0.11 Project planning  (Page 4/21)

To restrict the types of solutions you might include these performance constraints:

• It must take a load of at least one ton.
• The load area must be covered.
• The load area must have a height of at least 10 feet.

Similarly, for the computer system example ( [link] ), you might specify values for the generic types of performance constraints:

• The response time for information to appear to a user.
• The number of hours a system should be available.
• The number of records a system should be able to hold.
• The capacity for growth of the system.
• The length of time a record should be held for auditing purposes.

For the customer records example these might be:

• The system should be available from 9 AM to 5 PM Monday to Friday.
• The system should be able to hold 100,000 customer records initially.
• The system should be able to add 10,000 records a year for 10 years.
• A record should be fully available on the system for at least 7 years.

The important point with these examples is that they restrict the number of solution options that are offered to you by the developer. In addition to the performance constraints you may include some development constraints.

There are three general types of development constraints:

• Time : When a deliverable should be delivered
• Resource : How much money is available to develop the deliverable
• Quality : Any standards that are used to develop the deliverable, and develop methods, etc.

Technical requirements

Technical requirements emerge from the functional requirements, they answer the question, and how will the problem be solved this time; will it be solved technologically and/or procedurally. They answer how the system needs to be designed and implemented to provide required functionality and fulfill required operational characteristics. For example, in a software project, the functional requirements may stipulate that a data base system will be developed to allow access to financial data through a remote terminal; the corresponding technical requirements would spell out the architecture of the data structure, the language in which the database management system will be written, the hardware on which the system will run, telecommunication protocols that should be used and so forth.

User requirements

User requirements are what the users need to do with the system or product. They focus on the experience users need to have with the system, they can also reflect how the product will be designed, and define how test cases must be formulated.

Business requirements

Business requirements are the needs of the sponsoring organization, always from a management perspective. Business requirements are statements of the business rationale for the project. They are usually expressed in broad outcomes the business requires, rather than specific functions the system may perform. These requirements grow out of the vision for the product that, in turn, is driven by mission (or business) goals and objectives.

Regulatory requirements

Regulatory requirements can be internal or external and are usually non-negotiable. They are the restrictions, licenses and laws applicable to a product or business, imposed by the government.