How to Create a Stakeholder Requirements Document and a Project Requirements Document for a Business Intelligence Project

If you are a business intelligence (BI) professional, you know how important it is to understand the needs and expectations of your clients and stakeholders, and to plan your project accordingly. In this post, you will learn how to create two essential documents for any BI project: a Stakeholder Requirements Document and a Project Requirements Document.

A Stakeholder Requirements Document is a document that summarizes the information you gather from your client and other stakeholders about the business problem they want to solve, the goals they want to achieve, the data they have available, and the constraints they face. It helps you to define the scope and objectives of your project, identify the key stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities, and ask relevant questions to clarify their requirements and expectations.

A Project Requirements Document is a document that outlines the details of your project, such as its purpose, audience, features, dependencies, success criteria, and risks. It helps you to communicate your project plan to your client and stakeholders, and to guide your development process.

To create these documents, you need to follow these steps:

1. 

Conduct a stakeholder analysis. A stakeholder analysis is a process of identifying and prioritizing the people or groups who have an interest or influence in your project. You need to understand who they are, what they want, what they can offer, and how they can affect your project. You can use tools such as stakeholder maps or matrices to visualize and categorize your stakeholders.

2. 

Conduct a requirements elicitation. A requirements elicitation is a process of gathering information from your client and stakeholders about their needs, expectations, preferences, and constraints. You need to ask open-ended questions, listen actively, and confirm your understanding. You can use tools such as interviews, surveys, workshops, or observation to collect data.

3. 

Create a Stakeholder Requirements Document. A Stakeholder Requirements Document is a document that summarizes the information you collected from your client and stakeholders. It should include the following sections:

•  Business problem: A clear statement of the problem that your client wants to solve with your BI solution.

•  Business goals: A list of measurable and specific goals that your client wants to achieve with your BI solution.

•  Data sources: A description of the data that your client has available or needs to acquire for your BI solution.

•  Data quality: An assessment of the quality, reliability, and completeness of the data that your client has or needs.

•  Constraints: A list of limitations or challenges that your client faces or anticipates for your BI solution, such as budget, time, resources, or regulations.

•  Stakeholders: A list of the key stakeholders involved in or affected by your BI project, along with their roles, responsibilities, interests, expectations, and communication preferences.

•  Questions: A list of questions that you need to answer or clarify with your client or stakeholders before proceeding with your BI project.

1. 

Create a Project Requirements Document. A Project Requirements Document is a document that outlines the details of your BI project. It should include the following sections:

•  Purpose: A brief statement of the purpose of your BI project and how it aligns with the business problem and goals.

•  Audience: A description of the intended users or beneficiaries of your BI solution, along with their characteristics, needs, preferences, and feedback.

•  Features: A list of the key features and functionalities that your BI solution should provide, such as data integration, data transformation, data analysis, data visualization, data security, or data governance.

•  Dependencies: A list of the external factors or conditions that your BI project depends on or affects, such as data availability, data quality, data access, data policies, or other systems or projects.

•  Success criteria: A list of measurable and specific criteria that define the success of your BI project and how it will be evaluated.

•  Risks: A list of potential threats or uncertainties that could jeopardize or delay your BI project and how they will be mitigated or managed.

2. 

Plan your approach. Based on the information you gathered and documented in the previous steps, you need to plan your approach to developing and delivering your BI solution. You need to consider aspects such as:

•  Methodology: The process or framework that you will follow to execute your BI project, such as agile, waterfall, or hybrid.

•  Tools: The software or hardware that you will use to develop and deploy your BI solution, such as SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Power BI Desktop (PBID), Power BI Service (PBIS), or Power BI Mobile (PBIM).

•  Timeline: The schedule or timeline that you will follow to complete your BI project, including milestones, deliverables, and deadlines.

•  Resources: The human or material resources that you will need or allocate for your BI project, such as team members, roles, skills, tasks, responsibilities, budget, or equipment.

•  Communication: The methods or channels that you will use to communicate with your client and stakeholders throughout your BI project, such as email, phone, chat, meetings, reports, or dashboards.

By creating a Stakeholder Requirements Document and a Project Requirements Document, you can ensure that you understand the needs and expectations of your client and stakeholders, and that you plan your BI project accordingly. This will enable you to develop an effective and efficient BI solution that solves the business problem and achieves the business goals.