbers and strategic importance of the role, Business Analysts still spend far too much time on low-impact clerical activities due to inadequate, inefficient tools that impair their ability to do their job. This book gives Business Analysts the information they need to help others better understand their role and what they need to do their job effectively and to focus on what matters most – business analysis.”

This pocket guide, published by John Wiley & Sons was authored by Tony Higgins, Blueprint’s Vice-President of Product Management, Keith Barrett, Blueprint Senior Systems Engineer, and Robert Schneider, a technology consultant and writer based in Silicon Valley. The content is based on hundreds of Blueprint client implementations and decades of collective expertise in RDM. The book is available in hardcover or as an eBook.

A complimentary copy can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/15Y7YOZ

About Blueprint

Blueprint develops requirements definition and management (RDM) software purpose-built to resolve the errors and inefficiencies encountered in RDM today. Blueprint solves many of the time-consuming, costly, error-prone elements of defining requirements, resulting in better business applications with far less rework. Headquartered in Toronto, Blueprint has global sales, operations and partner presence. Visit http://www.blueprintsys.com.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Bentley
Blueprint Systems
416-673-9339

Jennifer.bentley@blueprintsys.com

In a recent social media poll by Doreen Evans Associates, business analysts (BAs) reported that their top obstacle to success was the perception that requirements gathering takes too long. The truth is that requirements gathering and requirements management—when done correctly—are essential to producing outcomes that meet the needs of users. And, because the process is so necessary, it takes time.  In fact, BAs believe (and analysts like Gartner agree) that more time, not less, should be spent conducting business analysis. While it may be hard to convey the message that a process that is already perceived to be too long may not be taking long enough, you do have some great arguments that support this somewhat unpleasant message. For DEA’s persuasive arguments and tactics to support them, click here.

Doreen Evans and Associated has just released an updated version of their report comparing enterprise-class software requirements platforms.  This report now includes Blueprint’s newly released web-based requirements platform.  As before both the report and the detailed comparison data is available for download.  Visit doreenevans.com to get your new copy of the report.

Celent and Doreen Evans Associates cover business analyst competency—Research results and practical advice. During this 60-minute informational and interactive webinar, Celent will not only let you know where your competition stands, but having worked for over 20 years helping insurance and banking firms establish BA Competency, DEA can show you how you can gain a competitive advantage through improved BA performance:

• Discover how the Insurance and Banking industries judge the competency of their own BAs
• Understand why projects fail—and what you can do about it
• Learn how to gain critical leadership buy-in and empower agents for real change

Click here to register: https://doreenevansevents.webex.com/doreenevansevents/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=930706702

Demand for increased business analyst involvement throughout the system development life cycle has fueled the recognition and growth of the business analysis profession.  As a result you may be considering how to formalize your business analysis practice.  To determine if a Business Analysis Center of Excellence (BACoE) is right for your organization, start with a discovery and planning effort focused on understanding your current situation. We find that discovery and planning is well worth the investment as it provides a clear picture of the organization’s business analysis maturity and the effort it will take to reach a higher level. At Doreen Evans Associates, we help organizations establish, institutionalize and maintain best-in-class business analysis competency. Click here to download a practical approach to determine the need for a BACoE in your organization.

A new report has just been released comparing enterprise-class software requirements platforms targeted for business analysis needs.  This report, authored by Susan Martin of Doreen Evans Associates (DEA) describes the criteria that are important in an enterprise requirements platform and why.   It then identifies those specific products, out of the many available today, that are truly enterprise ready and that are focused directly on the needs of business analysts.   Finally it presents the results of a very detailed product comparison along with recommendations.  The detailed comparison data is also available as a separate download – the link to that is within the report itself.  Click here to get your copy of the report.

At many forward-thinking organizations, recognition of the importance of business analysis skills has fostered a movement toward building Business Analysis Centers of Excellence.   But building a Business Analysis Center of Excellence (BACoE) can’t be done overnight.  It requires commitment and planning.  At Doreen Evans Associates, we help organizations establish, institutionalize and maintain best-in-class business analysis competency.  Click here to download the top five lessons we’ve learned as we’ve helped clients establish their BACoE organizations.

Requirements.net is very pleased to welcome its newest member, Doreen Evans Associates (DEA).   DEA is one of the longest running Business Analysis service firms in the industry.  Throughout their 19 year history DEA has remained true to its vision of providing experienced, high-quality services while enabling clients to be self-sufficient in the discipline of business analysis.  While they’ve remained a smaller-scale and focused business, they are a giant in the space.  We expect DEA to be an active contributor to requirements.net, sharing their expertise and knowledge, so stay tuned!

Leading analyst firm voke is currently conducting a survey whose result will be published in an upcoming voke Agile Market Snapshot.  All information provided is confidential and anonymous, with only the statistical results being reported.  Whether you currently use agile, transitioning to it, or just investigating it, your input is valuable.  Please take a moment to complete the survey here.