Advancing Business Concepts in a Jad Workshop Setting: Business Reengineering and Process Redesign (Yourdon Press Computing)

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on an effective & proven technique
Review: Joint Application Development is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful tools available to analysts and consultants for capturing business requirements directly from the source - the business process owners and subject matter experts. This book is among the best I've come across on the subject and is worth the time and effort to track down.

What I most like is the way this book stays consistently focused on discovering (and uncovering) *business* requirements to be used as the foundation of information systems and applications. The book itself is divided into ten parts, each of which builds on the other to form a coherent approach to conducting JAD workshops and using the product of the workshop sessions as input into the requirements process.

Parts I through III introduce JAD, its underlying concepts and how they relate to business processes. Part IV provides guidelines for developing a business solution, while Parts V and VI guides you through the actual techniques and procedures that will be used in the JAD sessions.

After this point the book quickly picks up the pace and goes directly to the heart of JAD by showing how to capture the business vision and manage changes from the sessions as they [inevitably] occur. It's interesting to note some of the parallels between the approach in Part VI and the Microsoft Solution Framework (MSF). If you are using the MSF this book will add value to your processes because in many respects the approaches are either the same or complimentary.

Parts VIII and XI wrap up the JAD process by thoroughly discussing requirements and specifications, which are the two main products that JAD workshops are designed to capture. The rest of the book is devoted to skills profiles for workshop leaders, an implementation checklist that is invaluable, and excellent advice. I particularly liked the workshop templates, which will greatly aid you in setting up and conducting JAD workshops, and the way that the author guides you through the pitfalls that you will encounter when facilitating these workshops. Follow Mr. Crawford's advice and the time spent in the sessions will be used efficiently and effectively. Follow the approach in this excellent book and you stand a good chance of capturing the right requirements, and ensuring that they are validated by consensus of all stakeholders.