Introduction to Requirements Engineering and Management - Requirements Engineering and Management for Software Development Projects - page 8

record the requirements and convey them to the development team. The devel-
opment team has the responsibility to build and deliver the software conforming to
the requirements as well as to ensure that all accepted requirements are fully met.

1.5 Approaches to Requirements Management

There are two schools or thought on this aspect. One school of thought states that
the project requirements must be managed methodically and diligently conforming
to a defined process which is continuously improved in the organization. The other
school of thought is that there is no such need for expending special effort for
managing project requirements as it is a natural part of software development.
The salient aspects of the first school of thought are:

1. The organization needs to be a process-driven organization. That is, the orga-
nization must have a defined process; the process is diligently implemented
within the organization; the process must be internalized; the organizational
process is continuously improved conforming to a defined process for

improvement.
2. The organizational process would have a set of procedures, standards, guide-
lines, formats and templates for managing requirements.
3. The effectiveness of the implemented process is measured and corrective action
is taken to correct / improve the process as necessary.
4. Deviations from the defined process are allowed and waivers given based on the
specific set of conditions conforming to the tailoring guidelines specified in the
process.

The main argument in favor of a process-driven approach is that uniformity can
be achieved across the organization in the matter of requirements management.
This is a great advantage for software development organizations executing
multiple projects concurrently. If the requirements management is allowed without
any controls, it is likely to derail the projects and result in failed project execution.
The other advantages are that new project managers can perform on par with the
experienced ones; experienced ones can perform at a higher level of performance;
and it provides predictability for performance for everyone concerned in the
project execution. Process-driven approach places the onus for performance and
results on the process than on the individual.
The proponents of ad-hoc management for project requirements argue that there
is no inherent need for uniformity across projects in the organization; the process
puts overhead and reduces the productivity of the project resources; the measure of
ultimate success of the project is not in how well the requirements are managed but
how well the end product performs; and finally, that the management of require-
ments has little impact on the final product. They also point out that however well
the process may have been defined, if the individual implementing it is weak, the
results would be disastrous. They say that it is better to invest in a capable