Technology Needs Assessment

Definition

The technology needs assessment is the business (re)engineering requirements work product that documents the results of assessing the technology needs of the customer organizations.

Objectives

The typical objectives of the technology needs assessment are to:

• Document the technology needs of the customer organizations.
• Provide an input into the technology analysis.

Benefits

The typical benefits of the technology needs assessment are:

• It is difficult to analyze the technology use of a business organization without first understanding its technology needs.

Contents

The typical contents of the technology needs assessment are:

• Overview
• Major Technologies:
  • For each technology:
    • Descriptions
    • Potential Benefit
    • Current Needs
    • Envisioned Future Needs
• Conclusion
• Appendices:
  • Major Issues
  • TBDs
  • Assumptions

Stakeholders

The typical stakeholders of the technology needs assessment are:

• Producers:
  • Technology Strategy Team, which performs technology analysis during requirements engineering.
• Evaluators:
  • Strategy Inspection Team
  • Domain Expert(s), who inspect the content for correctness and relevance.
• Approvers:
  • Technical Leader
  • Project Manager
  • Customer Representative
• Maintainer:
  • Technology Strategy Team
• Users:
  • Technology Strategy Team, which uses the technology analysis to:
    • Develop the technology analysis.
    • Develop the business vision statement.
    • Architect the applications.

Phases

A technology needs assessment is typically produced during the following phases:

• Business Strategy: Completed
• Business Optimization: Maintained
• Initiation: Optionally Completed or Updated
• Construction: Not Applicable
• Delivery: Not Applicable
• Usage: Not Applicable
• Retirement: Not Applicable

Preconditions

The technology needs assessment typically can be started if the following preconditions hold:

• The initation phase is started.
• The technology strategy team has been staffed and trained in technology analysis.

Inputs

The typical inputs to the technology needs assessment include:

• Work Products:
  • Vendor marketing documents and technical reports
  • Industry analyst reports
  • Customer Analysis
  • Market Analysis
• Stakeholders:
  • Technology Domain Experts
  • Vendor Domain Experts
  • Partner Domain Experts

Guidelines

• This is a living document that is developed incrementally and iteratively in parallel with other business engineering requirements documents.
• This document should typically produced during the business strategy phase of a business reengineering project However, it may also be either created or updated during the initiation phase of an application development project.

Conventions

The technology needs assessment is typically constrained by the following conventions:

• Content and Format Standard
• MS Word Template
• XML DTD
• Inspection Checklist

Examples

• Example Technology Needs Assessment