One of the most important parts of an IT project is the requirements gathering phase. It is crucial for ensuring the success of the project and at the same time for facilitating a positive and useful adoption of the new IT solution by end users.
Stefanini Group provides its clients with all the lessons learned gathered during the various projects carried out. Among these, we want to emphasize the following:
- The need for continuous and stable alignment between business and ICT, a fundamental principle to avoid misunderstandings and requests for changes to be managed at a later stage, with significant consequences in terms of costs and timelines;
- Where possible, involving end users from this requirements gathering phase is a crucial success factor;
- Never forget that non-functional requirements are no less important;
- Choose the right method for requirements gathering, which can vary depending on the project, the domain of expertise, and the impacted business area;
- Develop a prototype or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) very early on to ensure that what will be delivered to the customer meets their expectations.
How to Organize Requirements Gathering in IT Projects
With proper planning during the implementation phase, intermediate deadlines, dry run sessions, or specific sessions can be scheduled to allow end users to see and experience the new solution firsthand. These precautions can be planned well in advance, even before choosing a specific software to build the solution on, to ensure that the tool ultimately meets the initial requirements and at the same time allows for intercepting the first deviations from the initial mapping. This allows for the implementation of the most appropriate actions, minimizing impacts on project timelines and costs.
In the case of particularly critical projects, setting up continuous monitoring of the solution’s adherence to requirements and required standards even after the implementation phase has been crucial.
If you were to ask a group of people what could be the reason for the success of a project, it is easy that many respondents would answer: “the definition of objectives and proper requirements gathering.”
For this very reason, the definition and gathering of requirements are key moments to which we pay the necessary attention, considering them critical factors for a successful project.
We also suggest to read the article “OUTPUT, OUTCOME & BENEFIT“.
