Analyze and Document Requirements

Define and Scope Business Area | Elicit Requirements | Analyze and Document Requirements | Communicate Requirements | Identify Solution | Verify Solution Meets the Requirements

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Requirements are analyzed and documented using an iterative approach. As each requirements is documented, additional questions will arise requiring the analyst to probe deeper. There are many different approaches to documenting requirements. The Business Analyst is responsible for following their organization?s standard documentation format or for creating their own. When developing a documentation format, the Business Analyst must consider the best format for communicating with the information technology team and the best format for communicating with the business area experts. Both groups must be able to read and review the document and clearly understand the requirements. Some requirements are more appropriately documented in textual descriptions, others in diagrams or graphical displays. The Business Analyst must also determine the appropriate level of detail for the documentation.

Ideally, the entire organization uses a consistent documentation format and approach. This makes the review process easier for people working on multiple projects. It also allows the organization to constantly improve the format as quality enhancements are discovered. The Business Analyst is often the person leading the development and maintenance of this standard documentation format.

Typically there are many requirements. To organize them and make them easy to review, they are divided into categories or groupings. B2T Training recommends categorizing requirements into Business, Functional, and Technical.

B2T Training presents students with a Requirements Package that is an example of an effective, complete documentation format. The package includes all of the critical requirements components using structured text, diagrams and tables to make the document easy to review and maintain.