RE: Revised questions RE: SDLC Documentation Help Requested

["Cekis, Margaret" <Margaret -at- mediaocean -dot- com>]

Ed Manley [mailto:EManley -at- Solutionsplus -dot- com] has further questions on SDLC
Requirements Documentation:

My questions have more to do with process or workflow; I suppose....that we
know our starting point, the templates, how are you creating/maintaining the
documents? ...for instance:
A Client [makes] a request for a new report to be added to the system....I
create a Requirements Specification if the project is of any size, or just a
Technical Specification, which is created regardless of project size....

"Now, multiply that scenario by thirty, which is the approximate number of
enhancements I am working on at any given time. Mix in six more BAs, all
working on numerous enhancements.... We may have as many as seven hundred
issues in our Issue Tracker that are being worked simultaneously)...And,
since that report can be called from five different screens, how are we
gonna keep all those GUI documents current when the report changes?...How am
I gonna know all the stored procedures and classes and VB modules and tables
and forms and so on that my enhancement is gonna touch? How can I update -
and here's the important part - How can I update ALL the documentation that
is affected by my enhancement?"
______________________________________
Ed:

This is where you need some sort of control/schedule/phasing/ oversight of
what is to be released when.  All 700 enhancements or modifications do not
affect all versions of the software, etc., do not have the same priority,
and will not all be released at once. There has to be something (even if it
is only a set of big spreadsheets) that groups these items by category,
version, or whatever sorting is relevant, and lists all the modules,
documents, database fields, etc. that they impact. Your Functional
Specification, Solutions Approach, and Work Estimate docs probably list all
the relevant items affected by a planned enhancement. 

You already have a Change Control Board. That board is probably who should
be bundling and prioritizing and scheduling groups of enhancements for
release.  Then the planned release number can be assigned to each item to be
done for a particular release, and a checklist or mini-spreadsheet pulled
out of the master list and used to track everything required for that
enhancement. That impacts list should also be used by QA for verification
before an enhancement is certified as completed for the release. 

Once the items are tied to specific releases, then project managers or
release managers have to keep track of the state of the items in their
release or department, etc.

Does this help?  You have to determine what part of this process is
fuctioning in your organization, and what is falling through the holes.
When I worked at the company with the structured process, they assigned
release managers to each release (even minor maintenance releases) because
someone had to keep track of what loose ends still had to be tied up before
each release went out.  The Project and Group managers were busy already
keeping parts of several releases on track, managing the demands on their
development staffs, ordering and installing equipment, etc.

Let me know how things get resolved.
Margaret Cekis
Margaret -at- mediaocean

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you 
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of 
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.