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Requirements Engineering in the Planning Phase of a Software Ecosystem

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Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality (REFSQ 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 12685))

Abstract

[Motivation] Companies are building software ecosystems to gain competitive advantage by developing digital services together for customers. The planning phase of the software ecosystem can, however, be challenging. [Question] The goal of this study was to analyze what the role of requirements engineering (RE) was in the planning phase of a small-sized software ecosystem. The case study was conducted by interviewing representatives of all six actors of the ecosystem and analyzing material from the 12 planning workshops. [Results] The paper describes the conceptualization process of digital services the actors used during the planning phase. This process contained a flow of tasks from a vision and objectives of the software ecosystem to a go/no-go decision on the development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). One key characteristic of the conceptualization process was to have traceability from the prioritized functionalities of the MVP to a value proposition, target customer groups and customer paths of digital services and further to the vision and objectives of the software ecosystem. [Contribution] The paper provides knowledge on how actors can start building a software ecosystem together from a business perspective. In addition, it addresses the importance of RE to link the business view to the development of the MVP of digital services in the software ecosystem.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

    Kati Saarni & Marjo Kauppinen

Authors
  1. Kati Saarni
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  2. Marjo Kauppinen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Fabiano Dalpiaz

  2. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA

    Paola Spoletini

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Saarni, K., Kauppinen, M. (2021). Requirements Engineering in the Planning Phase of a Software Ecosystem. In: Dalpiaz, F., Spoletini, P. (eds) Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality. REFSQ 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12685. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73128-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73128-1_10

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