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T
HE MAIN responsibility of the analyst is the discovery,
analysis, documentation, and communication of
requirements. A requirement is simply a feature that
a product or service must have in order to be useful to its
stakeholders. For example, two requirements for a customer
relationship management system might be to allow users to
update the payment terms for an account and to add new
customers.
In this whitepaper, we will look at the different aspects of the requirements management process.
Definition of a Requirement
A more precise definition is provided by the IEEE Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology and
the IIBA® Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK®). Both define a requirement as:
1. A condition or capability needed by a user to solve a problem or achieve an objective.
2. A condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a system or system component to
satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed document.
3. A documented representation of a condition or capability in (1) or (2).
The Quest for Good Requirements
B U S I N E S S A N A LY S I S