Dux Raymond Sy, PMP, MVPManaging PartnerInnovative-e

How to Best Develop Requirements for SharePoint Projects

Why are requirements so difficult?

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• What are Requirements?• Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering• Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis• Too Legit to Quit?• Put it on Paper

How to Best Develop Requirements

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• Something wanted or needed• Formally documented and written statements• Capabilities needed to solve a problem• Conditions of a delivered system, services, product, or process• Constraints on the system, service, product, or process

Requirements are …

What’s so special about SharePoint?

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Requirements Focus

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• For example, how often someone in finance have to deal with collecting a bunch of Excel files regularly and consolidate it to a single management report?

Defining Business Need is a Must

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• Business requirements– SharePoint shall increase Finance department’s productivity by 15%

• User requirements – The user shall be able to retrieve & synchronize project expense

information in SharePoint from Excel without relying on email

• System requirements – Microsoft Excel shall be able to synchronize information with a

SharePoint site

Mapping Requirements

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• Requirements development is iterative– Business– User– System

• Key Steps– Requirements Elicitation– Analyzing Requirements– Validating Requirements– Documenting Requirements

How Do You Develop Requirements?

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• What are Requirements?• Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering• Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis• Too Legit to Quit?• Put it on Paper

How to Best Develop Requirements

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1. What do I need to know?2. Where do I get this information?3. Get the information4. Organize what you know5. Do I have enough information?

Elicitation Process

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Goal is to Build Solutions

@ m e e t d u x # s p t e c h c o n

• What are Requirements?• Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering• Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis• Too Legit to Quit?• Put it on Paper

How to Best Develop Requirements

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What is Requirements Analysis?

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1. Profile Users2. Model stated requirements3. Gap analysis 4. Identify the real requirements

Analysis Process

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Example: Process Flow Diagram

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• What are Requirements?• Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering• Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis• Too Legit to Quit?• Put it on Paper

How to Best Develop Requirements

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• Requirements validation allows the user(s) to confirm and prioritize the real requirements

• Essential to identify what it will take to deploy SharePoint– Resources– Time– Skillsets

What is Requirements Validation?

@ m e e t d u x # s p t e c h c o n

• What are Requirements?• Eliciting is Not the Same as Gathering• Analysis Doesn’t Lead to Paralysis• Too Legit to Quit?• Put it on Paper

How to Best Develop Requirements

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• Formally communicates – Overall quantitative and qualitative characteristics – Functionality of the desired end result or outcome

• Should include– Requirement Statements– Process Diagrams– Traceability Matrix

Generate a Requirements Document

Content + Structure= Readability

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• <Subject> shall be able to <capability> within <criterion>• <Subject> shall be able to <capability>

– Where criterion is assumed to be 100 percent of the stated capability

Writing Requirements

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• Business requirements– SharePoint shall increase Finance department’s productivity by 15%

• User requirements – The user shall be able to retrieve & synchronize project expense

information in SharePoint from Excel without relying on email

• System requirements – Microsoft Excel shall be able to synchronize information with a

SharePoint site

Mapping Requirements

Download Templates: http://www.meetdux.com/dl/req4sp.zip

Download Whitepaper:http://sp.meetdux.com/archive/2012/04/06/FREE-SharePoint-Requirements-

Whitepaper.aspx

e: dux.sy@innovative-e.comt: @meetduxw: about.me/dux

Questions?

Thank You!