What Is the Requirements Management Process?
The requirements management process is designed to protect the company that has hired a project management or IT company to develop a product such as a new software program. A lot of time and money can be wasted in developing software that does not meet the needs of the company. Through requirements management, planning makes it clear exactly what the company needs from the contractor.
Other People Are Reading
-
Requirements
-
Requirements for each IT project differ depending on the needs of the organization. For example, a state lottery agency might need a new database software program for tracking payouts to lottery winners. IT companies that would bid on the project would examine requirements documentation to determine if they could successfully complete the project within the budget and timelines of the state lottery agency.
Types of Requirements
-
There are different ways of viewing the requirements to be managed in an IT project. Requirements can be grouped into two major categories--functional and non-functional requirements. According to Requirements Authority, a functional requirement must be satisfied by performing a function in the final solution or product. A non-functional requirement is a requirement that does not do anything but emerges as a characteristic of the entire software solution. For example, security and performance are non-functional requirements.
-
Building Blocks
-
The building blocks of the requirements management process can be very complex when the IT contractor has to work with many principals in the company or organization. In this process, IT professionals meet with various stakeholders and end users to define what the priorities and needs are for the final IT solution. In the planning process, the IT team can get the company to agree to the framework of the project before beginning work on building the IT solution.
Business Architecture
-
Another aspect of requirements management is the use of planning software such as Microsoft Visio flowcharting to define the business architecture. In other words, the architecture shows the design of the business software from start to finish and how the solution will perform under anticipated scenarios. This architecture will be crucial for the IT company to write the user's guide for business use upon project completion.
Negotiation and Communication
-
In the requirements management process, the company or organization and the IT development firm are going to engage in frequent negotiations regarding priorities, including how many resources (money and manpower) will be allocated to each step of the project. Because IT professionals will not have the specific knowledge of the organization, they must use communication to identify exactly what the company requires before designing the solution. Money and productivity will be lost if effective communication does not take place throughout the requirements management process.
-
