Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a detailed survey of 107 projects in which the iterative nature of requirements analysis was explored in economic terms. The survey was conducted from the point of view of the project manager. The results indicate that half of the projects take three or more interations to complete the requirements, that the use of methodologies and project characteristics affect the number of iterations, and that in half of the projects the number of iterations planned was different from the number actually carried out. The paper concludes by attempting to explain the relationship between the economics of the requirements process and the number of iterations through a spiral model of requirements capture and analysis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lubars M Potts C, Richter C. A review of the state of the practice in requirements modelling. In IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering. IEEE Computer Society Press, Washington, DC 1993
Gilb T. Principles of software engineering management. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1986
Hawryszkiewycz IT. Introduction to systems analysis and design. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1988
Sneed H. Software engineering management. Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1989
Flynn DJ. Information systems requirements: determination and analysis. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1992
Boehm BW. A Spiral model of software development and enhancement. Computer, 1988; 31(5): 61–72
Boehm BW. A Spiral model of software development and enhancement. In: Thayer, RH, Dorfman M (eds). Tutorial: system and software requirements engineering. IEEE Computer Society Press, Washington, DC, 1990
Royce WW. Managing the development of large scale software systems: concepts and techniques. Proceedings WESCON, August 1970
McCracken DD. A maveric approach to systems analysis and design. Systems analysis and design: a foundation for the 1980's. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1981
Dorfman M. System and software requirements engineering. In Thayer RH, Dorfman, M (eds). System and software requirements engineering. IEEE Computer Society Press Tutorial, Washington, DC, 1990
Jones GW. Software engineering. Wiley, Chichester, 1990
Chatzoglou PD, Macaulay LA. Requirements capture and analysis: productivity factors. MIS Q1995; under review
Chatzoglou PD, Macaulay, LA. Requirements capture and use of methodologies. J Inform Syst (1996); 209–225
Senn JA. Analysis and design of information systems, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1989
Youll DP. Making software development visible: effective project control. Wiley, Chichester, 1990
Fenton N, Littlewoods B (eds). Software reliability and metrics. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1991
Tricker RI, Boland R. Management information and control systems, 2nd edn. Wiley, Chichester, 1982
Chatzoglou PD, and Macaulay, LA. Requirements capture and analysis: the project managers dilemma. Int J Comput Applic Technol 1995; 8 (3/4)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chatzoglou, P.D., Macaulay, L.A. Requirements capture and analysis: A survey of current practice. Requirements Eng 1, 75–87 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01235903
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01235903