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System Requirements Definition Workshop

Develope your detailed software system requirements

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PERSPECTIVE:
This interactive educational workshop, facilitated by a Buker Industry Expert, will assist your Selection Team and key functional Users in developing your detailed system requirements. By utilizing this structured approach, the user- created functional requirements list will be used by your team to develop and solicit an RFP/RFQ in order to develop a shortlist of software vendors to best fit your defined system needs.

This interactive educational workshop structure will:

  • Requires work to be completed prior to the workshop to complete a company data form for your team to look at specific business information and processes. This exercise makes people more aware of some of the elements within the business enterprise. This is a good primer for the workshop effort and a document that can be given to the software vendor.
  • Utilize a PC software tool with a database of over 2,000 functional questions that will be the basis for your software requirements.
  • Utilize a recommended list of functional attendees to develop a group of cross-functional users that will be involved with the definition process. Prior to the workshop, the recommended list will be provided and mutually tailored.
  • Provide an overview of the ERP business model and concepts.
  • Review and clearly define: your company's critical success factors and your new business system strategy including: identifying your current systems and the business gaps and goals in the current systems infrastructure. A "Why change?" discussion.
  • Develop a business model that identifies what overall functional areas are required in your new business system for the future. This establishes or validates your project scope.
  • Allow the functional users to weight each system functional requirement based on its order of importance within your business model and new system functionality.
  • Identify the "Key" requirements that become the reasons not to select a software vendor.
  • Cover the following Enterprise functional areas: forecasting, operations planning, finance, costing, customer order processing, engineering/BOM/formula, quality, scheduling, Payroll, HR, maintenance management, DRP, shop floor control, purchasing, and materials. Functional areas to be covered are tailored to your business needs prior and during the workshop.
  • Allow the Facilitator to record any additional unique requirements not covered by the standard requirements list to customize the software requirements to your specific situation.

This process will assist your Project Team to translate your system's users and company's business requirements into a system functional specifications and will provide the ability for the team to create a RFP/RFQ based on real requirements and eventually a vendor shortlist. This structured approach will allow the team and users to become more knowledgeable about the current and future business processes, provide the ability to select a new business system based on user input in a more compressed time frame, gets user buy-in to the project, and gets the project focused and going.

BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEM DEFINITION WORKSHOP:

  • Identifies areas within the business process that may need to be improved or changed before the new system is implemented. This provides for an immediate identification of business process improvements.
  • Reduces the amount of time it takes to create a system functional requirements document. Focuses the resources to develop the system requirements in a short time period of 2 ½ days vs. weeks or months. Time and resources equate to money.
  • Provides the capability to produce a structured vendor shortlist within a few months.
  • Helps identify any selection or implementation issues that can impact the project.
  • Provides the attendees a view and understanding of the total business functional processes. Educated users become better users within a new system. You also get user buy-in for the new system.
  • The Buker facilitator provides other business experiences, keeps the group focused, keeps the politics out of the picture, and provides unbiased answers to questions.

  • What are the functional requirements that the new system will need to address?
  • I didn't know we did this in the company?
  • Are we unique regarding our business processes?
  • How will or should we conduct our business processes in the future?
  • What are "showstoppers" or "key issues" with regards to the key requirements that the software must have?
  • Not all system requirements are equal, how can we segregate the "nice-to-have vs. must have?"
  • Why are we doing this?
  • We have been working at this software selection a long time, how can we get some help?
  • Do we understand our business process well enough to define our future system requirements?

WORKSHOP DELIVERABLES:

  • Copy of the system requirements in an Excel format for analyses and demos.
  • Workshop report.
  • List of selection or implementation issues

The rest of the selection process can be done by your team without a Buker Consultant's hands-on assistance, or the Consultant can assist in the selection process with: Enterprise Resource Planning/Supply Chain Management education, multimedia-based ERP education for mass education, writing software demo scripts, the evaluation of the software vendors, assist with the final software vendor selection, and the creation of key process maps or process improvements.

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE WORKSHOP?
The system selection team, implementation team, senior management, and key system users. . An attendee matrix, which identifies suggested functional attendees, is provided when the workshop is scheduled.

To help us better understand your software needs click here to begin to create your company's software requirements profile.

CALL TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION 800-654-7990



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