Requirement Analysis

2. Requirement Analysis:
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Now that the proposed system appears to be feasible, the next step is to understand neatly all the requirements of the would- be users of that software. Unless all these user requirements are appreciated fully, the developers can not design the software, let alone write the programs. The requirements collection is therefore a critical and foundational phase in the SDLC.

Typically, the person who interacts with the user to get their requirements is called a 'System Analyst'. He has to be a well-versed professional having multi-faculty skills in software development, analytical bend of mind, inter-personal communication skills and preferably working skills in functional walk/ subject matter to be computerized. The next two units provide an elaborate account on the topic and hence here we shall not delve into it.

These requirements are gathered in the form of umpteen tidbits like how many reports user expect, what are the layout & frequencies of such outputs, what inputs go into the system and what are their respective formats and sources, what are their respective formats and sources, what exactly takes place in the name of processing and what are all the intermediate recordings, calculations, authorizations, etc. that decide the path of work flow and fate of an individual transaction, what happens if it is an exceptional case, how much of human intervention is needed, and many such points.

If we get back to our earlier example of the carpenter, user requirements could be quite limited however, in a complex application like e-com portal, there may be hundreds of outputs that are worked out from several inputs coming from thousands of customers whose traction types might be running into dozens.