Software Requirements

 Most IT systems fail to meet expectations. They don't meet business goals and don't support users efficiently. Why? Because the requirements didn't address the right issues. Writing a good requirements specification doesn't take more time. This book shows how it's done - many times faster and many times smarter.  What are the highlights? Two complete real-life requirements specifications (the traditional and the fast approach) and examples from many others. Explanations of both traditional and fast approaches, and discussions of their strengths and weaknesses in different project types (tailor-made, COTS, and product development). Real-life illustrations of all types of requirements, stakeholder analysis, cost/benefit and other techniques to ensure that business goals are met. Proven methods for dealing with difficult or complex requirements, such as specifying ease-of-use, or dealing with 200 reports that might be needed because they are in the old system.  Who is it for?  Everyone involved in the software supply chain, from analysts and developers to end users, will learn new techniques, benefit from requirements written by other specialists, and discover successes and failures from other companies. Software suppliers will find ideas for helping customers and writing competitive proposals. Programmers and other developers will learn how to express requirements without specifying technical details, and how to reduce risks when developing a system. Students aspiring to IT careers will learn the theory and practice of requirements engineering, and get a strong foundation for case studies and projects.  Who is the author?  Soren Lauesen is currently professor at the IT-University of Copenhagen. He has worked in the IT industry for 20 years and has been a professor at Copenhagen Business School for 15. He has been co-founder of three educational and two industrial development organizations. His industry projects have encompassed compilers, operating systems, process control, temporal databases, and software quality assurance. His research interests include human-computer interaction, requirements specification, object-oriented design, quality assurance, marketing and product development, and interaction between research and industry. He has a broad range of other interests ranging from biology to dancing and foreign cultures.