I use to be a swim coach so often I would tell my squad “no use being the fastest ocean swimmer if you don’t look up to see where you are heading”.

In your organisation are there systems purchased because someone liked the glossy brochure or the vendor said the software was good? Duplicate data, re-entered information into several software systems? Customers frustrated because nobody can give them up-to-date information on their order? These are symptoms of business processes and software systems failing to execute successfully.

Organisations exist to provide products or services, which are delivered to customers through business processes, that are decomposed into requirements. Software systems should be built using business requirements, however often software is not and heads in the wrong direction. Businesses struggle with systems that are more hindrance than help. Business Analysis (BAPL) has developed a technique called “business process driven requirements” to vastly improve the software lifecycle

Using “business process driven requirements” we have successfully delivered software systems that are aligned to the organisation’s needs to deliver their products or services to their customers. Succinct, necessary requirements that cut out the fluff and unnecessary add-ons – whether you are buying off the shelf, or building in house. 

Recently BAPL used this technique for a customer that had several staff members unexpectedly leave the organisation, who used a core database. Nobody left in the organisation knew exactly how the software worked, no processes were documented and the system was end of life & needed to be replaced. We modelled the business processes, improved the efficiency of the business processes aligned to the organisations strategic direction, and used “process driven requirements” to develop the RFI to go out to market to source a replacement solution. The new software database was aligned to what the business needed on a daily basis. No major gaps, no unplanned customisation – a cost controlled approach.

So if you want your software systems to work, you need to look where you are heading and use “process driven requirements” to specify your needs. Otherwise you could be spending lots of money on wasted software.