Mastering Non-Functional Requirements

Title Page

Mastering Non-Functional Requirements

Analysis, architecture, and assessment

Sameer Paradkar

       BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

Copyright

Mastering Non-Functional Requirements

Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing

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First published: May 2017

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Credits

About the Author

Sameer Paradkar is an enterprise architect with 15+ years of solid experience in the ICT industry which spans across consulting, systems integration, and product development. He is an Open Group TOGAF, Oracle Master Java EA, TMForum NGOSS, IBM SOA Solutions, IBM Cloud Solutions, IBM MobileFirst, ITIL Foundation V3 and COBIT 5 certified enterprise architect. He serves as an advisory architect on enterprise architecture programs and continues to work as a subject matter expert. He has worked on multiple architecture transformations and modernization engagements in the USA, UK, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East Regions that presented a phased roadmap to the transformation that maximized the business value while minimizing risks and costs.

Sameer is part of IT Strategy and Transformation Practice in AtoS. Prior to AtoS, he has worked in organizations such as EY - IT Advisory, IBM GBS, Wipro Consulting Services,  Tech Mahindra, and Infosys Technologies and specializes in IT strategies and enterprise transformation engagements.

I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, family members and friends for their encouragement, support and love.

Many people throughout my career have directly and indirectly contributed to this book. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge their contribution, influence, and inspiration. I believe I am lucky to have found opportunities to work with extremely talented and exceptions individuals who extended their wholehearted support throughout my career. My eternal thanks to them for believing in me and providing exciting opportunities. I would like to thank my team members, chief and lead architects, mentors, discussion partners, reviewers, and supporters, whose valuable comments and feedback have significantly contributed to this book. I look forward to your comments and valuable inputs on an on-going basis. I would like to recognize and thank my current and former colleagues who made my corporate journey exciting, enriching and fulfilling.

About the Reviewer

James D. Miller is an IBM certified expert, creative innovator and accomplished Director, Sr. Project Leader and Application/System Architect with +35 years of extensive applications and system design and development experience across multiple platforms and technologies. Experiences include introducing customers to new and sometimes disruptive technologies and platforms, integrating with IBM Watson Analytics, Cognos BI, TM1 and Web architecture design, systems analysis, GUI design and testing, Database modelling and systems analysis, design, and development of OLAP, client/server, web and mainframe applications and systems utilizing; IBM Watson Analytics, IBM Cognos BI and TM1 (TM1 rules, TI, TM1Web and Planning Manager), Cognos Framework Manager, dynaSight--ArcPlan, ASP, DHTML, XML, IIS, MS Visual Basic and VBA, Visual Studio, PERL, SPLUNK, WebSuite, MS SQL Server, ORACLE, SYBASE Server, and so on.

Responsibilities have also included all aspects of Windows and SQL solution development and design including: analysis; GUI (and Web site) design; data modelling; table, screen/form and script development; SQL (and remote stored procedures and triggers) development/testing; test preparation and management and training of programming staff. Other experience includes development of ETL infrastructure such as data transfer automation between mainframe (DB2, Lawson, Great Plains, and so on) systems and client/server SQL server and Web based applications and integration of enterprise applications and data sources.

Mr. Miller has acted as Internet Applications Development manager responsible for the design, development, QA and delivery of multiple Web Sites including online trading applications, warehouse process control and scheduling systems, administrative and control applications. Mr. Miller also was responsible for the design, development and administration of a Web based financial reporting system for a 450 million dollar organization, reporting directly to the CFO and his executive team.

Mr. Miller has also been responsible for managing and directing multiple resources in various management roles including project and team leader, lead developer and applications development director.

Jim has authored Cognos TM1 Developers Certification Guide, Mastering Splunk, Learning IBM Watson Analytics and a number of whitepapers on best practices such as Establishing a Center of Excellence and continues to post blogs on a number of relevant topics based upon personal experiences and industry best practices. 

Jim is a perpetual learner continuing to pursue experiences and certifications, currently holding the following current technical certifications:

IBM Certified Business Analyst - Cognos TM1

IBM Cognos TM1 Master 385 Certification (perfect score 100% on exam)

IBM Certified Advanced Solution Expert - Cognos TM1

IBM Cognos TM1 10.1 Administrator Certification C2020-703 (perfect score 100% on exam)

IBM OpenPages Developer Fundamentals C2020-001-ENU (98% on exam)

IBM Cognos 10 BI Administrator C2020-622 (98% on exam)

IBM Cognos 10 BI Professional C2020-180

Specialties: The evaluation and introduction of innovative and disruptive technologies, Cloud migration, IBM Watson Analytics, Big Data, Data Visualizations, Cognos BI and TM1 application Design and Development, OLAP, Visual Basic, SQL Server, Forecasting and Planning; International Application Development, Business Intelligence, Project Development and Delivery and process improvement.

I would like to thank Nanette L. Miller who is always on my mind and always in my heart…

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Table of Contents

About the Reviewer

Preface

What this book covers

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Errata

Piracy

Questions

Understanding NFRs

Introducing NFRs

Performance

Scalability

Availability

Capacity

Security

Maintainability

Manageability

Reliability

Extensibility

Recovery

Interoperability

Usability

Summary

Taxonomy and Framework for NFRs

Taxonomy of non-functional requirements

Non-functional requirements framework

NFR life cycle

Analysis and planning for NFRs

Architecture for NFR

Engineering for NFRs

Monitoring and improvements - NFRs

NFRs KPI and KRA examples

Performance

Scalability

Availability

Capacity

Security

Maintainability

Manageability

Reliability

Extensibility

Recovery

Interoperability

Usability

Summary

Methodology Eliciting - Non Functional Requirements

Methodology discovering non-functional requirements

Stakeholder goals

Legacy system restraints

Market scan of software qualities

Domain trends

Requirements templates and catalogues

Summary

Solutions Addressing NFRs

NFR modeling methodology

Performance

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Scalability

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Availability

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Capacity

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Security

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Maintainability

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Manageability

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Reliability

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Extensibility

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Recovery

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Interoperability

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Usability

Key drivers

Methodology

Solution options

Checklist

KPIs

Summary

Architectural Patterns and its Impact on NFRs

Core architecture patterns

Component-based architecture

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFR's

N-tier architecture

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Message Bus

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Service-oriented architecture

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Business tier patterns

Active/Passive clustering

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Load-balancing architecture

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Session failover

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Resource pooling

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Caching

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Database tier patterns

Data replication

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Connection pooling

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Reporting

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Information security

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Integration tier patterns

Logging and exception management

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Enterprise Monitoring and Management

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Demilitarized zone

Context

Drivers

Solution

Impact on NFRs

Summary

Sizing, Measurement and Monitoring

NFR - Sizing

NFR - Analytical modeling

NFR - Simulation

Enterprise Monitoring and Management - EMM

Challenges faced by the ASM teams:

Monitoring landscape

Functionality - dimensions

End-user experience monitoring

Real user monitoring:

Synthetic

Discovery, modeling, and display

User defined transactions

Component deep dive monitoring

Application performance analytics

Monitoring tools - managing the problem

APM dashboard

APM future roadmap

Summary

Understanding Pivotal NFRs and Closing Thoughts

Pivotal NFRs

Pivotal NFRs KPI and framework

Pivotal NFR classification

Integrity

Infrastructure domain

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Business continuity

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Resilience

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Confidentiality

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Integratability

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Robustness

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Auditability

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Flexibility

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Portability

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Reusability

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Testability

Business domain

Application domain

Data domain

Infrastructure domain

Accessibility

Business domain

Application domain

Closing thoughts

Audit and accountability

Architecture reviews and risks

Audit and business objectives

Summary

Preface

Maintaining software is hard and therefore expensive and IT departments are often under funded. However, if they are in a just do it mode then non-functional requirements are easy to be forgotten. The consequences of leaving these NFRs lead directly to the aforementioned maintenance problems and increased technical debt.

NFRs are necessary to completing the story of the IT application. While you might consider two or three important NFRs (like performance and security), you’ll probably not cover the others extensively enough, or you might miss out on them all together. And if you do allocate time to deal with them, when the project schedule slips, the NFRs may be the first thing to get drop. So, whether you plan for NFRs or not, chances are high you won’t cover them 100% of the time. You should try to avoid adding technical debt and maintenance nightmares to your future portfolio.

NFRs are key to any software/IT program. They cannot be overlooked or ignored. The book provides a comprehensive approach from analysis, architecture and measurement of non-functional requirements. The book outlines the methodology for capturing the NFRs and also describes a taxonomy framework that can leveraged by analyst and architects for tackling NFRs on engagements.

To summarize, the key differentiators for the book are:

Covers all the three stages of non-functional requirements that is, analysis, architecture and measurement.

NFR framework and taxonomy provides guidance around the modelling phase for the NFRs

Describes the process for capturing and analyzing the KPI and KRAs. These are the key metrics that are required by different stakeholders.

Trade-offs between various NFRs are covered as part of the title

Describes the application performance management domain which is a key practice for managing and monitoring of enterprise applications that helps monitor and analyze NFR KPIs and KRAs as part of the ongoing process.

Coverage of the book:

This book covers areas pertaining to analysis, architecture and measurement of non-functional requirements. A topic with-out which software systems cannot be build or deployed. NFRs are a life-line of any software application and capturing and addressing them is a critical activity in any IT project. The topic in itself is very critical and applicable for IT systems/applications for various industry verticals. The book provides a comprehensive approach from analysis, architecture and measurement of non-functional requirements.

Part I - Analysis:

The books provides and introduction of NFRs and why NFRs are a critical for building software systems. The next section describes the taxonomy of NFRs that is, scalability, availability, reliability and so on. The books outlines various methodology for capturing the NFRs, The books also outlines and describes a framework that can leveraged by analyst and architects for tackling NFRs for various engagements. The framework will focus on the KPIs and KRA for each of the NFRs which will be the key input for solution design phase. The NRF framework will focus on the most critical NFRs applicable for any given situation and any industry.

Part II - Architecture:

This section focus on the solution part of the NFRs providing insights into how they will be addressed in the solution design phase. The book covers key NFRs that are most critical for any project and for each NFR provides the various alternatives pertaining to the solution, the design principle that needs to be applied to achieve the desired outcome for example, high availability or scalability or reliability as covered. The book includes considerations for bespoke (Java, .NET) and COTS applications and are applicable to any IT applications/systems in different domains.

Part III - Assessment:

This part deals with the measurement of NFRs. This outlines the methodology for NFRs measurement. This sections also describes the trade-offs between various NFRs and the best practices to be applied on engagements.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Understanding NFRs, the chapter provides and introduction of NFRs and why NFRs are a critical for building software systems. The chapter also explains the various KPI for each of the key of NFRs that is, scalability, availability, reliability and so on. The book covers the most critical 24 NFRs that are applicable for IT applications and systems.

Chapter 2, Taxonomy and Framework for