2146 Implementing Requirements Management: A Pattern For Success

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2146Implementing Requirements ManagementA
Pattern For Success

• Betty Luedke
• Principal Consultant
• Borland Software Corporation

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A Pattern Emerges...

• Implementing Requirements Management (RM) Process
  with tool support (CaliberRM) in
• 3 large federal government organizations
• 1 large insurance company
• 3 mid-sized vendors (software, firmware,
  hardware)
• 1 mid-sized state government organization

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The Pattern Is...

• Born out of a variety of implementations, some
  broader than RM
• Sensitive to the environment
• Reflective of what has worked and what has not
  worked
• Applicable to processes other than RM

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Implementing Requirements Management ...

• Key To Success
• The Pattern
• Factors

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Key To Success
PROCESS/PEOPLE Effective TECHNOLOGY
Efficient
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PROCESS

• We need to understand
• RM Process to be implemented
• Well-defined, well-grounded RM process
• Effectiveness of RM process impacts efficiency of
  RM tool
• Steps needed to implement the RM Process
• Participant selection (steering committee,
  pilot,...)
• Training/mentoring for a new/modified RM Process
• RM tool setup
• Existing requirement migration
• ...

7
PEOPLE

• We need to identify
• System development roles
• Must be supported by the RM tool (CaliberRM)
• Participants in the implementation
• Steering committee
• Pilot team
• Remaining project teams
• Training/mentoring needed for
• Steering committee
• Pilot team
• Remaining project teams

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TECHNOLOGY

• We need to focus on
• Functionality of the new RM tool to
• Leverage to reflect RM best practices
• Define RM tool procedures
• Support requirement authoring/consumer roles
• Functionality of the existing RM tool to
• Facilitate the migration of existing requirements
• Migration of existing requirements to determine
• Decisions about WHAT, WHERE, WHO, WHEN?

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Migration Decisions

• WHAT information will be migrated?
• WHERE is the information located?
• WHAT is its integrity?
• WHAT refinement/reorganization will be needed?
• WHEN in the life cycle?
• WHAT effect if not at the beginning of the life
  cycle?
• WHO will move the information?
• WHO will refine/reorganize information?
• WHO will determine migration success?
• WHO in the business will validate the new source
  of record?

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Implementing Requirements Management ...

• Key To Success
• The Pattern
• Factors

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The Pattern...

• Select a steering committee
• Level set RM concepts and RM best practices
• Plan the RM Process/Tool Implementation
• Prepare the environment
• Conduct a pilot effort
• Determine next steps

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Select Steering Committee

• The steering committee should
• Be representative of requirement authors/
  consumers
• Be global thinkers
• Want to collaborate on a better environment
• Be willing to embrace new ways of thinking
• Be enthusiastic about and willing to find a
  better way

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Level Set

• Work with the steering committee to
• Promote a consistent understanding of RM
  concepts/best practices
• Understand the organizations current situation
• Understand/validate next steps for planning the
  RM Process/Tool Implementation
• Recognize who can be heard

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Plan RM Process/Tool Implementation

• Work with the steering committee to
• Articulate RM Process/Tool Implementation Success
  Criteria and Measurement
• Develop a RM Process/Tool Implementation Plan

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Success Criteria

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Success Criteria
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Success Criteria
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Success Criteria Example
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Success Criteria Example
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Success Criteria Example
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Success Criteria Example
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Implementation Plan Worksheet

• Perspective...Task...Responsibility for
• PROCESS
• Existing Systems Development Processes
• Strategies
• Naming Conventions
• PEOPLE
• Role
• Training
• Pilot Project
• TECHNOLOGY
• CaliberRM

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Implementation Plan - PROCESS

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Implementation Plan - PROCESS

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Implementation Plan - PEOPLE

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Implementation Plan - PEOPLE

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Implementation Plan - PEOPLE

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Implementation Plan - TECHNOLOGY

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Prepare the Environment

• PROCESS
• PEOPLE
• TECHNOLOGY

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Prepare the Environment

• PROCESS
• Requirement strategies (requirement types,
  traces, baselines)
• RM process
• Change control process
• Requirement information structure
• Requirement document guidance

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Prepare the Environment

• PEOPLE
• System development roles
• RM techniques
• Requirement review guidance
• PROCESS-PEOPLE
• RM task-role participation matrix

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Prepare the Environment

• TECHNOLOGY
• CaliberRM installation/configuration
• CaliberRM backup/disaster recovery procedures
• CaliberRM project container export
• CaliberRM Document Factory templates
• Requirement migration approaches

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Prepare the Environment

• PROCESS-PEOPLE-TECHNOLOGY
• CaliberRM tool procedures for each RM process
  task/step
• CaliberRM project startup guidance
• RM process/tool mentors

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Conduct Pilot Effort

• Work with the steering committee to
• Identify an appropriate pilot project and
  associated risks
• Have management talk with the pilot team
  regarding goals and expectations
• Train and mentor pilot team in RM
  concepts/process/tool
• Migrate existing requirements, if appropriate
• Monitor pilot team progress (early and often)
  making adjustments based on lessons learned
• Assess success of pilot effort using RM
  Process-Tool Success Criteria/Measurement

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Pilot Selection Criteria
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Pilot Selection Criteria
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Pilot Selection Criteria
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Pilot Selection Criteria
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Pilot Selection Criteria
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Pilot Selection Criteria

• Sample Pilot Selection Criteria
• What is the projects corporate visibility?
• Is the project high cost? ...on the critical
  path?
• How complex is the product development?
• Is the product being developed in phases?
• Is the project manager/requirements analyst
  available? ...credible?
• What is the attitude of the project team?
  ...expectations coming into the RM Process/Tool
  Implementation?

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Determine Next Steps

• Work with the steering committee to
• Determine where improvements are needed
• Determine a rollout strategy and plan

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Implementing Requirements Management ...

• Key To Success
• The Pattern
• Factors

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Factors

• Right steering committee
• Right mindset
• Right timing
• Right pilot
• Organizational support
• The measuring stick
• The secret

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Right Steering Committee

• Must embrace the implementation effort
  individually and collectively
• Attitude is important
• Credibility is critical
• Be the evangelists and explorers

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Right Mindset

• Requirements need to be
• Discrete
• Categorized
• Predictably related

Changing a mindset...
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Right Mindset
Document-centric vs. Requirement-centric
discrete categorized related
discrete categorized
blob
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Right Timing

• Provide incentives
• PAIN
• Direction
• Allow for...
• The learning curve to happen
• Improvement based on lessons learned
• Sustain by persistence/patience
• Right message from the right messenger
• Can do/make it happen attitude

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Right Pilot

• Will be visible/representative enough to be
  credible
• Not be on the critical path
• Will be trained in RM concepts/process/tool
• Will be allowed time to learn and improve
• Will have enthusiastic participants
• Will be nurtured along the way

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Organizational Support

• Provides management direction, funding,
  staffing,...
• Comes from savvy troops and enlightened leaders
• Provides appropriate training/mentoring
• Embraces champions, evangelists and
  explorers

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The Measuring Stick

• Measuring success by using
• RM Process/Tool Implementation Success Criteria
  and Measurement
• Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

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Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

• Level 2 REPEATABLE
• Key Practice Area Requirements Management
• Goals
• Requirements are controlled (baselines)
• Plans/products are consistent with requirements
• Practices
• Requirements are reviewed
• Requirements are the basis for plans/products/
  activities
• Changes to requirements are reviewed prior to
  incorporation into the product

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Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

• Level 3 DEFINED
• Key Practice Area Software Product
  Engineering
• Goals
• Software engineering tasks are defined,
  integrated and consistently performed
• Software work products are consistent
• Practices
• ...
• Software requirements are developed, maintained,
  documented and verified according to the
  projects defined software process
• ...

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Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

• Level 3 DEFINED
• Key Practice Area Software Product
  Engineering
• Sub-practices
• Requirements are reviewed and approved
• Effective techniques are used to derive
  requirements
• Requirements are analyzed for feasibility,
  testability, completeness,...
• Requirements and methods for verifying/validating
  requirements are documented
• Requirements are placed under configuration
  management
• Changes to requirements are reviewed prior to
  incorporation into the product

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The Secret

• Know the RM process, the roles and techniques
  needed to perform each RM task, the requirement
  information structure needed to capture useful
  information, and how to configure/use a tool to
  support this endeavor. 

It is PEOPLE, PROCESS and TECHNOLOGY working
together that will make success happen!
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Make Success Your Own By...

• Recognizing importance of PROCESS-PEOPLE-TECHNOLOG
  Y
• Knowing the pattern for success
• Taking action by executing the pattern for
  success
• With the right steering committee, mindset,
  timing, pilot team
• Prepared with RM best practices/CaliberRM
• Armed with organizational support, a measuring
  stick and the secret
• Listening along the way and adjusting as
  appropriate
• NEVER GIVING UP!

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Questions?

• Implementing Requirements Management
• A Pattern For Success

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Thank You

• 2146
• Implementing Requirements Management
• A Pattern For Success
• Please fill out the speaker evaluation
• You can contact me further at betty.luedke_at_borla
  nd.com