A new process for requirements understanding

Not so long ago, the requirement was king. The mentality was "technology at any cost". In those days, the waterfall methodology was prevalent and requirements understanding was typically by analysis of the text requirements. Things have changed. With the shrinking defense budget, the new mentality is to get the most value for the money available. Cost as an independent variable (CAIV) is a key part of most systems analysis. The systems are much more commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) based and reuse is a major goal. System lifecycles are longer and the system needs to be procured based on the total ownership costs, not just the development costs. The process by which we understand and manage requirements has to change to support these goals. Requirements cannot be analyzed in a vacuum-the requirements need to be understood in relation to existing components, COTS and reducing total ownership costs. In addition, requirements can be traded/negotiated to reduce cost, schedule and/or risk. This paper describes a new process for requirement analysis, management and negotiation that addresses current goals.