Requirements Life Cycle Management

Question 1

Requirements Life Cycle Management

Answer 1

The Requirements Life Cycle Management knowledge area describes the tasks
that business analysts perform in order to manage and maintain requirements
and design information from inception to retirement.

Question 2

What tasks does Requirements Lifecycle Management include?

Answer 2

• Trace Requirements
• Maintain Requirements
• Prioritize Requirements
• Assess Requirements Changes
• Approve Requirements

Question 3

Trace Requirements

Answer 3

Requirements traceability identifies and documents the lineage of each
requirement, including its backward traceability, its forward traceability, and its
relationship to other requirements. Traceability is used to help ensure that the
the solution conforms to requirements and to assist in scope, change, risk, time, cost,
and communication management.

Question 4

Trace Requirements - types of relationships

Answer 4

Derive
Depends
Satisfy
Validate

Question 5

Trace Requirements - types of relationships - Derive

Answer 5

Relationship between two requirements, used when a requirement
is derived from another requirement. This type of relationship is appropriate
to link the requirements on different levels of abstraction. For example, a
solution requirement derived from a business or a stakeholder requirement.

Question 6

Trace Requirements - types of relationships - Depends

Answer 6

Relationship between two requirements, used when a requirement depends on another requirement.

Question 7

Trace Requirements - types of relationships - Satisfy

Answer 7

relationship between an implementation element and the requirements it is satisfying. For example, the relationship between a functional requirement and a solution component that is implementing it.

Question 8

Trace Requirements - types of relationships - Validate

Answer 8

relationship between a requirement and a test case or other element that can determine whether a solution fulfills the requirement.

Question 9

Trace Requirements - Techniques

Answer 9

Business Rules Analysis
Functional Decomposition
Process Modelling
Scope Modelling

Question 10

Maintain Requirements - Purpose

Answer 10

The purpose of Maintain Requirements is to retain requirement accuracy and consistency throughout and beyond the change during the entire requirements life cycle, and to support reuse of requirements in other solutions.

Question 11

Maintain Requirements - Description

Answer 11

A requirement that represents an ongoing need must be maintained to ensure
that it remains valid over time.

In order to maximize the benefits of maintaining and reusing requirements, the
requirements should be:
• consistently represented,
• reviewed and approved for maintenance using a standardized process that
defines proper access rights and ensures quality, and
• easily accessible and understandable.

Question 12

Maintain Requirements - Techniques

Answer 12

Business Rules Analysis
Data Flow Diagrams
Data Modelling
Document Analysis
Functional Decomposition
Process Modelling
Use Cases and Scenarios
User Stories

Question 13

Prioritize Requirements

Answer 13

Prioritization is the act of ranking requirements to determine their relative
importance to stakeholders. When a requirement is prioritized, it is given greater
or lesser priority. Priority can refer to the relative value of a requirement, or to the
sequence in which it will be implemented. Prioritization is an ongoing process,
with priorities changing as the context changes.

Question 14

Typical factors that influence prioritization

Answer 14

Benefit
Penalty
Cost
Risk
Dependencies
Time Sensitivity
Stability
Regulatory or Policy Compliance

Question 15

Basis for Prioritization - Benefit

Answer 15

the advantage that accrues to stakeholders as a result of requirement implementation, as measured against the goals and objectives for the change. The benefit provided can refer to a specific functionality, desired quality, or strategic goal or business objective. If there are multiple stakeholders, each group may perceive benefits differently. Conflict resolution and negotiation may be employed to come to consensus on
overall benefit.

Question 16

Basis for Prioritization - Penalty

Answer 16

Penalty: the consequences that result from not implementing a given
requirement. This includes prioritizing requirements in order to meet
regulatory or policy demands imposed on the organization, which may take
precedence over other stakeholder interests. Penalty may also refer to the
negative consequence of not implementing a requirement that improves
the experience of a customer.

Question 17

Basis for Prioritization - Cost

Answer 17

Cost: the effort and resources needed to implement the requirement.
Information about cost typically comes from the implementation team or
the vendor. Customers may change the priority of a requirement after
learning the cost. Cost is often used in conjunction with other criteria, such
as cost-benefit analysis.

Question 18

Basis for Prioritization - Risk

Answer 18

Risk: the chance that the requirement cannot deliver the potential value, or
cannot be met at all. This may include many factors such as the difficulty of
implementing a requirement, or the chance that stakeholders will not
accept a solution component. If there is a risk that the solution is not
technically feasible, the requirement that is most difficult to implement may
be prioritized to the top of the list in order to minimize the resources that
are spent before learning that a proposed solution cannot be delivered. A
proof of concept may be developed to establish that high risk options are
possible.

Question 19

Basis for Prioritization - Dependencies

Answer 19

Dependencies: relationships between requirements where one
requirement cannot be fulfilled unless the other requirement is fulfilled. In
some situations, it may be possible to achieve efficiencies by implementing
related requirements at the same time. Dependencies may also be external
to the initiative, including but not limited to other teams’ decisions, funding
commitments, and resource availability.

Question 20

Basis for Prioritization - Time Sensitivity

Answer 20

Time Sensitivity: the ‘best before’ date of the requirement, after which
the implementation of the requirement loses significant value. This includes
time-to-market scenarios, in which the benefit derived will be exponentially
greater if the functionality is delivered ahead of the competition. It can also
refer to seasonal functionality that only has value at a specific time of year.

Question 21

Basis for Prioritization - Stability

Answer 21

Stability: the likelihood that the requirement will change, either because it
requires further analysis or because stakeholders have not reached a
consensus about it. If a requirement is not stable, it may have a lower
priority in order to minimize unanticipated rework and wasted effort.

Question 22

Regulatory or Policy Compliance

Answer 22

Regulatory or Policy Compliance: requirements that must be
implemented in order to meet regulatory or policy demands imposed on the
organization, which may take precedence over other stakeholder interests.

Question 23

Assess Requirements Changes

Answer 23

The Assess Requirements Changes task is performed as new needs or possible
solutions are identified. These may or may not align to the change strategy and/
or solution scope. Assessment must be performed to determine whether a
proposed change will increase the value of the solution, and if so, what action
should be taken.

Question 24

Assess Requirements Changes - elements

Answer 24

Assessment Formality
Impact Analysis
Impact Resolution

Question 25

Approve Requirements

Answer 25

Business analysts are responsible for ensuring clear communication of
requirements, designs, and other business analysis information to the key
stakeholders responsible for approving that information.
Approval of requirements and designs may be formal or informal. Predictive
approaches typically perform approvals at the end of the phase or during planned
change control meetings.