BRASIGBRASIGBusiness Requirements Analysis Special Interest Group

Requirements Analysis Resources

David Randall8th February 2007

OutlineOutline

Book ReviewsBook ListsMailing ListsForums & BlogsPodcasts & WebinarsInternational Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)Training Companies (IIBA Certified)Tool SitesOther WebsitesBooks Recommended in the RQNG “Must Read

Books” Forum

Ian Alexander◦ http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~iany/reviews/reviews.htm ◦ On his web page Ian Alexander has an extensive list of books that he has reviewed

about requirements analysis and other areas of software engineering.

Must Read Books — Forum Topics◦ http://www.requirementsnetwork.com/node/678#comment◦ Writing Effective Use Cases — Cockburn (Addison-Wesley)◦ Patterns for Effective Use Cases — Adolph, Bramble, Cockburn, Pols (Addison-Wesley)◦ Software Requirement, 2ed, Karl Wiegers◦ More about Software Requirements, Karl Wiegers◦ The Software Requirements - Memory Jogger, Ellen Gottesdiener◦ Software Requirement, 2ed, Karl Wiegers (he also has a CBT of the same name that

follows the book)◦ Ellen Gottesdiener's book, Requirements by Collaboration. ◦ UML for the IT Business Analyst by Howard Podeswa◦ Writing Better Requirements by Ian Alexander◦ Writing Effective Use Cases – Alistair Cockburn (Addison-Wesley)◦ BABOK

Book ReviewsBook Reviews

Book ListsBook Lists

Business Systems Analysis Bookstore◦ http://www.businessanalysisbooks.com/ ◦ A bookstore that specialises in Business System Analysis and Software Testing books.

The categories will help you to find the exact book you need.

Leave these for Didar???◦ University of Technology Sydney

http://research.it.uts.edu.au/re/cgi-bin/resources_books.cgi Hosts a list of requirements related books

◦ Alan Davis http://web.uccs.edu/adavis/UCCS/index.htm On his site, Alan Davis provides free access to an extensive bibliography (almost 4000

entries) of requirements-related papers and books.

◦ Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~bdbib/ 'The Department of Computer Science of hosts an annotated bibliography of requirements

engineering publications to help disseminate Requirements Engineering.

Mailing ListsMailing Lists

BRASIGBusiness Requirements Analysis Special Interest Group (BRASIG) at the Australian Computer Society (ACS)◦ http://lists.nsw.acs.org.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ra-sig ◦ Sign-up NOW!!!

Requirements Engineering @ Yahoo◦ http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Requirements-Engineering/◦ The purpose of this mailing list is to provide environment for sharing knowledge and experience in the scope of

Software Development Processes.

RESG◦ Requirements Engineering Specialist Group (RESIG) of the British Computer Society (BCS)◦ http://www.resg.org.uk/mailing_list.html ◦ The RESG provides an email forwarding service to the requirements engineering community in the UK and

worldwide. Calls for papers for RE-related conferences, workshops and special events are forwarded to the mailing list. Mailings also include reminders of coming RESG or related events and position openings for professionals in the RE field. The mailing list is moderated to ensure that all messages are RE-related and conform to the aims of the service

RE-Online (Defer to Didar’s talk)◦ http://discuss.it.uts.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/re-online ◦ The RE-Online mailing list aims to act as an electronic forum for exchange of ideas among the requirements

engineering researchers and practitioners. The list manager and moderator is Assistant Professor Didar Zowghi.

Forums & BlogsForums & Blogs

RQNG◦ Requirements Networking Group (RQNG)◦ http://www.requirementsnetwork.com/ ◦ RQNG is a community website specifically devoted to the discipline

of "I.T. Requirements Management" aimed at Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, Project Managers, Testers - anyone with a direct association with requirements gathering and related disciplines.

◦ RQNG will be publishing weekly articles, serialized articles, free education articles etc., and encouraging experts to join, submit articles, blogs, forums, form groups, join groups, SIG's etc.

Seilevel◦ http://requirements.seilevel.com/messageboard/index.php◦ Consultancy based in Austin hosts a fairly active message board for

the Requirements community

Podcasts & WebinarsPodcasts & Webinars

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International Institute of Business International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)Analysis (IIBA)

Not-for-profit professional association for Business Analysis professionals. http://www.theiiba.org/ Vision is to be the leading world-wide professional association that develops and maintains

standards for the practice of business analysis and for the certification of practitioners.

IIBA will achieve that goal by:◦ Creating and developing awareness and recognition of the value and contribution of the Business Analyst, ◦ Defining the Body of Knowledge, ◦ Providing a forum for knowledge sharing and contribution to the Body of Knowledge, ◦ Identifying the required skills and competencies of a qualified Business Analyst, ◦ Defining training and professional development standards and ◦ Publicly recognizing and certifying qualified Business Analysts.

Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK)◦ Captures the sum of knowledge within the profession of Business Analysis

Areas of knowledge and skills Associated activities & tasks

◦ Reflects currently accepted practices is NOT a “how to do” business analysis instruction manual is NOT a methodology and must not prescribe nor favour a methodology

Certification – http://www.theiiba.org/content.asp?contentid=552

Training CompaniesTraining Companies

IIBA Certified Courses

EQuest Consulting Pty Ltd◦ http://www.eqc.com.au/ ◦ Level 8/153 Walker Street North Sydney, NSW◦ EQuest Consulting provides a comprehensive Education Practice. ◦ Primary focus is Project Management and Business Analysis Education. ◦ Instructors are all PMP Certified and have many years of experience in senior roles in corporate environments. Many of them also work as

consultants delivering consulting engagements. Their experience provides an extra dimension of reality in helping you build and strengthen the knowledge within your organisation.

◦ Endorsed Course: Business Analysis Fundamentals

IRM Training Pty Ltd (Charter EEP)◦ http://www.irm.com.au/ ◦ Suite 209, 620 Saint Kilda Road Melbourne, Victoria 3004◦ Instructor-led training workshops (public and private) in business analysis skills and techniques.◦ Endorsed Courses: Business Analysis, Requirements Gathering and Specification

PMPartners (Charter EEP)◦ http://www.pmpartners.com.au/ ◦ Level 14, 309 Kent St Sydney NSW 2000◦ PMPartners specialise in project management and business analysis, providing consulting, contracting and recruiting services, mentoring, work

place assessments and education solutions. ◦ PMPartners are PMI Global Registered Education Providers, Approved CompTIA Project + Training Providers, a PRINCE2 ATO, Australian

Institute of Project Management (AIPM) Assessors, recognized as a Project Managed Organization by the AIPM and a Government Endorsed Supplier.

◦ Endorsed Courses: Business Analysis

Tool SitesTool Sites

INCOSE◦ Requirements Management Tools Feature Comparisons◦ http://www.paper-review.com/tools/rms/read.php ◦ A feature comparison for some 25 requirements management tools, including Borland CaliberRM, Telelogic DOORS,

IBM Rational RequisitePro, Serena RTM, Gatherspace, and 20 others

Ian Alexander’s Home Page◦ http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~iany/other/vendors.htm◦ Includes an overview of each tool

J. Ludwig’s site Managing Requirements◦ Practical information about managing requirements.

http://www.geocities.com/requirementsmanagement/index.htm◦ Links to requirements management tools on the web.

Atlantic Systems Guild's Requirements ◦ Management Tool Descriptions◦ http://www.volere.co.uk/tools.htm ◦ Descriptions of many tools useful for dealing with requirements.

Article about Tools by Wiegers◦ http://www.processimpact.com/articles/rm_tools.html◦ Wiegers describes several benefits a requirements management tool can provide, identify the basic features to

expect from such tools, and briefly review four commercial tools.

Other WebsitesOther Websites

Karl Wiegers’ site (Process Impact)◦ Karl is the author of the books including Software Requirements, 2nd Edition, More About

Software Requirements, and has written many 160 articles on many aspects of software requirements development and management.

◦ http://www.processimpact.com ◦ Lots of free articles on quality requirements practices as well as requirements free

templates, links, webinars & book recommendations.

Ian Alexander◦ Ian is well known as a speaker and writer on requirements. He helps to run the BCS

Requirements Engineering Specialist Group. ◦ http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~iany/index.htm

Ellen Gottesdiener’s◦ http://www.ebgconsulting.com – follow this up◦ Lots of templates tools articles etc.

Suzanne & James Robertson’s site (Volere)◦ http://www.volere.co.uk ◦ Tools, templates and articles and links

Other Websites Cont …Other Websites Cont …

StickyMinds.com◦ http://www.stickyminds.com/index.asp◦ Online resource aimed at producing better software, offers original articles from industry experts,

technical papers, industry news, a searchable tools and books guide, discussion forums, and more.◦ Online companion to Better Software magazine.

Scott W. Ambler’s site (Agile Modelling)◦ Effective Practices for Modelling and Documentation◦ http://www.agilemodeling.com/ ◦ Agile Modelling (AM) is a practice-based methodology for effective modelling and documentation of

software-based systems. Simply put, Agile Modelling (AM) is a collection of values, principles, and practices for modelling software that can be applied on a software development project in an effective and light-weight manner.

BPTrends◦ http://www.bptrends.com◦ Paul Harmon, well known and respected market analyst, newsletter editor, consultant and author, and

Celia Wolf, business strategy and marketing consultant, founded Business Process Trends to provide a primary source of news and information relating to all aspects of business process change, focused on trends, directions and best practices.

Business Rules Community ◦ http://www.brcommunity.com

Books Recommended in the RQNG Books Recommended in the RQNG “Must Read Books” Forum “Must Read Books” Forum

Consistently Mentioned (no order)

Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK)

Mastering the Requirements Process by Suzanne Robertson, James Robertson

Requirements by Collaboration: Workshops for Defining Needs by Ellen Gottesdiener

Software Requirements Memory Jogger: A Pocket Guide to Help Software And Business Teams Develop And Manage Requirements by Ellen Gottesdiener

Software Requirements, Second Edition by Karl E. Wiegers

UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language (2nd Edition) by Martin Fowler, Kendall Scott

UML for the IT Business Analyst: A Practical Guide to Object-Oriented Requirements Gathering by Howard Podeswa

Writing Better Requirements by Ian Alexander

Writing Effective Use Cases by Alistair Cockburn

Other Mentioned Books (no order)

Business Rule Concepts: Getting to the Point of Knowledge” Ron Ross

Business Rules Applied: Building Better Systems Using the Business Rules Approach by Barbara Von Halle

Business Rules books by Ronald G. Ross

Case*Method: Entity Relationship Modelling by Barker (old but still useful)

Customer Centered Products: Creating Successful Products Through Smart Requirements Management by Ivy F. Hooks, Kristin A. Farry

Other Mentioned Books (cont …)

Data Model Resource Book: A Library of Logical Data and Data Warehouse Designs by Len Silverston, William H. Inmon, Kent Graziano

Discovering REAL Business Requirements for Software Project Success by Robin F. Goldsmith

Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach, Second Edition by Dean Leffingwell, Don Widrig

More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice by Karl E. Wiegers

Patterns for Effective Use Cases by Paul Bramble, Alistair Cockburn, Andy Pols, Steve Adolph

Rapid Prototyping; Moving to Business-Centric Development by John P. Reilly

Requirements Analysis: From Business Views to Architecture”, by David C. Hay http://www.zifa.com as well, for the official Zachman Framework website.

The Facilitator's Fieldbook (2nd Edition). This book is excellent at describing the softer people and background skills required to elicit requirements.

UML Weekend Crash Course by Thomas A. Pender

Use Case Modeling by Kurt Bittner, Ian Spence

Word Hacks: Tips & Tools for Taming Your Text (Hacks) by Andrew Savikas