This is the tenth article in a series of blogs discussing individually each of the 12 Keys For Successful Enterprise Projects, published in my blog of Tuesday, June 26, 2012.
For all significant project failures, requirements were wholly or partly missing. Whenever a project team jumps directly into implementation (in the mistaken belief it saves time and effort because members “know” what is need) it invariably leads to a delayed or cancelled result. “Build-first-ask-questions-later” projects significantly overrun their budgets and deliver less than optimum systems.
Project and program managers, team leaders, and business analysts can use requirements to deliver value on enterprise projects. Specifically Requirements can be used as input to manage each phase of the development lifecycle. This concept is best exemplified in the book by James and Suzanne Robertson entitled Requirements-Led Project Management. Requirements can be used for:
- Used as input to project planning and decision-making
- Determine whether to invest in a project
- Deliver more appropriate products with a quick cycle time
- Measure and estimate the development effort
- Drive user acceptance and system testing
- Manage stakeholder involvement and expectations
- Establish priorities
- Communicate across business and technological boundaries
Enfocus Requirements Suite™ is designed and fully embraces the 12 principles discussed in this article. Enfocus Requirement Suite™ enables solution teams and stakeholders to work together to deliver successful enterprise solutions.