Effective Requirements Practices (Information Technology) (Paperback)

More than 25% of all software projects still fail outright -- costing organizations billions of dollars. One key reason: a failure to effectively define project requirements. In this book, leading enterprise software project manager Ralph Young brings together today's best techniques for gathering requirements, presenting solutions for every project role and stakeholder -- technical and business. Young demonstrates how to identify initial requirements, prioritize and specify requirements, iterate specifications to achieve greater clarity; identify the best ways each requirement can be met; and verify and validate requirements prior to coding. He offers proven techniques for establishing positive partnerships and effective communication with business managers, technical professionals, and software users; handling changes that occur during the course of a project; maintaining a project's momentum in the face of corporate politics and other obstacles; and much more. The book includes comprehensive templates that can be used to improve existing software requirements processes -- or to establish entirely new processes. For all project stakeholders: IT executives, project managers, software engineers, application developers, testers, quality specialists, integrators, even software consumers.

"Ralph Young has written an excellent guide for those who must understand and manage their customer's requirements. And that means just about everyone in the systems and software world." --Roger Pressman

Requirements analysis and management is finally receiving the attention it deserves as a key factor in the success of systems and software development projects.

And with this new attention comes a pragmatic guide to proven industry practices for emerging and fulfilling customer requirements. More than just an idealized view of the topic, Effective Requirements Practices addresses both managerial and technical issues that determine the success--or failure--of a project. The requirements practices described in this book enable you to redirect resources to satisfy customers' real business needs. Together, these practices provide a proven framework and process that help keep projects on the right track and ensure that requirements are addressed properly throughout a project's life cycle.

This book demonstrates proven methods and techniques. Topics covered include

• Strategies and methods for getting to the "real" customer requirements
• Developing and improving a requirements process
• The roles and responsibilities of the Joint Team for requirements elicitation
• Designing system requirements with the system architecture in mind
• Maintaining effective communication among team members
• Maintaining a set of work products
• Requirements verification and validation
• Accommodating changes in requirements throughout the project
• How the recommended requirements practices utilize the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) framework
• Achieving an environment of continuous improvement and mutual support of one another

Also provided is a sample process that has been used in industry and deployed and tailored on dozens of projects. In addition, Effective Requirements Practices offers you recommendations for incorporating industry best practices into the development effort.

You will come away from this book well equipped to better satisfy your customers' needs.

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