science

Unicom Focal Point

Unicom Focal Point is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Unicom Focal Point rather than just read about it. In short: UNICOM Focal Point is a portfolio management and decision analysis tool used by the product organizations of corporations and government agencies to collect information and feedback from internal and external stakeholders on the value of applications, products, systems, technologies, capabilities, ideas, and other organizational artifacts—prioritize on which ones will provide the most value to the business, and mana…

Key takeaways

Unicom Focal Point belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Unicom Focal Point to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Unicom Focal Point from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

UNICOM Focal Point is a portfolio management and decision analysis tool used by the product organizations of corporations and government agencies to collect information and feedback from internal and external stakeholders on the value of applications, products, systems, technologies, capabilities, ideas, and other organizational artifacts—prioritize on which ones will provide the most value to the business, and manage the roadmap of how artifacts will be fielded, improved, or removed from the market or organization. UNICOM Focal Point is also used to manage a portfolio of projects, to understand resources used on those projects, and timelines for completion. The product is also used for pure product management—where product managers use it to gather and analyze enhancement requests from customers to decide on what features to put in a product, and develop roadmaps for future product versions.

Overview UNICOM Focal Point is used for:

Scaled agile framework (SAFe) Methods, to govern the DevOps lifecycle, with support for Kanban boards, portfolio management, and integration to Enterprise architecture, change management, and testing tools via Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration. Application Portfolio Management—understanding what applications are deployed in an organization and their value; which to invest in and which to retire. Gartner's most recent Enterprise Architecture Magic Quadrant lists the combination of System Architect and Focal Point as Leaders amongst toolsets used for enterprise architecture and application portfolio management. IT portfolio management—understanding what applications and systems are deployed in an organization and their value; which to invest in and which to retire. Project Portfolio Management—gathering information on projects across the organisation, what are the benefits, costs, risks associated with the projects. The tool enables entry of all data based on roles, and workflow so it can be tailored to specific needs in terms of maturity and priority. It is done at a fairly high level. If very detailed analysis is needed the tool can be integrated to other tools for such purpose. The tool also supports resource management at a high level, as well as requirements management at a high level. Generally characterized by easy modification rather than advanced best practice. Product Delivery Management—understanding the resources and schedule of what needs to happen in getting a product to market. Product management—making decisions on what features to put in a product, based on customer priorities, competitor functionality, and market conditions. Furthermore, understanding the value of applications that an organization is building, marketing, and selling, and deciding on which to invest in and which to retire. An independent survey on Linked In ranked Focal Point as the best Product Management tool. UNICOM Focal Point is a pure web tool that stores information in an underlying database (user choice of PostgreSQL, Oracle Database, or IBM Db2). Users may input information into the database in multiple ways—via the web interface, through automatic import of spreadsheet files, or through direct Representational State Transfer integration with other tools. Information is then analyzed with a variety of methods to make prioritization decisions and manage roadmaps of project and product delivery, and scheduling. Focal Point's web-based portal allows end-users from across an organization, and external customers from all over the world, to input information into the database, analyze the information, or view analysis of that information. Focal Point provides a workflow engine so that suggested changes to an organization based on analysis can be signed off. UNICOM Focal Point is used in combination with other tools for corporate analysis and workflow—such as UNICOM System Architect for enterprise architecture, and Rational Team Concert for DevOps. Integrations to these and a variety of other tools are enabled by UNICOM Focal Point's REST read/write interface and its support for Open Services Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) with other OSLC-enabled tools.

History Joachim Karlsson, Ph.D founded Focal Point AB; the tool originated from a doctoral dissertation by Joachim Karlsson at Linköping University, “A Systematic Approach for Prioritizing Software Requirements”. The first version of Focal Point was released in 1997. Focal Point was acquired by Telelogic on April 13, 2005. IBM Rational acquired Telelogic in April 2008., Focal Point was acquired by UNICOM Global on 1 January 2015.

References

External links UNICOM Focal Point product page Videos on UNICOM Focal Point Application Portfolio Management with UNICOM Focal Point See also

Project portfolio management Requirement prioritization

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Unicom Focal Point

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Unicom Focal Point claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Unicom Focal Point before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Unicom Focal Point ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Unicom Focal Point

In research: Unicom Focal Point appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Unicom Focal Point in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Unicom Focal Point is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Decision analysis, Divested IBM products, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Unicom Focal Point outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Unicom Focal Point in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Unicom Focal Point means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Unicom Focal Point out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Unicom Focal Point in simple terms?

Why does Unicom Focal Point matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Unicom Focal Point?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Unicom Focal Point.