A common level of understanding is the key to collaboration and the production of good quality. Any discussions about and the modelling of business processes and the respectively manipulated data can be only as good as the underlying comprehension of the matter itself.Based on his experiences, the author claims that the absence of or a flawed understanding is the main cause for bad software and failed IT-projects. IT people must understand what users need (and not only what they want or ask for). Business and management people in turn must understand what information they need in order to do their business, how they can best use this information, and what they must demand of IT-people to get real value out of their software.This book describes and documents a method and procedure for achieving mutual understanding between all stakeholders. Furthermore, it discusses how experiences and chances are shared and how difficulties in the application of methods occur.

STEFAN BERNER is an accredited engineer (Diploma from ETH Zurich) and a seasoned expert with over 30 years experience in computer science. His career has spanned a broad variety of positions, among them developer, database architect, CASE specialist, project manager, author, IT coach and lecturer in software engineering.