Communication And Stakeholder Issues In Requirement Engineering Information Technology Essay

Communication And Stakeholder Issues In Requirement Engineering Information Technology Essay Requirements Engineering starts with requirements elicitation. Requirements elicitation is a process of discovering, obtaining and expanding requirements for adopting a computer-based system. Requirements Elicitation process is challenged by different factors. After our research, we found poor communication and stakeholder issues are the most common factors which results the blockage of users needs. It is one of the most critical issues in RE which causes the delay and failure of the software projects. [1] Unsurprisingly, effective communication is very hard to achieve and is a repeating problem in the elicitation of requirements [2]. There are several reasons for less effective communication (i.e. different time zones, cultural differences, lack of awareness etc.) Wahab Hussain (Author) MS. Software Engineering (Reg. # 1071112) Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Inst. of Science Tech. Karachi, Pakistan [emailprotected] The two major sections discussed in this research paper are: Communication issues in Requirements Engineering Section 4 Stakeholder issues in Requirements Engineering Section 5 Later in Section 5, Conclusion is presented. Why Requirements Gathering We gather requirements to cut down the risk of common mistakes that grow from the lack of communication or understanding. We can discover real requirements if requirements gathering activity is approached in an organized way (we know who the stakeholders are likely to be and what kind of questions we need to ask from them). [3] Developing software and constructing building sounds similar. Lets take an example of constructing hotel instead of developing software. Dont you think that before starting foundation, you should have the complete design and architecture of the hotel that how its interior and exterior looks like after completion? Of course you would. In the same way in developing software, you gather requirements before the start of the project and looks into the architecture (i.e. ERD, class diagram, state diagrams, component diagrams etc) in more detail. While building a hotel, you go into several inspections to make sure the work carrying forward in the right direction or not (like we have inspections in software projects to ensure the requirements). [4] The other similarities between developing software and constructing hotel in terms of roles as listed in Table 1: Developing Software Constructing Hotel Project Manager Contractor/Builder Resources Developers SQA/Test Engineering Technical Writers Resources Electrician Carpenter Painter Plumber Problem Formulation: Communication between the system analyst and stakeholders can be described in term of communication between two parties as shown in Figure 1. [1] Four components are involved in this type of communication as shown in Table 2. [1] Communication issues in Requirement Engineering As discussed in previous sections that the major cause for the project failure is the lack of effective communication. Mostly errors in the software system are due to poor communication. There are several reasons; sometimes the customer is unable to communicate the proper application knowledge to the analyst, sometimes development is done on Ad hoc basis due to unavailability of requirement document, sometimes requirement document is too long that no one can be able to read it completely. These all causes conflicts, confusions, false impressions and inconsistency in work. The main communication issues faced in Requirements Engineering are as follows: Problems within User The within roadblock is basically the individual culture limitation. It relates the behavioral boundaries within the individual users. In within problems, user fails as an information receiver, information processor and problem solver. [5] Problems Between Users The between roadblock is basically the organizational culture concerns with the interaction between customer and analyst. Every organizational culture is different from other organization (i.e. nature of work, organization hierarchy, management style and terminologies used within the organization) so confliction possibly will grow because business analyst perhaps may not familiar with the hierarchy of the organization and their operations. [5] Problems Among the users The among roadblock is basically the national culture limitations. In large complex system, people with different cultural backgrounds are involved having different languages, difference in attitudes and judgments and priorities. Problems occur when different users express their needs that are incompatible or invalid or conflicts either in contents or priority and they want a reviewer for resolution. [5] Requirement conflicts increases when several users present the same information in different and inconsistent manner. It is the demanding situation for the development organization to resolve such issues. [5] One Way Communication Channels In one way communication, we used to express information within the development team and with different stakeholders. In this way, the channel of communication sounds effective because all knowledge is shared but it results expensive and time consuming to support wide range of communication between professions. As per research, it looks that requirement specification document is the only way of communication between the development team and stakeholder. [6] The Notations War It is often difficult for the customer and development team to understand each other terms/notations (i.e. Business analysts and software engineers prefer to talk about the system in terms of it procedures and data structures, end users prefer to talk about the system in terms of its general behavior and functionality of software system). This causes the unfamiliarity of various people with various notations. For example, a customer must not want to learn formal specification language, but the programmer may require these to obtain an appropriate level of detail. [6] Organizational Barriers Requirement Engineering activities and software design activities are carried out separately. Each activity is discussed and presented by different sets of people. Requirement Engineering meetings include business analyst, developers SQA engineers and end uses. While in design review activity, end users are not included. Only development team is limited in design review activity because no one from outside organization is allowed to attend this activity. [6] Informal Communication Informal communication is usually used when face to face conversation is required with a friend. It is based on common interests and combined relations creating channels through which information is collected easily. Informal communication channels can be destroyed by rivals who can discourage the joint action which affect the normal flow of information. Telephonic conversations are also a part of informal communication but it is the least used method in exchanging information between the two professions. Such informal communication proved to be expensive and results time consuming discussions and meetings. [6] Nevertheless, there is no specific support for informal communication for software projects in the early phase of Requirement Engineering because in many cases business analysts and customers meet for the first time. [6] Traceability Problem Requirements Traceability is critical for all phases of SDLC to help concluding requirements and justify changes. The research shows that traceability problem is very serious in the later stages of RE (i.e. requirements review) when late requirements are brought in the project life cycle. Now it is necessary to re-establish communication with team mates in order to avoid conflicts with newly introduced requirements with existing one. This is very challenging and difficult because by this time business analyst may have halted or may have started working on any other project while programmers moved to later phases of the project. [6] Communication challenges representing through Quadrant Model in RE Refer Figure 2 which shows communication challenges taken from Davis et al. [14] Quadrant (a) correspond common knowledge between analyst and user. Quadrant (b) correspond knowledge that the user has but the analyst does not. It looks that there is unique business model of the user business. Quadrant (c) correspond that the analyst has the knowledge but user does not yet. The analyst would be looking for to teach the user. Quadrant (d) correspond new knowledge that will be produced from the interaction between analyst and user. It looks that analyst asks questions and tries to dig more information from the user. [14] Stakeholder issues in Requirement Engineering Stakeholder plays the most important role in the acceptance of a software product. After having research, we found there are different observations of who the stakeholders are? [11] Stakeholders are individuals or organizations who affect or are affected by the software product. In other words, a stakeholder is a person who has a power to develop requirements. Identifying the stakeholders and getting them involved in the Requirements Engineering process helps to make complete set of requirements early in the software development life cycle. [7] The stakeholders can be categorized in three main parts which are: [7] The acquirers of the software product (who are customers and users/end-users) The suppliers of the software product (includes individuals or teams that develop the software product or part of the organization who are business analysts, designers, developers, testers, documentation writers, project managers and technical support) Other stakeholders (there are also other stakeholders who are interested in requirements are: Legal or contract management, Manufacturing or product release management, Sales and Marketing, Upper management and Government or regulator agencies) Table 3 summarizes the different ambitions and interests to different stakeholders in a RE process. [8] Stakeholder Ambitions and Interests Requirements Engineer Wants a tool that makes their job easier, more satisfying and more productive. Customer/User Wants usable system, with fewer errors. Project/Process Manager Wants to deliver on time with the right specification quality Quality Manager Wants to ensure that the delivered system specification is error-free. Senior Management Wants to see a return on investment and increased productivity. Requirements from all stakeholders are important; we can not ignore the requirement of any stakeholder but we can prioritize them. There are many stakeholder issues in Requirement Engineering which cause the project failure: [9] Stakeholders dont know what they really want. Stakeholders convey requirements in their own terms. Requirements may conflict in case of different stakeholders. Organisational and political factors may effect the system requirements. The main stakeholder issues faced in Requirement Engineering are as follows: The Yes, But Syndrome The Yes, But syndrome is simply human nature and the users ability to experience the software. The Yes, But syndrome is the frustrating and the most occurring problem in all of application development. It is observed in users reactions for every piece of software developed. As per research, there are two immediate and different reactions when the users look the software functionality for the first time which are: [3] Wow, this is so cool; we can really use this, what a neat job, and so on. Yes, but, hmmmm, now that I see it, what about this . . . ? Wouldnt it be nice if . . . ? Whatever happened to . . . ? The Undiscovered Ruins Syndrome In Undiscovered Ruins syndrome, the more you find, the more you realize still remain. It seems that the search for requirements is similar to a search for undiscovered ruins. No one feels confident as he/she has done with all the requirements or not, and possibly you never will. Without a doubt, development teams always struggle to determine when they are in requirements elicitation process; the requirements which are available are enough; whether they have found all the requirements or when have they found at least enough? [3] The User and the Developer Syndrome Communication gap grows between the developer and the stakeholder. In many cases, developers and stakeholders are from different parts of world, may have different backgrounds and objectives and may even speak different languages. [3] The problems are: [3] Users do not know what they want, or they know what they want but they are unable to express to developers. Analysts think they understand user problems better than users do. Users have trust to themselves. They know what they want, and when functionality is handed over to them, they claim what they said they wanted? The Living with the Sins of your Predecessors Syndrome Stakeholder and developers remember what happened in the past. Issues appear every time after the end of release. And then the development team and stakeholders sit together and ensuring trust with each other and make sure that existing issues will not arise in next release. The team prioritize the requirements and cut down the features which are less important. Try to build trust slowly. But after sometime, there is a huge pressure from stakeholder that he wants i.e. XYZ features in upcoming release. And from here the problem starts, the release delivered consist unclear requirements and short of expectations. [10] Introduced new stakeholders during analysis Requirements change during the analysis process is very common. After requirements gathering, analysis phase starts. During analysis, new stakeholders may be introduced which results the change in the business environment. Other challenges concerning stakeholders There are some very common challenges. These challenges are faced by those stakeholders who are technically weak. The problems are: [12] Users dont have a clear vision of their requirements. Different vision of the system under development [13]. Users are not very capable to participate in reviews. Communication with users is slow. Users dont understand the development process. Users dont know about present technology. Users are not wise in the ways of the world/unsophisticated. Too honest to promise more than he could deliver. Different involvements of stakeholders. For example, some stakeholders are allowed to make decisions and others arent [13]. Conclusion: The focus of this research paper was to find out the communication and stakeholder problems in requirement engineering. After having literature review and research, we have identified the most important communication and stakeholder problems faced in RE. It is found that lack of understandability is the root cause of all other problems, and poor communication is the first step towards project failure. These problems are significant important because they are related to stakeholders and stakeholders have various other limitations while expressing their needs. Beyond all these issues, there are also applicable solutions presented to get over these problems.

The United States: An Empire in Denial

With the arrival and eventual establishment of a permanent settlement on American soil in the early seventeenth century, the English settlers came upon an expansive territory of land teeming with resources and endless possibilities. Soon, these settlers longed for liberty and thus desired to break free from the imperial clutches of British rule. Standing resolutely against a great and powerful empire, liberty was won in America by the blood of its founding fathers, indelibly written in the Declaration of Independence.Perhaps in these humble beginnings are the reasons why America today could never officially admit on how she has evolved into the empire she had once detested and fought. The facts, however, speak for themselves. America today is a colossal empire and as such, she has in her power the capacity to shape the future by creating a world environment conducive to profitable economic relations (especially to third-world countries) and international peace, both of which are in s hort supply, these days.What the world needs, according to Niall Ferguson in page 301 of his book ‘Colossus’, is an effective liberal empire and the United States is the best candidate for the job. What restrains America from accepting and performing its role as an imperial power? This paper delves on this question and discusses the following relevant issues: (1) definition of an empire, (2) what America has become, (3) the American might: strongholds around the globe, (4) the American empire: adherence and denial, and (5) America as the engine of global growth.America is now the only superpower in the world and she is in a position to greatly influence the course of human history. Main Body Definition of an Empire Probing into the topic at hand, it is necessary to elucidate on the true meaning of ‘empire’ as rationalized by Mr. Ferguson: An empire is ‘first and foremost, a very great power that has left its mark on the international relations of an e ra . . . a polity that rules over wide territories and many peoples, since the management of space and multi-ethnicity is one of the great perennial dilemmas of an empire .. . An empire is by definition . . . not a polity ruled with the explicit consent of its peoples, [But] by a process of assimilation of peoples of democratization of institutions empires can transform themselves into multinational federations or even nation states. (10) Thus defined, an empire does not require the general consensus of the people involved. However, an empire can adapt to whatever is the prevalent social, economic or political environment at hand. What America Has BecomeIn the course of human history for the past four centuries since the arrival of the English settlers in America, has the United States revealed itself, in whatever degree, as a nation with imperial intents? As Ferguson states: This book argues not merely that the United States is an empire but that it has always been an empire. Unlik e most of the previous authors who have remarked on this, I have no objection in principle to an American empire. Indeed, a part of my argument is that many parts of the world would benefit from a period of American rule (Ferguson 2).The United States is perceived to be the greatest empire to have ever existed in the history the mankind, propelling itself to the top, not only with its involvement and successes at previous wars, but most especially, with its exploitation of constant advances in science and technology for its defensive posture. In this field, America has no equal. As we have seen, by most conventional measures of power–economic, military and cultural–there has never been an empire mightier than the United States today (Ferguson289). The American Might: Strongholds around the GlobeFrom a military standpoint, America has the greatest influence over many other nations today. Controlling offensive and defensive strategic sites around the globe, its military arm is well-emplaced and is in the best position to act or react should the need arise. . . . the U. S. military has around 752 military installations in more than 130 countries . . . In the first year of President Bush’s presidency, around 70,000 U. S. troops were stationed in Germany, and 40,000 in Japan . . . Almost as many (36,500) were in South Korea . . .Moreover, new wars have meant new bases, like Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, acquired during the 1999 war against Yugoslavia, or the Bishkek air base in Kyrgyzstan . . . At the time of writing, about 10,000 American troops are still based in Afghanistan, and it seems certain that a substantial force of 100,000 will have to remain in Iraq for at least the next few years. (Ferguson 16) What other nation in the face of the earth – be it in the past or in the present – could ever boast of such a claim? What other nation is more prepared to control vast areas of land, air and water with its military dominance?On lan d the United States has 9,000 M1 Abrams tanks. The rest of the world has nothing that can compete. At sea the United States possesses nine ‘supercarrier’ battle groups. The rest of the world has none. And in the air the United States has three different kinds of undetectable stealth aircraft. The rest of the world has none. The United States is also far ahead in the production of ‘smart’ missiles and pilotless high-altitude ‘drones’ (Ferguson 16). The American Empire: Adherence and Denial The United States today is an empire – but a peculiar kind of empire.It is vastly wealthy. It is militarily peerless. It has astonishing cultural reach. Yet by comparison with other empires it often struggles to impose its will beyond its shores . . . Only when the United States could cast itself in an anti-imperialist role . . . were the Americans able to perform their own cryptoimperial role with self-confidence (Ferguson 287). This is where the Ameri can nation faces its greatest hurdle in reaching its full potential and becoming a great empire for the greater benefit of the world, for it could not bear the concept of an Imperial America.It took a succession of humanitarian disasters abroad in the 1990s and terrorist attacks at home in 2001 to rekindle public enthusiasm for a more assertive American foreign policy, though even this had to be cloaked in euphemism, its imperial character repeatedly denied (Ferguson 287). But this denial is not a sentiment shared by all Americans. As events unfold and the need for change arises, more and more adherents to an imperial America surface, publicly giving voice to an advocacy silently embraced by a few.Richard Haas, who went on to serve in the Bush administration as director of policy planning in the State Department, argued that Americans needed to ‘re-conceive their global role from one of traditional nation-state to an imperial power’, calling openly for an ‘informa l’ American empire . . . As Thomas Donnelly, deputy executive director of the Project for the New American Century, told the Washington Post in August 2001, â€Å"There’s not all that many people who will talk about it [empire] openly. It’s discomforting to a lot of Americans.So they use code phrases like ‘America is the sole superpower’ â€Å"(Ferguson 4). There is little doubt that the declaration of an imperial America would profoundly provoke global agitation. However, one must bear in mind that this is not a new concept and that for decades, this abstraction has always been in the backdrop, even more so in every anti-American cause one would care to listen to. Few people outside the United States today doubt the existence of an American empire; that America is imperialistic is a truism in the eyes of most educated Europeans.But the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr noted as long ago as 1960, Americans persist in ‘frantically avoiding recognit ion of the imperialism [they] in fact exercise (Ferguson 294). All evidence suggests that America is an empire. The denial of the American populace and most especially that of the United States government to this fact is not an altogether innocuous act or claim, as in the present case of Iraq and Afghanistan. Does imperial denial matter? The answer is that it does . . .The trouble with an empire in denial is that it tends to make two mistakes when it chooses to intervene in the affairs of lesser states. The first may be to allocate insufficient resources to the nonmilitary aspects of the project. The second, and the more serious, is to attempt economic and political transformation in an unrealistically short time frame. (Ferguson 294) America as the Engine of Global Growth To this day, America remains to be the behemoth that it is with the American dollar taking its rightful place as the international currency in the global market.Twentieth-century history handed the United States a privileged position in the world economy; its currency became and has remained the world’s favorite. Since 1945 it has been used more than any other for denominating international transactions, and that has made it the preferred currency for central bank reserves (Ferguson 283). America, it appears, has everything that is needed to perform its imperial role. It is even likely that, in these times of widespread poverty, many countries would rally behind this cause for simple economic motives.The reason that so much overseas capital flows into the United States, so it is said, is that the American economy is the engine of global growth and foreign investors simply want a ‘piece of the action’ (Ferguson 281). At the end of the day, the alleviation of poverty through the creation of a dynamic and vigorous economy is the backbone of a peaceful nation. Here is where one sees the role that America should play. The Role that America Should Play What the world needs toda y is not just any kind of empire.What is required is a liberal empire- that is to say, one that not only underwrites the free international exchange of commodities, labor and capital but also creates and upholds the conditions without which markets cannot function- peace and order, the rule of law, non-corrupt administration, stable fiscal and monetary policies- as well as provide public goods, such as transport infrastructure, hospitals and schools, which would not otherwise exist. (Ferguson 2) The question that must now be answered is: ‘Can the United States achieve the role of being an effective liberal empire?’ There is no doubt that the America of today has a foothold on almost all of the essential attributes required to perform this role. Although the United States seems in many ways ideally endowed –economically, militarily and politically – to run such an ‘empire of liberty’ (in Thomas Jefferson’s phrase), in practice it has bee n a surprisingly inept empire builder (Ferguson 2). Because of the democracy with which America was founded upon, we have seen time and again how the American populace, in general, refuses to accept the concept of an empire.As such, it could not move on to greater heights of historical attainment. Others would claim that many millions of people around the world have benefited in some way or another from the existence of America’s empire – not least the West Europeans, Japanese, and South Koreans who were able to prosper during the cold war under the protection of the American nuclear ‘umbrella’ – and that the economic losers of the post-cold war era, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are victims not of American power but of its absence (Ferguson 13).In the words of retired General Anthony Zinni: ‘What is our obligation to the world? ’ We preach about values, democracy, human rights, but we haven’t convinced the American people to pony up . . . There’s no leadership that steps up and says, ‘This is the right thing to do’ . . . That’s the basic problem . . . There has to be the political will and support for these things. We should believe that a stable world is a better place for us . . . the U. S.would make a much greater difference to the world. (Ferguson 293) Conclusion Through the acceptance and support for an American empire by the American people themselves – which in itself is a huge undertaking – the United States could significantly alter the course of human history for the better. This conclusion could better be proven by questioning any of the multitudinous impoverished citizens from a third-world country if such a nation would be better off under the auspices of the American dollar.The United States has always been an empire in denial. A truly unfortunate fact for humankind would have a much better place to live in if only the world, most especially the American populace, would accept, recognize and support this undeniable reality of an imperial America. Works Cited Fletcher, Richard. Colossus. U. K. : Penguin, 2004.

Quotes From V for Vendetta

Quotes from V for Vendetta: FinchOne thing is true of all governments – their most reliable records are tax records.VFear became the ultimate tool of this government.VNo, what you have are bullets, and the hope that when your guns are empty, Im no longer standing, because if I am... youll all be dead before youve reloaded.FinchIf our own government was responsible for the deaths of almost a hundred thousand people... would you really want to know?Evey HammondI wish I wasnt afraid all the time, but... I am.Evey HammondGod is in the rain...Evey Hammond [about Guy Fawkes and his attempt to blow up Parliament] We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. Ive witnessed first hand the power of ideas, Ive seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them... but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it... ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love... And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man... A man that made me remember the fifth of November†¦ a man that I will never forget.CreedyDefiant to the end, huh? You wont cry like him, will you? Youre not afraid of death. Youre like me.Sutler [shouts] We are being buried under the avalanche of your inadequacies, Mr. Creedy!SutlerI want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want everyone to remember why they need us!

Geoffrey Chaucer s The Wife Of Bath - 2255 Words

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath Prologue, we are told the story of the wife of bath Alyson and her many marriages. The role of the woman in this time period was to follow what her husband’s rules, and to obey the men in her life since a woman was considered incapable of running her own life and making decisions. When Alyson married her first husband, she was only twelve years old by the time she married her last husband she was forty. Although it was frowned upon for a woman to remarry Alyson did not see a problem with this since she was not disobeying the bible but following a section that she believed approved of the lifestyle she has had throughout the years. When Alyson first got married she was the person that had to be taken†¦show more content†¦Although they were much older than her and had much more money and power in society then she did Alyson was able to manipulate these men and make them do exactly what she wanted. She would use mind games and sex to get her way and her husbands, although they seemed to realise what she was doing, would allow for this to happen. Alyson would accuse her husbands of being unfaithful and would withhold sex from them unless they would give her money or do something that she wanted them to do. Because of the hold that she had on these men, when they all died they left her large sums on money. Soon Alyson became extremely rich and became the exact person she used to be able to manipulate. As her life continued and she married younger men the tables turned for Alyson. By the time she met her final husband, who was much younger then she was, she was unable to control him the way she was able to control the men that came before him. Since he was young he did not follow everything she said, he would want to live life in the way he believed he should and wanted Alyson to fund his ways of living. It is as though Alyson went from being the trophy wife that her older husbands once saw, to being a stere otypical cougar that this young man thought he would be able to control. Luckily for Alyson she knew what she deserved and she was not willing to let someone else control her and her ways, no matter how sexually attracted to them she was. Although Alyson does not