Page 298 - Software and Systems Requirements Engineering in Practice

ç ç 3 O F T W A R E ç ç 3 Y S T E M S ç 2 E Q U I R E M E N T S ç % N G I N E E R I N G ç ) N ç 0 R A C T I C E

õ 2EQUIREMENTSõ%NGINEERINGõFORõ'LOBALõ0ROJECTS
2EQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING FOR DISTRIBUTED PROJECTS REQUIRES ENHANCED
PROCESSES IN TWO PRIMARY AREAS AS COMPARED TO COLLOCATED PROJECTS

v (IGHER QUALITY ARTIFACTS /N DISTRIBUTED PROJECTS MANY
ENGINEERS WILL LEARN ABOUT THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SYSTEM
THEY ARE BUILDING FROM READING FUNCTIONAL AND OTHER
SPECIFICATIONS 4HUS THE ARTIFACTS GENERATED FROM THE 2%
PROCESS MUST BE READABLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE 2EMOTE TEAM
MEMBERS WILL NOT BE ABLE AS EASILY AS IN COLLOCATED PROJECTS
TO ASK FOR CLARIFICATION FROM THE DOMAIN EXPERTS THAT DEFINED
THE REQUIREMENTS &OR SUCH PROJECTS MODELS WILL LIKELY BE
USED TO DESCRIBE THE REQUIREMENTS SINCE SOME TEAM MEMBERS
MAY NOT BE ABLE TO EASILY READ LONG SPECIFICATIONS WRITTEN IN
%NGLISH IF THEIR %NGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE LIMITED $EFECTS
INTRODUCED IN REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING MAY NOT BE SO EASILY
DISCOVERED BY REMOTE TEAMS WORKING ON DOWNSTREAM
PROCESSES 7HEN REMOTE TEAMS WITH LIMITED DOMAIN KNOW
HOW DEVELOP THE PRODUCT CODE THEY MAY IMPLEMENT EXACTLY
WHAT IS DESCRIBED IN THE FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION EVEN THOUGH
IT MAY BE INCORRECTLY SPECIFIED
v )MPROVED COLLABORATIONS /N DISTRIBUTED PROJECTS 2%S MAY
NOT HAVE THE POSSIBILITY FOR QUICK RESPONSE COMMUNICATIONS
AND CASUAL COMMUNICATIONS WITH DISTANT 2%S )N FACT AN 2%
WORKING AT ONE SITE MAY BE WORKING WHILE ANOTHER 2% AT A
DIFFERENT SITE IN A DIFFERENT TIME ZONE IS SLEEPING !N EXAMPLE
COMMON SITUATION IS THAT 2% ! HAS A QUESTION ABOUT A
REQUIREMENT THAT WAS DEFINED BY 2% " AT ANOTHER SITE 2% !
E MAILS HIS QUESTION TO 2% " WHO IS SLEEPING WHILE 2% ! IS
WORKING 2% " COMES TO WORK THE NEXT DAY AND ANSWERS THE
QUESTION BY E MAIL WHEN 2% ! IS SLEEPING 7ITH SUCH
ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS ONE CAN SEE HOW RESPONSES
TO QUESTIONS CAN TAKE SUBSTANTIAL TIME BEFORE THE REQUESTING
ENGINEER RECEIVES AN ANSWER TO PROCEED WITH HER WORK THUS
DISRUPTING THE OVERALL WORKFLOW !LTHOUGH 2%S IN DISTRIBUTED
SITES WILL ADJUST THEIR WORK HOURS TO ALLOW SOME WORKDAY
OVERLAP WE HAVE NOTICED THAT MOST 2%S PREFER TO SLEEP
WHEN IT S DARK 4HUS COLLABORATION TOOLS ARE USED TO REDUCE THE
RESPONSE TIMES BETWEEN QUESTION AND ANSWER COMMUNICATIONS
AS WELL AS TO PERSIST THE COMMUNICATIONS CONTENT SO THAT
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS E G DECISIONS ARE NOT LOST IN A STACK OF
E MAIL MESSAGES