Alignment of Business Processes and Supporting Software Environment

Discuss about the Significant Trend in Business Systems Analysis.

Due to the dynamism of the; business processes, business requirements, technology and supporting software environments available for the development of fully functional, effective and efficient enterprise or business systems, the need to advance and improve the approaches, methodologies and techniques of business system analysis has been very crucial and of concern to most system analysts. The advancement in return has led to success of the business processes accommodated by a business. This has made most businesses and business-oriented organizations to implement business systems in their businesses to enhance their business processes and in turn accrue a lot of profit at the end of the day.

Over the years the most significant aspect put in to consideration during the business system analysis phase in the system development life cycle is the alignment of the business processes with the supporting software environment. This is crucial when developing a system because if a supporting software environment does not support the technologies behind business processes, then the business system will not work and give feedback as expected by the system analyst, system designer, system programmer and the organization at hand.

The business systems analysis has implemented new techniques like; Strength, Weakness, Threat and Opportunities analysis (SWOT), Business process modeling, Use case modeling, Non-functional requirement analysis, Data modeling, Requirement workshops, Requirement interviews and User stories to advance the process of analyzing business systems. All these in addition to the alignment strategy, have made business system analysis evolve tremendously since its introduction in the 1970s. Business systems being developed nowadays are more advanced and accommodative.

Observation Zikmund (2013). This involves looking into business systems especially their development, implementation, deployment and documentation part. Observations on how various business systems are analyzed, how they work, how errors are rectified and how the development team responds to the. Most of the business systems observed depicted the alignment in the system development life cycle during system analysis where system analysts work hand in hand with the programmers to find the most suitable way to arrive at compatibility between the business processes supported by a business system and the supporting software environment used in the development of the business system. The trends in business system analysis were also observed across all the business systems under consideration.  Trends like strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis of the non-functional requirements, all types of modeling used during system analysis, and all the techniques and methodologies of acquiring requirements for business systems was put into consideration.

Evolution of Business System Analysis

Sampling. This is using a subset of certain entities to make a conclusion on all the other entities, in this case obtaining a subset of the existing business systems Reinharz (2017). Sampling of the various business systems like Customer relationship management systems, human resource management system, workflow management systems and enterprise resource management was done. Issues like alignment were investigated on the sampled business systems. The trends in business system analysis were also observed across all the business systems under consideration. Trends like strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis of the non-functional requirements, all types of modeling used during system analysis, and all the techniques and methodologies of acquiring requirements for business systems was put into consideration.

Survey. This is where information is collected through examining the object or issue under research Reinharz (2017). Through all the business systems surveyed, alignment was put under consideration. The trends in business system analysis were also observed across all the business systems under consideration. Trends like strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis of the non-functional requirements, all types of modeling used during system analysis, and all the techniques and methodologies of acquiring requirements for business systems was put into consideration.

Alignment strategy tries to compare whether the business processes supported in the business system analysis are compatible to the supporting software environment used to develop the business system. This comparison is made possible through simulation which creates a representation of the real system, a model, implementing all the entities and the features of the real system Vom & Rosemann (2010). Modeling is mostly implemented through the Unified Modeling language UML which does not include all the features of the system but most of the features.

The model is developed in an evolving manner adding the business system requirements while at the same time checking the business processes alignment to the supporting software environment used to develop the business system. The model is a representation of the real business system, which means whatever changes that are done on the model of the system are also done on the real system. The model should act as reflection of the real business system.

The alignment strategy consists of four stages which include; execution of inventions, detection of misalignment, identification of changes to be made and the strategy of making the changes identified.

Execution of inventions. This stage involves the introduction of all modifications and new inventions made. The modifications made to an earlier analyzed business either with the way business process activities are supposed to flow, the additional technological advancements and improvements is introduced in this phase. New inventions on technologies and new business processes that were not involved in the previous business system  and the technological advancements in the supporting software environment need are also introduced in this phase.   Inventions on how business process activities should flow and introduction of new components of the business system and the supporting software environment are put into consideration in this stage.

Techniques and Methodologies of Business System Analysis

Detection of misalignment. In this stage, the compatibility comparison is done between all the business processes, either new or already in existence,  and the technological changes made to the supporting software environment. This stage is done repeatedly comparing the quality parameters set to detect any misalignment between the business processes supported by the business system and the supporting software environment used to develop the business system. Technological scope and technological fulfillment are analyzed here. Technological span indicates what areas the technology caters for whereas technological fulfillment indicates whether implementation of the technology is actually adequate for the business system being developed. If the alignment is positive then development of the system continues as scheduled by the business system development team. If the alignment between these components is negative then changes have to be made to make them align. After they align, it when the system development can continue as scheduled.

Identification of the need to change. If alignment in the detection of misalignment stage is negative then necessary changes need to be made. The purpose of this stage is to keenly identify whether the alignment in the previous stage is either positive or negative. If negative it’s when the need for making changes is identified. The need of change entirely depends on the negativity and the positivity of the alignment. The need of change is identified in the newly introduced business processes, new modifications in the business system and the new innovations in technology. Technology here involves both the technology used on the supporting software environment and the technology used on the business processes implementation. Once the need of change has been identified then the next stage of implementing the changes can be executed.

Implementation of changes. This is where all the change considerations on the technology invented, the technology modified, the business processes and activities introduced and the business activities and processes modified are made. Once all these are put under consideration, necessary actions are undertaken on these new inventions, new introductions and modifications made. Propagation of these changes is done to avoid repetition. The propagation is applied to sections of the system that reuse the same technological changes, business processes and activities. In this stage, the most efficient way of implementing these changes is first examined by analyzing all the available options of change implementation. After making the changes the process then repeats to check whether the made changes on the business processes and the supporting software are now compatible to each other.  System development can carry on, once these changes have been made and the business processes supported by the system are compatible with the supporting software used to develop and implement the business system in question.  

SWOT Analysis

Analysis based on SWOT. This is analysis based on the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the business system Helms & Nixon (2010). What should be the strengths of the system? exploitation of the weaknesses of the system, analysis of the threats the business system is bound to be faced with and the opportunities present that the business system can either implement now or in  the future. The weaknesses of the system are identified to find a way to rectify them whereas the strengths are maintained. The threats that the system is bound to be faced with are also exploited to find the most suitable solutions to the threat or even set a mitigation strategy in case of an attack. The opportunities of the business system are the availability of new advanced technologies. The opportunities tend to make the system adaptive and compatible where the business system has to accommodate new advanced technologies and business processes and activities.

Analysis of the non-functional requirements of the business system. Non-functional requirements are the most significant part of system analysis not only for business systems but also to all systems being developed today. The non-functional requirements determine the architecture chose for the development of the business system. The non-functional requirements include the system functionality, system reliability, system usability, system supportability and security. According to Chung et.al (2012) Functionality of the business system answers the question is the system functional? System reliability answers the question is business system reliable in case of any misfortune? System usability answers the question is the business system user-friendly, system supportability answers the question does the business system accommodate all the requirements it was developed to? And security answers the question is the business system safe from attacks or is the system able to withstand an attack.

Interviews and workshops on the requirements specification. The business system requirements are collected through the interviews with the stakeholders and workshops with users of the business system Grady (2010). The objective is to identify and analyze all the features that should be implemented in the business system, including all the business processes and activities. Requirement specification analysis is not only done when developing business systems but also when developing systems in other fields.

Modeling of the business processes Weske (2012). Most business system analysts implement modeling of the business processes majorly using diagrams created in Unified Modeling Language(UML) and Business Processing Modeling Notation(BPMN) to represent the flow of business processes, activities and work. This represents the entities in the real business system being developed. It is also an easier way of grasping how the system works compared to giving the description of the system       in words. Modeling of business processes is an efficient and effective way of understanding the system and correcting the errors, what makes it a popular and common trend when developing business systems.

UML Modeling

Modeling of the Use case of the business processes. This is a diagrammatic representation of how the business system interacts with the users of the business system ( Gemino & Parker 2009). It is mostly implemented using the Unified Modeling Language(UML). Take an  example of hospital management system where a patient wants to book appointment.  

Modeling of the data used in the business system. A representation of the data captured on every entity in existence in the business environment where the business system is to be deployed ( Zur  & Recker 2013). The relationships between all the entities to be incorporated in this business system are set here. This trend in the business system analysis ensures that all data required to be captured and used in the real system is enough and accurately captured for use. This is achieved by comparing the data model and the real data being captured and stored by the system.

User experiences with the system. This is yet another effective and efficient way of analyzing the business system where users tell tales of their experience using the business system  Adzic (2011). The users specify their likes and dislikes on the business system, what needs to be improved or upgraded, what needs to be totally terminated from the system and what has to be maintained the way it is. User experiences are very crucial because it enables the system analysts gauge the performance of the existing business system and discover the weaknesses and strengths of the system. Once the performance of the system and its weaknesses have been established ways to rectify these weaknesses and improve the business system’s performance. This is an upcoming business system analysis trend. It is often referred to as crowd sourcing where information is acquired from the crowd.

Conclusion

Alignment strategies with the megatrends in business system analysis like strength, weakness, opportunities, threats, non-functional requirements analysis, modeling of the essential components of the system, requirements collection from various players in the development of a business system are what have made business system analysis to evolve tremendously over the years. Business system analysis techniques are still evolving and are expected to in the near future. This is because of the constant innovation of new technologies and new business processes that business oriented organizations will always need to accommodate if they would want to make a fortune out of their businesses. Business system analysis is directly proportional to the standard of the business system that will be developed that is if business system analysis quality is excellent then the business system produced will be excellent as well.

References

Adzic, G. (2011). Specification by example: how successful teams deliver the right software. Manning Publications Co..

Chung, L., Nixon, B. A., Yu, E., & Mylopoulos, J. (2012). Non-functional requirements in software engineering (Vol. 5). Springer Science & Business Media.

Gemino, A., & Parker, D. (2009). Use case diagrams in support of use case modeling: Deriving understanding from the picture. Journal of Database Management (JDM), 20(1), 1-24.

Grady, J. O. (2010). System requirements analysis. Elsevier.

Helms, M. M., & Nixon, J. (2010). Exploring SWOT analysis–where are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade. Journal of strategy and management, 3(3), 215-251.

Reinharz, S. (2017). On Becoming a Social Scientist: from survey research and participant observation to Experimental Analysis. Routledge.

Vom Brocke, J., & Rosemann, M. (2010). Handbook on business process management. Heidelberg: Springer.

Weske, M. (2012). Business process management architectures. In Business Process Management (pp. 333-371). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods. Cengage Learning.

Zur Muehlen, M., & Recker, J. (2013). How much language is enough? Theoretical and practical use of the business process modeling notation. In Seminal Contributions to Information Systems Engineering (pp. 429-443). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.