Managing Requirements for SW & IT Projects

Software development and other information technology projects fail far more often than we might hope, and when projects fail, it's often not related to bad management of the schedule or the costs. Software development and information technology projects fail most often because of poor requirements definition and management. We simply fail to deliver the goods or services that our stakeholders need and, as a result, disappoint our customers and build animosity and conflict. Without good requirements management we can fail to identify the business needs we need to address, what users want or need, all of the stakeholders who may be able to interject requirements, system interfaces, requirements changes, and, ultimately, requirements that are clear, necessary, attainable, and verifiable. The result is dissatisfied users and project sponsors. Identifying and managing software and information technology project requirements requires the application of a broad array of skills. It requires delicate discussions and negotiations with users to identify requirements, the ability to develop consensus on requirements, the ability to evaluate and apply the requirements elicitation methods that are appropriate for the project, and the ability to deploy a set of requirements analysis and documentation techniques that give developers a solid understanding of the project. It requires both "hard skills" and "soft skills." It requires a balance between meeting the explicit needs of users and allowing the project team to provide a creative solution and a balance between the need to "lock-down" requirements early with the need to remain open and flexible to emerging needs and business conditions. In order to effectively manage requirements, organizations and project teams also have to create requirements management processes that are tailored for the needs of the organization. Those processes have to be made clear to all stakeholders.This workshop is intended to provide information technology project managers and team members with the techniques and skills necessary for identifying and delivering good project requirements and for building a reusable requirements process. It employs the requirements techniques and standards developed by the International Institute of Business Analysts (the IIBA(tm)) and documented in its Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (the BABOK(tm)) in both its Versions 1.6 and 2.0. It also employs other sources of requirements management best practices. This workshop is compliant with the project management methods established by the Project Management Institute (PMI(r)), the world's largest and most respected association of project managers. It complies with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (the PMBOK(r) Guide, Fourth Edition).