TABLE OF CONTENTS The need to gather requirements is initiated by a request from an internal or external customer. Requests can come in many forms, including a request for proposals (RFP) [1], an SOW, or an informal or formal inquiry describing a capability that is needed. The request initiates a set of requirements gathering activities. It's vital for the RA to have a thorough understanding of these activities and to gain experience in performing related tasks.
My experience has taught me the following:
A lot of time and effort is wasted in the project startup phase and in performing requirements gathering activities. There are a number of reasons for this:
The project is just getting organized and things are confused.
There is no road map or checklist of startup activities.
Not all staff are present; some are still being recruited.
There isn't much pressure to meet the schedule yet.
The customer and users are also trying to get organized and get started.
The staff who will be working on end-product development may not fully understand the customer's objectives and, consequently, may not be able to appreciate the customer's expectations.
An effective proven procedure for the requirements gathering steps is not available or used.
If the requirements gathering effort is not effective, the stage is set for much additional time and effort to be wasted when technical work is initiated and performed as a result of poor requirements. For example, at one large telecommunications company, 100% of planned development costs was budgeted for...
