This is a hard one, because it can take a considerable amount of time to understand the existing key applications.

However, failing to understand this will be a critical mistake. It is wise to expand the team with key people who truly understand the specific key systems by heart. Trying to do this alone will drown you.

People’s existing skill set

The existing people in an organisation and their respective skill sets play a critical role in determining the solutions and subsequent impact thereof.

In creating new solutions and processes, there’s always a change management component (different subject all together). However, pointing out the impact of the new solution on people is critical, and it’s the responsibility of the software analyst. People may need to be reskilled, training and onboarding can be complex and possibly require in-person sessions. Additionally, some jobs might become redundant (one of those unfortunate things that often happen with new systems efficiency and technological enhancement.)

Draw existing system process

Drawing process diagrams of the existing system processes is really very helpful to ensure you understand and confirm the starting point. This level of detail will facilitate an understanding of who is involved and what their roles are. If done accurately,  it quickly highlights pain points such as inefficiencies, delays, or errors. Additionally, discussions with users about the actual process flow can identify areas for improvement.

Understand user’s jobs on systems

Including the user’s level or skill in the system’s process flow is an important foundation. This becomes a critical input for the change management and training team.

What happen outside systems

This is often what needs to change. You must understand if users understand how the system works (for example, a calculation on excel by manually entering system data and using that calc for certain process decisions).

Not understanding this will create a HUGE GAP in your work that will be revealed during training if users ask questions about how certain things will now work.