Technology Analysis (Report)

Definition

The technology analysis is the business (re)engineering requirements work product that documents the results of the analysis of the technology that can significantly impact the customer organization’s applications.

Objectives

The typical objectives of the technology analysis are to:

• Document the results of the technology analysis task.
• Document the major technologies that will impact the customer organization's future applications and new versions of existing applications.
• Provide a solid foundation on which to make recommendations for improving the customer organization.

Benefits

The typical benefits of the technology analysis are:

• New technologies enable the production of applications that can improve the way the customer organization does business.
• Technological trends may obsolete existing applications.

Contents

The typical contents of the technology analysis are:

• Overview
• Major Technologies:
  • For each technology:
    • Descriptions
    • Usage and Maturity
    • Trends
    • Vendors and Products
    • Partnerships
    • Potential Benefits
    • Potential Risks
    • Summary Assessment
• Conclusion
• Appendices:
  • Major Issues
  • TBDs
  • Assumptions

Stakeholders

The typical stakeholders of the technology analysis are:

• Producers:
  • Technology Strategy Team, which performs technology analysis during the requirements engineering tasks.
• 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 business vision statement.
    • Architect the applications.

Phases

A technology analysis 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 analysis 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 analysis include:

• Work Products:
  • Vendor marketing documents and technical reports
  • Industry analyst reports
  • Customer Analysis
  • Market Analysis
  • Technology Needs Assessment
• 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 analysis is typically constrained by the following conventions:

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

Examples

• Example Technology Analysis