Challenges in Developer Communication
If you've ever ventured into software, web, or mobile application development, you've likely faced challenges in communicating with your developers. This communication barrier is not uncommon, especially in projects or organizations that haven't yet mastered the art of engaging with software professionals. Developers typically think rapidly and are driven by problem-solving. Their primary focus is on finding a solution, regardless of the path they take to achieve it.
Furthermore, if you've primarily been involved in smaller software projects, you might not be accustomed to collaborating with a sizable team of engineers. These engineers often work alongside software developers to channel their swift problem-solving prowess in a structured manner.
System Analysts Roles in Bridging the Gap
The roles of Product Owner, Systems Analysts, Business Systems Analysts, and Systems Engineers serve this exact purpose. For short we will refer to this professional as a Systems Analyst. Specifically, they analyze the needs of the system and create documentation for the developers and test engineers to be able to interpret for development and testing purposes. Working in tandem with Project Managers, Product Managers, Technical Architects, or Quality Assurance Engineers, these professionals collaboratively plan, analyze, and oversee substantial software development endeavors.
To illustrate the scale, consider a software solution that houses more than 100 MB per record and accommodates over 50,000 users.
Example: Implementing a Time Management System (TMS)
How do these professionals bridge the communication gap between a customer and a developer? For instance, let's consider a Time Management System (TMS) as an example. Many organizations deploy a TMS to monitor hours, time, and attendance. The Systems Analyst's primary objective is to assess the project scope and segment the tasks into manageable chunks, a process often termed as 'functional decomposition.' Consequently, this segmentation ensures the system's scalability.
Take, for instance, a feature in the TMS labeled "Manage Employee Hours," which could be designated as an 'Epic.' This Epic can further be subdivided into 'Features,' such as "Modify Employee Hours." Subsequently, this Feature can be detailed into user stories, scenarios, cases, or other terminologies your team might use. Examples might encompass tasks like "Edit Employee Hours," "Audit Changes to Employee Hours," or "Revoke Edits to Employee Hours."
Leveraging Natural Language Processing, Swiftly effortlessly constructs Epics, Features, Scenarios, Data Elements, and Prompts while associating relevant business rules and security controls.
Benefits of Feature Segmentation by Systems Analysts
Additionally, the Systems Analyst guides the developer in crafting this feature based on the outlined scenarios. But the process doesn't stop there. Accompanying these scenarios are essential components like data elements, business regulations, system prompts, and security protocols that ensure comprehensive functionality.
Data elements would include:
- Employee Name
- Employee ID
- Hours
- Days
- Week
- Totals
Business rules would include:
- User cannot enter in time for future days.
- Time entered for prior days cannot be modified without an approval.
System prompts would include:
- If the user entered in time for future days, “Time cannot be entered for future days.”
- If the user tried to modify hours without approval, “Please request approval to modify hours from your manager.”
A security protocol would include:
- NIST 800.171 Access Control Basic 3.1.2 03.01.02
- Limit system access to the types of transactions and functions that authorized users are permitted to execute. Organizations may choose to define access privileges or other attributes by account, by type of account, or a combination of both. System account types include individual, shared, group, system, anonymous, guest, emergency, developer, manufacturer, vendor, and temporary. Other attributes required for authorizing access include restrictions on time-of-day, day-of-week, and point-of-origin. In defining other account attributes, organizations consider system-related requirements (e.g., system upgrades scheduled maintenance,) and mission or business requirements, (e.g., time zone differences, customer requirements, remote access to support travel requirements).
Segmenting features offer teams a strategic advantage. It aids in prioritizing functionalities, facilitates phased implementation, and provides a structured approach for developers to tackle challenges in digestible portions. Considering the management of such intricate details for a large-scale system, it's crucial to recognize the effort required. Documenting and maintaining this information is pivotal for ensuring effective and clear communication.
Introducing Swiftly: Revolutionizing Documentation for System Analysts
Enter Swiftly. This tool revolutionizes the process by auto-generating essential documentation, alleviating the burden on Systems Analysts to manually write, plan, organize, and manage such information. By auto-generating vital details, Swiftly significantly reduces the time Systems Analysts spend manually writing, planning, and organizing—turning what could be hours, days, or even months into mere minutes.
Conclusion
The tool furnishes immaculate documentation specially crafted for development teams, serving everyone from developers to test engineers. Leveraging Natural Language Processing, Swiftly effortlessly constructs Epics, Features, Scenarios, Data Elements, and Prompts while associating relevant business rules and security controls. Dive deeper with our partners at Critical Logic and explore their Swiftly proof of concept in their blog post about implementing a Time Management System.