Enhancing Data Accessibility and Security: The Journey of Requirements Engineering

In our endeavor to embody our principles, we encountered a "business as usual" challenge: Distributed employee data across multiple SAAS platforms. All time records, salaries, and personal information of our employees were fragmented between these systems - Lexoffice and Plainstaff. To recognize the need for a unified solution, we set out to create a program that would allow our employees to access all relevant information from a single, user-friendly interface. This was our core concern, born out of the necessity for efficiency and transparency.

To address this challenge, we turned to the principles of requirements management. Our journey began with comprehensive stakeholder interviews and user surveys, brainstorming with our employees to understand their specific needs and pain points. Armed with these insights, we meticulously documented each requirement and decomposed them into clear and precise specifications. This process laid the groundwork for our solution and provided a roadmap for development.

Next came the implementation phase. Using Miro, our requirements engineer sketched out the proposed solution, visualized the user interface, and mapped out key features. At the same time, we carefully documented all processes and dependencies in Jira, creating a comprehensive development roadmap. By linking requirements to specific tasks and user stories, we provided clear instructions to our software developers, enabling them to translate our vision into actionable code.

To illustrate this, we outlined a hierarchical structure for the employee data user interface. At the highest level, the personal overview provided a consolidated view of all relevant information. Below that, we integrated monthly and annual summaries, as well as customizable filters for data selection. Within each view, essential fields such as project revenue, internal costs, sick days, and gross salary were prominently displayed to ensure transparency and accessibility for all users.

Through multiple sprints, we diligently developed an API and our customized tool, the "Foxsolution Portal," successfully completing Phase 1. For Phase 2, we are focusing on creating KPI dashboards, utilizing data from the same tools but in a different way than in Phase 1. In addition to accessibility, security also proved to be an important aspect. Each employee's access is carefully tailored to ensure they only access data relevant to their role. At the management level, a robust data roll-up mechanism consolidates information to enable informed decision-making while maintaining data privacy and security standards.

With the start of the next sprint, requirement gathering remains crucial. Strengthened by clear communication and meticulous planning, our development team is poised to turn visions into reality and foster a culture of transparency, accessibility, and security in our data infrastructure.

Elliot Parry - Senior Quality, Process, and Project Manager