Towards a Model of Requirements Elicitation for Software Procurement

Requirements elicitation for COTS is a much under-researched area. However, for software vendors the ability to undertake rapid requirements elicitation (RRE) in response to an RFT is absolutely critical. This appears to be an area where practice is well-advanced on research. A case study is used to demonstrate that gaining access to key knowledge sources in vital in RRE. Here, social network analysis techniques may be used to good effect in mapping relevant communications networks and in quantifying influence levels between key players in the procurement process. The communications network is also a major driver of the organizational decision making paradigm that underpins our software procurement model: specifically, a variant of the ‘garbage can’, derived ultimately from the original version presented 30 years previously, but intuitively appealing and still attracting much interest from contemporary researchers in a variety of fields. The abstracted RRE model presented here is based on the episodic/encounter software procurement model specified by Heiskanen et al. [5]. In addition, by representing key elements of their model using a system dynamics formalism, the powerful simulation capabilities of modern system dynamics software packages can be taken used to advantage. Specifically, the ithink modelling and simulation package is employed. Motivation is a major determinant of the effort that vendors apply to managing relationships with their customers. Expectancy theory [3] is one of the better-known and more useful theories of motivation, it maps very neatly to a system dynamics representation [8], key aspects of the episodic/encounter model are quite consistent with expectancy theory and, consequently, it is utilised as a framework for our own procurement model. Finally, our model, while still a prototype and requiring considerable extension, has been developed to the stage where it may be employed to simulate important facets of the software procurement process and as a pedagogical aid in ‘games’ mode.