What are the consequences of poor requirements with software development projects?

Published on: August 18, 2022
Last updated: December 27, 2023 Read in fullscreen view

Recommended for you

01 Aug 2024 The Standish Group report 83.9% of IT projects partially or completely fail 150/1772
13 Apr 2024 Lessons on Teamwork and Leadership from Chinese story book "Journey to the West" 41/949
15 Feb 2024 What is a Cut-Over in Software Development? 38/1197
02 Nov 2023 Differences between software walkthrough, review, and inspection 27/2004
02 Nov 2021 What is Terms of Reference (ToR)? 23/1466
18 Oct 2020 How to use the "Knowns" and "Unknowns" technique to manage assumptions 21/989
01 Oct 2020 Fail fast, learn faster with Agile methodology 13/973
03 Apr 2022 Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) 12/1157
18 Dec 2023 The Cone of Uncertainty in Scrum & Requirement Definition 8/643
19 Oct 2021 Is gold plating good or bad in project management? 7/754
18 Oct 2021 Key Elements to Ramping Up a Large Team 7/1108
10 Nov 2022 Poor Code Indicators and How to Improve Your Code? 7/213
08 Nov 2022 4 tips for meeting tough deadlines when outsourcing projects to software vendor 6/254
06 Feb 2021 Why fail fast and learn fast? 6/375
01 Sep 2022 Facts Chart: Why Do Software Projects Fail? 6/540
01 Feb 2024 How long does it take to develop software? 6/210
01 Mar 2023 Bug Prioritization - What are the 5 levels of priority? 6/207
06 Mar 2021 4 things you need to do before getting an accurate quote for your software development 4/615
14 Oct 2021 Advantages and Disadvantages of Time and Material Contract (T&M) 4/789
20 Jul 2022 Software Myths and Realities 4/797
09 Mar 2022 Consultant Implementation Pricing 3/184
16 Feb 2021 Choose Outsourcing for Your Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) 3/150
16 Apr 2021 Insightful Business Technology Consulting at TIGO 3/376
08 Oct 2022 KPI - The New Leadership 3/557
31 Oct 2021 Tips to Fail Fast With Outsourcing 3/375
10 Apr 2024 The Parking Lot Method: Unlocking a Simple Secret to Supercharge Your Productivity 3/403
07 Jul 2022 Managing Project Execution Terms 3/379
12 Aug 2022 What is End-to-end project management? 2/382
02 May 2022 What Is RAID in Project Management? (With Pros and Cons) 2/734
02 May 2022 What Is RAID in Project Management? (With Pros and Cons) 2/734
24 Nov 2023 The project management paradox: Achieving MORE by doing LESS 2/193
10 Dec 2023 Pain points of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) 2/416
05 Jun 2023 Fractional, Part-Time (virtual) or Interim CTO: Who Will Cover Your Business Needs? 2/109
23 Sep 2021 INFOGRAPHIC: Top 9 Software Outsourcing Mistakes 2/411
28 Dec 2021 8 types of pricing models in software development outsourcing 2/417
13 Dec 2020 Move fast, fail fast, fail-safe 2/292
10 Apr 2021 RFP vs POC: Why the proof of concept is replacing the request for proposal 2/254
07 Jul 2021 The 5 Levels of IT Help Desk Support 2/380
17 Feb 2022 Prioritizing Software Requirements with Kano Analysis 2/280
14 Jun 2022 Example and Excel template of a RACI chart in Software Development 2/707
15 May 2022 20 Common Mistakes Made by New or Inexperienced Project Managers 2/247
26 Sep 2024 Successful Project Management Techniques You Need to Look Out For 2/368
22 May 2022 What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make? 1/243
30 Oct 2022 How Much Does MVP Development Cost in 2023? 1/170
07 Oct 2022 Digital Transformation: Become a Technology Powerhouse 1/216
27 Jan 2020 Should a project manager push developers to work more hours due to mistakes of manager schedule setting? 1/412
19 Apr 2021 7 Most Common Time-Wasters For Software Development 1/525
01 Mar 2024 10 Project Management Myths 1/120
01 May 2023 CTO Interview Questions 1/296
07 Dec 2023 12 project management myths to avoid 1/167
09 Feb 2023 The Challenge of Fixed-Bid Software Projects 1/191
26 Dec 2023 Improving Meeting Effectiveness Through the Six Thinking Hats 1/205
05 Jan 2024 Easy ASANA tips & tricks for you and your team 1/180
11 Jan 2024 What are the Benefits and Limitations of Augmented Intelligence? 1/434
02 Nov 2022 Difference between Change Management and Project Management /216
20 Nov 2022 Software Requirements Are A Communication Problem /233
30 Nov 2023 Project Managers, Focus on Outcomes — Not Deliverables /143
06 Jun 2022 Change Management at the Project Level /292
09 May 2022 Build one to throw away vs Second-system effect: What are differences? /297
10 May 2022 Levels of Teamwork /180
03 Jan 2023 Organizing your agile teams? Think about M.A.T (Mastery, Autonomy, Purpose) /333
12 Mar 2024 How do you create FOMO in software prospects? /127
23 Jun 2024 Best Practices for Managing Project Escalations /183
21 Jun 2024 Dead Horses and the Escalation of Commitment /123
14 Mar 2024 Why should you opt for software localization from a professional agency? /117
01 Mar 2023 How do you deal with disputes and conflicts that may arise during a software consulting project? /145
01 Aug 2022 Is planning "set it and forget it" or "set it and check it"? /264
02 Jun 2024 Reviving Ancient Wisdom: The Spiritual Side of Project Management /204
17 Mar 2025 IT Consultants in Digital Transformation /62
10 Jul 2025 Building AI-Driven Knowledge Graphs from Unstructured Data /111
21 Oct 2025 Cloud-Native Development: Why It’s the Future of Enterprise IT /40
17 Oct 2021 Does Fast Tracking increase project cost? /348
13 Jan 2020 Quiz: Test your understanding project cost management /568
06 Nov 2019 How to Access Software Project Size? /236
03 Nov 2022 Top questions and answers you must know before ask for software outsourcing /264
07 Aug 2022 Things to Consider When Choosing a Technology Partner /249
09 Jan 2022 How to Bridge the Gap Between Business and IT? /163
02 Dec 2021 3 Ways to Avoid Scope Creep in IT Consulting /192

Poor definition of software requirements can lead to failure of software development projects

Software development requirements are pivotal and central to every successful software development project. Poor requirements practices alone can doom any application development process. No matter how well designed and constructed or well tested an application might be, it is essentially useless if it fails to meet the business needs.

Defects in software development requirements are the sources of the majority of defects that are identified during testing and problems with requirements are among the top causes of project failure.

Common software development requirements problems include incomplete or inaccurate requirements, poorly managed requirements change and missed requirements. The first step of requirements management is accurately capturing the requirements and defining it. Confusion about what is required pretty much guarantees the requirements will not be met and increases the chance of product failure.

The inability to identify all the impacts and notify anyone impacted by a change leads to poor change management. A poorly executed change means wasted efforts, outdated information and design conflict. This drives up cost and creates project delay.

Significant documentation is required of companies who must comply with regulations or meet standards. Those that lack requirements traceability must invest significant time preparing records to prove compliance. Those that have traceability have a far easier time producing reports and records that support compliance as they can automatically trace the regulatory down to the details proving it was satisfied

Improving software investments through requirements validation

IT organizations are increasingly being expected to provide business solutions faster and with better return on investments (ROIs). Their limited technology focus on software fails to deliver predictable, relevant and cost effective solutions. The electronic customer contact management (ECCM) toolkit was designed to rectify the most pervasive problem in software development that is, the known fact that requirements specifications are always incomplete, inaccurate and wrong. The toolkit was used to implement a human-centric solution in a wireless center.

Improving software investments through requirements validation

The solution was driven by productivity improvements in center operations and not by technology. The solution produced measurable improvements in the robustness and effectiveness of center operations, providing the business an ROI of less than 18 months. The ECCM toolkit tackles this business challenge by delivering: validated software requirements in areas such as service, operations and marketing while guaranteeing the investment's ROI through faster cycle times (e.g., one software release per week or faster); tools required by work center management to professionally manage both center resources and enhancements to the team's process-maturity level; and effective change management capabilities to maintain center productivity during the ongoing demand for new capabilities. This need became apparent only after the software bottleneck was eliminated

A A A A

[{"displaySettingInfo":"[{\"isFullLayout\":false,\"layoutWidthRatio\":\"\",\"showBlogMetadata\":true,\"includeSuggestedAndRelatedBlogs\":true,\"enableLazyLoad\":true,\"quoteStyle\":\"1\",\"bigHeadingFontStyle\":\"1\",\"postPictureFrameStyle\":\"1\",\"isFaqLayout\":false,\"isIncludedCaption\":false,\"faqLayoutTheme\":\"1\",\"isSliderLayout\":false}]"},{"articleSourceInfo":"[{\"sourceName\":\"\",\"sourceValue\":\"\"}]"},{"privacyInfo":"[{\"isOutsideVietnam\":false}]"},{"tocInfo":"[{\"isEnabledTOC\":false,\"isAutoNumbering\":false,\"isShowKeyHeadingWithIcon\":false}]"}]

Via

{content}