Planning for Requirements Management - Requirements Engineering and Management for Software Development Projects - page 106

4. In a defined environment—the environment where the work is going to be
performed is defined. The environment is defined during the planning exercise.
Any variation in the environment would affect the plan. The Environment refers
to a wide variety of conditions including work logistics, workstation design,
technical environment, processes and methods of management, prevailing
morale at the workplace and corporate culture to name a few aspects.
5. Endeavor—any activity performed by human beings that would consume
resources and would achieve a pre-defined objective.
The scope of the project would not be completely understood until we compile
the requirements. But, what are the objectives of planning for requirements
management? There could be multiple objectives for the endeavor. Here are the
objectives of planning for requirements management:
1. Identify the resources needed to perform the requirements engineering activity
efficiently and effectively. The resources are qualified and experienced human
resources, money for expenses, duration needed and the machines (servers,
laptops, tablets, PCs etc.) and tools required for the activity
2. Identify the risks associated with the activity and prepare a mitigation plan
3. Identify the dates for performing various requirements engineering activities
during the course of project execution so that a project schedule can be
prepared
4. Identify all the stakeholders of the activity so that every stakeholder contributes
according to their role.
Any other project-specific objective can be added to the above list.
Having put the definition of planning in its proper perspective, we can now
move forward on planning for requirements management.
7.3 Planning for Requirements Management
When do we carry out planning for a software project? This is normally the first
activity as soon as the project is either approved or acquired. It normally precedes
the requirements engineering activity. We prepare project plans during the project
planning phase of the project. But in some cases, we may have to carry out some of
the activities of requirements management even before planning the project. For
example, in the case of internal projects, we may sometimes need to firm up the
requirements as a prerequisite for the project to be sanctioned. A project would not
be planned unless project is approved and budget is sanctioned. Even in external
projects, we need to understand the requirements if only in their rudimentary state
to offer a bid and acquire the project. Irrespective of where the project is executed,
the organization conducts a feasibility study to ascertain if the project is worth
committing funds to. The feasibility study would collect preliminary requirements
to determine the need and the desirability of recommending the project.