SoftSUITE: Enterprise Resource Planning

My Role

As the Lead Business Analyst and Product Owner, I drove the SoftSUITE ERP application project with a clear vision, detailed requirements, and strong stakeholder alignment. My focus on collaboration, communication, and continuous improvement helped to deliver a robust and user-friendly ERP system that significantly improved HR processes and added value to the organization.

Planning

The following were my activities during the planning stage:

I identified and engaged key stakeholders to gather preliminary requirements and understand project goals.
I conducted initial requirement-gathering sessions, including interviews, surveys, and workshops with HR professionals and a selected group of employees.
Defined the project scope and documented it in a project charter.
I Assisted in conducting feasibility studies to assess the viability of the project.
Defined the product vision and developed a high-level product roadmap. The roadmap contained proposed release dates for each module of the ERP. I used milestones to track features. Tools used; MS Excel and PowerPoint
I began creating an initial product backlog with high-level features and epics. Tools used were Google Docs and JIRA

Analysis

Activities:

I and my team held requirement-gathering sessions to capture detailed functional and non-functional requirements. They are collated in Google Sheets.
We documented requirements in the form of business requirement documents (BRD), functional specifications, and use cases.
Created detailed process maps and flowcharts to visualize current and future state processes. Each module had separate flow diagrams
Facilitated requirement validation sessions with stakeholders to ensure accuracy and completeness.
We created detailed user stories with clear acceptance criteria.
Prioritize the product backlog based on business value, stakeholder input, and feasibility. Both product and sprint backlogs were refined in JIRA.
Participated in sprint planning sessions to clarify requirements and set priorities for the development team.

Design

Activities:

Collaborated with the design and development teams to ensure a clear understanding of requirements. I created some wireframes for the UI/UX teams.
Provided continuous feedback on design iterations to ensure alignment with the product vision.
Reviewed and approved design mockups and prototypes, ensuring they met the defined acceptance criteria.
Communicated design progress and decisions to stakeholders, gathering their feedback and addressing concerns.

Development

Herein are my roles during this stage:

I acted as a point of contact for the development team to clarify requirements and resolve ambiguities.
Managed and documented any changes to requirements, ensuring stakeholder approval and communication of changes.
Continuously refined and added details to user stories as development progressed.
Participated in sprint reviews to evaluate completed work, provide feedback, and ensure it meets acceptance criteria.
Planned and prioritised work for upcoming sprints based on progress and changing business priorities. This usually involved wireframing and flowcharting

Testing

Collaborated with QA teams to develop comprehensive test plans and test cases based on requirements.
Coordinated User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with end-users to ensure the system meets their needs and expectations.
Tracked and managed defects, ensuring they were resolved per business priorities.

Deployment

Anchored training sessions with end users and HR professionals.
Designed user manuals for easy application usage.
Created How To Videos for each module.
Ensured that app release versions were in line with Play Store policies.

Maintenance

Continually provide support to address any new requirements or issues that arise.
Gather feedback and identify opportunities for system improvements and enhancements. Feedback was done through questionnaires and seminars.

Results

We achieved a 110% increment in annual revenue when compared to the previous legacy HR ERP solution.
There was an 80% increment in user experience satisfaction which was acquired via feedback from quarterly questionnaires.
This project received investment funding to the tune of $1 Million due to the potential it showed in its first year of launch.