Requirements Engineering – Industry Needs

Abstract

Requirements engineering is recognized as one of the most critical parts of the software development life cycle. The goal of RE is to develop good-not perfect-requirements and to manage them during development with respect to risks and quality. RE is the discipline within systems and software engineering that bridges the entire life cycle and thus determines success or failure of a product or project. From a business perspective, it is what makes the difference between a winning product and a mere set of features. Good requirements engineering practices in industry are critical to succeed-and survive-in ever-changing markets. Current trends are making effective requirements practices even more important. First, the demand for high quality and reliable software is growing rapidly. Second, we see an increasing number of projects being developed with different suppliers having a multitude of stakeholders with different needs and ambitions that have to cooperate to achieve a shared objective. Last but not least, global delivery models rely on the ability to efficiently distribute the software life cycle across locations.