Hello - I've been an IT PM for 7 years. My boss identified the need for me to understand the functionality and system architecture of the billing system - not too technical, but in a high-level way.
Now, I was a journalism major that wound up in IT. I've never really had a computer class. I totally understand about requirements, testing, and the SDLC - but not the functionality. I know I need to meet with a technical person on my team to ask them, but can anyone recommend any websites/books that can help me with this sort of thing (this app flows through to that app, we need this process instead of that one...)? I'm lost, and I'm afraid the technical person's going to confuse me more. I'm consistently stuck. Any advice from a non-technical point of view? Saving Changes...
Sort By:
Deepesh RammoorthyICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood ServiceTarneit, Vic, Australia
Okay First things first. Why are you being asked to understand the functions and system architecture? is there no Architect or system analyst on your project who can explain these to you? Are you going to be the System Architect and Project Manager . Not a good mix according to me.
Second, to understand the system on a high level , I would start by trying to understand what the Billing system actually does. I would start by asking a lot of questions. And I would start with a Non technical Person. I would approach the end user or the accountant that uses that system daily and ask them :- Is it the only system that handles money in your company? Are there other systems talking to it? What data comes in and what goes out of the system? What kind of reports are printed from this system? What is the destination/Who is the consumer for these reports? Is there a manual process involved to get it to another system or is it automated? Try to sit with that accounting person/ end user to observe how they actually use the system. Ask them to give you a walk-through of the functions of the system. Ask questions and take notes.
Then go to your boss or a technical person and ask these questions :- Why do you need to change or improve it ? What needs to be changed or improved?
Try to get access to a test system and get some screenshots of the various functionality and try to play with the system yourself. Saving Changes...
as said above "walk along" the process scenario(s) to understand the functionality the system provides via functionality components/ building blocks. Do this with key end-users and do not go too deep as a high-level picture is required by your boss.
Be aware that in many cases only a subset of functionality is really used by the business. Focus on those. Saving Changes...
