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A Requirements Taxonomy
Copyright20052008
RequirementsSolutionsGroup,LLC
3837NorthdaleBlvd,#361
Tampa,FL.33624
(813)3195851
training@requirementssolutions.com
Copyright20052008bytheRequirementsSolutionsGroup
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OnBusinessRequirementsandTechnicalSpecifications:
A Requirements Taxonomy
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OnBusinessRequirementsandTechnicalSpecifications:
A Requirements Taxonomy
TableofContents
TheNeedforRequirements................................................................................................................................................4
BusinessRequirementsandSystem(ortechnical)Specifications......................................................................4
FundamentalCategoriesofRequirements....................................................................................................................4
FUNCTIONALRequirements...............................................................................................................................................5
INFORMATIONALRequirements......................................................................................................................................6
BEHAVIORALRequirements...............................................................................................................................................8
SpecifyingQuantitativeBehaviors....................................................................................................................8
SpecifyingQualitativeBehaviors.......................................................................................................................9
ENVIRONMENTALRequirements...................................................................................................................................11
HyperlinkedTableofRequirementCategories.........................................................................................................13
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OnBusinessRequirementsandTechnicalSpecifications:
A Requirements Taxonomy
Categories of Requirements
Manyorganizationsseparaterequirementsintotwocategories,Functionalrequirements(thingsthesystemhasto
doandthedataneededtodoit)andNonfunctional(anythingelse).Wehaveissueswiththisterminology.Firstoff,
althoughthereisastronglinkbetweenthefunctionsofthesystemandthedatathatthesefunctionsconsumeor
create,splittingthetwoseparatesthestructureofthedata(whichisrelativelystable)fromthedaytodayfunctions
(whicharerelativelyvolatile).Secondly,thetermNonFunctionalcouldbeinterpretedtomeandoesnotwork
whereaswhatthiscategoryofrequirementsdefineishowthesystemhastobehaveorwhatlimitsareimposedbythe
environmentonthesolution.Inaddition,therearetoomanyfundamentallydiversetypesofrequirementsintothe
NonFunctionalcategory.
Inourapproach,westartoffbydefiningfourfundamentalcategories(perspectives)ofthesolutionthat
requirementshavetoaddress:Functional,Informational,Behavioral,andEnvironmental.Eachofthesefour
perspectivesneedstobedefinableinbothbusinessrequirementsandsystemspecifications.Notethatwearenot
suggestingthateveryITprojectwillofnecessityneedrequirementsfromeveryperspective.Weare,however,
recommendingthatthebusinessandsystemsanalystsneedtoatleastconsidereachperspectivebeforedeclaringthe
processofgatheringrequirementscomplete,(besidesweknowthattheyarenevercomplete)..
Copyright 2005-2008 by the Requirements Solutions Group
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OnBusinessRequirementsandTechnicalSpecifications:
A Requirements Taxonomy
FUNCTIONAL Requirements
Functionalrequirementsdefinewhatthesolutionhastodo.Fromthebusinessperspective,afunctionalrequirement
identifiesbusinessprocessesorproceduresthatmaybeindependentoftechnology(i.e.,processorder,package
shipment).Inthetechnologydomain,functionalspecificationsdefinespecificprograms,modulesorroutinesthat
accomplishaspecificoutputbasedsolelyoninputprovidedandtheprogrammedlogic.Functionalrequirementsare
relativelyconcreteandeasytoobjectivelydefine.However,whentheautomatedmodulesarenamedthesameasthe
businessproceduretheysupport,theyoftencausemiscommunication.
FunctionalBusinessRequirements
FunctionalTechnicalSpecifications
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
01Processes/
Procedures
(Manual)1
Aseriesofactions,changes,or
functionsthatwhencompleted
createadesiredresult:
51Modules/
Programs
(Automated)
Thesetechnicalspecifications
describewhateachmoduleor
programwilldo.
Theseriesofactionsdonetocreatea
marketingcampaign.Asetof
establishedformsormethodsfor
conductingtheaffairsofabusiness.
Intheobjectworld,thiscategory
specifiesassemblies,classes,
applications,etc.
HST01willcalculateHSTforasingle
tollcallandroundittothenearest
cent.
Thesystemhastoaccurately
calculatetheHarmonizedSales
Tax(HST)foralltransactions
originatingintheMaritime
provinces.
1Pleasenotethatthenumbersusedinthesetablesaretoidentifytherequirementscategoryonly.Theyarenotmeant
toconveymeaningbeyondthat.
Copyright 2005-2008 by the Requirements Solutions Group
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OnBusinessRequirementsandTechnicalSpecifications:
A Requirements Taxonomy
INFORMATIONAL Requirements
Informationalrequirementsrepresentknowledgeordatathathastobeprocessed,created,tracked,and/or
presentedinsomeusablemanner.Fromthebusinessside,informationalrequirementsspecifydatathatthebusiness
userneedstoknowtoperformabusinessfunctionanddatathatisproducedasaresultoftheiractions.Atthe
technologylevel,informationalspecificationsdefineinputdata,outputdata,storeddata,andthemetadataforeach.
Whereasmuchofthisdataisdirectlyrelatedtothebusinessrequirements,somedataistechnologydependentand
shouldbetransparenttothebusinessuser.
InformationalBusinessRequirements
InformationalTechnicalSpecifications
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
Category
11Knowledge
Informationand/orskillsappliedto 61Datastructures
aspecificsituation.Thisisthe
human(subjective)needthatdrives
allITapplications.
Datastructurespecificationsdescribe
thegroupingsoftheinformationthat
maybeneededbypeopleorby
applications.
Howtochangeatire.
Adatastructurecanbeaflatfile,a
table,anarray,apropertyorsetof
properties(foraclass),oranyother
collectionofbasicrawdatathatis
structuredinamannertobeusableby
anapplication.
Iwanttoknowwhentoreorder
trainingmaterialfromour
vendor.
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
TheCustOrderfilecontainsCustID,
CustName,OrdDate,OrdQty,and
OrdPriceelements.
12Information
Acollectionofrelatedfactsor
relateddatathatisgreatervalue
thantheindividualdatum.
62Databases,Data
Warehouses,and
DataMarts
Statisticalinformation,customer
profiles.
Databasespecificationsdeterminethe
technologythatwillbeusedto
maintainthegroupingsofdata
structures.
Adatabaseisastructuredgroupof
tables,relationships,datavalues,
datedascriptsince,andother
informationthatdescribesits
structureandcontents.
Ourwebsiteranks#2in
worldwideaccesswhensearching
forthetermBusiness
RequirementsGathering.
TheCashForecastingdatabasewill
bedevelopedinOracle8i.
13Business
Rules
Adefinitionofnaturaldata
structuresdefinedbythebusiness
community.
63AccessPaths
Businessrulesdefineentities,
relationships,attribute,and
behaviorsfromthebusiness
perspective.
Accesspathsspecificationsdescribe
primarykeysandrelationshipsthat
determinehowdatacanbeaccessed
byprogramsormodules.
Storeddatacanonlybeaccessedonce
anaccesspathhasbeendefined.
TheCustomerID,ZipCode,
LastOrderDatewillbeusedto
accessthemostcurrentcredit
ratingsforacustomer.
AnORDERcanbeshippedinone
ormoreSHIPMENTS.A
Customer"canhaveoneormore
ORDERS.
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InformationalBusinessRequirements
14Business
DataEntities
Theobjectsorclassesaboutwhich
thetechnologywillstoreand
manipulatedata.
InformationalTechnicalSpecifications
64Tables(Files)
Businessdataentitiesarethethings
thebusinesscommunityisconcerned
withonadailybasis.
Dataspecificationshavetoincludethe
expectedvolumeofdata(howmuch)
andtheexpectedvolatility(howoften
itmightchange).
Acustomerisanindividualor
organizationthathaspurchased
productsorservicesfromusinthe
past2years.
15Business
DataElements
16Help
Facilities
Thepropertiesorcharacteristicsof
anelementofdata.
Thesystemshouldsupportthefive
majorshippersthatserviceour
customerarea.
65DataFields
Dataelementdescriptionsdistinguish
betweenbaseandderivabledata.
Individualdataelementsdescribe
somethingaboutabusinessdata
entityoritsrelationshipwithother
entities.
Basedataelementscannotbe
calculated,theymustbestored.For
eachderivabledataelement,aformula
isrequired.
Thecustomeridisaunique,15
digit,positive,realnumberthat
identifiesasinglecustomer.
TheShipCostwillbecalculated
basedontheselectedShipper,the
weightoftheshipment,andthe
ShipTozipcode.
Contextspecificinformationabout
howtoperformafunction,action
orprocessofasystem.
66UserViews
Theuserhastobeabletoseethe
corporatestandarddefinitionof
everyelementonadataentryscreen.
Externallymandatedlimitsonthe
storageandavailabilityofdata
elements.
Legal,organizational,operational,
orotherneedsdefiningthelife
expectancyofdata.
SeetheAddBookscreenprototype.
67DataProperties Datapropertiesspecifications
encompassanyinformationthatis
neededtodescribethelength,content
type,constraints,ownership,orany
otherdimensionoftheinformation
thatisbeingmanipulated.
Datapropertiesarecommonly
referredtoasmetadata.
Resultsofamedicaltrialmustbe
keptelectronicallyavailablefor
fourteenyearsafterthetrialis
completed.
Userviewspecificationsdescribed
collectionsofinformationstructured
andpresentedinamannerthatis
peoplefriendly.
Typically,therearetwolevelstouser
views,thedatalevelandthe
presentationlevel.Bothlevelsneedto
bedefinedindependentofeachother.
Thesystemdatecanbesetto
theseformats:mm/dd/yyyy,dd
MonthNameyyyy.
17Data
Constraints
Dataisnormalizedinthecomputerto
avoidredundantdata.Normalized
dataisstoredintables(orflatfiles).
CustType:Numeric1=Public,
2=Corporate,3=Individual
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BEHAVIORAL Requirements
Behavioralrequirementsdeterminehowthesolutionhastoact.Behaviorcanbedefinedinquantitativeorqualitative
measures.Quantitativemeasuresareexpressedinoreasilytranslatedintonumbers.Theyarerelativelyeasyto
measure.Qualitativemeasuresareexpressedintermsthataretypicallysubjectiveandforwhichsomemodeof
measurementbecomesnecessary.Translatingqualitativemeasuresintoquantitativemeasuresisreferredtoas
quantification.
SpecifyingQuantitativeBehaviors
Quantitativebehavioralrequirementsareneededtodefinehowlongitcantaketodosomething,howoftenthings
havetobedone,howmuchdataisinvolvedwheneverwedosomething,andhowaccuratethatdatahastobefrom
thebusinessperspective.Intheworldoftechnology,quantitativespecificationsareneededtodefinetheamountof
datathatneedstobecreated,consumedorstored,theprecisionatwhichthatdatahastobemaintained,howlongit
cantaketoexecutesegmentsofcode.TheseareoftenreferredtoasPerformanceRequirements.
QuantitativeBusinessRequirements
QuantitativeTechnicalSpecifications
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
21Urgency
Howlongapersoncanwaitona
responsefromtheautomated
systembeforetheirabilitytodo
theirjobbecomesimpaired.
71UpdateTime
Inputurgencyspecifieshowquicklya
componentneedsinputbeforeitis
incapableofcompletingitsmission.
Typically,subsecondinputurgency
impliestheneedforarealtime
applicationwhereasininteractive
applicationsitisoftenmeasuredin
minutes.
Thedesiredtimelapseforthenext
eventtooccurafteraspecificevent
occurs.
Customerservicerepshaveto
knowthecreditstatusofacaller
within5seconds.
22Frequency
Thenumberofinstancesanevent
orprocessoccursinaspecific
intervaloftime.
Thereactorshutoffmodulewill
shutthesystemdownifitdoesnot
receiveanoverridewithin3seconds
afterissuingatemperature
exceededwarning.
72ResponseTime
Transactions/functionsperunitof
time
Lowresponsetimespecifications
indicatetheneedforinteractive
systems.
Payrollwillbeprocessedevery
twoweeks.
23Volume
Theamountofdata(information)
stored,transmitted,presented,
and/orusedbyaprocess.
Peakresponsetimeforcreditrating
willnotexceed1.5seconds.
73Size
Numberofoccurrencesofrecordsor
itemsonareport
Weanticipateanactivecustomer
baseof10,000bytheendof2006.
Responsetimespecificationsmandate
howquicklytheautomatedsystem
hastorespondtoauserrequest.
Sizespecificationsarequantitative
measuresthatcanrefertothesizeof
thedatabase(numberofallrecordsof
eachtype)orthesizeofan
application(howmanyMBorGBthe
distributedapplicationrequires).
Therecordedseminarpresentation
willnotexceedthecapacityofaCD
Rom(720MB)
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QuantitativeBusinessRequirements
24Accuracy
Theacceptabledeviationfroma
definedstandardortarget.
QuantitativeTechnicalSpecifications
74Precision
Toleranceforerrorsfromthe
businesscommunity
Precisionisspecifiedasameasureof
accuracyasitappliestoinformational
contentortheresultsofcalculations.
Thisistypicallyexpressedintermsofa
numberofdigitsbehindthedecimal
point.
Theonhandinventoryfilevalues
mustbewithin+/2%ofthe
actualphysicalcount.
HSTwillberoundedtothenearest
cent.
SpecifyingQualitativeBehaviors
Qualitativebehavioralbusinessattributesareoftenperceivedofasaproblemfromtheinformationtechnologyside
becausetheyarebydefinitiondifficulttomeasure.Theyareessential,however,todefinehoweasilyanenduserwill
beabletousethesolutiontodotheirjob,howquicklyanewuserhastobetrainedtousethesolution,andhoweasily
thesolutionhastoadapttochangingneeds.Thetechnologydimensiondefineshowquicklythesoftwarehastobe
abletobemodified,howtrustworthytheresultsofthesolutionneedtobe,howeasyitmustbetotransportthe
solutionontoadifferenthardware/softwareplatform,andhoweasilythesolutionwilladapttovariationsin
workload.ThesearesometimescalledSubjectiveRequirements.
QualitativeBusinessRequirements
QualitativeTechnicalSpecifications
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
31Usability
Ameasureofhoweasy(intuitive)it
istousethesystem.Oftenreferred
toasuserfriendliness.
81Maintainability
Maintainabilityspecificationsexpress
howeasyithastobetomodifythe
behaviorofanapplicationonceithas
beendeployed.
Subjectivedimensionthatusually
requiresprototypingorvisual
representationtoclarify
Conceptssuchascohesionand
couplingaremeasuresof
maintainability.
Thegraphicalinterfacewillnot
dependuponcoloraloneto
conveymissioncritical
information.
32Trainability
Ameasureofhoweasyitistolearn
howtousethesystem.
Ithastobepossibletoaddnewloan
ratecalculationmodestothe
systemwithlessthan1developer
dayofeffort.
82Reliability
Desiredlengthoftrainingtimeto
achieveaspecificgoal.
Commonmeasuresofreliabilityare
meantimebetweenfailures(MTBF),
meantimetorepair(MTTR),etc.
Afterthreehoursofwebbased
trainingandonehourofpractice,
theuserwillbeabletocorrectly
process8outof10maprequests
inlessthan2hours.
Reliabilityspecificationsarean
expressionofhowerrorsthatthe
applicationmakesaffecttheoutside
world.
Thepatientmonitoringsystem
downtimewillnotexceed1cadaver
betweenfailures.
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QualitativeBusinessRequirements
33Flexibility
Ameasureofhoweasyitistoadd
newfunctionalityorchange
existingfunctionality
QualitativeTechnicalSpecifications
83Scalability
Lengthoftimeexpectedto
accomplishmaintenancetask
Missingscalabilityrequirementslead
tosolutionsthatquicklybecome
unabletorespondtochanging
businessvolumes.
Asupportprogrammerwith1
yearofexperiencesupportingthis
systemshouldbeabletocreatea
newtwopage(screens)userview
inlessthantwohours.
34Availability
Ameasureoftheplanneduptime
duringwhichthesystemcanbe
used.Itisusuallyexpressedasa
percentageofduration.
Scalabilityspecificationsareneeded
todefineacceptablecriteriaforan
applicationtogrowovertimein
reactiontogrowingbusinessevents
orvolumesofdata.
Thesystemhastoaccommodatea
500%annualincreaseinsales.
84Portability
Meantimebetweenfailuresand
accumulateddowntimeduring
failures
Portabilityspecificationsare
necessaryforapplicationsthatwillbe
installedonmultipleoperating
systems.
Thismeasurecanbecriticalfor
applicationsthatareusedinntiered
architecturesand/oronthe
internet/intranets.
Duringpeaktime(10amto2pm)
thesystemshouldbeoperational
99.5%ofthetime.
Theapplicationwillfunction
withoutmodificationsonWindows,
Linux,ApacheandAppleoperating
systems.
Thenuclearpowerplant
radiationlevelmonitorfunction
hastobeavailable24/7/365.
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ENVIRONMENTAL Requirements
Environmentalrequirementsdefinethecontextwithinwhichthesolutionhastooperate.Businessattributesare
neededtodefinewhowillinteractwiththefuturebusinesssolution,whereeachcomponentofthesolutionis
physicallylocated,whohastheauthoritytodowhattoeachcomponent,governmentalandregulatorymandates,
languageandcustomsofthebusinessusers,assoforth.Onthetechnologyside,environmentalfactorsthatneedtobe
definedincludehardware,software,networkarchitecture,operatingsystems,anddatabasetechnology,data
exchangeswithothersolutions,allowableprogramminglanguage,architecturalstructure,methods,documentation,
etc.Sincerequirementsinthiscategoryoftenconstrainthedesignofasuccessfulsolution,theyareoftenreferredto
asConstraints.
EnvironmentalBusinessRequirements
EnvironmentalTechnicalSpecifications
Category
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
Category
41Distribution
(Organization)
Therolesandresponsibilitiesofthe 91Interfaces
usersofthesystem.
(Interaction)
Whocandowhatorgetswhat
information
Aclerkwillbeabletodetermine
inventoryfromanyofthefloor
accessterminals.
Definitions/Clarifications/
Examples
Interfaces/interactionspecifications
oftheboundarybetweentheusers
andautomationorbetween
applicationsthatneedto
communicatewitheachother.
Onemajordimensionofinterface
specificationshastodowiththeend
userinterfacewhichisoftendefinedin
termsofauniversallyaccepted
standard.
Thepayrollsystemhasto
communicatewiththeHRsystem
usingEDIformat8II6B.
42Location
Thephysicalsiteofthecomponents 92Standards
ofthesystem(includingpeople).
Geographicorstructureof
hardware,software,resources
Theapplicationwillbeaccessible
fromanycityinFlorida.
Standardsspecificationsdetermine
whichcorporate,industrywide,best
practiceorotherlimitswillbe
imposedonthestructure,contentor
contextoftheevolvingsolution.
Standardsoftenalsoapplyto91
Interfaces,above.
Dateswillberepresentedasdd
MonthNameyyyy(02September
2066.
43Security
Adescriptionofthecharacteristics
ofthosepeoplewhoareallowedto
usethesystemandthemeansby
whichtheygainaccesstothe
system.
93Infrastructure
Thiscanalsoincludesystemsoftware,
middleware,andothernecessities.
Useofsecretcodesand/orbiometric
identifiers
Thediskdrivesofthesystemwillbe
shadowedateachregionalcenter
andtheglobalcenter.
OnlyE8levelandabovepersonal
canviewtheAndromedafiles
basedonretinalscanand
fingerprintid.
Infrastructurespecificationsdescribe
thehardware/softwareconfiguration
thatisneededfortheprojecttobe
successful.
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EnvironmentalBusinessRequirements
44Legal
Specificlawsorregulationswith
whichthesystemmustcomply.
EnvironmentalTechnicalSpecifications
94Methodology
Externallymandatedconstraints
Methodologyspecificationsidentify
theapproachthattheprojectwill
followandwhy.
Methodologiesshouldbeaproject
leveldecisionssincetheselected
approachhasasignificantimpacton
projectsuccessorfailure.
Personalhealthdatawillnotbe
storedwithpersonalidentity
data.
THEGuideProjectManagementand
SystemDevelopmentmethodology
willbeusedforthisproject.
45Cultural
Humanfactorsthatmustbe
considerinthedesignofthe
system.Itusuallydenotesa
personalqualityresultingfromthe
developmentofintellect,manners,
andaestheticappreciation.
95Technology
Architecture
Technologyconstraintslimitthe
projectteamsabilitytomake
decisionsregardinghardware/
softwareplatformsfortheir
particularapplication.
Architecturalspecificationsareoften
thedomainoftheSystemArchitect
role.
Localizationconsiderations
Thesystemcannotuseanyred
fonts.
Theapplicationhastorunonthe
existinghardware/software
platform.
Informationontheorderentry
interfacehastohavethesame
meaninginEnglish,German,
FrenchandItalian.
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OnBusinessRequirementsandTechnicalSpecifications:
A Requirements Taxonomy
Business Requirements
Technical Specifications
01 Processes /
Procedures (Manual)
51 Modules / Programs
(Automated)
11 Knowledge
61 Data structures
12 Information
13 Business Rules
63 Access Paths
64 Tables (Files)
15 Data Elements
65 Data Fields
16 Help facilities
66 User Views
17 Data Constraints
67 Data Properties
21 Urgency
71 Size
22 Frequency
72 Precision
23 Volumes
73 Response Time
Behavioral
24 Accuracy
74 Update Time
(Performing)
31 Usability
81 Maintainability
Qualitative
32 Trainability
82 Reliability
(Subjective)
33 Flexibility
83 Portability
34 Availability
84 Scalability
41 Distribution
(Organization)
91 Interfaces (Interaction)
Functional
(Doing)
Informational
(Knowing)
Quantitative
(Objective)
Environmental
42 Location
(Constraining)
43 Security
92 Standards
93 Infrastructure
94 Methodology
44 Legal
95 Technology
45 Cultural
Asafinaldisclaimer,wewouldliketonotethatthislistisnotnecessarilycomplete.Justliketherequirementsthat
theystrivetodelineate,thelistissubjecttochangeasthisvolatileindustrycontinuestoevolve.That
notwithstanding,thislistshouldserveasareasonablebaselineforfutureevolution.
Copyright 2005-2008 by the Requirements Solutions Group
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OnBusinessRequirementsandTechnicalSpecifications:
A Requirements Taxonomy
On Business Requirements and Technical Specifications is one of a series of white papers published by the
Requirements Solutions Group, LLC. This white paper is intended to complement our training in business system
analysis and delivery. For more information concerning this training, our methodology, or our consulting
services, contact:
Daniel Myers
Requirements Solutions Group, LLC
3837 Northdale Blvd., Suite 361
Tampa, FL 33624
(813) 319-5851
Dan.Myers@reqsol.com
Tom Hathaway
Requirements Solutions Group, LLC.
16057 Tampa Palms Blvd. W., Suite 197
Tampa, FL 33647
(813) 319-4213
Tom.Hathaway@reqsol.com
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