7.5.1 Purpose

To define requirements for capabilities needed to transition to a new solution.

7.5.2 Description
In most cases, a solution is implemented into an enterprise in order to enhance or replace an existing solution. During the transition, the enterprise may need to operate both solutions in parallel, move information between the new and old solution, conduct training to enable stakeholders to effectively operate the new solution, and so forth. In addition to developing the solution itself, the implementation team is likely to have to develop additional capabilities to support this transition.

These capabilities are requirements, as stakeholders need to be able to make this transition successfully—but they are different in nature from other kinds of requirements, as they cannot be defined until a solution has been designed. These requirements also have a different lifespan from other types of requirements, as they remain relevant only during the transition period between solutions. They are accordingly defined as transition requirements to distinguish them from other levels of requirement.
Transition requirements are elicited, analyzed, managed, and communicated by performing the same tasks as for other requirements. The difference is not in the methods for defining them, but in the inputs, the nature of transition requirements, and in that they cease to be relevant once the existing solution is eliminated.

In instances where there is no existing solution, and the new solution is adding a entirely new and unprecedented capability to the enterprise rather than extending and improving an existing capability, then transition requirements do not need to be developed (they are included in the solution requirements).

7.5.3 Input
Existing Solution: This will be investigated to understand what needs to be transitioned to the new solution. It may be necessary to elicit a description of the capabilities of the solution and perform some analysis tasks in order to ensure that current capabilities are fully understood.

Solution Design: The design for the new solution must be in place to allow the business analyst to assess the transition.

7.5.4 Elements
The business analyst must examine the solution currently in place to identify features that are implemented in a substantially different fashion in the new solution, information that needs to be transferred to the new solution, and other areas of significant change. In terms of the elements of a business model, likely sources of transition requirements include:

Data. The actual data and metadata managed by the old system needs to be evaluated to determine whether it must be archived or transferred to the new solution. Rules for conversion of this information will need to be developed, and business rules may need to be defined to ensure that the new solution interprets the converted data correctly.

Ongoing work. It is likely that work will be ongoing in the old version of the solution at the time the new version is implemented. Plans for transferring this ongoing work must be developed. Options may include finishing existing work using the current solution and starting new work in the new solution, holding the processing of new work for a period of time, or converting all work at the time of implementation.

It is common while performing this task to identify functions in the existing solution that cannot be performed by the new solution. These newly identified requirements fall outside the scope of this task and are treated as any other requirement.

Organizational change. The BA may be involved in developing a process for managing the people side of change related to the solution. Organizational change management generally refers to a process and set of tools for managing change at an organizational level. The BA may help to develop recommendations for changes to the organizational structure or personnel, as job functions may change significantly as the result of decision or work being automated, new information may be made available to stakeholders, and new skills may be required to operate the solution.

7.5.5 Techniques
.1 Business Rules
Additional business rules may be defined to assist in migrating data, or to manage work migrated from the existing solution (as it is possible that different rules may apply depending on when the work was performed).

.2 Data Model
Physical data models of the existing and new solutions will be compared to enable a mapping between the two.

.3 Process Models and Organizational Models
These may be analyzed to identify the differences between the existing and new solutions.

7.5.6 Stakeholders

Customer: May experience a negative impact during the transition based on the transfer of ongoing work, or if information is incorrectly transferred. The goal in transition is generally to reduce or minimize this impact.

Domain Subject Matter Expert (SME): Will provide information on the existing solution and assist in verification and validation of the transition requirements.

End User: If the existing and the new solution are both in use for a period, they will need to know how to co-ordinate between them.

Implementation Subject Matter Expert (SME): Will be the source for many of the transition requirements.

Operational Support: May be impacted by the need to operate two solutions simultaneously.

Project Manager: Will need to plan for the work required to implement the transition requirements. This may impact the project scope.

Regulator: May require that records of the transition requirements and process be retained for long-term review and compliance with regulations.

Quality Assurance: Will verify that the transition has been performed correctly, including the development of test plans.

Sponsor: Will need to be informed of the potential impact of the transition on the costs and benefits of the new solution.

7.5.7 Output
Transition requirements. See Glossary.

Kevin Brennan, CBAP
VP, Body of Knowledge

Posted by Kevin Brennan at Saturday, February 16, 2008