An exploratory case study on the requirements business processes of a typical South African high technology systems engineering company

Abstract

This article describes the findings of an exploratory case study into the requirements management and engineering processes of a South African Systems Engineering Company and how these processes affect the business of the company. For the purpose of this article the name of the company is kept confidential. This case study identifies processes that resulted in both successful and unsuccessful project performance, reasons for the problems, successful processes and ideas for practice improvement. The findings illustrate which processes are used, why requirement processes are important, and provide useful insights on causes of project failure and situations to be avoided. The findings also show where the main focus for company improvement should lie. This case study culminates in recommendations on ways to improve the current requirements processes of the company and proposes a theory on the use of requirements management and requirements engineering processes in the company.