COEPD – Center of Excellence for Professional Development Happy Learning
BRD stands for Business Requirements Document, whereas SRS stands for Software Requirements Specification. Both documents play crucial roles in the software development process, but they differ in their focus, scope, and intended audience. Here’s a detailed explanation of each:
Business Requirements Document (BRD):
A Business Requirements Document (BRD) is a document that captures the high-level business objectives, goals, and needs of a project. It serves as a communication tool between stakeholders, business analysts, and the development team, ensuring a common understanding of the project’s business requirements. Here are key aspects of a BRD:
Business Context: The BRD provides an overview of the project’s background, including the business problem or opportunity that the software solution aims to address. It defines the project scope and outlines the business context within which the software will operate.
Business Objectives: It identifies the project’s overall business objectives, goals, and expected outcomes. The BRD describes the desired business improvements, benefits, or value that the software solution should deliver to the organization.
Stakeholder Requirements: The BRD captures the requirements and needs of the various stakeholders involved in the project, such as business users, customers, management, and regulatory bodies. It ensures that their perspectives and expectations are considered during the software development process.
Functional Requirements: The BRD includes high-level functional requirements that describe the desired system behaviours, features, and capabilities from a business perspective. These requirements focus on the “what” rather than the “how” and provide a broad understanding of the software’s intended functionality.
Non-Functional Requirements: It also encompasses non-functional requirements that define the quality attributes or constraints for the software solution, such as performance, scalability, security, usability, and compliance with industry standards or regulations.
Software Requirements Specification (SRS):
A Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document, sometimes referred to as a Functional Requirements Specification (FRS), is a detailed document that outlines the functional and non-functional requirements of a software system. It serves as a blueprint for the development team, providing a clear understanding of what needs to be implemented. Here are key aspects of an SRS:
System Overview: The SRS provides an overview of the software system, including its purpose, scope, and objectives. It describes the system’s architecture, modules, and components, giving an understanding of how the system is structured.
Functional Requirements: The SRS elaborates on the functional requirements in greater detail compared to the BRD. It provides precise and specific descriptions of the system’s functions, features, and behaviours, specifying inputs, outputs, data flows, and interactions between system components.
User Interfaces: It details the user interface requirements, describing how users will interact with the system, including screen layouts, forms, menus, and navigation.
Data Requirements: The SRS specifies the data requirements of the system, including the types of data to be captured, stored, processed, and displayed. It may include data models, database schemas, and data validation rules.
System Constraints: The SRS outlines the technical constraints, limitations, and dependencies that need to be considered during system development. It may include hardware or software platform requirements, performance targets, compatibility requirements, or any specific regulations or standards that must be adhered to.
Testing and Validation: It may also include requirements related to testing and validation, such as test scenarios, acceptance criteria, and performance benchmarks. This ensures that the system can be effectively tested to meet the specified requirements.
In summary, a BRD focuses on capturing the high-level business objectives and requirements of a project, while an SRS delves into the specific functional and non-functional requirements of the software system.
