Business Vision



TrackIT

Business Vision

Version 1.0

Revision History

|Date |Version |Description |Author |

|09/24/2004 |1.0 |Created |Team 2 |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 4

1.1 Purpose 4

1.2 Scope 4

1.3 Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations 4

1.4 References 4

1.5 Overview 4

2. Positioning 4

2.1 Business Opportunity 4

2.2 Problem Statement 5

2.3 Product Position Statement 5

3. Stakeholder and Customer Descriptions 5

3.1 Market Demographics 5

3.2 Stakeholder Summary 6

3.3 User Environment 7

3.4 Stakeholder Profiles 7

3.4.1 Outitech Software Solutions President/CEO 7

3.4.2 Software Development Team - Developers 7

3.4.3 Software Development Team – Test Team 8

3.4.4 Software Development Team – Software Manager 8

3.4.5 Software Development Team – Business Analyst 9

3.4.6 System Administrator 9

3.4.7 Outitech Software Solution Customers - “Clothes by Meme”, “Millennium Office Supplies”, “Take 1 Video”, and “Better Care Medical Supply Company” 9

3.5 Key Stakeholder or Customer Needs 10

3.6 Alternatives and Competition 11

4. Constraints 11

5. Quality Ranges 11

6. Precedence and Priority 12

7. Other Requirements 12

7.1 Applicable Standards 12

7.2 System Requirements 12

7.3 Environmental Requirements 12

Business Vision

Introduction

ADL Software Co. has been contracted by Outitech Software Solutions to develop an online software problem reporting system that would give the company more control over the management of software development. The software problem reporting system will be titled TrackIT, and will be an online web application that will be accessible to Outitech employees as well as their customers.

1 Purpose

The purpose of this document is to detail the objectives and business goals of Outitech Software Solutions as it relates to the development of the online software problem report tracking system (TrackIT).

2 Scope

This document will address the problems Outitech Software Solutions currently experiences with management of software problem reports and software changes and address the solution that TrackIT will provide. It will detail the project stakeholders and describe the ways in which they will be affected by the implementation of the TrackIT system. It will also document high-level requirements for the TrackIT system and the basic architecture that will be utilized.

3 Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations

A glossary containing relevant definitions, acronyms, and abbreviations has been provided as a separate document. See the Business Glossary for a complete listing of terms.

4 References

Documents referenced in this Business Vision document are:

• Team2.BusinessGlossary.Deliverable1.Date.10.04.04.doc

5 Overview

This document addresses the positioning, stakeholders, business modeling objectives, constraints, quality ranges, precedence and priority, and other requirements.

Positioning

1 Business Opportunity

Outitech Software Solutions specializes in e-commerce, focusing their primary efforts in the area of online catalogs. They currently hold contracts to develop online catalogs for four companies. They cater to companies that wish to take their existing mail-order catalogs online in order to increase customer interest, satisfaction, and sales. One of the key goals of Outitech Software Solutions is to develop and maintain customized software that meets the needs and domains of their customers, as well as the individuals who access the online catalogs, and to do so at a considerably lower cost than other companies. TrackIT will support this goal by allowing Outitech to easily control all changes that must be made to their four software projects.

2 Problem Statement

Because Outitech Software Solutions’ ongoing success has resulted in rapid growth and project expansions, their current method for reporting and tracking software problems and change requests is no longer sufficient. In the past, they have relied upon email and verbal communication to receive problem reports, functional requirements, and requests for enhancements. However, as the size of the Outitech contracts have increased, it has become increasingly difficult to keep track of the development and testing of software changes. Without this control, there is no doubt that software quality will soon suffer. TrackIT will allow all involved, including managers, developers, testers, and customers to actively participate in the tracking of all software problems and change requests.

3 Product Position Statement

TrackIT is being developed for Outitech Software Solutions. Outitech requires a means to actively track software changes, and TrackIT will meet this need by providing the system's users, including managers, developers, functional analysts, testers, customers, and administrators, more control and greater visibility of software problems and enhancements. It will allow them to submit, view, manage, and track software changes throughout the workflow via an online application.

Stakeholder and Customer Descriptions

1 Market Demographics

Outitech Software Solutions holds four online catalog contracts. One of these projects, an online clothing catalog for “Clothes by Meme”, based in Gainsville, Fl, has been in production for over two years and has seen a 65% increase in sales since the launch of their website. A second project, an online office supplies catalog for “Millennium Office Supplies”, located in Orlando, Fl, has been in production for one year, and has resulted in a 45% increase in sales. Both projects are maintained on an ongoing basis by Outitech Software Solutions. Two other projects, “Take 1 Video” and “Better Care Medical Supply Company” are both in pre-production development and are scheduled to be delivered in the near future. “Take 1 Video” is a Georgia based company that is seeking to expand movie sales. “Better Care Medical Supply Company” is a company that has traditionally sold medical supplies via a nationwide mail-order catalog. They have a large customer base, and wish to expand even further by going online.

Outitech Software Solutions is rapidly developing a positive reputation in the commercial online catalog market. Their first project, “Clothes by Meme” won the coveted “E-commerce Award for Catalog Design”, and this success has led to the acquisition of other projects. In order to accommodate this growth and expansion, Outitech is required to revaluate their processes and the way they conduct software development. The use of TrackIT will allow greater organization and communication among users to improve productivity and product quality.

2 Stakeholder Summary

|Name |Description |Responsibilities |

|Outitech Software Solutions|President of Outitech Software |Ensures successful company growth |

|President/CEO |Solutions |Recognizes that as Outitech continues to expand, its |

| | |continuing success will hinge on the development of a |

| | |formal software problem report tracking system |

| | |Monitors the project’s progress |

|Outitech Software Solutions|Vice president in charge of company |Approves funding |

|Vice President of Finances |finances | |

|Software Development Team |Includes Business Analysts, |Creates Software Problem Reports |

| |Developers, and Testers |Modifies Software Problem Reports |

| | |Tracks Software Problem Reports |

|System Administrator |Maintains the TrackIT system |Customizes the TrackIT system for each Outitech project |

| | |Grants user access to TrackIT |

|Outitech Software Solution |The companies who have contracted |Create Software Problem Reports |

|Customers: “Clothes by |Outitech Software Solutions to create |Have limited access to view Software Problem Reports |

|Meme”, “Millennium Office |online catalogs for their products | |

|Supplies”, “Take 1 Video”, | | |

|and “Better Care Medical | | |

|Supply Company” | | |

3 User Environment

The primary users of TrackIT are the Outitech Software Solutions software development team. Outitech currently has twenty people on the development team. There are two business analysts, five testers, and thirteen programmers. Outitech expects to expand the size of the development team based on the acquisition of future contracts.

Outitech currently holds four e-commerce contracts. Two are already in production and are being actively maintained and modified by Outitech. New requirements are released in a build approximately every three months, although this may vary based on customer requirements. The other two projects are in pre-production development and are scheduled to be released in the future.

All four web applications run in a Windows environment, using Apache/Tomcat and MySQL. TrackIT will be required to run on this same platform.

4 Stakeholder Profiles

1 Outitech Software Solutions President/CEO

|Description |President of Outitech Solutions |

|Type |Business professional with a technical background |

|Responsibilities |Overall management of Outitech Software Solutions, constantly searches for new opportunities and |

| |strives for company growth. |

|Success Criteria |Deliver high quality software in a timely manner at a low cost. Maintain a high professional reputation|

| |in the area of e-commerce. |

|Involvement |Manager |

|Comments and Issues |Currently Outitech manages problem reports via emails and customer phone calls. However, as the scope |

| |of the projects expand, it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage the Software Problem Reports |

| |and Software Change Requests. |

2 Software Development Team - Developers

|Description |Designs and develops new software, maintains and provides enhancements for existing software. |

|Type |Proficient with computers, highly technical, possesses understanding of software development process, |

| |knowledgeable in the functional aspects of each system. |

|Responsibilities |Provides design of new requirements for both new software projects and existing software projects. |

| |Provides code changes to applications to address problems reported and new functionality. |

|Success Criteria |Successful development of new requirements and fixes for reported problems. Delivery of high quality |

| |software with few problems. |

|Involvement |Developers will be key users of the TrackIT Software Problem Reporting System. They will receive their |

| |development assignments via TrackIT. They will report evaluations of the problem and the solutions to |

| |the problem through TrackIT. They will also report time spent on each problem and files that were |

| |modified to correct the problem. They will provide test steps to testers through TrackIT. |

|Comments and Issues |TrackIT will assist developers in ensuring that only the necessary changes are made, that all problems |

| |are addressed, that all files are included in builds, and that testers are provided with the correct |

| |testing steps. TrackIT will be used to assign tasks to developers and to aid them in managing and |

| |reporting the work they have done. |

3 Software Development Team – Test Team

|Description |Provides testing for all four online catalog applications. Tests each change made by developers before |

| |the change is released. Regularly performs regression testing to ensure the consistent quality of the |

| |software |

|Type |Proficient with computers, some development background, possesses understanding of software development|

| |process, knowledgeable in the functional aspects of each system. |

|Responsibilities |Testing of applications, reporting software problems, ensuring that changes address the problems that |

| |have been reported and do not compromise other aspects of the system. |

|Success Criteria |Ensures that software problems are found and addressed. Software should be delivered with a minimum of |

| |problems. |

|Involvement |Testers will be key users of TrackIT. They will create problem reports for problems found during |

| |testing. They will be assigned problem reports for testing evaluation and after development has been |

| |completed to ensure that the change was made correctly. TrackIT will contain appropriate test steps for|

| |each problem report, which will ensure that the correct problem is being addressed. |

|Comments and Issues |TrackIT will be used to assign tasks to testers and to aid them in managing the work they have done. |

4 Software Development Team – Software Manager

|Description |Manages the development, testing, and releases of the software. |

|Type |Proficient with computers, some development background, possesses understanding of software development|

| |process. |

|Responsibilities |Oversees the development and testing of all software changes. Manages project scheduling and reporting |

| |of project progress to the customer. |

|Success Criteria |Delivering a quality project on time and in budget that meets the user’s needs. |

|Involvement |Managers will be key users of TrackIT. They will track the progress of software reports and manage the |

| |distribution of the workload by assigning versions to problem reports and assigning problem reports to |

| |developers and testers to be worked. They will be able to generate reports and view the time spent on |

| |each problem. |

|Comments and Issues |TrackIT will be beneficial to track the status and progress of the project. |

5 Software Development Team – Business Analyst

|Description |Key link between developers and the customer. Communicates functional requirements to the developers |

| |and testers. Ensures that project meets the user’s needs. |

|Type |Understands the needs of the customer. |

|Responsibilities |Communicates with the customers and with the developers and testers. |

|Success Criteria |Delivering a quality project that meets the user’s functional requirements. |

|Involvement |Business Analysts will be key users of TrackIT. They will view and submit enhancement requests into the|

| |system. They will provide comments on the problem reports to document how the application should be |

| |functioning and to provide guidance to the developers. |

|Comments and Issues |TrackIT will help them submit enhancements and provide a means for them to document the functional |

| |requirements. |

6 System Administrator

|Description |Maintains TrackIT for each individual project that it supports. |

|Type |Proficient with computers, understands the software development process. |

|Responsibilities |Updates the TrackIT system so that it meets the needs of each project. |

|Success Criteria |TrackIT meets the needs of each project. |

|Involvement |Communicates with the managers to ensure that TrackIT meets the needs of each project. Will grant users|

| |access to the system. |

|Comments and Issues |Will be able to dynamically add statuses and versions to the TrackIT system so that they are specific |

| |to each project. |

7 Outitech Software Solution Customers - “Clothes by Meme”, “Millennium Office Supplies”, “Take 1 Video”, and “Better Care Medical Supply Company”

|Description |The companies who have contracted Outitech Software Solutions to create online catalogs for their |

| |products. |

|Type |Casual Users, very little technical background. |

|Responsibilities |Report problems found in production systems. |

|Success Criteria |Expect online catalog provided by Outitech Software Solutions to be of high quality and easy for their |

| |online customers to utilize. |

|Involvement |The companies will provide very little input to the requirements of TrackIT. They will be allowed to |

| |submit problem reports through the system, and will be granted limited access to view the progress of |

| |the problem report. |

|Comments and Issues |TrackIT will provide a convenient way for the customers to report any problems found with the system. |

| |They may also submit requests for new requirements for the system. |

5 Key Stakeholder or Customer Needs

|Need |Priority |Current Solution |Proposed Solutions |

|Report Software Problems |High |Currently problems are reported |Create an online application to allow users to |

| | |through emails and phone calls. |enter software problem reports that can be |

| | |This is a problem because emails |tracked through the system. |

| | |and phone calls are difficult to | |

| | |document in a manner that can be | |

| | |easily tracked and managed. | |

|Track software changes |High |Currently code is checked out and |An online problem reporting system should allow|

| | |changes are made based on email or|problem reports to be assigned to individual |

| | |verbal instructions. This makes it|developers so that the only change being made |

| | |difficult to keep track of why |is the change detailed on the problem report. |

| | |certain changes were made and to |The problem reports should contain a section |

| | |understand exactly what should be |for developers to document exactly what the |

| | |tested. |change was, what files were modified, and what |

| | | |testing steps should be taken to ensure that |

| | | |the problem was tested correctly. |

|Assign statuses to problem reports |High |Currently there is no way for a |An online problem reporting system should allow|

| | |manager to know what status a |users to assign the software problem report a |

| | |problem is in. For example, is it |status that indicates the action currently |

| | |in development? Is it in testing? |being taken against the problem report. These |

| | | |statuses will be determined by management and |

| | | |will be available for the user to select when |

| | | |they save updates to the problem report. |

|Assign versions to problem reports |High |Currently there is no way to |An online problem reporting system should allow|

| | |control what changes are added to |users to assign a version number to the |

| | |what versions of the software. |software problem report. This version number |

| | | |will indicate to the developer and testers |

| | | |which version of software should be changed and|

| | | |tested. These versions will be determined by |

| | | |management and will be available for the user |

| | | |to select when they save updates to the problem|

| | | |report. |

|Indicate time spent |Medium |Currently there is no way for |An online problem reporting system should allow|

| | |management to tell how much time |users to indicate how much time has been spent |

| | |has been spent on development and |on each problem. Each user will fill in time |

| | |testing of a problem. |spent when they save updates to the problem |

| | | |report. |

|Provide detailed information concerning |High |Currently there is no way to |An online problem reporting system should allow|

|problem solution | |record the results of problem |users to document testing results, problem |

| | |evaluation, development, and |resolutions, files modified, etc. |

| | |testing. | |

6 Alternatives and Competition

Outitech Software Solutions has reviewed several alternatives to the TrackIT system, including one commercially available off-the-shelf system that is suitable for system tracking. However, after further research it was determined that it would require too much customization to meet the needs of Outitech’s specific software projects. Outitech also explored the possibility of developing a system in-house. However, because they have such a small development team who are all very busy working current projects, it was decided that it would be more cost effective to outsource.

Constraints

The TrackIT project must meet the financial and technological constraints outlined by Outitech.

Quality Ranges

TrackIT must be able to support a high volume of data, and a high number of users. It must be able to separately support each of Outitech’s projects and be expandable so that it can support future projects. The application should run in a stable environment and should be deemed reliable by all who use it.

Precedence and Priority

Requirements for TrackIT will be categorized as High, Medium, and Low, with High getting the highest priority.

Other Requirements

1 Applicable Standards

TrackIT must be an on-line application that is accessible by users who run Windows and Internet Explorer.

2 System Requirements

TrackIT should be developed using Apache/Tomcat in a Windows environment using MySQL.

3 Environmental Requirements

Users of TrackIT will be required to use Internet Explorer.

File Transfer Software will be required for the deployment of TrackIT.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download