The following work addresses various aspects of the professional in charge of managing the process of obtaining software requirements, their names, characteristics, tasks, professional knowledge and skills, professional and technical training, and potential professionals who Your training can take up such responsibility.
In software development companies, there are several names to name the professional in charge of managing the fundamental activity of this type of company, that is, managing customer requirements in order to obtain a product that meets their expectations, the names The most common are the following: Systems Analyst, System Engineer, Requirements Analyst and Requirements Engineer.
For a better understanding, it is important to define what is meant by Requirements Engineering (IR), where this professional plays a fundamental role.
“The Rational Software defines it as a systemic approach to collect, organize, and document system requirements; it is also the process that establishes and maintains agreements on changes in requirements, between clients and the project team ».
IR plays a fundamental role in the software production process, since it focuses on a fundamental area in its first stage: the definition of what you want to produce. Its main task is to generate correct specifications that clearly, unambiguously, consistently and compactly describe the behavior of the system; In this way, it is intended to minimize the problems related to the development of systems.
Among the people involved in the IR are:
- End user: people who will use the developed system, who will use the interfaces and user manuals. Lead User: They are those who understand the system environment or the problem domain where the developed software will be used. They provide the technical team with the details and requirements of the system interfaces. System Analysts and Programmers: They are responsible for the development of the product itself; they interact directly with the client. Among others ”3.
The purpose of this research is to analyze the characteristics that this professional must fulfill, which we will call System Analyst (AS), the term by which he is best known, a professional who must establish adequate communication for the analysis and recognition of the basic elements of the user company problem, as perceived by its representative.
The AS must evaluate the flow and structure of the information, define and elaborate all the functions of the software to be developed, understand the behavior of the software in the context of the events that affect the user company, establish the characteristics of the system interface. Each of these activities serves to describe the problem so that a comprehensive approach or solution can be synthesized.
The AS basically focuses on the "what", not the "how", what data does the system produce and consume? What functions should the system perform? What interfaces are defined? And what restrictions apply? 2.
“The following describes the knowledge and skills that an AS must have according to the tasks that they must perform:
| CHORES | KNOWLEDGE
PROFESSIONALS AND SKILLS |
| Analysis of New Computer Systems and Changes in Existing | CEI Organization, Observation, Communication, Comprehension and Memory |
| Design of computer solutions related to changes in existing systems or with New Systems. | CEI Attention, Creativity and Abstraction |
| Specification of the Objectives of any Computer System. | CEI |
| Planning of the development of a Computer Project. | CEI and Understanding Relationships |
| Profitability Study of Computer Systems. | CEI |
| Study of the Risks of the Computer Systems. | CEI |
| Control and Management of the Development of the Computer Project. | Organization and Management |
| Drafting, for the Company Management and for the IT Management, of the reports that are required for monitoring the project. | Communication |
| Management and advice to the Programmers in the execution of the programs. | CEI and Communication |
| Creation of test tests to verify that the Computer Systems comply with the Analysis and Design Requirements and Specifications. | CEI and Attention |
| Verification of the documentation, both of the changes in the existing systems, and of the new systems to guarantee that it is complete and up-to-date. | CEI Organization and Attention |
| Advice to Users, Programmers and Head of Studies in the drafting of User Documentation, Installation and Operation. | CEI and Communication |
| The start or "launch" address of a new system. | CEI and Organization, |
| Advises the Head of Studies in the elaboration of the criteria that allow the best exploitation of the new systems. | CEI and Communication |
| Help the Study Area in the resolution of the failures of the Production Systems. | CEI and Attention |
| Evaluate new computer products that can bring improvements both in existing systems and for the development of new systems. | Attention and Abstraction |
| Advises Users to better use Existing Systems. | CEI, Comprehension and Communication |
| Directs and Coordinates the Development of Meetings with topics that affect Computer Systems. | Organization and Communication |
| Study of Methods, Techniques and Tools of Analysis and Design. | Understanding and Constancy |
| Study of the evolution of new technologies, especially those that can bring significant improvements in the systems used in the company. | Understanding and Constancy |
CEI: Requires Specific Computer Knowledge in Analysis and Design ”7.
Training Profile by Competencies:
1. In vocational and technical training:
- Analytical: Ability to identify, analyze, reason, and solve problems related to Computer Science. Design and programming: Engineer's ability to, based on their knowledge in Computer Science, Systems Theory, Systems Modeling, and Engineering Management, be able to design, program and maintain the construction of computer systems. Computer Research or Computer Research. Computer Communication or Computer Communication: Ability to handle low and high-level programming languages that allow the construction (planning, analysis, design, programming and maintenance) of computer systems.Organizativa Informatica or Organizativa Computacional: Intellectual capacity of the professional to plan, organize, direct,and manage with strategic vision and effectiveness (effectiveness and efficiency) computer projects in any sector of the economy.Computer or computational technological adaptability: Ability of the Systems Engineer to be a competitive professional in the workplace, knowledgeable of modern computational tools (software, hardware and communications) that the market at that time is needing, mastering them and thus meeting the demands of the companies that are requiring it. Computer Culture: Ability to perform effectively in the areas of knowledge related to Systems Engineering with emphasis on Computer Science, through knowledge of hardware and software technologies,of computer communications and organization of human computing talent at the service of an organization.Computer Strategy or Computational Strategy: Capacity of the Systems Engineer, which based on the competencies of: decision making, strategic reasoning and proactivity, allow the professional to carry out a successful computer management (managing companies with state-of-the-art computer park infrastructure and generating computer technology solutions in accordance with the structural changes in the context) in organizations. Inductive and Recursive Computer or Computational: Inductive competence of the professional to establish relationships that lead to patterns or predictable behaviors from a set of facts or observations, and the Engineer's recursive ability,to exploit the available resources in the best possible way to achieve a certain objective4.
2. General skills:
Psychological skills
- High general intelligence.Ability to solve abstract problems.Practical questions have to be solved frequently.Ease to expose other data and ideas with ease and clarity.Easy to understand what others say or write.Creativity, ease of discovering solutions.Ability to care and data analysis. Requires data memory ideas or phrases.
Personality and social requirements
- Ease of establishing personal relationships. Needs perseverance and method in the execution of tasks. Needs a calm and controlled attitude. Ability to impose oneself on a group or to lead it. Requires integration into a group. Be responsible with the means used and security. supervise the work of others Ability to organize their own work Have adaptability.
Professionals who, due to their training, can take responsibility for AS:
1. Programmers: These professionals need to receive training in analysis and design.
2. Specialists in Business Organization and Industrial Engineers: they must previously receive training in the methods, techniques and tools used to carry out the fundamental activities of the AS.
3. Computer Engineer: training in the process approach.
4. Other engineering and bachelor's degrees: in this case, training in Analysis and design of computer systems is also necessary.
Bibliography
1. http://www.laboris.net/static/ca_profesion_ingeniero-procesos.aspx
2.
3. http://www.monografias.com/trabajos11/admicomp/admicomp.shtml
4. http: //www.monografias. com / Economia / index.shtml
5.
6.
7. De las Heras, José María. Job Description of Analyst-Designer of Computer Systems. Material from the CD from February 2004, 4th edition of the Executive Master in Communications and Information Technology Management.
