Simple, list-based requirements are a good starting point, but eventually requirements must be synthesised into a cohesive view of the desired to-be state. Only then will other, important requirements emerge. This information-filled half-day overview shows how to accomplish this with an integrated, model-driven framework comprising business-friendly data models, business process models, a unique form of use cases, and service specifications.

This workshop introduces business-friendly modelling techniques that have been proven on both custom development and packaged software projects. They are repeatable by analysts, relevant to business subject matter experts, and useful to developers. They are also surprisingly popular with Agile teams because they support “just enough” modeling to get started with confidence, and then let iterative development take over. It distills the material from Alec’s three, two-day workshops on Working With Business Processes, Business-Oriented Data Modelling, and Use Cases & Services.

After a quick review of bad advice in the world of business analysis, the consequences of applying it, and why it just doesn’t work, we’ll study four integrated modelling techniques, each addressing one fundamental aspect of the problem space:

• Concept Models – developing a common understanding of what things the process and application need to know about with a business-friendly conceptual data model; and then transitioning to a more rigorous and detailed logical data model.

• Process Scope Models and Process Workflow Models - what the real business processes are, how the as-is process works, and how the to-be process should work.

• Use Cases - how the application should behave externally in support of the people and processes using it.

• Business Services - what the application should do internally regardless of who is using it, or how.

  Specific attention will be given to showing how to:

  • Progress through well-defined Scope, Concept, and Detail (Specification) perspectives and levels of detail.

  • Apply these techniques in an Agile setting, including dos and don’ts.

One-sentence description:

Alec explains the resurgence of interest in model-based techniques and best practices for four kinds of models in an integrated framework.