What should you keep in mind when starting to define your Business Software Requirements? Since we primarily work with small and medium-sized businesses, we primarily discuss the process of defining business software requirements for these kinds of businesses. The main reason is that we understand and know exactly what these kinds of businesses want. It’s our core competency after all!. So let’s get to it!
Do you know what business software requirements are? They’re the first steps to figuring out how your business can use technology to achieve company goals. If you don’t know what these are, then that’s where this post comes in. We’re going to define your business software requirements to help you get your dream digital strategy in place including where you should start and where the opportunities are.
here are specific kinds of requirement specifications that software development and testing professionals deal with when working on a new product.
A software development team needs clear and accurate requirements so that the right product can be created. Documentation is a vital process for the easy and efficient development of software.
There are various types of requirement specifications. They include Functional Requirement Specifications (FRS), Performance Requirement Specification (PRS), Configurations Requirement Specification (CRF), Business Requirement Specification (BRS), Reliability Requirement Specification (RRF), Compatibility Requirement Specification (CRF), and Software Requirement Specification (SRS). The common ones are the Software requirement specification (SRS), Business requirement specification (BRS), and Functional requirement specification (FRS).
These are the main types of documents that software developers use in software testing, which refers to the comprehensive requirements for a system based on the needs of the client. Also, a business analyst must have come across these terms when he/she is trying to document the project’s requirements.
In this tutorial, we’ll be looking at the Business Requirement Specification (BRS) and the Software Requirement Specification (SRS), and the difference between both of them.
What is Business Requirement Specification?
These are documents that enlist the objectives of the business that the client is trying to achieve, the key targets as well as the performance expectations of the products or system.
It also shows how the business requirements of the client are met on a wider level. It is called a High-level document and is one of the most common and universally accepted specification documents.
The Business Requirement Specification (BRS) is usually created at the start of the project life cycle. The BRS document created by a business analyst is usually based on the specification of other important stakeholders who are interacting with the final product after a rigorous analysis of the client company has taken place. The client then reviews the final copy of the document to validate all the expectations of the business stakeholders.
A BRS document is mainly used by product investors, middle and upper management as well as business analysts. A Business Requirement Specification (BRS) document generally consists of the complete scope of the project, the performance requirements and usability, the purpose of the product, the functions of the product, the features of the product and the users, the scope of the work and the humanity requirements.
Contrary to the case of Software requirement specification (SRS), tables, diagrams as well as use cases are not included in a BRS document. An example of a statement that can be found in a Business Requirement Specification (BRS) document could look like is ‘The Company would like to improve its efficiency by knowing the time spent on different tasks by the employees’. The BRS document answers the question of ‘Why are the requirements needed and what are the results to be expected from the system?
What about Software Requirement Specification?
Software Requirements Specification (SRS) is a document used in describing the main functionality and business purpose of a product, the software that is to be developed, and how the core functions of the software are to be performed.
It outlines the summary of a project which includes the features of the technology as well as the desired goal of the business. The SRS document is important as it bridges the gap between what the business will get by documenting the characteristics, broad layout, and workflows of the software being developed, and what the business wants.
Software Requirements Specification (SRS) serves as the basis of any project because it consists of a framework that each team member will follow. The SRS document answers the question of ‘What requirements must be fulfilled for the needs of the business to be met?
Stakeholders also make use of the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) as a base of contract which will include the details of how the future product will run, as well as the functionality of the product. SRS describes the process of how data flows into the system and the entire system flow. As the name suggests, this document is used mainly by software developers during the process of developing the program or product. The SRS document also enhances the efficiency during the process of developing the software. q
System analysts are the ones responsible for securing all the necessary information from the relevant stakeholders. They then share the information with the other departments. The project managers are the main audience of the Software Requirement Specification (SRS). Functional and non-functional requirements are found in SRS.
Contrary to the case of Business requirement specification (BRS); tables, diagrams as well as use cases are included in an SRS document. Descriptive labels should be present to serve as references to every diagram, figure, and table present in the document. For an SRS document to be deemed perfect, it must take into consideration the potential users and the way these users will interact with the software, coupled with the way the software relates with other software and also with hardware.
SRS provides a major advantage in software development by reducing frustration and non-productive time. It also helps the team members to work in synergy, making sure all the requirements are completed. Another name for the Software Requirement Specification (SRS) is Product Requirements Document (PRD). An example of a Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document is a proposed software that is designed to track the employee’s office time. The document, in this case, should include the login module, the employee module, the administrator module, and the reporting module.
So, What is a Business Requirement?
A business requirement is not something a system must do. It is something that the business needs to do or have in order to stay in business. For example, a business requirement can be:
- a process they must complete
- a piece of data they need to use for that process
- a business rule that governs that process and that data
Your business requirements change less (in most businesses) than your functional requirements, and are typically more objective. “If we don’t find the best way to reach our customer, we could be out of business!” So, the business requirement would read something like: “We need to contact the customer with xyz information”, not “the system will….”.
Remember, “The system shall do this or that…” describes the how (or the functionality). It is the manifestation of the business requirement in a system.
Let’s consider if this had been stated as a user story.
As a Product Owner, I want to communicate product incentives to our customers each time they purchase a complimentary product.
In this instance, the user story is written independent of the how or functionality and is a business or stakeholder requirement. (Although, I might argue that it really doesn’t state the true benefit however and should be rewritten.) Too often, though, a user story will be written like this:
As a Product Owner, I want our customers to receive an automated email each time they purchase a complimentary product.
This is definitely a functional requirement and makes some huge assumptions regarding the purchase of products. Are they always made in an automated fashion, if not, how does the system know to send an automated email at the time of purchase and to what email address? What is the Product Owner is really trying to achieve? Is sending an automated email the best way to accomplish the ultimate goal?
Understanding the true problem or business need (Business Requirement) will ensure that you are delivering the highest value to your customer. Once we understand the true business needs, we can start determining the best way to approach building a solution (whether automation is involved or not) and how to implement that solution.
Conclusion
A business software requirement is a statement that specifies the characteristics of a system or component that will satisfy one or more business requirements. Software requirements can be of three types: functional requirements, nonfunctional requirements and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements.