Pitfalls and Best Practices in Requirements Engineering and Management - Requirements Engineering and Management for Software Development Projects - page 196

6. Quality Assurance
7. Knowledge Repository.

Let us discuss each of the above aspects in detail hereunder.

14.2.1 Approach to Requirements Engineering
and Management

This is perhaps the first and most important aspect of the organizational framework
the organization has the responsibility to set. There are basically two approaches,
namely,

1. A process driven approach
2. Ad hoc approach.

A process driven approach consists of defining a process that is appropriate for
the organization that includes industry best practices as well. All of the activities
are carried out in the organization conforming to the corresponding process. When,
it is essential, a waiver is requested and taken from the concerned authority to
perform an activity deviating from the specification of the process. A waiver is
usually granted only when the suggested approach is argued to be better than the
existing one. A process driven approach ensures predictable results. It makes a
novice perform like an experienced one and an experienced one to perform like an
expert. A process driven approach also brings in uniformity across the organization
and the customer can expect similar results irrespective of the person performing
the activity. There is a criticism that a process driven approach curtails the free-
dom of the individuals performing the activity. This is partially true but waivers
are

granted in deserving cases although unbridled experimentation is not

permitted.
An ad hoc approach gives all the freedom to the individuals performing the work.
There will be no process to conform to. In these cases, the results depend on the
expertise, experience and the motivation of the person. If the person is an expert, has
excellent experience and is highly motivated, this approach can produce spectacular
success. But if the person is a novice and is poorly motivated, the results can be
spectacularly disastrous.
For small organizations running fewer than three projects concurrently, an ad
hoc approach may be adequate as the gaps in knowledge can be bridged by the
superiors.

But as the organization grows larger and handles many projects

concurrently, an ad hoc approach may not be adequate.
When organizations start, they are usually small handling few projects
concurrently. Then they grow larger with their initial success. Then if the growing
organization does not then adopt a process driven approach, it may not be able to
control the project execution efficiently and may move toward failure. So, nor-
mally organizations move towards a process driven approach as they grow in size.