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Upgrading of Replacing Legacy Applications? An Appropriate First Step
Have you ever suffered from writer’s block when attempting to develop a lengthy or comprehensive document from scratch? Being stuck on a blank piece of paper or computer screen can be frustrating. Developing detailed functional and technical requirements that describe the current and future software needs of an organization is a daunting task that can cause this type of mental block–yet it is a fundamental step to begin a system upgrade and replacement project.
Developing a list of technical and functional requirements requires input from many individuals within any organization to help ensure that all needs have been addressed. It is often the first opportunity an organization has to build consensus among stakeholders and instill the importance of migrating systems and changing business processes to take advantage of new technology platforms.
Public sector organizations are
sometimes challenged with overly
complex, manual business processes
and systems that have developed over
years of daily routine. Organizations
often have varying levels of understanding
of their existing business
processes and are not familiar with
new technologies that could help to
simplify complex and/or manual processes.
In order to develop an effective
list of functional and technical
requirements, organizations should
consider the following high level
approach:
1. Understand existing business
processes. Inventorying and
documenting an organization’s
major business processes is the
first step to developing effective
functional and technical requirements.
Understanding where
bottlenecks, redundant processes,
and time intensive tasks
exist in the current environment
is critical to developing effective
functional and technical requirements
to resolve these
challenges.
2. Involve system stakeholders
in the requirements definition
process. Stakeholders
from across the organization
often share or utilize the same
business processes but look at
them from different perspectives.
For example, the Commissioner
of the Revenue in a local
government organization may
determine the amount of a tax
bill; however, it could be the responsibility
of the Treasurer’s
office to collect it. Involving both
groups of stakeholders in the requirements
definition process is
necessary to fully understand
the needs of the organization as
an enterprise.
3. Consider functionality that
doesn’t exist today. One of
the most challenging aspects of
developing functional and technical
requirements is to document
required functionality for
the future. This requires the organization
to consider what its
business needs will be in five or
ten years and can help to ensure
the system purchased will not
become outdated sooner than
anticipated. Organizations need
to gain a conceptual understanding
of available technologies,
functionality, and industry trends
that will be important to adopt.
If you are replacing systems that
address business processes that
are common in many organizations,
consider seeking resources
that have requirements information
available to be used as a
starting point.
The list of functional and technical requirements developed should serve as an important tool throughout the system selection and implementation process. It enables the organization to analyze responses to a request for proposal and determine which proposed system best meets the needs of the organization. After the selection process, the requirements document should also be used throughout the implementation to establish and monitor contractual expectations for required and desired system functions. Utilizing the high level approach outlined above can help you get over writer’s block and get your system replacement project kick started.
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