Developing Requirements & Selecting Software Package Solutions (COTS) - 2 days

Training Description

The Software Package Evaluation and Selection training provides a toolkit for the project team for how to develop requirements and select the best software solution. Since requirements are necessary for selecting the best software solution, the training focuses on how to build business models and how to write effective requirements documents that are appropriate for software package projects. The seminar provides training in facilitation skills and techniques needed for eliciting the project scope, requirements definition and conducting software evaluation and selection collaborative sessions. The seminar focus is on:

• Characteristics and guidelines for writing effective requirements for software selection
• Communication techniques for gathering requirements
• Best practices for writing successful scope statements and requirements documents for software selection
• Practical exercises in writing problem statements, business objectives, requirements lists, business use cases and non-functional requirements
• Writing and critiquing business use cases and requirements using guidelines and checklists
• Developing the RFP and Decision Matrix
• Facilitated session agendas and scripts for the Software Selection Process
• Practical experience in facilitating and building business models for scoping sessions, requirements gathering sessions, and software evaluation and selection sessions

The objectives of the training are to:

• Provide an understanding of the deliverables needed for the problem statement, requirements gathering and high-level design
• Define best practices and industry standards for requirements management
• Supply sample agendas, scripts and templates that can be used in requirements sessions and focus groups for software selection projects
• Provide practical exercises for building the business models using the standard industry notations and writing business use cases to build the RFP decision matrix
• Define a repeatable process for the requirements gathering and selection process for software package solutions
• Provide each seminar participant the opportunity to write, build and facilitate the different deliverables needed for software selection projects with feedback and a written evaluation from the instructor

Training Content

• Writing effective project initiation deliverables:
  • Business problem statement
  • Success criteria/business objectives
  • Business parameters
• Exercise- Discovering and writing the business objectives
• How to write effective scope statements, constraints & assumptions
• Constructing the context diagram and use case diagram to capture the project scope
• Exercise- Building the context diagram and use case diagram
• Facilitated session agendas, scripts and facilitation techniques for conducting Problem Statement Scoping Sessions
• Prioritizing and managing the scope of a project

• Documenting requirements and understanding the different levels of requirements
• Characteristics of writing effective requirements
• Instructions and guidelines for writing effective requirements
• How to identify and write effective business rules
• Building the "to be" activity diagram with swimlanes
• Exercise- Creating the "to be" activity diagram/swimlanes (business process flow)
• Exercise- Identifying and writing quality requirements lists and business rules
• Facilitated session agendas, scripts, and facilitation techniques for conducting Requirements Analysis Sessions

• Benefits of using the business use case to identify requirements for software selection projects
• How to write the business use case
  • Guidelines for the use case
  • Use Case Template and Quality Checklists
• Exercise- Writing a business use case
• How to write effective non-functional requirements
  • IEEE Categories
  • Non-functional definitions and examples
• Exercise- Writing quality non-functional requirements
• Setting requirements priorities for the RFP

• Techniques for quality checking requirements
  • Checklists and questions
  • Desk checking and working sessions for requirements verification
  • Formal requirements walk-through for requirements validation and sign-off

• Identify vendors
• Requirements Matrix- categorize and weight system requirements and vendor quality
• Analyze and create the short list
• Prepare and issue the RFP
• Exercise- Create a RFP
• Analyze the RFP results
• Create the Detailed Final Evaluation Report
• Select the Package and Prepare Recommendation
• Buy/Build Decision

• Requirements Matrix
• Exercise- Create the Requirements Matrix
• Vendor Selection Package Rating Deliverables
• Vendor Compliance Report
• Exercise- Create the Vendor Analysis & Compliance Matrix

• This simulation demonstrates the process for package selection projects using the requirements analysis and selection process artifacts taught in class to illustrate how these artifacts work together to make effective software package selections. Each student facilitates a stage in the package selection life cycle; scoping, requirements analysis and selection using the artifacts and agendas learned in the class. The artifacts used for the simulation will be the Context Diagram, Use Case Diagram, Activity Diagram with swimlanes, Business Use Case, Requirements Matrix, Vendor Analysis and Vendor Compliance Matrix.