Implementation of tailored requirements engineering and management principles in a supplier to the oil and gas industry

Abstract

This article investigates the implementation of a tailored requirements management system. Requirements management is becoming increasingly important, due to the growing complexity of umbilical systems coupled with efforts to reduce both project duration and project cost. We have investigated the use of a new system for requirements engineering and management, by interviewing stakeholders and analyzing the as‐is state of the company. Based on the findings, this paper proposes a requirements template and tailored functionalities to aid with requirements engineering and management. Results indicate that the use of requirement elicitation increased by 62 % through implementation of the proposed system. A survey with stakeholders reveals that they are positive to future implementation of the proposed system. In conclusion, the tailored requirements management system will be a step in the right direction for management of requirements and better control for members of the project teams.

Proposing a novel combination of Earned Value Management and Requirements Management

“…The believed benefit for Cable Supplier is twofold: Using RM for project reporting would improve its precision and benefit the further implementation of RMS. Unfortunately, the paper also suggests that the requirements in Cable Supplier tend to fall under the pitfalls of poor requirement, defined by Sols (2016), as cited by Hårstadsveen (2021): Fuzzy or ill-defined requirements, unnecessary requirements, and infeasible requirements. Although identifying a low quality of the requirements, the research only provides a template for a requirement structure, excluding guidance on defining the high-quality requirements.…”

“…This continuous process defines, controls, and publishes the baseline requirements for all system levels before recording and maintaining the evolving requirements (ISO/IEC/IEEE 2018). According to ISO 24766 (2009), as cited by Hårstadsveen (2021), RM help align the requirements with the product, making the requirements a good measure within projects of the technical performance. As a result, a coupling with project reporting, using requirements to measure technical performance, would only benefit this process.…”

“…The study performed by Hårstadsveen (2021) concluded that an RMS would be valuable for Cable Supplier, as there are numerous specifications and standards that the engineers must review, often with limited time. The proposed solution was a tailormade system that enabled an existing project document (System Design Basis (SDB)) as a template and database for requirements compiled from all documents.…”

“…This live document is a set of requirements that, when realised, satisfies the expressed stakeholder need concerning the environment, usage profile, performance parameters, quality, and effectiveness (IEEE 1998). The form of these system requirements is a document, much like the SDB template developed by Hårstadsveen (2021). The standard produced by IEEE for developing this set of requirements, IEEE 1233 (1998), defines a development process as illustrated in Figure 4 (IEEE 1998).…”