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Requirements Analysis: From Business Views to Architecture

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_Requirements Analysis_ is just the opposite of a book like Craig Larman's _Applying UML and Patterns_ or Ed Yourdon's _Modern Structured Analysis_. Both of those books--in fact, most books on analysis--present a single methodology and a single set of tools and notations, then walk you through the steps of the analysis process according to DeMarco or according to Jacobson or whatever.

David Hay is after larger fish in this book, or at least more fish: in these 400 pages, you will find a survey of more techniques and models than you probably could have dreamed of, from the very old to the very new, from the flashy to the obscure: data flow diagrams, UML, Object-Role Modeling, cybernetics, business rules, IDEF0, and on and on. This book will teach you a little bit about a whole lot of analysis techniques and what they can accomplish.

The material is all organized and discussed from the point of view of the Zachman Framework, a beautiful and expansive system that shows us how various techniques fit in to the "total picture" of the who, what, when, where, why and how of enterprises and information systems. It gives us a broader perspective, and often shows us where we are focusing too much on one or two aspects of a system, to the detriment of the others.

But this book is not a cookbook or a procedural guide to performing analysis. There is very little prescriptive advice, and relatively little on the nuts and bolts of what you should do and when. I don't want to suggest that is a shortcoming: it is intrinsic in the very nature of a survey-type book. If you have done some analysis work or studied one or more particular methodologies, this book will give you context and perspective and introduce you to new possibilities you probably weren't even aware of before.

But if you are approaching analysis for the first time, you need guidance more than you need options, and you may find this book more confusing than useful. You might, instead, want to look at _Applying UML and Patterns_(Larman) if you are approaching analysis from an object-oriented programming perspective; _Modern Structured Analysis_ (Yourdon) if you are coming from a more traditional Data-Flow and Entity-Relationship shop; or _Mastering the Requirements Process_ (Robertson)for a more generalized, but still procedural, perspective on requirements definition. Then, in six months or a year, open Mr. Hay's book and feel the horizons rushing back from your eyes. This is basically what I have done, and I'm very happy I did. David Hay has given me a larger context at a time when I can start to appreciate it, and new options at a time that they can be useful to me.

I should point out that I feel the book is not without its shortcomings.

--Mr. Hay gives pretty short shrift to Use Cases, which are emerging as a really useful technique for discovering and capturing functional requirements. This book talks about use cases, but clearly considers them of secondary value, burying them in a fairly obscure corner of the Framework. Craig Larman, Alistair Cockburn, Ivar Jacobson and Doug Rosenberg all have good titles out that place Use Cases in a more central role.

--Certain object-oriented techniques seem to have a pretty low opinion of Analysis work, or call things "analysis" that are more properly considered design. Mr. Hay makes some good points in response, but I can't help feeling he's going a little too far when he says things like "there is no such thing as object-oriented analysis." No less a figure in the world of methodology than Ed Yourdon would seem to disagree, unless the title of his book, "Object-Oriented Analysis," is some kind of very subtle joke. You may want to pick up an OO title or two, and see what conclusions you come to.

--Last of all, I found the treatment of some of the areas of the Framework to be esoteric and difficult to follow. Most notable here is the discussion of business rules that makes up the book's treatment of the Motivation, or "why," column. I realize that business rules thinking is still in its infancy, but the presentation in the book is too nebulous, academic and abstract to come to any kind of grips with--it was like trying to learn the UML by looking at the "meta-model" documents. Another example is in the People, or "who," column, which consists of a very academic treatment of the science of "cybernetics." Intriguing, but darned if I got much of practical use out of it. Shouldn't the People column have something to do with characterizing and categorizing users, their preferences, environments, levels of experience? Perhaps all the stuff on cybernetics _does_ that, but it was all a little too rarefied for me to follow.

In summary, this was a very valuable book for me. I'm a better analyst for having read it, and I have a whole list of new things to think about and learn about (including the above-mentioned business rules and cybernetics). I can't recommend this as a _first_ book on analysis, but I can heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to learn _more_ about analysis.

I had to buy this book when I saw the authors' names on the cover, both of whom I hold in the highest regard and both of whose previous books have deeply impressed and influenced me (Hay's "Data Model Patterns: Conventions of Thought" (ISBN 0932633293) and von Halle's "Business Rules Applied: Building Better Systems Using the Business Rules Approach" (ISBN 0471412937).

As in their other books the authors prove they have a deep understanding of their subject matter, which is the case of this book is the Zachman Framework. The Zachman framework is quickly introduced in Chapter 1, followed by a process model for analysis. Their combined and complementary knowledge of planning and managing implementation projects are evident in the second chapter. This chapter is essential because implementing an architecture based on the Zachman framework is complex and requires careful planning (not to mention selling to stakeholders).

The remaining chapters dissect each view of the Zachman Framework (displayed in columns in the formal model), and provide sufficient information with which to elicit the business requirements and develop the architecture.

What I like about this book is the way the authors make what is a complex undertaking seem straightforward - and it is straightforward if you follow the approach outlined in the book. Another thing I like is the fresh look at the Zachman Framework - the last book of any importance on the topic was [in my opinion] "Enterprise Architecture Planning: Developing a Blueprint for Data, Applications and Technology" by Steven H. Spewak and Steven C. Hill (ISBN 0471599859), published in 1993. This newer book continues where Spewak and Hill left off.

Regardless of whether you plan to espouse the Zachman Framework, or if your goal is to assure that you capture requirements that are meaningful to the business domain, this book will provide you with insights and a structured approach.

What an extraordinary new book David Hay has given us! Ever since I got my hands on this book, I've been recommending it to every applications developer, designer, and analyst I know. This is honestly a book that can reduce the cost of re-work due to inadequate and incomplete requirements definition by getting it right the first time. Regardless of tools that are used for implementation or the repositories or vendors whose products you may use, you will benefit tremendously from this book! Requirements Analysis, all 450+ pages, is excellent. Barbara von Halle in the forward says that this book "is destined to become the authoritative source for defining roadmaps from vision to architecture." I agree completely!

I appreciated the discussion of the Zachman Framework and the rich sense of history that Dave brings to the topic. He is quick to give credit where credit is due and provides the substantial details on how we got from point A to point B. People like me who are deeply engrossed in producing software and database applications with assorted CASE tools will particularly appreciate this complete view. We don't always understand the theory behind the tools we use. Dave is completing our missing education with his excellent work.

Systems rarely fail due to implementation. Almost always the points of failure can be found in the requirements analysis phase of development. As Dave says, "requirements analysis is the translation of a set of business owners' views of the enterprise to a single, comprehensive architectural view of that enterprise." Our failures are in not correctly capturing the business owners' views and in the translation. This outstanding work provides the focus on how requirements analysis can be done productively and correctly. This will greatly reduce those points of failure.

The 45 pages devoted to a comparison of data modeling techniques at the end of the book are well worth the cost of the entire book all by itself. For me, it was lots of notations (some automated in a tools and others not) coming full circle. What a treat!! It also is an excellent transition to newer notations in XML and object oriented techniques that I'm still learning.

The index is excellent! It's quite extensive, complete, and well organized. The bibliography is also exceptional and very complete. The glossary of terms is first rate! I especially liked the notations of chapters where the terms were documented. All of these excellent features point to the superb organization of the book. It's a classic read and a must-have reference!

Maggie Tompkins is a lead Designer/Developer with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, specializing in database design integration for corporate database projects. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Oracle Development Tools User Group (ODTUG) Technical Journal and a member of their Board of Directors.

The author Dave Hay has written a book that should be read by any one doing requirements engineering. It gives arguably the most comprehensive coverage of requirements analysis techniques available in any recent publication, and probably in any publication to date in this area.

The focus is to show how the various cells of John Zachman's framework for enterprise architecture can lead to asking and getting the correct answers for all critical analysis questions. The focus is on the second and third rows of the framework, with a particular emphasis on moving from the row two perspective to the row three perspective.

For those who are unfamiliar with the breadth of techniques available for analysis, this book should be an eye-opener. Use-cases and Class models are not the whole world (although they are covered.)

For those unfamiliar with the Zachman framework, or who know of it, but had no idea how to apply it in actual projects, Dave gives some great practical advise. He manages to show how having a framework such as this will allow us to improve the efficiency and results of our endeavors. In fact, it shows how many modern methods only scratch the surface of analysis, since they are very weak on some of the Zachman columns (the Who column for instance).

Add this to your library.

As the Chief Technology Officer at MyBestHealth, Inc., a Los Angeles based software company, I am in charge of the development of twelve different software products. Our product development has been successful because we have based our methodology on David Hay's book "Requirements Analysis, from Business Views to Architecture." We have adopted David Hay's modeling techniques, to the letter, and they are directly responsible for many of our software design decisions. Their clarity has so crystalized our understanding of our business that they have allowed us to automate a vast amount (90% or so) of our software implementation process.

This book is the best text I have ever seen on how to conceptualize applications at the requirements phase. It outlines a comprehensive approach, based on the Zachman Framework, on how to drill down at the different perspectives of an application to make sure that the application is designed, such that it will be successful if implemented according to its design. It is a textbook masterpiece, the authoritative text on product development planning, and I believe that any software developer who reads it will save years and years of time because the only other way of learning these skills is to make mistake after mistake, over and over again.

Every software developer has a deeply rooted suspician that his / her work has in some way been done before. With every new account system, every new e-commerce package, every new document management system, or workflow automation infrastructure, we dream of one day being able to conceptualize a way were new applications only require configuring old ones. We dream of a world in which if we have to write a new application, we at least can skip the iterations and iterations of development that it takes to make a product successful in the market. Most of the time, though, we resign ourselves, not only to re-building customized solutions to the same problems over and over again, but the solutions themselves are inadequate in some way, and require more time and budget to finish. In the next few decades, the software industry will become more efficient at addressing these issues, and those who read this book will be the earliest designers of the techniques that will emerge.

I should also note that David Hay's previous book, "Data Model Patterns: Conventions of Thought," is also a must-read.

'Rather than reviewing requirement analysis from the perspective of a particular implementation of technology, this book views it as fundamentally an architecture process. This books premise is that requirements analysis is the translation of a set of business owners' view of the enterprise to a single, comprehensive architectural view of that enterprise'

David inspired by the Zachman framework shows how various methodologies and techniques can be organised for a omprehensive requirements analysis approach leading to an architecture solution. This book really brings forward the briliance of the Zachman framework. It gives a new perspective on Zachman and brings the framework back into the contempory enterprise strategies framework.

David shows not only how to avoid the common mistake of building an architecture from a single business view but also how to integrate various views into a common architectural view.

The book keeps to it focus on "Requirement analysis" and the reader is not really helped to go beyond the requirement analysis phase into the design and implementation phases. A good reference to have for people with an appetite for enterprise architecture strategies

OOA is some "super magic" that uml people found it for commercial reasons.As Mr.Hay mentions there is no OOA.there is only "analysis" of the bussiness.
I am a bussiness owner and a coder for a long long time.The concept that david hay is talking about will take developers life time period to understand.
The most simple explanation is for the reviewer to look at his/heer database tables and see the replication places as they had no abstraction in mind when they were coding the "thing"(prefered design over analysis).
David Hay's,Len Silverstone's and Martin Fowlers(analysis patterns) should be read over and over again.it is like swimming u do not pick it up in the first try.
PS:These books are for an analists who can understand the meaning of polymorfism
PS2:By the way OO people even could not agree about compostion over aggregation ,method over operation.Keep in mind UML is a design tool should not be used like a "golden hammer"

I had a good book on OO analysis and the UML, but though it weak on data modeling and business rules. So I went looking...

I read the 4 reviews on this page and purchased the book. Given the reviews and the fact that it was just published, I thought I would be getting a book that unifies a broad sweep of modern analysis techniques (OO, UML, Data Modeling, Design Patterns, Business Rules, Requirements Gathering Techniques, Iterative Development, etc.).

On the contrary, I received a book that is 90% data modeling biased and steeped-in analysis techniques of the pre-OO era, such as data flow diagrams (people still use these?). This looks like a book I had in school 10 years ago.

There are passing and, at best, cursory references to UML modeling approaches, but that is all that is in this book with respect to modern OO approaches.

There is absolutely nothing said with regards to Design Patterns nor an iterative approach to building systems and mitigating risk. I find this lack of coverage absolutely incredible in a software requirements analysis book published in 2003. Unbelievable!

Ten years ago, this book might have been considered a good benchmark. Not today. This author's sole idea of architecture is the data model and functional decomposition. Ugh.

If you are weak on relational data modeling, this book has redeeming value. Otherwise, if you are trying to figure-out how to elaborate requirements and transform them into a working OO system using UML, Design Patterns, and an iterative approach, I highly recommend Craig Larman's top-notch "Applying UML and Patterns: ...". It really sets the standard.

The Larman book is weak on data modeling and business rules - which I thought Hay's book would address better (and is why I bought it sight unseen). It does, but at the expense of everything else.