I2
Knowledge Sharing
in an Organization
 

Requirements
-
 

Organization represented by a person in a role responsible for developing software engineering, products etc. The right role varies much between organizations.

A Project Manager or Requirements Manager defining requirements.
 

Requirements for a project are normally defined under strict time pressure. If then, some earlier defined and tested sets of requirements could be used, it would shorten the required time and also result in more quality requirements compared to the situation where all requirements have to be defined starting from none existing.

Normally, there are several earlier projects etc. where requirements have been defined. It is not easy to find the right one when being in a hurry. Also, in most cases, the requirements have been improved in other projects but having many project-specific features.
 

To establish possibilities for reusing existing requirements do the following:
(See also product line based approach from the Other Practices section.)

1. Check Existing Requirement definitions. Define what kind of requirements exist and what could or should be available for reuse based on business needs.
2. Define Reference Requirement Sets. Define sets of reference requirements that might be collected. Define owners for those having the responsibility to guide the use of the requirements.
3. Study Feasibility. Together with sales and Project Managers, study the feasibility of the planned Reference Requirements sets. Main criteria is adequate future need.
4. Establish Reference Requirements. Start establishing reference requirements sets. Use existing requirements or initiate separate project to establish new reusable reference requirements. (Improve the set of requirements over time, see Not Wasted, KSP23).
5. Check Stakeholder Coverage. Check that all required stakeholders are notified including authorities (e.g. product safety and liability requirements).
6. Define Terms of Use. Define terms of use for each set of requirements. Notice also possible IPR restrictions and warnings.
7. Publish Reference Requirements. Publish the sets of reference requirements, terms of use and contact persons. Pay attention to easy finding and use.
8. Study Reference Requirements. Project Managers need to become familiar with the requirements at such a level that they know what those are and when they could be applicable.
    

E.g. in software production for mobile phones there could be sets like requirements for compliance to certain operator requirements, certain market area requirements etc. Requirements could also be related to certain products of the company.

One possible pitfall is to introduce a set of requirements that will not be utilized. -> Step 3, Feasibility Study is very important and should involve people having good business opportunities and market understanding.