Insights into the benefits of adopting a business framework as the primary enabler of a software project such as the one advocated by the Microsoft Connected Health Framework

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Business Framework Driven Software Projects
Example of the Connected Health Framework
How to create robust and responsive software at 60% of the cost of traditional approaches

2. Classical Software Project
• The classical approach to conducting most software
projects is the Marketing Driven one.
• This type of project favors a top down approach where
the software development life cycle includes the
following 5 phases:
– 1 Product vision definition
– 2 Business Requirements definition based on the product
vision
– 3 Definition of the software conceptual/logical models
– 4 Definition of the software physical architecture and
components
– 5 Creation of the software code itself
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3. Team Roles in a Marketing Driven
Project
• The five life cycle phases previously listed each host
specific efforts conducted by specific project team
members:
– Marketing and Domain Experts are responsible for the
Product Vision definition
– Business Analysts and Domain Experts elicit, analyze, and
document Business Requirements
– Software Architects and System Analysts create the
software Conceptual/Logical models
– Software Architects and Software Engineers design the
software Physical Architecture and components
– Software Engineers and developers write the Software
Code
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4. Lifecycle Phases Relative Efforts in a
Marketing Driven Project
• The relative amount of efforts dedicated to
each lifecycle phase varies throughout a
Marketing driven project.
• We have developed a quantitative model that
predicts the relative degree of efforts invested
in each lifecycle phase as a project unfolds.
• An important fact is that very quickly all team
roles become simultaneously engaged in the
project but at varying degrees of involvement.
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5. Lifecycle Phases Relative Efforts in a
Marketing Driven Project
• We have ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 each
phase relative amount of efforts with respect
to the other phases.
• A rank of 1 has the most efforts while a rank
of 5 has the least efforts.
• As the project unfolds, each phase’s rank
changes. The following graph presents
changes in phase’ s rank and relative duration
of each phase’s rank.
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6. Lifecycle Phases Relative Efforts in a
Marketing Driven Project
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1 V R R L L L L P C
2 R V L R R P P L P
3 LPC L V P P R C C L
4 PC P P V C C R R R
5 C C C V V V V V
L:Logical ArchitectureV: Product Vision R: Business Requirements P: Physical Architecture C: Software Code
-The 5 phases are color coded: blue, red, yellow, green, and purple.
-The first column is the phase relative amount of efforts rank.
-The first row is the set of steps over which phase’s efforts ranking change
-By step 17 the efforts ranking remains unchanged -indicating a close to completion project.

7. Characterizing Efforts in a Marketing
Driven Project
• Step 1: The project begins with all its efforts focused on
defining the Product Vision.
• Steps 1 to 5: As the Vision gets refined, it is quickly
translated into business requirements.
• Steps 4 to 15: When business requirements begin to
crystalize, a Software logical/conceptual architecture is
initiated and further elaborated over 12 steps. During
these steps business requirements refinement efforts
take place and slowly decline in magnitude while the
software physical architecture matures by requiring
increasing efforts. Some early coding also takes place
but it involves lesser efforts.
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8. Characterizing Efforts in a Marketing
Driven Project
• Step 16: The software physical architecture creation
efforts pick up, relegating the logical architecture
efforts to second place.
• Step 17: The predominant efforts are dedicated to
coding then comes the refinement of the physical
architecture followed by logical architecture touch-ups.
Much less efforts are required to update business
requirements which by this stage should be rather
robust. The Product Vision requires the least efforts as
it is by then fully realized in the software business
requirements, its the logical and physical architectures
and its implemented code.
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9. Business Framework Driven Project
• A software project is driven by a Business Framework
when it uses at its onset pre-defined logical and
conceptual models that together capture the services
offered by a specific Business Domain (such as
Healthcare or Insurance) through its structural and
behavioral business characteristics.
• The Framework is selected because it is very relevant
to the software project ultimate purpose.
• A Business Framework driven project involves the same
lifecycle phases and team roles as the marketing driven
one; the main difference being the significantly lesser
amount of time it requires to reach completion.
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10. Lifecycle Phases Relative Efforts in a Business
Framework Driven Project
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L: Logical ArchitectureV: Product Vision R: Business Requirements P: Physical Architecture C: Software Code
-The 5 phases are color coded: blue, red, yellow, green, and purple.
-The first column is the phase relative amount of efforts rank.
-The first row is the set of steps over which phase’s efforts ranking change
-By step 10 the efforts ranking remains unchanged -indicating a close to completion project.
R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1 L L P P C
2 P P L C P
3 R R C L L
4 V C R R R
5 C V V V V

11. Characterizing Efforts in Business
Framework Driven Projects
• Step 1 to 7: The project begins by focusing its efforts on
customizing the Business Framework to relevant software
logical/conceptual models.
• For example, the Microsoft Connected Health Framework
contains highly reusable business components relevant to
Electronic Health Information management; it can be for
the most part readily incorporated into the software
logical/ conceptual models, hence minimizing substantial
efforts that would otherwise be required as in the case of
the Marketing driven project.
• During these 7 initial steps, efforts are allocated to creating
the physical architecture simultaneously with deriving
business requirements, both activities based on the
customized Business Framework.
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12. Characterizing Efforts in Business
Framework Driven Projects
• Step 1 to 7: The Product Vision can also be formally defined
during these initial 7 steps along with developing early
software code. The Product Vision becomes stable by step
4 and it only requires minimal updates from that point
forward.
• Step 8 to 9: The physical architecture occupies the most
efforts and reaches maturity while enabling more efforts to
be dedicated to quickly developing software code. The
logical architecture and business requirements can also be
refined but both would require much less efforts.
• Step 10: Efforts ranking remains unchanged -indicating a
close to completion project with a main focus on finishing
the software code.
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13. R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1 L L P P C
2 P P L C P
3 R R C L L
4 V C R R R
5 C V V V V
R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1 V R R L L L L P C
2 R V L R R P P L P
3 LPC L V P P R C C L
4 PC P P V C C R R R
5 C C C V V V V V
Business Framework Driven Project
Marketing Driven Project
L:Logical ArchitectureV: Product Vision R: Business Requirements P: Physical Architecture C: Software Code
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14. Conclusion
• A Business Framework Driven project:
– Can be completed in about 60% of the time it would
require if it were conducted using a Marketing driven
approach.
– Places much less pressure and risks on Marketing,
Domain Experts, and Business Analysts by allowing
them to extensively leverages the use of a preexisting
Business Framework.
– Generates less complex resource management plans
through less changes in the priority/importance of
lifecycle phases efforts (up 50% less complex).
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