Application Development > Requirements Engineering

New board members will join nine returning members to help guide the organization’s growth in the coming year.

In the concluding installment of our “5 Questions PMs Must Ask” series, we explore the fifth and final question: how do we know we are making progress? The answer requires measures of effectiveness and performance stated in tangible units that are meaningful to all stakeholders.

From Harris Corporation
Harris Corporation offers compelling insights into the impacts that process can have on culture and vice versa. This organization understood the four reasons why many organizations fail to transform their Project Management cultures, and avoided these pitfalls with their PMO working with OPM Experts LLC.

Part 1 of this two-part series introduces the agile engineering principles and practices that, when implemented, enable some teams and their respective organizations to build high-quality software very quickly that will please customers. Organizations embracing these practices--when used in conjunction with agile and lean management practices--can gain delivery advantages on their competitors while managing lower maintenance and support costs in the long term.

Few know the evolution of Application Lifecycle Management and how the Structured Revolution of the 1970s and '80s was a major turning point in software development. This article presents a retrospective on ALM and Structured Development Life Cycles--those that shaped it, the influencing principles and the related methodologies and tools the movement spawned.

As products become increasingly complex, design teams must integrate a wide range of expertise throughout the development process. This offers new opportunities for innovation while helping to carry the vision all the way through to production and curtailing late compromises.

To answer the question, we need more than cost, schedule and requirements. We need a set of capabilities that are agreed upon, and tangible evidence that they have been delivered. In Part 2 of a series, we show how to go about discovering the capabilities needed for project success.

The practices presented in this article--to build a requirements tree, create and use a requirements traceability matrix, and manage to requirements baselines--will make a significant difference in an organization’s success rate and promote improved partnership and standing within the enterprise.

Some love 'em. Some loathe 'em. But these frameworks and schools of PM thought are here to stay. What benefits and challenges do they present? Read on for both sides of the alternative equation...

We know, we know...it's a jungle out there in software land. These stories should introduce you to the unfortunate trials and tribulations of software development management--and the ways to overcome or avert them And all of these apply to project management, too! (You won't get too depressed, we promise!)

There is a huge difference between using Agile practices and being Agile. Here, a chief engineer discusses his organization’s strides in creating an Agile mindset and a customized approach to producing high-quality work in short time frames. The journey offers practical advice and techniques to those getting started or struggling with Agile transformation.

Is a mechanism really needed to provide structure for making key project decisions? Yes. Being in a leadership role, you’ll be pressured by people wanting decisions made for the best interests of the company, the employee or the customer--and they typically conflict. Let’s look at the three categories of influences.

There are many different ways to launch a successful career in project management, but depending on your particular background and goals, your path will vary. Here are four common scenarios and appropriate advice for individuals who are trying to get into project management from different backgrounds.

It’s no secret that command-and-control management methods aren’t very effective at motivating today’s workforce to produce greater value with fewer resources. At Toyota, the role of Shusa instills a sense of personal ownership in project outcomes. Here are thoughts on creating a similar environment for your teams.

There very well could be a goldmine buried inside your career history. By unearthing it, you can find relevant experiences that will help you open up new career opportunities and achieve future goals.

A new survey by IIBA and Forrester provides information about business analysts, including backgrounds, skills, responsibilities and aspirations.

On new development projects, the production stage can be the point of no return. Before it’s too late, a rigorous gating process can help to ensure that development activities, teamwide input and critical stakeholder priorities are all aligned with the overall project vision.

The way we frame our project issues can limit our ability to solve them. But innovative thinking is not just about creativity. It’s about harnessing good ideas that solve specific problems for a specific opportunity. Here are three strategies to make innovation a more repeatable, predictable process on your projects.

The Agile2011 Conference drew more than 1,600 attendees to Salt Lake City, where dozens of companies showcased new technology solutions and training offerings. Here is a recap from the busy exhibition floor.

Do you make trade-offs with maintainability and adaptability in order to meet release dates? Fortunately, this hidden-cost fate is avoidable--but only for organizations that make a commitment. This article introduces you to technical debt and its common symptoms. You'll learn the basic steps to set up a repayment plan, the common causes of technical debt and effective strategies for paying it down.

Technical debt describes the cumulative consequences of cutting corners in software development, but it escapes the attention of many project managers as they focus on scope and schedule. That’s a mistake because it impacts both. Here are questions to help you ascertain the real state of technical affairs.

The key criteria used to determine the successful outcome of a project applied against other engineering disciplines are also applicable to software ones. If we know that, why do software projects have a poor track record of delivery? Read on to find out how we can improve it.

Software engineering is being revised to take account of what has been learned in the agile movement--and it indicates where we should put our attention in the next decade.

Ever stop to ponder all the different PM frameworks that have been developed over the years and which one you should be using in your organization? Is there really one best framework out there? The options are dizzying, so here we take a look at four of them in depth. What can they do for you? Remember, one size does not fit all...

New research reveals practical strategies to help business analysts match requirements documentation to the project at hand. The goal: Docs that are lean and “just enough.”

What makes a requirement a good requirement? Good requirements generally meet four basic criteria: they address a specific need; they are verifiable; they are attainable; and they are clear.

As our history lesson continues, find out how John DeLorean distinguished himself as an innovative PM and engineer at Packard and went on to make his mark at General Motors.

Project management in practice struggles to evolve, and we consistently fail to take the actions we know we should. Human inertia is too strong an influence to ignore if we want the future of PM to be that much different than it is today. If it were to be different, however, where might it go? There are two overall directions that appear to be emerging, and each has advocates and detractors. Whether (or indeed if) one attains dominance will depend upon the intersection of many forces.

A new agile procurement process--one that can operate in conjunction with and alongside an agile software development methodology--should significantly improve both the procurement of software vendor’s services and and successful delivery of software projects. This article will explore the underlying principles as well as map the reconciliation points required to harmonize agile development and procurement methods.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we introduced the agile engineering principles and practices that--when implemented--enable some teams and their respective organizations to quickly build high-quality software that pleases customers. In Part 2, we focus on the tools that support agile engineering and provide you with a guideline for getting started.

Just being an expert on agile and focusing on delivery of “working software” doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. This article shows tips and techniques for those of you struggling with getting your team and your company to adopt agile.

The first installment of this series introduced team development activities in general, including engineering and software development, as being built on three foundations: cooperative games, craft and lean processes. This installment expands on lean processes.

Many project managers are expanding the scope of their skills into program management, which offers career advancement and new opportunities in a competitive job market. Here, a certified PMP explains how he has benefited from a U.K.-based program management credential, and why he chose it instead of the PgMP certification offered by PMI.

Agile can help steer a company through organizational culture and process changes, but the project requires a strategic shift in operations. But even with these challenges, agile provides the necessary tools to make this transition possible.

Product managers face an onslaught of demands for their time and attention, which often leads to product management that is reactive to whatever is making the most noise. Alas, strategic goals rarely raise their hands and shout “me, too!” — except possibly at review or launch time.

It is not uncommon to hear deadline-stressed project managers and team members rationalize about why requirements management is not necessary. But short-changing business analysis activities is one of the leading causes of rework and delays.

John DeLorean was the automotive giant who went down in flames. Here we look at his ascent through the automotive ranks, from talented engineer and project manager to tough executive and automotive entrepreneur.