An Industrial Case Study of Immediate Benefits of Requirements Engineering Process Improvement at the Australian Center for Unisys Software

  • Authors:

  • Daniela Damian;Didar Zowghi;Lakshminarayanan Vaidyanathasamy;Yogendra Pal

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Computer Science, University of Victoria, BC, PO Box 3055, BC, Canada, V8W 3P6 DanielaD@uvic.ca;Faculty of Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia didar@it.uts.edu.au;Unisys Australia Limited, 1C Homebush Bay Drive, Rhodes, NSW 2138, Australia Lnv.Samy@unisys.com;Unisys Australia Limited, 1C Homebush Bay Drive, Rhodes, NSW 2138, Australia Yogendra.Pal@unisys.com

  • Venue:
  • Empirical Software Engineering
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

This paper describes an industrial experience in process improvement at one of the Unisys development labs in Australia. Following a capability maturity model (CMM) mini-assessment, the organization is undertaking significant changes in the requirements management process, which include the introduction of group session approaches to requirements analysis and a structured method for writing requirements. An empirical evaluation which investigated other aspects of the process improvement than the CMM model indicates tangible benefits as well as perceived long-term benefits during design and testing. Findings confirm that a more thorough requirements analysis results in more clearly defined, better understood and specified requirements, and an enhanced ability to address the market needs and product strategy requirements. The catalyst behind these improvements included project management leadership, managing the human dimension, collaboration among stakeholders and senior management support.