Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Obsolete software requirements

Wnuk, Krzysztof LU ; Gorschek, Tony and Zanda, Showayb (2013) In Information and Software Technology 55(6). p.921-940
Abstract
Context: Coping with rapid requirements change is crucial for staying competitive in the software business. Frequently changing customer needs and fierce competition are typical drivers of rapid requirements evolution resulting in requirements obsolescence even before project completion. Objective: Although the obsolete requirements phenomenon and the implications of not addressing them are known, there is a lack of empirical research dedicated to understanding the nature of obsolete software requirements and their role in requirements management. Method: In this paper, we report results from an empirical investigation with 219 respondents aimed at investigating the phenomenon of obsolete software requirements. Results: Our results... (More)
Context: Coping with rapid requirements change is crucial for staying competitive in the software business. Frequently changing customer needs and fierce competition are typical drivers of rapid requirements evolution resulting in requirements obsolescence even before project completion. Objective: Although the obsolete requirements phenomenon and the implications of not addressing them are known, there is a lack of empirical research dedicated to understanding the nature of obsolete software requirements and their role in requirements management. Method: In this paper, we report results from an empirical investigation with 219 respondents aimed at investigating the phenomenon of obsolete software requirements. Results: Our results contain, but are not limited to, defining the phenomenon of obsolete software requirements, investigating how they are handled in industry today and their potential impact. Conclusion: We conclude that obsolete software requirements constitute a significant challenge for companies developing software intensive products, in particular in large projects, and that companies rarely have processes for handling obsolete software requirements. Further, our results call for future research in creating automated methods for obsolete software requirements identification and management, methods that could enable efficient obsolete software requirements management in large projects. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Requirements management, Obsolete requirements, Survey, Empirical study, Market driven requirements engineering, Change impact analysis
in
Information and Software Technology
volume
55
issue
6
pages
921 - 940
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000318584800002
  • scopus:84876291402
ISSN
0950-5849
DOI
10.1016/j.infsof.2012.12.001
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
47befbd3-77ca-4e20-b2d0-df7eee6bb323 (old id 3815285)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:00:24
date last changed
2022-04-30 05:37:11
@article{47befbd3-77ca-4e20-b2d0-df7eee6bb323,
  abstract     = {{Context: Coping with rapid requirements change is crucial for staying competitive in the software business. Frequently changing customer needs and fierce competition are typical drivers of rapid requirements evolution resulting in requirements obsolescence even before project completion. Objective: Although the obsolete requirements phenomenon and the implications of not addressing them are known, there is a lack of empirical research dedicated to understanding the nature of obsolete software requirements and their role in requirements management. Method: In this paper, we report results from an empirical investigation with 219 respondents aimed at investigating the phenomenon of obsolete software requirements. Results: Our results contain, but are not limited to, defining the phenomenon of obsolete software requirements, investigating how they are handled in industry today and their potential impact. Conclusion: We conclude that obsolete software requirements constitute a significant challenge for companies developing software intensive products, in particular in large projects, and that companies rarely have processes for handling obsolete software requirements. Further, our results call for future research in creating automated methods for obsolete software requirements identification and management, methods that could enable efficient obsolete software requirements management in large projects. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Wnuk, Krzysztof and Gorschek, Tony and Zanda, Showayb}},
  issn         = {{0950-5849}},
  keywords     = {{Requirements management; Obsolete requirements; Survey; Empirical study; Market driven requirements engineering; Change impact analysis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{921--940}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Information and Software Technology}},
  title        = {{Obsolete software requirements}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2012.12.001}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.infsof.2012.12.001}},
  volume       = {{55}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}