WHAT IS A REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTATION? WHY IS THE ROLE OF A BUSINESS ANALYST IN A PROJECT MIGHT BE UNDERESTIMATED?
Custom software is an expensive product because it is developed by a team of engineers in accordance with your specific needs. In some of the previous articles, we have already talked about software development cycle, components of an application, project budget calculating and here we would like to give a definition to the requirement documentation and specify why it is important not to miss this element.
REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTATION
It has already been given plenty of different definitions of requirement documentation. When you google you will probably find something close to this: requirement documentation is a process of the conscious and continuous documentation of the significant and crucial information about a software project that includes visual description, features, and behavior patterns of the product. It serves as an agreed source of information for stakeholders, project managers, developers/engineers, and QAs.
Requirement documentation plays an important role in the entire development process, the key functions of it are the following
REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTATION: CYCLE
The process of creating the requirement documentation can be presented a cycle with the defined stages.
Information gathering/questionnaire (general discussion of expectations and visions of the future projects, its functions and functionality)
Data analysis and specifications completing(processing of the gathered information, splitting it into the tasks)
Requirement verification (checking if the gathered and submitted info meets the client requirements);
Requirement approval(testing the final results of the system and checking if it is relevant to the previously stated requirements).
ROLE OF THE BUSINESS ANALYST IN THE PROCESS
We have discussed the major aspects of the requirement documentation and now it is important to specify who is responsible for its creating. This is a task for a business analyst. A business analyst or BA is a team member with the hight analytical skills, deep knowledge and understanding of the industry, strong technical skills and good communication level. The main tasks of a BA are
The role of the business analyst can be underestimated because pretty often this tasks are given to a project manager or the developers directly. A good BA can save a lot of time and money for a client because he has deeper understanding of processes and creates a bridge between a customer/stakeholder and developers. A BA is a person who is responsible for turning visions and discussions into the real tasks that lead to the functional product.
CONCLUSIONS
The role of the business analyst should not be underestimated in the software development process. It is really important to gather, analyze, and systematize all the required information from the very beginning. A good required documentation will help to reach the goals and build the functional product even when the budget is limited. What is more, it is one of the key factors for building strong and transparent client-developer business relationships.
REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTATION
It has already been given plenty of different definitions of requirement documentation. When you google you will probably find something close to this: requirement documentation is a process of the conscious and continuous documentation of the significant and crucial information about a software project that includes visual description, features, and behavior patterns of the product. It serves as an agreed source of information for stakeholders, project managers, developers/engineers, and QAs.
Requirement documentation plays an important role in the entire development process, the key functions of it are the following
- to define requirements in advance and make sure that the customer (stakeholders) and the software team have a unified vision of the products goals and functionality;
- to plan time and set deadlines correctly and effectively;
- to minimize risks of the inappropriate tasks delivery;
- to keep good customer-developers relationship and turn them into the long-term ones.
REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTATION: CYCLE
The process of creating the requirement documentation can be presented a cycle with the defined stages.
Information gathering/questionnaire (general discussion of expectations and visions of the future projects, its functions and functionality)
Data analysis and specifications completing(processing of the gathered information, splitting it into the tasks)
Requirement verification (checking if the gathered and submitted info meets the client requirements);
Requirement approval(testing the final results of the system and checking if it is relevant to the previously stated requirements).
ROLE OF THE BUSINESS ANALYST IN THE PROCESS
We have discussed the major aspects of the requirement documentation and now it is important to specify who is responsible for its creating. This is a task for a business analyst. A business analyst or BA is a team member with the hight analytical skills, deep knowledge and understanding of the industry, strong technical skills and good communication level. The main tasks of a BA are
- to follow the demands and changes of the market;
- to analyze project budget and adjust it to the needs of a client and a team;
- to split general visions and ideas into the precise tasks;
- to describe the tasks in the understandable and detailed way;
- to offer improvements based on the market analysis and prediction.
The role of the business analyst can be underestimated because pretty often this tasks are given to a project manager or the developers directly. A good BA can save a lot of time and money for a client because he has deeper understanding of processes and creates a bridge between a customer/stakeholder and developers. A BA is a person who is responsible for turning visions and discussions into the real tasks that lead to the functional product.
CONCLUSIONS
The role of the business analyst should not be underestimated in the software development process. It is really important to gather, analyze, and systematize all the required information from the very beginning. A good required documentation will help to reach the goals and build the functional product even when the budget is limited. What is more, it is one of the key factors for building strong and transparent client-developer business relationships.
