URS: How Critical it is for your business continuity?
User Requirement Specifications (URS) for ERP systems or any Software Application you purchase holds the key to its usability.
Just like when you buy a building or even rent a place, you will have very precise requirements in mind as to type of location, facilities, power requirements, access roads, maintenance cost, total cost of ownership etc. In the like manner a Software Application or ERP system which is the backbone of your business should be procured with your business needs in mind and not what is offered.
URS: How critical it is for your business continuity!User Requirement Specifications (URS) for ERP systems or any Software Application you purchase holds the key to its usability. Just like when you buy a building or even rent a place, you will have very precise requirements in mind as to type of location, facilities, power requirements, access roads, maintenance cost, total cost of ownership etc. In the like manner a Software Application or ERP system which is the backbone of your business should be procured with your business needs in mind and not what is offered. What is URS?
URS is the user’s point of view for a would be System
- How the activities in a business process shall function!
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How each activity interacts with another before providing a desired outcome!
- What is the frequency of usage!
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How checks and gates are applied!
- Where the data shall be recorded and retrieved when required!
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What can be automated as a routine function!
- What is the desired resource or cost benefit as compared with current method vs. new application!
- How the activities in a business process shall function!
The list can go on depending on the type of users but to summarize:
“URS is an organized and disciplined methodology for developing a complete specification which can be used by Purchasers, Developers, Software Vendors and IS professionals so that appropriate applications can be provided.”
Developing URS is an skill to be cultivated among users as well as developers to ensure product quality and compliance with quality management standards (ISO 9000)
How URS is used?
Whether you are developing a new system, purchasing a “Standard–Off-The-Shelf” (SOTS) system or implementing a in-house system, URS will be the driving force in each of the following stages: -
a) Validation: Checking that the ERP /SOTS system corresponds to what it is supposed to represent in terms of “Functional completeness and accuracy of the information” and “user’s organizational and task performance requirements including usability requirements”.
b) Verification: Checking that the system is built well technically both in terms of the logical properties of its information resource and against specified standards.
c) Testing: The process of assessing the status of the system against pre-specified verification, validation, usability and performance criteria as part of the URS.
d) Evaluation: The stage in which one has to put results of all the tests together and make an overall assessment of the value of the system. URS would have established certain desirables and once the system is complete the deliverables shall be measured against desirables in order to estimate the value of the system.
I recall a case of a well-established large Heavy Engineering & Construction based organization in which the Ship Repair Business was often faced with project delays and cost overruns. After series of customer complaints and lost orders; management was forced to review the project management strategies. During the investigation stage it was observed that lack of project planning was one of the key contributor to the problems and second contributor was scarce resource allocation.
To fix the problem with quick-fix solution, a standard project management system “MS Projects” was purchased and was given to the Projects Department for implementation. The planners had no prior knowledge of the MS Projects and were used to working out a short quick Bar Chart on “MS Excel”. After months of learning “MS Projects”, training on Project Management methodologies, painstakingly trying to capture resources across projects, schedule updating works and finally a heap of paper produced which no Project Manager could interpret or had time to review.
So field staff quickly forgot about the new Software System and resorted back to their old ways.
In another large-scale project in the same organization a more comprehensive Project Management System was purchased at an estimated cost of US$120K, this system also met the same fate in less than four months.
What went wrong?
The Software Applications are no ordinary systems but proven world leaders!
This is where URS could have played a better role. The standard package does provide functionalities more than a reasonable size organization would require but not necessarily it is customized for the users unless someone has developed the application according to User’s requirements.
Remember! It is your business and your unique processes, which will determine the future of your organization and not some standard protocols mass produced and sold in the market.
Your URS has a competitive advantage built in to it with quality, efficiency, reliability and repeatability features. How could one expect a complete stranger to your business decide how you should run your business!
How Critical is URS for Application Development & Implementation?
Misinformation can cause loss of time & money
For any system to succeed, the two basic checks are:
a) Building the right system
b) Building the System right
One can’t deviate from actual requirements, as this is the single most notorious cause for project failures in the world.
Time Spent in developing URS is money saved in Final cost of the project Reinventing your Business through URS What are the URS Development Steps?
Making changes in requirements during URS development stage will cost negligible while try changing your requirements during implementation or development stage; the software engineers will usually require a open cheque if you want to change any functionalities after the contract.
Most of the organization when asked to define their processes and requirements will tend to question adequacy of every activity, remove ambiguity, clear obstacles and will redefine a efficient process as a outcome. Now this wouldn’t have taken place across the entire organization otherwise but for URS development exercise.
There are at least 10 stages before any application should be passed for development. There are more detailed descriptions in various issues of the technical journals published by IEEE and other organizations.
Most commonly used stages are: -
- Defining the Mission
- Identify user groups and communities
- Conduct Requirement Analysis
- Survey the user groups and amend accordingly
- Conduct Functional Performance Requirements Analysis
- Get user reviews
- Develop Preliminary Flow charts and specifications
- Obtain user reviews and comments
- Develop a Preliminary System Architecture
- Get user approval.
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For more details contact TiberiasMC or attend workshops conducted by TiberiasMC on “Developing Skills for Identifying and Specifying User Requirements”
