Doug,
Projects fail terribly when management claims to know the starting point and want analysis and analyst to focus on the future-state only. Working backwards sounds good but it is fraught with danger because you don’t know your destination.
When we don’t define the as-is, we
Perhaps others could expand the list.
Warm regards,
K
Hi Doug,
Best Regards,
I have to say I would agree with that.
For external consultants it really is a means of building a level of trust that they are willing to do their homework and trying to understand the business and its drivers.
In terms of internal projects AS -IS Analysis is not undertaken as much as it maybe should be and is honoured more in the breach than the observance. Really the main purpose of As-IS is to enable a level of understanding of the current system/process in order to facilitate the discovery of requirements. It should only be produced if there is a need to investigate the current business and / or IT systems in order to define the business objectives of the project and the baselines for measuring benefits.
The key considerations/ quality criteria would be
Does it provide an accurate assessment of the problems and opportunities in the existing business process and its supporting applications?
Do the assessments take account of differing views - e.g. customers, suppliers, as well as staff?
Do the assessments take account of industry trends and what the companies competitors are doing?
Where possible are the assessments quantified
If AS-IS Analysis is done and done well it can provide an excellent foundation for any project
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