1.5 The FeatureFunctionality Report


1.5 The Feature/Functionality Report

Executive staff will provide a lead developer to support the Phase 1 lead person. The lead developer will need to assist in the creation of the Feature/Functionality Report. This report is created based on the recommendations provided in the Business Requirements Document. As the technical person reads through the Business Requirements Document, she should start listing features based on recommendations and needs. For example, the proposed project is to add a company wide telephone directory to the company s intranet site. The Business Requirements Document lists that employees want to have one-button access from the home page of the Web site; to have access to name, e-mail, phone number, office location, department, and employee picture; to have the ability to click on an employee s name and have that employee s e-mail address automatically inserted into an e-mail; and to have these features integrated with the company s room-scheduling software. The lead developer can now list out the features and functionality associated with each of these requirements. Each feature is listed, along with its rank of importance, for example A, B, C. ˜ ˜A lists the features that must be in the project for the project to work, ˜ ˜B lists the features that would be nice to have, ˜ ˜C lists the features that would be nice to have, but most users can live without. The lead developer then estimates how long it will take to develop each feature, and if any of the features are pregnant processes. Figure 1.2 offers an example of this. It is important to note that this document is only an estimate and does not reflect an actual schedule, just an estimate used for planning purposes. To create a conservative estimate, the lead developer should double the amount of time she thinks any step will take.

The goal of Phase 1 is to identify the scope of a project so management can make an intelligent decision on whether to fund it. A common mistake is to turn the Feature/Functionality Report into a solution. After a project has been funded , IT will take the information used in Phase 1 and begin to look at solutions. It is important to note that IT fears this document. They are concerned that they will be held accountable in later stages for estimates provided in Phase 1. For the process to work, it is very important for management to realize that estimates presented in Phase 1 should be used only to decide if a project should be funded.

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Figure 1.2: Feature/Functionality Report

Management will need to let IT scope and design the project completely before holding IT accountable for their estimates.

1.5 in a Nutshell

The Business Requirements Document is the user -focused document while the Feature/Functionality Report is the basis for the technical implementation. Once the Business Requirements Document has been created a Feature/

Functionality Report can be started.

  • A Feature/Functionality Report lists each recommended or identified feature defined in the Business Requirements Document.

  • The Feature/Functionality List is prioritized by company direction.

  • The prioritized list needs to have at least three sections ”A, B, C. ˜ ˜A lists the features that must be in the project for the project to work; ˜ ˜B lists the features that would be nice to have; ˜ ˜C lists the features that would be nice to have, but most users can live without.




Effective IT Project Management
Effective IT Project Management: Using Teams to Get Projects Completed on Time and Under Budget
ISBN: B000VSMJSW
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 105
Authors: Anita Rosen

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