Guideline: Application Current State Analysis
An important element in any analysis of application current state is the collection of data to confirm the suspicions about what is wrong with the application.
Main Description

Data Gathering for Current State Analysis

An important element in any analysis of application current state is the collection of data to confirm the suspicions about what is wrong with the application. Since many types of data could be collected and considering the fact that there is limited amount of time in which to collect this data, selection of appropriate data becomes paramount in importance.

The following guidelines will help in decide what data will be most important to consider.

What is wrong with the application just the way it is now?

Using the knowledge of development team, identify the major problems with the application. These problems may be varied: poor quality, duplicated steps, unnecessary checks, performance, no documentation, high failure rate, user complaint and unsatisfactory outcomes to name just a few. These suspicions can be validated or discarded with appropriate data. For example: If analysis impact due to a change were an issue, estimated personnel costs incurred as a result of the this and underling reason, such as no documentation. This mapping of cause and effect are not only useful in understanding the current state and pain points, but can begin to establish measures that could be used to evaluate a future state.

What do we not know that would be good to know before we begin planning a future state?

This may mean collecting data on the volume of transactions, the number of times data is processed, the actual business requirements and goals, etc.

A final rule of thumb is to be very selective and go after a few, three or four, key facts that will do the most to highlight what is wrong with the current application. Go first after data that already exists and avoid the temptation to begin lengthy studies that cannot be completed in the available time. One hundred percent sampling is not necessary. Absolute precision is not important - just reasonable approximations.

It will be most effective if the assessment team begin asking themselves these questions while flowcharting the current state of the application. For issues reported, assessor should ask, "Is there objective data that we could get our hands on that would help put that issue in perspective?" Keep in mind that the purpose of a current state analysis is to identify the underlying causes of business issue with the application.