Where do we find requirements?

Where do we find requirements?…….

Well to know where we find the requirements…! Firstly we need to know what is a Requirement?

A requirement is nothing but a need of a client, It serves as a foundation of systems or system components. In other words we can say that It is a process in which scattered requirements are put together and redundancy is removed.

Here gathering and validating the requirements with the stakeholders is also critical. We  ask for a signoff on the requirements twice from business, ie., First when BRD is complete, Next just prior the launch when the RTM is complete& Then a review occurs at the testing phase if any requirements cannot be met by the solution.

The requirements could be collected either verbal, written or both. Documentation will remain a valid artifact of any project in distant future .Later to have the requirements in a organized way we have BRD(Business Requirement Document).

A BRD is a document which focuses more on business, as it is a foundation for all subsequent deliverables. In others words we can say that a BRD  emphasis the “business requirements” which is a high level business goals of an organization which develops the project or the solution with the help of IT. And it is formal document illustrating the requirement provided by the client.

There are certain objectives of BRD :

• To have a point of general agreement with stakeholders.

To assign inputs to the next phase of the project.

• Describes how customer/business needs will be met with the solution.

There are certain standards for preparation of BRD(format)

The BRD template contains:

• document revision
• approvals
• RACI charts
• introduction
• business goals
• business objectives
• business rules
• background
• project objective
• project scope
• in-scope functionality
• out-scope functionality
• assumptions
• constraints
• risks
• business process overview (modelling diagrams for instance, Use Case and Activity Diagram)
• legacy systems
• proposed recommendations
• business requirements
• appendices
• list of acronyms
• glossary of terms
• related documents

FRD (Functional Requirement Document )

A FRD is a subset of BRD, which describes the functionality and technical specifications of the software in detailed.

The FRD template contains

• Introduction {Purpose, Scope, Background, References, Assumptions and constraints, document overview}
• Methodology
• Functional Requirements
• Modelling Illustrations – Context, User Requirements, Data Flow Diagrams, Logical Data Model/Data Dictionary, Functional Requirements
• Other Requirements – Interface Requirements, Hardware/Software Requirements,
• Glossary

RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix)

The name itself indicated that “Requirement” is the need of the client. “Traceability” means tracing or location where the particular requirement belongs to and “Matrix “is the representation on rows and columns. Sometimes a RTM can be even a part of BRD or can be it a separate document. It is a tool to identify and track  the requirements throughout the life cycle of the project. Here the role of the BA is to update the BRD as well as to identify the additional requirements were initially missed or if it is due to scope creep.

Conclusion:

We find the requirements in each phase of the Life Cycle of the Project.

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