This IRM authorizes system development analysis techniques such as structured analysis, Agile and other IRS approved techniques that involves analysis, description, specification, and decomposition of business processes and data to derive a result that is: graphic and concise, non-redundant, top-down partitioned, and logical instead of physical. This technique uses logical models to enhance communication by emphasizing what (logically) needs to be designed, and not how (physically) to design it.

Data flow diagrams, data definitions, and process specifications are the tools used in structured analysis. The primary deliverable that results from applying structured analysis is the functional specification package. This deliverable comprises of data flow diagrams, data definitions, and process specifications.

IRM 2.5.1 System Development, is the overarching IRM for all System Development programs within the IRS

IRM 10.5.1 Security, Privacy and Assurance, Privacy, and Information Protection, Privacy Policy

IRM 10.8.6 Security, Privacy and Assurance, Information Technology (IT) Security, Application Security and Development

Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996

Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, FISMA 2014

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Government Performance Results Act, 1993

Treasury Inspector General Tax Administration (TIGTA)

Information Technology (IT), Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity manages the IRS IT Security program in accordance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act with the goal of delivering effective and professional customer service to business units and support functions within the IRS. These procedures are done as the following:

Director, Enterprise Operations (EOps), Data Management Services & Support (DMSS): Directs and oversees reliable database and storage operations by pioneering improvements in data services. Other responsibilities are as follows:

Applications Development (AD): AD is responsible for building, testing, delivering, and maintaining integrated information applications systems, e.g., software solutions, to support modernized systems and production environment to achieve the mission and objectives of the Service. Additional, AD is responsible for the following:

• AD works in partnership with customers to improve the quality of and deliver changes to IRS information systems products and services.
• Establishes and maintains rigorous contract and fiscal management, oversight, quality assurance, and program risk management processes to ensure that strategic plans and priorities are being met.
• Design solutions for IRS accounting, financial, procurement and HR systems.
• Maintains the effectiveness and enhance the integration of IRS installed base production systems and infrastructure while modernizing core business systems and infrastructure.
• Ensure the posting of data to all master files.
• Provides quality assessment/assurance of deliverables and processes. Application Development’s (AD) chain of command and responsibilities include:

AD has the following Domains:

• Compliance Domain
• Corporate Data Domain
• Customer Service Domain
• Data Delivery Service (DDS) Domain
• Delivery Management; Quality Assurance (DMQA) Domain
• Identity & Access Management (IAM) Organization Domain
• Internal Management Domain
• Submission Processing Domain
• Technical Integration Organization (TIO) Domain

Director, Compliance: Provides executive direction for a wide suite of Compliance focused applications, and oversees the IT Software Development organization to ensure the quality of production ready applications. Directs and oversees a unified cross-divisional approach to compliance strategies needing collaboration pertaining to the following:

Director, AD Corporate Data: Directs and oversees the provisioning of authoritative databases, refund identification, notice generation, and reporting.

Director, Customer Service: Directs and oversees Customer Service Support for service and communication with internal and external customers and providing taxpayers with self-service online capabilities.

Director, Data Delivery Services: Directs, oversees, and ensures the quality of data with repeatable processes in a scalable environment. The enterprise data strategy is to transform DDS into a data centric organization dedicated to deliver Data as a Service (DaaS) through:

Director, Delivery Management; Quality Assurance (DMQA): Executes the mission of DMQA by ensuring AD has a coordinated, cross-domain, and cross-organizational approach to delivering AD systems and software applications. Additionally, the DMQA Director reports to the AD ACIO, and chairs the AD Risk Review Board.

Director, Identity & Access Management (IAM): Provides oversight and direction for continual secure online interaction by verifying and establishing an individual's identity before providing access to taxpayer information “identity proofing”, while staying compliant within federal security requirements.

Director, Internal Management: Provides oversight for the builds, tests, deliveries, refund identification, notice generation, and reporting.

Director, Submission Processing: Provides oversight to an organization of over 17,000 employees comprised of: a headquarters staff responsible for developing program policies and procedures, and five Wage& Investment processing centers. Additionally, the Director, Submission Processing is responsible for processing over 500 million individual and business tax returns through both electronic and paper methods.

Director, Technical Integration: Provides strategic technical organization oversight ensuring applicable guidance, collaboration, consolidation of technical integration issues and quality assurance for the Applications Development portfolio.

Program Reports:

Program Effectiveness:

The Requirements Engineering Program Office of Business Planning and Risk Management (BPRM) is the IRS authority on providing standards and guidance to Requirements Engineering activities, process modeling, and requirements-related solutions.

This office oversees Requirements Development and Requirements Management efforts on all business change, software development, systems integration, and legacy system upgrades throughout IRS Information Technology.

For Terms and Acronyms, see Exhibit 2.5.11-5

For Terms and Definitions, see Exhibit 2.5.11-6

Ipek Ozkaya, Robert Nord, and Spruce Project, 10 Recommended Practices for Achieving Agile at Scale, https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/blog/10-recommended-practices-for-achieving-agile-at-scale/, Carnegie Mellon University: Software Engineering Institute, August 3, 2015.

Brandon Sapp, Melissa Harvey, Agile for Model-Based Standards Development: NIST Advanced Manufacturing Series 100-40, https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AMS.100-40, Engineering Strategy, March 2021

Optimization guide for Power BI, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/power-bi-optimization - Microsoft Corporation, published February 26, 2023

Visualizations in Power BI reports, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-report-visualizations.- Microsoft Corporation, published February 2, 2023

Tips for designing a great Power BI dashboard, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/service-dashboards-design-tips

Bhavik Merchant, Microsoft Power BI Performance Best Practices: A comprehensive guide to building consistently fast Power BI solutions, April 2022, ISBN 978-1-80107-644-9

Power BI Dataflows: Best Practices for Data Analytics, https://www.biconnector.com/blog/power-bi-dataflows-best-practices/

Object Management Group (OMG), https://www.omg.org/

Tutorials Point, https://www.tutorialspoint.com/system_analysis_and_design/system_analysis_and_design_structured.htm

The IRS Requirements Engineering Process Office (REPO)

The IRS Enterprise Data Management Office (EDMO)

David Iseminger, Mi Hart, and Sharabi, Kesem. Planning a Power BI Enterprise Deployment, April 4, 2022 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/whitepaper-powerbi-enterprise-deployment

Ellin Fransman, What is the Point of a Data Warehouse if Power BI has ETL Capabilities? https://www.bi-builders.com/blog/what-is-the-point-of-a-data-warehouse-if-power-bi-has-etl-capabilities-1

Structure Analysis consist of steps taken to design the program and/or system that is necessary for the successful operation of the IRS. The critical implementation steps are as follows:

The Data Dictionary or Data Definition Matrix is an effective textual description of data objects, their information such as a descriptive name, the data type, allowed values and units. The Data Dictionary is an effective and concise tool for obtaining the elements within the dataset. Types of Data Dictionaries are:

Data flow diagrams provide a general picture of the data transformations (processes), and their interfaces (data streams) in a system. Data streams, stores, and processes are defined to make the data flow diagrams more precise. Data definitions add precision to a system by capturing the details of the data streams and data stores.

The means to catalogue these definitions may vary by organization. However, whether this method is manual, automated, or a combination of the two, the standards dictate that project managers ensure consistency within their systems.

This subsection provides guidance on using the results from analysis as the basis for software design.

The three attributes associated with all process specifications are (in appropriate order):

There are two types of process specifications:

Do not address physical requirements, e.g., telecommunications devices, in the written description. Describe physical information in the constraints section, but only when essential.

Ensure that the process specifications stress what needs to be accomplished, not how it is to be accomplished.

Develop a process specification for each bubble.

Entitle each process specification with the process name and number of its associated bubble on the data flow diagram.

Define the transformation of input data into output data for process specification.

Avoid redundancy between the process specification, and other tools in the functional specification package.

Use the data names as shown in the data flow diagrams, and the date definitions in the process specification.

Use Structured English decision table, or decision tree format to write the procedures attribute.

Structured English is English-like instructions with a limited selection of sentence structures that reflect processing actions. An algorithm can be written in English-like programming syntax without consideration to the actual programming language for future use. Structured English is used to verify the business logic, which can then be coded in any programming language. Common terms are used, such as IF-THEN-ELSE.

Decision tables are a concise, and efficient way of specifying processes which have numerous combinations of conditions in order to perform a specific action. Figure 2.5.11- 28 illustrates the format of a decision table. Exhibit 2.5.11- 3 illustrates a procedure, and a decision table that expresses the same procedure.

Figure 2.5.11-28

This graphic depicts an example of specifying processes to perform specific actions.

Please click here for the text description of the image.

Figure 2.5.11- 29 provides an example of a decision table.

Figure 2.5.11-29

This graphic provides an example of a decision table.

Please click here for the text description of the image.

A decision table comprises four types of sections, the following explains these sections:

Exhibit 2.5.11- 3 illustrates the use of a narration and a decision table to describe the same procedure. For the purposes of this exhibit, a procedure to determine who will approve the selection and acquisition of contractual services is being used.

A decision tree is a graphic representation of a decision table; it communicates the same information in a different form. Figure 2.5.11- 29 provides an example of a decision table. Figure 2.5.11- 30 depicts a decision tree that expresses the decisions expressed in Figure 2.5.11- 29.

Figure 2.5.11-30

This figure depicts an example of a decision table.

Please click here for the text description of the image.

Some processes are shared by different systems or are used more than once within a single system. These common processes are designated by adding the suffix "(COMMON)", capitalized and placed in parentheses, to the end of the process name.

CASE is a technique that uses powerful and programs/software to help system analysts or programmers develop and maintain information systems. Some CASE tools obtain specifications and generate the codes. CASE is used to ensure a high-quality defect-free software development and reduce the amount of repeatable work.

CASE ensures a check-pointed and disciplined approach, and assist designers, developers, testers, managers, and stakeholders to collaborate on the project milestones. The types of CASE tools are the following:

The categories of CASE Tools are:

Joint Application Development (JAD) is a methodology that involves user-oriented fact-finding techniques for obtaining system specifications requirements pertaining to future development projects. A series of workshops must be organized with teams composed of end users, management, IT staff, and other relevant stakeholders.

The features of the Joint Application Development Model are:

Three RAD categories are:

Rapid Application Development is a type of Agile software development model that was created during the 1980s. Its invention was a direct result of the drawbacks of regressive traditional development models such as the Waterfall Software Development Model. One of the major flaws in the Waterfall model is once the software enters the testing phase it becomes exceedingly difficult to alter its core functions and features. Ultimately, resulting with software that might not fit your evolving requirements.

The RAD model is based on rapid prototyping and quick feedback from stakeholders over the length of the development and testing cycle with minimum planning. RAD enables low-code rapid application development through which business can roll-out new applications faster using IRS teams composed of end users, management, and IT staff to complete the projects.

The two allowable ways of ordering the data flow diagrams and process specifications within a functional specification package. The data flow diagrams must be sequenced in ascending numeric order, and the process specifications placed immediately behind their associated data flow diagram or grouped together behind the entire data flow diagram set.

To maintain constancy among functional specifications packages developed for a system, one of the following methods must be used for sequencing:

Enter all data definitions into a system glossary, and/or data dictionary. If a manual system glossary is being used, packaged it into the functional specification package.

In order to fully document a system, add other sections to a functional specification package. Graphics for projects that use terminals for processing must be organized into a "Screen Display" section.

Organize graphic formats for printed inputs and outputs such as reports, e.g., error registers into a "Print Report Layouts" section.

Add a "Table of Contents" and/or "Cross-Referencing" material to aid the reader in understanding and following the Functional Specification Package (FSP). Develop an alphabetical index of names of external entities, processes, data groups, and data elements; or a listing of external inputs and outputs, and processes to organize a Functional Specification Package.

Developers using the agile approach must develop software which is both high-quality and high-value. The simplest way to develop high-value software is to implement the highest priority requirements first because this enables them to maximize stakeholder Return On Investment ROI. Since requirements change frequently you need a streamlined, flexible approach to requirements and change management. Best practices for the IRS are the following:

For information on Agile Principles see https://scaledagileframework.com/lean-agile-mindset/

For more information see the Agile Central Hub https://irsgov.sharepoint.com/sites/AgileCentral/.

CIM allows three type of schemas as the following:

As DMTF defines the standard schema, major manufacturers like IBM, HP, Dell, and others provide "Extension" schemas that include their products.

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