A use case represents a case of use of a system, ideally one that captures a functional requirement in terms of an identifiable and testable goal. So, what is the best way to document a use case? Approaches to content range from diagrammatic to textual, formal to free form, expansive and detailed to brief and abstract. The approaches to tool usage ...

A few years ago I took a photograph an old wooden tombstone. The tombstone read, “Walter Crumbly, Hanged by Mistake – Sorry Walter.” It seems like the software industry wants to collectively hang the waterfall software development method and structured methods. In the not too distant future the software development industry will wake up and realize...

Some of you may be working on systems with many complex relationships between the parts. These complex systems may be described as a system of systems, or may be described as a product line, or perhaps both at once.

In these cases, you will often find that the requirements of a large, overall system are shared among a number of related projects, each of which implements some well-defined part of the overall system.

Author: Geri Schneider Winters

This paper provides an in-depth introduction to the new BPMN standard, illustrating how it is used to model business processes and web services. The paper also provides greater detail on how BPMN fits within BPM, BPEL’s, BPMS’s, UML and other new industry standards and initiatives described above.

Geri Schneider Winters writes about whether or not you could write alternatives to alternatives in use cases.

There is no actual standard for the formatting of a use case specification, just guidelines and best practices.  Therefore, if using alternatives to alternatives in use cases makes the use case more clear - use it, by any means.

Author: Geri Schneider Winters

In this article, Geri Schneider Winters discusses the question of whether use cases can be used to document requirements for reports.

Author: Geri Schneider Winters

When it comes to providing reliable, flexible and efficient object persistence for software systems, today's designers and architects are faced with many choices. From the technological perspective, the choice is usually between pure Object-Oriented, Object-Relational hybrids, pure Relational and custom solutions based on open or proprietary file f...

"Business Analysis is about thinking what your solution should do, while Design is about how to make it happen using the technology available. Don't ever combine the two - you save nothing."

This paper by Brian Cooney, principal instructor at IRM, describes the need for clear separation between the two phases and the benefits this provides for a successful project outcome.

Author: Brian Cooney

In this issue of the IIBA Newsletter: BABOK v2 Outlined by Kevin Brennan Requirements Simulation - Analyst's Perspective by Joel Benayon Update on Annual General Meeting 2007 by Indy Mitra Baltimore IIBA Chapter Note by Rick Straub New Brunswick Chapter Note by Mary Ann Johnson

The talents, competencies and heroics of project managers and technologists alone cannot drive value into the organization. For business needs and goals to be converted into innovative solutions that truly bring wealth to the enterprise, a stronger bridge must be built between the business and the technical communities. Enter the business analyst. ...

This article provides a high level description of the job of the Business Analyst as well as summary answers on questions such as "Why you need a business analyst?", "What are the desired skills for a business analyst?", "How to find business analysts?", etc. Author: Katherine Walsh

Many organizations are scratching their collective heads over how to build and mature a business analysis center of excellence (COE). Where do we start? What does a business analysis center of excellence look like? Who owns it? How does it evolve? This white paper outlines the standard operating practices necessary for a business analysis center o...

Be it explicitly or not, someone always performs the role of requirements analyst on a software project. The official title may be requirements engineer, business analyst, system analyst, product manager, or simply analyst , but someone needs to translate multiple perspectives into a requirements specification and communicate with other stakeholder...

Given a specific project with a reasonably defined charter and clear business goals you, the business analyst, set out to elicit and document the detailed business requirements. So when do you stop? How do you know when you are done gathering the requirements?

Traditional software development has always required a long requirements-gathering phase at the beginning of a project that, if not handled correctly, can often result in schedule delays and costly budget overruns that have a significant impact on the project itself.  Software simulation can streamline that process and prevent many of the erro...