haw hamburg, carpe 2011, prof. dr. rüdiger weißbach, revision : 01.11.2011- 1 - bridging the...
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HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 1 -
Bridging the Communication Gap in IT Projects -
Enabling Non-IT Professionals for the Requirements Engineering Process
1st CARPE Networking Conference, Utrecht Nov 2011- Creative Engineering -
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weiß[email protected]
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 2 -
Structure of the Presentation
Relevance Leading Questions Communication in the Requirements
Engineering & Management Process Ideas for Qualifying Non-IT Professionals for
the Requirements Engineering & Management Process … how Instruction Books Assume … and how Reality is Different
(the FaPrAa Project) Example: Training at the Hamburg University
of Applied Sciences (HAW) Further Research
Relevance
Leading Questions
Communication in the RE&M Process
Ideas for Qualifying Non-IT Professionals for the RE&M Process
(Supposed) Benefits, Constraints and Problems
Example: Training at the HAW
Further Research
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 3 -
Relevance
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Factors influencing the…
… success of IS projects
… failure of IS projects
• clearly defined requirements• user involvement
• badly defined requirements• lack of user input
Stendish Group, CHAOS Reports, http://www.oose.de/projektmanagement/pm-studie.html et al.
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 4 -
Relevance
quality of requirements and user involvement
are important for the project’s success
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 5 -
Leading Questions
How are users involved in the Requirements Engineering and Management (RE&M) Process?
Requirements Elicitation
Requirements Analysis
Requirements Documentation
Requirements Validation
Requirements Management
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 6 -
Leading Questions
How are users involved in the Requirements Engineering and Management (RE&M) Process?
Requirements Elicitation
Requirements Analysis
Requirements Documentation
Requirements Validation
Requirements Management
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
… analyzing instruction books, the users tend to have a more passive function,
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 7 -
Users
Communication in the RE&M Process… how instruction books assume
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
R‘Engineer Developer
writes down req.
RE asks for requirements
Users answer
asks for acknowledgement
Users acknowledge
RE forwards req.
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 8 -
UsersEinführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
R‘Engineer Developer
writes down req.
RE asks for requirements
Users answer
asks for acknowledgement
Users acknowledge
RE forwards req.
Communication in the RE&M Process… how instruction books assume2-step “heavyweight” communication flow
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 9 -
UsersEinführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
R‘Engineer Developer
writes down req.
RE asks for requirements
Users answer
asks for acknowledgement
Users acknowledge
RE forwards req.
Communication in the RE&M Process… how instruction books assume2-step “heavyweight” communication flow
Problems:
• Different terminologies and “communication cultures“ between users and software engineers
• Experts are not able to clarify tacit knowledge• Experienced users are not able to keep an analytical
distance to their requests• Users are not trained in modeling languages• Software engineers don't have (enough) domain
knowledge • No experienced requirements engineer to moderate
the process
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 10 -
UsersEinführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
R‘Engineer Developer
writes down req.
RE asks for requirements
Users answer
asks for acknowledgement
Users acknowledge
RE forwards req.
Communication in the RE&M Process… how instruction books assumeSpecial Case “Agile Development”
Problems:
• Different terminologies and “communication cultures“ between user representatives and software engineers
• Users are not trained in modeling languages• Experts are not able to clarify and tacit knowledge• Experienced users are not able to keep an analytical
distance to their requests• Software engineers don't have (enough) domain
knowledge • No experienced requirements engineer to moderate
the process
Special Case „Agile Development“:agile processes institutionalize a
close communication cycle between users and developers(e.g. the on site customer)
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 11 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Communication in the RE&M Process… and how reality is differentThe FaPrAa Project
FaPrAa: Fachabteilungen im Prozess der Anforderungsanalyse (= Business Departments and the Requirements Engineering Process in IT Projects)
research project at the Hamburg UAS (2009ff)
25 semi-structured interviews in SME in northwestern Germany (interviewees work in IT and business departments [BD]),focus on business applications (not on technical software)
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 12 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Communication in the RE&M Process… and how reality is differentThe FaPrAa Project – some intermediate results
line management has to manage its own work and own processes=> users often have documented own ideas
users in traditional business often have experience in process organisation
only few companies are using a formalised process model,
some companies are working “quasi agile”, none of the interviewed companies has
established an explicit role of a requirements engineer
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 13 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Communication in the RE&M Process… and how reality is differentThe FaPrAa Project – some intermediate results
different cultures:1. long term employed IT workers with domain
and application knowledge are “knowing the right things to do”
2. long term co-operation between IT workers and BD managers, improving and upgrading existing systems
3. BD managers are promoting new applications, IT staff is only responsible for running infrastructure
4. top management decides about the introduction of new systems with external process support (consultnts, proj.mangrs)
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 14 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Communication in the RE&M Process… and how reality is differentThe FaPrAa Project – some intermediate results
in the participating companies, the importance of RE&M is acknowledged
typically the RE&M process is conducted without strict formal methods, caused … … by a lack of methodical knowledge … by a project management, which relies
on the ad-hoc use of small time slots
Interviewed IT and BD managers assume a more formalised RE&M process in future
Interviewed IT and BD managers want a better qualified RE&M process
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 15 -
R‘EngineerEinführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Ideas for Qualifying Non-IT Professionals for the RE&M Process
Users
Domain Knowledge
MethodicalKnowledge
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 16 -
R‘EngineerEinführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Ideas for Qualifying Non-IT Professionals for the RE&M Process
Users
Domain Knowledge
MethodicalKnowledge
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 17 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Ideas for Qualifying Non-IT Professionals for the RE&M Process Domain Knowledge
Training in the domain: (short) trainings apprenticeships on site customer job rotation job enlargement
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 18 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Ideas for Qualifying Non-IT Professionals for the RE&M Process Methodical Knowledge (1)
Training in describing requirements: textual representation
(e.g.: “SOPHIST framework” [RUPP]) Use Case Diagrams (UML) Use Case Templates [COCKBURN]
Entity Relationship Modelling / Class Diagrams
Activity Diagrams (UML) State Transition Diagrams (UML)
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 19 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Ideas for Qualifying Non-IT Professionals for the RE&M Process Methodical Knowledge (2)
awareness of explicit and implicit knowledge acquirement by teaching, …
knowledge about the requirements management process identification of interdependencies
between requirements and their impact on the project management
acquirement by participation in the change request process
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 20 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
(Supposed) Benefits, Constraints and Problems of this Approach
Benefits: better quality of requirements documentation better collaboration in project and line work
Constraints: FaPrAa study concentrates on business
applications (“orgware”)
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 21 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
(Supposed) Benefits, Constraints and Problems of this Approach
Problems: outsourcing changes the learning situation
between users and IT staff but: training is important for outsourcing
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 22 -
joint project :
project management
+ marketing concept+ req‘ definition+ system selection(+ implementation)
Example: Training at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW)BA program: Marketing / Business Studies
t
program-ming, testing
database/ web
systems
ERP/CRM systems, IT managmnt
RE&M, system
selection
marketing basic courses marketing concept
2 professors:• marketing • business informatics
HAW Hamburg, CARPE 2011, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Weißbach, Revision : 01.11.2011 - 23 -
Einführung
Allgemeine betriebs- wirtschaftliche Aspekte
Informationssysteme und Marketing
Entwicklung von Informations- systemen
IT und allgemeines Management
Betrieb von Infor- mationssystemen
Further Research
completion of the FaPrAa study
graduate destination survey on the usefulness of the RE&M training
development and evaluation of RE training programs for BD staff
qualifications for managing sourcing processes
integration of end users in the RE&M process(open innovation, crowdsourcing …)