When looking at an enterprise-level business system there are quite a few key areas that should be reviewed. Often when looking at early stages of the system usually in regards to the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) it can be very inefficient and costly if not done correctly. In looking to address this you can make sure to have careful planning during the very early stages of the system being crucial is really an understatement you need a proper foundation for anything to flourish from the development. In looking at the need to address this making use of information-gathering methods are a must when analyzing and determining possible requirements. What we will be doing is looking at some of the information-gathering techniques that would be available to assist in this process of gathering information. In the following we will also look at how useful business processing mapping methods can be and which one is more applicable during the analysis process. This will be an overall review of the methods an analyst can use to confirm an effective understanding of the project requirements and how best to determine for the project.
In looking at the possible information-gathering methods that are available there are quite a few to select from. The first one we look at is a possible review of some of the current documentation or Standard Operating Procedures of the business. This allows you to view some of the current and historical information on the business while actually having very little impact on the daily running of the business and so is less likely to interfere. When looking at the flip side it can be very time consuming and costly depending on how many people are involved in the review process. This is also limited in the fact that many processes really may not be documented. Another method is to observe and document activities that are performed by a system or individual to gather the necessary information.