Roles and Responsibilities in REM - Requirements Engineering and Management for Software Development Projects - page 150

specializing in software development as their main source of revenue ought to
dedicate a department to support this activity.
Another important support to be provided by the organization is the knowledge
repository. Each organization would usually have a knowledge repository, it is
doubtful if it contains material concerning requirements engineering and
management. The knowledge repository ought to have a section on requirements
engineering and management which must be updated with the latest developments
in the field.
11.2.2 Staff
For any department in the organization to deliver effective results, it needs
competent staff and the activity of requirements engineering and management is
no exception. It needs qualified staff, trained in the field of requirements
engineering and management and mentored on the job to be able to deliver
effective results.
Deciding on the qualifications needed for carrying out requirements engineering
work, it must be noted that it is not the same for every type of project. Different
types of projects need differently qualified persons. Let us look at project types and
the needed qualifications one by one.
11.2.2.1 Projects Implementing a COTS Product
There are a variety of excellent COTS products with built-in industry best practices,
available at a cost that is lower than the cost of custom-software development for
comparable functionality. These are available in the fields of ERP (Enterprise
Resources Planning), SCM (Supply Chain Management), CRM (Customer Rela-
tionship Management), EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). EAI (Enterprise
Applications Integration), Financials, Banking, Manufacturing, credit card
processing, telecom billing and so on. Most of them can be implemented as they are
or with some extension or customization. In these types of projects, the main activity
of requirements engineering would be mapping the functionality available in the
COTS product with the requirements of the organization; bringing out a gaps
document; carrying out the acceptance testing; and handhold the customer during
commissioning and rolling out of the product. This activity needs functional
specialists trained on the COTS product under implementation. To implement a
financials COTS product, we need persons qualified in accounting with experience
in handling accounting function. To implement a HR COTS product, we need
individuals qualified in the HR subject with some experience in a HR department.
To implement, SCM COTS product, we need individuals qualified in the material
management/supply chain management subject with experience in a materials
management department. Usually, it is common to take individuals with MBA