A question we are often asked is “What is difference between verification and validation?” This two-part blog answers that question. In part 1 we discuss the basic concepts of verification and validation in terms of the context in which they are used within the system development lifecycle. In part 2 of the blog, these concepts […]
Tag: scope
Baseline Your Scope Before Writing Requirements
A major issue that contributes to cancelled projects is a failure to establish a shared vision of the final product at the beginning of the project. The reason for a new product or upgrade must be clearly understood before writing requirements, or divergent requirements will be written and important requirements will be missed. This vision […]
Agile and Requirement–Driven Product Development
My previous blog described “Requirement-Driven Product Development” (RDPD). One of my readers asked a very important and well-formed question: “Lou, nice article. Are there any specializations to the approach for software systems? Would you say that Scrum process is consistent with RDPD? I expect that everyone agrees that requirements must drive development. The controversy is […]
Medical Device Development and ArgonDigital
We are frequently asked whether or not the training we offer is specifically geared to the medical device industry or if our training is generic. The short answer – our instructors have extensive experience in providing training for the medical device industry. We have taught both our standard courses as well as tailored classes for […]
Why are we doing what we are Doing?
A common problem we see on new projects is people jump into writing requirements without first answering the question “Why are we doing what we are doing?” Many challenged projects (e.g., over budget, behind schedule, not meeting quality standards) can trace their difficulties to the very beginning of the project where there was a failure […]
Importance of Doing the Upfront Work Before Design
We were recently asked by one of our clients about some methods that can be used to help drive home the importance of developing proper requirements at the right time…namely at the beginning of the project. Convincing those with whom we work the importance of doing the upfront work…the importance of defining scope and defining […]
Role of the Business Analyst and Requirements
We recently received the following question via our Ask the Experts page: “How much has the role of a Business Analyst changed or affected the gathering and structuring of requirements”. The short answer to this question: The Business Analyst (BA) has added structure, discipline and knowledge of steps , tools and techniques to effectively execute […]
How do you know your requirements are complete?
The bottom line is the set of requirements is complete when all the stakeholders have approved the set of requirements. Define Scope before you write your requirements. From Requirements Expert’s viewpoint, it is that, but more. What we advocate in our classes is the importance of clearly understanding and defining stakeholder expectations before writing requirements. This […]
IT as a Sales Function
In college, I was assigned to read The Goal by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt. It is a novel that tells the story of a plant manager trying to improve operational efficiency in his plant. I know that this does not sound like a thrilling joyride of a story. But surprisingly, it is a great read. […]
Well, isn’t this puzzling?
I like to think of the projects that we work on as puzzles. Often times, project information is jumbled up and scattered around just like a new puzzle out of the box. You have (though often times you might not) all of the information you need, but none of it is coherently pieced together…yet. What […]