Jouhayna Al-Ayoubi SWEN 5230 – Software Project Management

Requirements Management Success Starts with Requirements Management

Software Crisis CHAOS report indicates only a distinct minority of software projects is completed on time and under budget CHAOS report indicates only a distinct minority of software projects is completed on time and under budget –Successful projects are only 16.2% –Challenged projects accounted for 52.7% –Impaired projects accounted for 31.1%

Causes of Software Crisis Failures attributed to poor requirements management Failures attributed to poor requirements management –Incorrect definition of requirements –Poor management throughout development lifecycle

Solution to Software Crisis Effective requirements management! Effective requirements management! – The factor most related to successful projects – Ensures right problem is solved – Ensures right system is built

Requirements Management A systematic approach to A systematic approach to –Eliciting –Organizing –Documenting –And managing the changing requirements of a software project Not a new concept! Not a new concept!

Rational Approach to Requirements Management Rational provides complete solution to requirements management Rational provides complete solution to requirements management –Rational Unified Process(RUP) »Recommends specific requirements management skills »Provides specific guidelines to effectively implement skills –Tools to automate these skills »RequisitePro, Rose, ClearCase

Requirements Management Skills Six essential management skills: Six essential management skills: –Analyze the problem. –Understand the user needs. –Define the system. –Manage the scope of the system. –Refine the system definition –Manage the changing requirements

Requirements Management in RUP Requirements management skills implemented in the requirements core- workflow Requirements management skills implemented in the requirements core- workflow Considered workflows Considered workflows

Analyze the Problem Purpose is to: Purpose is to: –Gain an agreement on system features and goals –Develop Vision document for the project The key artifacts produced in the workflow: The key artifacts produced in the workflow: –Vision document –Requirement management plan for the project –Glossary

Understand the User Needs Purpose is to: Purpose is to: –Collect information from the various stakeholders of the project –Use different elicitation techniques to elicit requests

Understand the User Needs The key artifacts produced in the workflow: The key artifacts produced in the workflow: –Refined vision document –Initial Use case model –Supplementary specifications –Refined glossary

Define the System Purpose is to: Purpose is to: –Ensure that all project team members understand the system –Perform high-level analysis on the results collected in previous workflows –Formally document results

Define the System The key artifacts produced in the workflow: The key artifacts produced in the workflow: –Refined vision document –Refined use case model –Refined Supplementary specifications –Refined glossary

Manage the Scope of the System Purpose is to: Purpose is to: –Define the set of requirements to be included in this version of the system –Define a set of architecturally-significant features and uses cases –Define attributes and traceability to help prioritize requirements

Manage the Scope of the System The key artifacts produced in the workflow: The key artifacts produced in the workflow: –Iteration plan –Refined vision document –Refined glossary

Refine the System Purpose is to: Purpose is to: –Provide a more in-depth understanding of the system’s features –Provide detailed descriptions of use cases –Model and prototype user interfaces

Refine the System The key artifacts produced in the workflow: The key artifacts produced in the workflow: –User-interface prototype –Detailed use case model –Revised iteration plan –Refined vision –Refined glossary

Manage Changing Requirements Purpose is to: Purpose is to: –Control and manage change –Set up appropriate requirements attributes and traceabilities

Tool Support - RequisitePro Easy to use requirements management tool Easy to use requirements management tool Leverages the power of database with the freedom of Word Leverages the power of database with the freedom of Word Multi-user support Multi-user support Provides distributed access to projects via its Web interface Provides distributed access to projects via its Web interface Provides document templates and capability to import existing documents Provides document templates and capability to import existing documents

RequisitePro Manages Requirements Define System – templates, import capability, requirement and document types Define System – templates, import capability, requirement and document types Manage scope – Traceability matrix and tree, attribute types Manage scope – Traceability matrix and tree, attribute types Manage change – Suspect links, group discussions, revision history Manage change – Suspect links, group discussions, revision history

Why Manage Requirements? Meeting the project’s requirements defines success! Meeting the project’s requirements defines success!

Why Rational Approach? Rational provides a more disciplined approach to requirements management. Rational provides a more disciplined approach to requirements management. –Does not only tell organizations what to do, provides assistance on how to do it Rational dedicated the last few years to requirements management Rational dedicated the last few years to requirements management

References 1. Davis, Alan, Leffingwell, Dean. Using Requirements Management to Speed Delivery of Higher Quality Applications. Rational Web Site. On-line at 1. Davis, Alan, Leffingwell, Dean. Using Requirements Management to Speed Delivery of Higher Quality Applications. Rational Web Site. On-line at 2. Kruchten, Philippe. The Rational Unified Process: An Introduction, Second Edition. Reading MA: Addison Wesley Longman, October 2000, pp Kruchten, Philippe. The Rational Unified Process: An Introduction, Second Edition. Reading MA: Addison Wesley Longman, October 2000, pp Leffingwell, Dean. A Field Guide to Effective Requirements Management under SEI’s Capability Maturity Model. Rational Web Site. On-line at 3. Leffingwell, Dean. A Field Guide to Effective Requirements Management under SEI’s Capability Maturity Model. Rational Web Site. On-line at

References 4. Leffingwell, Dean. Managing Software Requirements: A Unified Approach. Reading MA: Addison Wesley Longman, November Leffingwell, Dean. Managing Software Requirements: A Unified Approach. Reading MA: Addison Wesley Longman, November Oberg, Roger. Applying Requirements with Use Cases. Rational Web Site. On-line at 5. Oberg, Roger. Applying Requirements with Use Cases. Rational Web Site. On-line at 6. Parackel, Thomas. Managing Requirements in a Development Cycle. IWD Web Site. On-line at 6. Parackel, Thomas. Managing Requirements in a Development Cycle. IWD Web Site. On-line at Rational RequisitePro. Rational Web Site. On-line at 7. Rational RequisitePro. Rational Web Site. On-line at Royce, Walker. Software Project Management: A Unified Framework. Reading MA: Addison Wesley Longman, December 1999, pp Royce, Walker. Software Project Management: A Unified Framework. Reading MA: Addison Wesley Longman, December 1999, pp