Doctoral Thesis: A requirements-driven framework bridging model-based strategic representations with software development practices

Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/229358 [Downloaded 2023/11/02 at 02:06:34 ]"A requirements-driven framework bridging model-based strategic representations with software develo

Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/229358 [Downloaded 2023/11/02 at 02:06:34 ]

"A requirements-driven framework bridging model-based strategic representations with software development practices"

Nguyen Huynh Anh, Vu

ABSTRACT

Information Technology (IT) Governance is closely intertwined with Requirements Engineering Aligningthe latter with the former indeed allows proposing management rules for evaluating a softwaredevelopment's relevance in alignment with the organization's long-term strategy Typically, the goal ofgovernance of software engineering is to ensure that the results of a software development align with thestrategic requirements of the organization in terms of business process support and technology adoption.Requirements-driven software development processes, such as (I-)Tropos, are using coarse-grained (i.e.,high-level) and social-oriented models to drive the software life-cycle both in terms of project managementand forward engineering techniques To support the governance of software developments realized withI-Tropos in terms of business and IT alignment as well as investment decision, this thesis proposes aprocess framework called GI-Tropos including a meta-model formalization of relevant process elements,the process description itself as well as its application onto two examples

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Nguyen Huynh Anh, Vu A requirements-driven framework bridging model-based strategic representations with software development practices.  Prom : Kolp, Manuel ; Wautelet, Yves http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/229358

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Vu NGUYEN HUYNH ANH

Doctoral Thesis 05 | 2020

A Requirements-Driven Framework Bridging Model-Based

Strategic Representations with

Software Development Practices

Université catholique de Louvain

LOUVAIN RESEARCH INSTITUTE I N MANAGEMENT AND ORG ANIZATIONS

1 Problem Identification & Motivation

2 Definition of the objectives for a solution

3 Design & Development

4 Demonstration

5 Evaluation

6 Communication

Background

COBIT5 Principles

Stakeholder Needs

the Enterprise End to End

3 Applying a Single Integrated Framework

The Business Model Canvas

g by: Strategyzer AG

The makers of Business Model Generation and Strategyzer

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Revenue Streams

Customer Segments Value Propositions

Key Activities Key Partners

Cost Structure

Customer Relationships

Channels Key Resources

PRINCE2 PROCESSES

PRINCE2 PRINCIPLES PRINCE2 THEMES

PROJECT ENVIRONMENT

Change

Risks

Plans

Quality Organization

Business Case Progress

Starting Up

a Project Initiatinga Project Controllinga Stage

Managing Stage Boundaries

Closing

a Project Directing a Project

Managing Product Delivery

Executing

ControllingEnter Phase /

design, algorithm design) that can be directly implemented.

to be validated in the next phase

Validation

Compare the implemented system with the specification to realize if thebuilt software can perform and give the correct outcomes as defined in thespecification document At the end of this phase, the built system is ready todeliver and deploy

Analysis

Design Implementation

Validation

Evolution

Design Unit Tests

Specification

Architectural

Design

Detailed Design

Implementation

System Testing

Integration Testing

Unit Testing

Design Integration Tests

Design System Tests

Design Aceptance Tests

Assembly Archiving Frameworking

Domain Engineering Selection/

Design Building

Testing

Design Building

Testing

Design Building

Testing Planning

Engineering

Test Test

Test Test

Test Test

Implementation Implementation

Implementation Implementation

Implementation Implementation

Requirements

Organizational Modeling Organizational

Modeling Organizational

Modeling Organizational

Modeling Organizational

Modeling Organizational

Modeling Organizational

Architectural Design Detailed Design

Architectural Design Detailed Design

Architectural Design Detailed Design

Architectural Design Detailed Design

Architectural Design Detailed Design

Requirements Engineering

Requirements Engineering Requirements Requirements

Engineering

Requirements Engineering

Test

Software Project

Management

Software Project Management

Software Project Management

Software Project Management

Software Project Management

Software Project Management

Software Project Management

Major Major Major Major

ITERATION

Phase Role

identify and evaluate quality factors

stakeholders

Requirements

Engineering

The purpose of Requirements Engineering discipline is to extend modelscreated previously by including the system to-be, modelled as one or moreactors

Architectural

Design

The purpose of Architectural Design discipline is to construct the system’sarchitecture specification with the purpose of fit functional and non-functional requirements of the system by forming the dependencies betweenthe several identified sub-actors

Detailed

Structured Methods Agile Methods

<<extend>> Generalization

Association

Client Administrator

Delete UserView Account

View HistoryCreate Account

Close Account

Login

<<include>>

<<extend>>

Element Description

Actor An actor is an active entity that carries out activities to achieve goals by exercising its know-how It is used to illustrate a person, an organization, or

a system that is player of some activities.

Resource A resource is a physical or informational entity that the actor requires in order to perform a task It is a factor required in a relationship by an actor in

order to achieve the desired outcome.

Task A task represents a functional activity that the actor performs It is an actor’s achievement by an activity coming from the relationship that the

actors have together.

Goal A goal is a state of affairs that the actor wants to achieve and that has clear- cut criteria of achievement.

Quality

A quality is an unclear objective of an actor relating to the relationship with another actor It is an attribute for which an actor desires some level of achievement The level of achievement may be defined specifically or kept vague Qualities can lead to the ways of finding to achieve goals, and they also aid as criteria for evaluating alternative ways of achieving goals Qualities illustrate non-functional requirements Therefore, they are implemented indirectly.

Dependency

The depender depends on the dependee for the availability of a physical or informational entity (Resource dependency), or carrying out an activity (Task dependency), or generating a certain state in the world (Goal dependency), or performing some task that achieves a quality (Quality dependency).

Means-end

Specifying a relationship between an end, and a means for achieving it The

"means" is stated in the form of a task and with the "end" is stated as a goal.

In the graphical notation, the arrowhead points from the means to the end If there is more than one means to specify the different ways to obtain the end,

an OR relation will be used.

Contribution Corresponding to means-end links where the end is a quality enables expressing explicitly if the contribution is negative or positive (+,-).

Task

decomposition

Expressing the decomposition of a task into different intentional elements: goal, task, resource and quality An AND relation will be used to illustrate a task is decomposed.

Element Description

Actor

Actors are used to model people, organizations, or systems that are players

of some activities Service Depender or Service Dependee, the main stakeholders for the Service, are instances of Actor in the context of service modelling They are involved in the dependency relationship

Service

Service is described as "an abstract set of functionalities that are provided by

a specific actor" while "an actor can be an organizational entity… that uses

or offers services" [21, 47] Services need to fulfill goals and softgoals, achieve tasks, or furnish resources for some actors’ activities

Strategic Rationale DiagramStrategic Dependency Diagram

StrategicLevelTactical LevelOperational Level

Phase Goal

Setting

Aligning software development-based services with strategic business goals; identifying and specifying most stakeholders’ requirements, have a first approach of the environment scope, identify and evaluate threats and identify and evaluate quality factors

Blueprinting

Producing a consistent architecture based on the identified software development-based IT services and their internal / operational behavior, eliminate riskiest features in priority and evaluate blueprints/prototypes to stakeholders

Building Implementing the software development-based services that are in the backlog of each iteration and validate them; they are at the end of each

iteration ready to be put in production

Setuping Finalising production, delivering document, and training users

Operation Providing support to live services but also providing support for their development in order to smoothen the production

Stage Goal

Evaluate

Examining and judging current and future use of IT services including strategy proposals, supply arrangements, considering internal and external pressures (technological changes, economic trends, social trends, and political influences)’ evaluating continuously, considering current and future business needs and objectives: competitive advantage and specific strategies

Direct

Assigning responsibility and directing preparation and implementation of software development-based IT services, establishing sound behavior in IT services use through policies, properly plan transition of project to

operational status, encouraging culture of good IT governance, directing submission of proposals identifying needs

Monitor

Monitoring and measuring software development-based IT services performance, assuring that performance is in accordance with plans and business objectives, ensuring that software development-based IT services conforms with external obligations (regulatory, legislation, common law, and contractual), ensuring that software development-based IT services conforms with internal work practices

Plan

Covering the use of information and technology and how best it can be used

in an organization to help achieve the organization’s goals and objectives It also highlights the organizational and infrastructural form IT is to take in order to achieve the optimal results and to generate the most benefits from the use of software development-based IT services

Deploy Identifying software development-based IT services requirements, acquiring the technology, and implementing it within the enterprise’s current business

processes

Deliver

Focusing on the delivery aspects of the software development-based IT services It covers areas such as the execution of the software system within the IT system and its results, in addition to, the support processes that enable the effective and efficient execution of these IT systems

Assess

Dealing with an enterprise’s strategy in assessing the needs of the enterprise and whether or not the current software development-based IT services still meets the objectives for which it was designed and the controls necessary to comply with regulatory requirements Monitoring also covers the issue of an independent assessment of the effectiveness of software development-based

IT services in its ability to meet business objectives and the enterprise’s control processes by internal and external auditors

Governance

Board

IT Service Management Board

Monitor

Evaluate

Deploy Plan

Assess Deliver

Actor

IT Service Management Board

IT Governance Board

IT Infrastructure

IT services quality

Organizational structures

Organization strategies

Actor Goal Quality Task Resource

Implements IT management structure

Business processes modelling

IT development

& operations

Continuous operate

IT services

Dependency link

Legend:

Operator ManagementIT Service

Board

IT Governance Board

IT Infrastructure

IT services quality Organizationalstructures

Organization strategies

Implements IT management structure

Business processes modelling

IT development

& operations Continuous

prior-to

Legend :

IT Governance Processes Evaluate

TaskDefinition WorkProductDefinition Guidance

ActivityPhase

Refining

SharingExploring

ImplementingArranging

Software Project and Process Governance

IT Performance

IT Plans and Policies

Directions for IT

Investments BehaviorIT

Measure

Consider Set Establish

Service-Specific Strategic Rationale Diagram

IT Infrastructure RequirementsIT

Business

Objectives ObjectivesIT PipelineService Service(s)to build

Strategic Services Model

IT Infrastructure

IT Performance Compliance

[New iteration]

Deployed Services

Service Realization

IT Governance Board Stakeholders

WorkProduct name Type Description

IT Governance

Model WorkProduct A model consists of WorkProducts, Guidances, Text Documents

IT Plans and

Policies Document Text

Describing responsibility and directing preparation and implementation of software development-based

Model WorkProduct Describing the services of IT in the organization at strategic level (long-term strategy)

IT Behavior WorkProduct Describing the behavior of using software development-based IT services

IT Performance WorkProduct Describing the performance of using software development-based IT services

Directions for

IT Investments

IT Plans and Policies

IT Behavior

IT Performance

IT Governance Model

Business

Objectives

IT Objectives

Service

Services Model

WorkProduct name Type Description

IT Management

Model WorkProduct

A model consists of WorkProducts, Guidances, Text Documents

IT Requirements WorkProduct Describing the requirements of software development-based IT services in the organization

IT Infrastructure WorkProduct Describing the infrastructure of IT in the enterprise Service-Specific

IT Performance Service-Specific

Strategic Rationale

IT Requirements Service(s) to build