A Framework to Analyse the Approach Adopted in the Information Systems Requirements Engineering Activity

The RE is likely to be the more critical activity in the IS development. A misleading requirements definition results in an inadequate IS deployment for the target workplace. The activity of requirements engineering (RE) is the initial stage for the information systems development process. The RE is often developed using an excessive technological-driven approach. This aspect is pointed as a factor for the failure of the RE and consequently to the corresponding information system. An IS supports work activities. Work activities can be viewed as having different dimensions, namely: technical, social, and organizational. A successful IS should be well conceived technically and should support adequately the social and organizational aspects [4, 6, 13, 14, 18, 23, 34, 35, 37]. We present an evaluation framework for the requirements engineering activities within organizational settings that can help on analysing how this important activity is carried out in organizations. This framework, designed by RETIS, is composed by three parts. The first part focuses on the organizational domain, the second focuses on the users and information systems’ stakeholders, and the third focuses on the underlying methods and techniques. Often requirements engineers assume a decisionmaking role asking the users what type of system should be designed. The users have a consultive and passive role. This work is often developed without social and organizational concerns. The IS implementation in a real setting interferes with the social and organizational structures. These effects should be considered in the requirement engineering activity [17, 24, 25, 31, 34, 36]. This requires that RE should be conducted by requirements engineers with expertise on social and organizational issues. It also requires that requirements engineers promote an active, participative, and responsible involvement of users [5, 16, 31, 33]. The idea is to encourage the representation of users’ tacit values, motivations and perspectives [13, 22]. The initial validation of this investigation was based in the application of the RETIS in five real organizational settings. Organizations that demonstrate higher maturity in their information systems’ function presented a less technological-driven RE approach.