Comparing Requirements Analysis Techniques in Business Intelligence and Transactional Contexts: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

Abstract

Requirements elicitation is a key concern in information technology (IT) projects. Busi-ness intelligence systems (BI) have emerged and are now used widely in organizations. These systems are designed to support manager's decision-making in their business performance moni-toring activities and their requirements are very different from those of transactional systems. But past research did not consider these differences. Therefore, this paper relies on a comparative approach to assess differences in the level of use and perceived effectiveness of requirements analysis techniques in both business intelligence and transactional contexts. An exploratory quali-tative study was conducted with two phases of semi-structured interviews with experienced practitioners. Our results show that 28% of the techniques differ in their level of use or perceived effectiveness, thus demonstrating the specificity of decision makers' needs. Our results reveal the importance of using techniques appropriate to the context to adequately define requirements and improve projects’ success.