Business Function/Entity Type Analysis

Objectives

Previous functional analyses extracted existing system subject areas and entity types, functions, and processes within those functions, and the dependency of those functions across an application area. The analysis contained within this functional assessment task identifies the degree of association between two previously extracted objects: entity types and business functions.

Prior, bottom-up analyses effectively decomposed functions into processes and subject areas into entities. Using this approach was easier because the information was derived from existing physical structures.

Because the functional assessment of Inventory/Analysis supports the planning-level activity, the matrix created as a result of this process only deals with planning-level objects. Only entity types and functions are used in the following mapping process.

Should an organization wish to expand this effort to actually map processes to entities, the Transformation stage of Comsys-TIM supports this effort. Specific objectives for this process are shown below:

· Define business function/entity type matrix based on current application and prior analyses

· Document the high-level intersection of data and business rules they intersect in current systems

· Develop gap analysis between current and target business function/entity type matrix.

Entrance Criteria

The entrance criteria for the business function/entity type analysis task are listed below.

· Completion of general system architecture assessment

· Completion of function hierarchy analysis

· Completion of function dependency analysis

· Completion of subject area/entity type analysis

Roles/Skills

The personnel and skill requirements necessary to meet the business function/entity type analysis task objectives are identified below.

· Redevelopment Expert

- Knowledge of existing system analysis and dependency derivation process

· Current Systems Expert

- Knowledge of existing system functional flows

- Knowledge of existing program/function flow

· Target System Functional Analyst

- Knowledge of target functional requirements

· Function Modeling Expert

- Expert at building entity type/function type matrices

Input Requirements

The system components and related inputs required to initiate and complete the business function/entity type analysis task are listed below.

· Subject area/entity relationship diagram for current application

· The following DFD deliverables from general system architecture assessment

- Current system data flow for each system being assessed

- System/sub-system interface map where multiple systems are being assessed

· Function hierarchy diagram for current application

· Function dependency diagram for current application

· Cross system redundancy analysis from functional hierarchy and subject area/entity type analysis tasks

· Target application area entity type/function type

Tool/Technology Support

Technologies supporting the business function/entity type analysis task include I-CASE modeling, spreadsheet, project management and word processing tools. These tools are used to represent information as required by this task.

I-CASE Modeling Tools

I-CASE modeling tools, capable of mapping functions to entities, serve to automate this task. Planning work stations within the commercially available I-CASE tools support the mapping of entities to functions during matrix development within this task. Functions and entities should have been previously populated into the same tool in the function hierarchy and function dependency analysis tasks.

Spreadsheet

This tool is used to record metric results for this task.

Word processor

This is required to record analysis results.

Task Steps

The business function/entity type analysis task is comprised of the following task steps:

	Establish Current System Matrix
	Assess Current System Matrix Overlap
	Compare Current to Target Matrices