Radical methods:BPR is an approach to radically changing business processes. BPR efforts are a source of new information requirements. Information systems and technologies often enable BPR by allowing an organization to eliminate or relax constraints on traditional business rules. Agile requirements determination techniques are another contemporary approach to figuring out what a new or improved system is supposed to do. Continual customer involvement relies on high levels of user participation. Agile Usage-Centered Design and the Planning Game rely on novel interactions between users and developers to uncover basic tasks and features the new system should include

-Disruptive technologies: Technologies that enable breaking long-held business rules that inhibit organizations from making radical business changes.

-Key business processes: The structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market.

-Business process reengineering (BPR): The search for, and implementation of, radical change in business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in products and services.

Traditional Methods: For requirements determination, the traditional sources of information about a system include interviews; observation; group interviews; and procedures, forms, and other useful documents. Often many or even all of these sources are used to gather perspectives on the adequacy of current systems and the requirements for replacement systems. Each form of information collection has its advantages and disadvantages. Selecting the methods to use depends on the need for rich or thorough information, the time and budget available, the need to probe deeper once initial information is collected, the need for confidentiality for those providing assessments of system requirements, the desire to get people involved and committed to a project, and the potential audience from which requirements should be collected.

Contemporary methods:

-Bringing session users, sponsors, analysts, and others together in a JAD session to discuss and review system requirements

-Using CASE tools during a JAD to analyze current systems to discover requirements that will meet changing business conditions

-Iteratively developing system prototypes that refine the understanding of system requirements in concrete terms by showing working versions of system features

Last week we looked at the Analysis Phase (The second phase of the SDLC in which system requirements are studied and structured.) of the SDLC (systems development life cycle). A part of this week's chapter looked at contemporary methods of determining system requirements. briefly explain one of the contemporary methods outlined in the book. What are some of the benefits you can see with this method? Drawbacks? Do you think these contemporary methods are any better than the traditional or the newer "radical" methods? Why or why not?