A Requirements Transformation Program
A program to improve the organization’s capability to develop and manage requirements in support of application development and other business initiatives.
A program to move an organization up a maturity ladder of requirements capabilities in the following areas:
- Process
- Practices and Techniques
- Technology
- Organization
- Deliverables / Results
- Staff Competency
Building the Business Case
Generic statements concerning the value of good requirements will not be sufficient to support spending time, budget, and resources on a program to transform requirements in your organization. Whenever resources such as money or effort are consumed, a clear explanation of rationale is needed in business terms indicating quantifiable benefits.
It is always necessary to clearly explain the timeline and return on investment (ROI) that requirements improvement provides. Ongoing executive support is crucial for the success of a requirements transformation program.
- Use the Maturity Model as a framework for improvement
- Be forward looking, not backward looking
- Positive in reasoning, not negative
- Simple arguments get funded while complexity just confuses
- Be sensible about what can realistically be accomplished
- Spend your time asking good questions
- Get the hard facts: Include industry studies such as the CHAOS and BA Benchmark Reports
- Talk implication, not problem or need
Baseline Your Level of Requirements Management Maturity
- To understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of the organization across multiple capability areas
- To set a quantifiable baseline measurement to measure subsequent improvement against
- To serve as a reference for directing requirements improvement on a targeted basis to best suit your organization
Creating a Requirements Practice Improvement Plan
- To serve as a communication vehicle to the change process
- To provide a common understanding to the organization of the tasks and target objectives of the change process
- To serve as a reference for tracking progress against objectives