The Requirements-Gathering Process

What the "system" is

To define what the ICM system should do, it is essential to understand what is meant by the "system." Not simply a piece of technology, the system is considered a total entity made up of people, organizations, hardware, and software. All these components must work together to achieve the goals of the project, and the system requirements must specify what is expected from each.

Educate and define

Defining what is required of each component is a challenging task, because no single person understands the system fully when requirements-gathering begins. Nor can they, for the requirements emerge from the additive process of each person defining what they believe the system must do in order to meet their agency's particular needs.

In a successful requirements-gathering process, each participant will learn more about their fellow users and how their requirements can fit in with the requirements of others. This process is iterative and can require creativity and compromise. It is thus both educational and definitional:

  • To educate stakeholders about the range of needs along the corridor
  • To define how those needs can be met to benefit corridor operations as a whole