Main problems in demand analysis
Business requirements play a goal-oriented role in information system construction. In the process of software project implementation, no matter which development mode is adopted, it generally includes the following processes: demand investigation, demand analysis, system design or system selection, system debugging and system online. Regardless of the size of the project and the different development modes, these processes are indispensable links, but the forms and degrees are different. The demands of different industries for management informatization vary greatly. Due to the characteristics of the industry, there are many uncertainties in the requirements of construction enterprise management system, and technical and non-technical problems are often mixed together, which makes the requirements analysis and management of construction enterprise management information system more complicated and difficult than that with good standardization foundation. In the practice of management informatization of construction enterprises, there are the following problems of demand analysis and demand management:
Some system developers completely transfer the responsibility of business requirements analysis and business requirements confirmation to users, thinking that users are users of business systems and are most familiar with their own business systems, so they are required to put forward and finally confirm the management system requirements themselves. From a professional point of view, it is unreasonable to completely push the responsibility of demand analysis and demand confirmation of management system to users. The demand analysis of management informatization is a very professional link in the process of information system design, and this task cannot be pushed to users who do not have informatization expertise. Users can only put forward some original data of management requirements, but can't put forward the real information requirements of management system. This is just like readers can provide writers with life materials, but they can't teach writers how to refine their writing materials. Naturally, users can't bear the minimum responsibility of analyzing and confirming requirements. Developers are unwilling to take the main responsibility of analyzing and confirming users' needs, which may be due to lack of industry background knowledge, communication skills or other reasons. In any case, if the developer shirks the responsibility of business requirements analysis, it will definitely lay a huge hidden danger for the system implementation.
In demand analysis, users insist on being completely user-centered, thinking that the more demands are put forward, the better, and the more difficult the demands are, the more they can show their professional level. Some users equate computers with human brains in business requirements, do not understand the risks and difficulties of technical realization in system implementation, and put forward the requirements of management informatization according to the business processing mode and habits of human brains. This is also the achilles heel of demand analysis and management. If users ignore the complexity of the management system and the professionalism of the computer system, put forward management requirements at will and change management requirements at will, it will also bring great trouble to the implementation of the system and even lead to the failure of the system. There are also users who completely give up demand management and participation, transfer the responsibility of demand analysis and management to professional companies, and regard information projects as similar to some "turnkey" projects. In view of the actual environment of the current domestic information market, taking into account the differences in management systems and the time and cost constraints in system implementation, this seemingly fragmented approach will greatly increase the cost and risk of system implementation.
Use common business requirements, not personalized business requirements. The general model comes from the summary of some successful cases, but we should pay attention to the business background and applicable business scope of the general model. There is no universal model that can cover all business requirements. The core management system cannot be copied. If the information management system with good application effect in telecommunications, finance and other industries is directly introduced into construction enterprises, it will be difficult to succeed in nine cases out of ten. The reason is different business requirements. Of course, the tool software can adopt general mode, such as word processing, general spreadsheet processing and so on. Moreover, due to the differences in enterprise management, it is difficult for the management system to adopt a common business model.
By analyzing some previous failure cases, we can find that although the selected information system is advanced, mature and even world-class in technology and management concept, and the management level of customers is beyond reproach, the expected effect cannot be achieved after the system goes online. From the day the system went online, users complained constantly until the system was terminated. The main reason for the failure of these management information systems is that the management demand mode in the selected information system products is inconsistent with the actual management demand mode of users. Forcing users to change the actual management demand mode to adapt to the system is tantamount to making users tailor-made.
Difficulties in demand analysis
The demand analysis of any management information system is not an easy task, and it is necessary to explore the deep essential laws of things through complex appearances. The demand analysis of application field involves the knowledge of computer and application field, and needs high-level compound professionals. Due to some industry characteristics of construction enterprises, the demand for management informatization of construction enterprises has become more complicated.
The main business of construction enterprises has the characteristics of discreteness, singleness, loose coupling, fluidity, nonstandard and sudden, and the scope of engineering projects is wide, and most of them are engaged in production activities in different places far from headquarters, and the logistics and information flow are complex. There is no fixed production line in the construction industry, and it is strictly controlled according to the determined process. The production object (project) is specially designed and customized according to the individual requirements of the owner, and the location of the project is changing. In the dynamic business process accompanied by a large number of random events, management business is often affected by a large number of uncertain factors. In the decision-making process, managers should not only rely on professional logic for analysis, but also consider non-technical factors in business processes, such as culture, tradition, habits, experience and even interpersonal art, etc., which are deeply influenced by the particularity of the industry. The management informatization construction of construction enterprises cannot simply copy the informatization demand model of other industries. Not to mention the core business project management system of construction enterprises, those seemingly universal management systems, such as financial management, human resource management, office automation and so on. It also shows the typical business characteristics of construction enterprises different from other industries. For example, human resource management system, personnel and salary subsystems are closely coupled in other industries, but loosely coupled in construction enterprises. If we don't pay attention to these business characteristics when designing the information system, there will inevitably be many problems that can't be handled after the system goes online. This business system, which has been applied in other industries, can't achieve the existing effect in the construction industry in all likelihood. From the general analysis of these business systems, it is not easy to find industry differences, and it may be mistaken that such systems can be used in construction enterprises as long as the management of construction enterprises becomes standardized. The business particularity of construction enterprises puts forward high requirements for the demand analysis of informatization. Summarize the main difficulties of management demand analysis of construction enterprises as follows:
● The types of engineering projects and construction environment change frequently, which leads to unstable business requirements and frequent changes.
● The project is basically customized on demand and completed at one time, which lacks reproducibility and is difficult to abstract the business requirements.
● With the occurrence of a large number of random events in the construction process of engineering projects, management business is often affected by a large number of uncertain factors, which leads to the complexity of business processing and is difficult to grasp in demand analysis.
● The industry has a low degree of standardization and rich experience, and the management contains a large number of non-technical factors such as culture and traditional habits that are difficult to transform into information demand.
Suggestions on demand analysis and management
Facing the complexity and arduousness of the business requirements of construction enterprises, we must keep a clear understanding, attach great importance to the analysis of business requirements, proceed from reality and act according to objective laws, and avoid blindly copying the business application models of other enterprises. Seriously analyze the business characteristics of this industry and the characteristics of computers, tap reasonable demand and avoid failure. In the demand analysis and management of construction enterprise management informatization, users and developers should pay attention to the following points:
Strengthen industry research and truly grasp the business characteristics of the industry and the nature of information demand. In addition to mastering the nature of business, we should also take the professional characteristics of business seriously. This is very important for professional companies and enterprise users. Strengthen the understanding of information technology, pay attention to the limitations of computer technology in business demand analysis, and don't expand the scope of informatization indefinitely. The management system is far more complicated than the computer, and many business requirements are difficult to be converted into realizable information requirements, which the computer can't handle, and what should be done by people is still left to people to complete. Don't informatization for the sake of informatization, don't increase useless demand for the sake of being big and complete, first control risks from demand analysis, filter out unreasonable demand for computers, and implement informatization. In this regard, users should strengthen their study and understanding of information technology, avoid putting forward unrealistic requirements in the implementation of information management, avoid being confused by unrealistic information technology products, and improve their ability to prevent risks in the implementation of information technology.
Put forward requirements on the principle of practicality. The more demand, the better. The harder it is, the more valuable it is. Reasonable demand is the premise to ensure the success of the system.
Manage requirements in a pragmatic way. There are many uncertain factors in management, and the management information system is a dynamic system, so it is difficult to ensure that the management requirements remain unchanged, and the predetermined requirements are not necessarily reasonable. In the process of project implementation, both parties should face the adjustment and change of demand in a pragmatic manner to achieve a win-win situation. During the implementation of the project, the plan should be adjusted in real time according to the actual demand changes, and the preparatory measures for adjustment should be made in advance. Of course, demand changes should not be too arbitrary, and sometimes the cost and necessity of demand changes should be weighed.
Establish a compound talent team in enterprises. Demand analysis and management need compound talents. Based on the characteristics of the current computer market and the unique complexity of the management system, in the process of information construction, the risk and cost of completely outsourcing or completely analyzing the requirements are relatively high. Therefore, we can consider cultivating the enterprise's own compound talent team, and analyze and manage the demand of management information system by combining internal and external methods, so as to prevent the risk of information demand and ensure the long-term and stable development of enterprise information construction.
Give full play to the bridge function of information center in demand analysis and management. There is a professional gap between computer professionals and direct users of professional companies, which makes business communication very difficult. It is necessary to build a bridge of communication between this gap. The information department of an enterprise should play the role of this bridge. Because the information department is familiar with the business characteristics and cultural characteristics of the enterprise, it is familiar with the business of the enterprise and has a more accurate grasp of the business needs; The information department has a deeper understanding of information technology than the general business department, is more familiar with enterprise business than the computer technicians of professional companies, and has a wider network of contacts in information technology. It gives a reasonable evaluation of the difficulty of realizing requirements, and can make a trade-off between business and technology. In the process of project implementation, the information department is more suitable to play a mediation role in coordinating the relationship between business departments and implementers. Can give objective judgment from the position of relatively neutral business requirements management; General business departments tend to regard business information as owned by departments, and are used to looking at problems only from a single business perspective in business demand analysis. The Ministry of Information has a broader vision of information resources and will not have the desire to privatize commercial information. The information department is more suitable for coordinating information resources from a global perspective, eliminating information islands and avoiding the limitation of considering problems only from a single business demand in demand analysis; When facing the business needs of users, professional companies are limited by time, resources and complex professional background knowledge, so it is extremely difficult to fully grasp the needs of users in a short time. Cooperation with the information department will reduce the risk of detours and save the cost of business demand analysis.
It should be noted that in the implementation of information systems, business departments will feel that their business maps have been occupied by information departments. The information department should have a good sense of proportion, pay attention to the responsibility of providing information means and platforms, coordinate the relationship between external professional companies and business departments, and pay attention to the specific business of relevant business departments in order to get the cooperation and cooperation of business departments. In foreign cooperation, involving deep-seated professional and technical issues, we should learn to respect the opinions of technical experts of professional companies and not make arrogant mistakes.
"I don't know the true face of Lushan Mountain, but toward which corner of the mountain." We may turn a blind eye to the work we are doing every day, but we may not be able to see its essence clearly. Transforming our work into a computer network environment will inevitably encounter many unfamiliar problems. People can't know by birth, they can only learn. Facing the demand of management informatization, we must not be complacent and self-righteous. Modesty and carefulness, seeking the help of experts, and knowing more about the success and failure experiences of other enterprise users can help us avoid the trap of false demand in information construction.