Requirements Elicitation for Mobile B2B Applications – Management Assignment Help

Assignment Task

 

Management Summary
Mobile B2B applications are an emerging issue when it comes to the adoption of new technologies in business, providing innovative opportunities for multiple operations between customers and companies. For organisations that have decided to implement such an application within the scope of a project, the requirements elicitation process depicts an important step in order to determine necessities and to build a basis for subsequent strategic decisions. This paper depicts an offer for a B2B food sector company with the intention of identifying the requirements for such a project. The introduced approach utilises approved methods and techniques from the fields of project and software management.
The offer covers an examination of three relevant categories of requirements. In order to determine the functional requirements (functionalities the B2B application has to exhibit), the methods stakeholder analysis and software benchmarking are introduced. For the structural requirements (possibility and appropriateness to implement the application within the company’s structural circumstances), system environment analysis, personnel analysis as well as risk identification and analysis cover a basis for future decisions. Finally, project time planning and life-cycle cost analysis investigate the resources requirements the company will have to face. The study will be conducted within a timeframe of 6 months (26 weeks) which is illustrated by a Gantt-chart. Overall, the holistic character of the approach, the acknowledged benefits of the individual methods as well as the recommendations which can be derived on the basis of the defined objectives will make the study of high value to the client and provide adequate information for further actions regarding the application’s programming and implementation process.

1. Introduction – Background and Objectives
New communication technologies always bring along new chances and ways of conducting daily business operations. In this context, the utilisation of the internet to collaborate with trading partners depicts a notable advance within the last two decades. These direct electronical collaborations are commonly labelled as business-to-business (B2B) applications, which for example target “e-procurement, supply-chain management (SCM), and B2B e-payment” (Al-Naeem et al., 2005, p. 41). Due to the rise of mobile devices like smartphones or tablets and the concomitant increased usage of professionals’ mobile devices during work, especially mobile B2B applications have been evolving as an important tool for customer relationship management (Smilansky, 2015). Nowadays, people already spend more time using mobile applications than internet via traditional desktop computers (Zamfiroiu, 2015). Well-known software manufacturers already detected this development, offering mobile B2B applications for multiple business purposes (Tornack et al., 2011).
The client, an SME providing food products to catering companies, is aware of this progress and intends to program and implement a mobile B2B application for his customers. However, due to the high complexity of such IT projects, only an extensive exposure of the requirements can prevent the project from certain failure (Azadegan et al., 2013). Based on the results of more than hundred research and development projects, Dvir et al. (2003) point out that project success is strongly correlated with the definition of those requirements. In order to determine relevant requirements of this project, a study shall provide valuable information about different project necessities. Regarding software development, this process is commonly labelled as ‘requirements engineering’ respectively ‘requirements elicitation’ which describes “seeking, uncovering, acquiring and elaborating requirements for computer based systems” (Zowghi and Coulin, 2005, p. 19). Although requirements elicitation is mostly perceived as the first major step of a software engineering project, the shape of its process and used methods varies, depending on the particular project (Vijayan and Raju, 2011). Hence, this report can be understood as a consulting offer to conduct a requirements elicitation study, outlining all pertinent methods which are of importance for the individual case of the client.
It is of fundamental importance that the study as well as the development of the mobile B2B application for the client itself can be seen as projects. Projects are unique sets of temporary activities with a definable goal, which cut across functional lines and imply risks as well as costs for an organisation (Nicholas and Steyn, 2012). That is why project management methods as well as experiences from software project management case studies will take a key role in the presented requirements elicitation approach. The study covers the following objectives and related methods in order to reveal the client’s requirements for the project of developing and implementing a mobile B2B application, whereas objectives and methods build on one another:

Objective 1: Identifying the functional requirements of mobile B2B applications within the food market for catering companies
Stakeholder Analysis
Software Benchmarking
Objective 2: Identifying the structural requirements to program and implement the application within the current company structure and capabilities
System Environment Analysis
Personnel Analysis
Risk Identification and Analysis
Objective 3: Identifying the resources requirements the client has to raise for programming, implementing and operating the mobile B2B application
Project Time Planning
Life-Cycle Cost Analysis
At first, the offer will illustrate the intended relevant methods which are required in order to reveal the particular requirements of the three objectives. Here, the methods are described shortly, while evidences from project management background exemplify the adequacy of the methods. Based on the introduced methods and their approximate time need, the offer will illustrate the intended approach with the aid of a Gantt chart, providing an overview with start and end times for the individual project steps and methods. Subsequently, the contribution of the particular methods and the project as a whole will elucidate why the illustrated approach is the most useful one for the company’s objectives, supported by several industry cases. Finally, the concluding remarks will summarise the main details of the offer in order to provide final decision guidance towards this offer.

2. Supporting Evidence – The Requirements Elicitation Approach
The general aim of the study is to provide a holistic research approach for the client, which covers all relevant kinds of requirements in order to assess the necessities of programming and implementing the mobile B2B application. The following chapter illustrates the background as well as the individual processes of the particular methods.
It has to be considered that the information gathering process of all the intended methods requires an open communicative exchange with the client. Changing client requirements or circumstances can occur during the whole requirements elicitation process and should be incorporated as soon as the changes are identified. Therefore, a continuous two-way communication process with the client in the form of a permanent contact person secures adequacy of the study (Nakatani et al., 2014). This is supported by Houdek and Pohl (2000) who examine the requirements elicitation process of Daimler-Chrysler projects and emphasise that over 50% of the requirements changes happen after the actual identification process.