What is troubling IT analysts? A survey report from Poland on requirements-related problems

Abstract

Requirements engineering and business analysis are activities considered to be important to software project success but also difficult and challenging. This paper reports on a survey conducted in Polish IT industry, aimed at identifying most widespread problems/challenges related to requirements. The survey was targeted at people performing role of analyst in commercial IT projects. The questionnaire included 64 pre-defined problems gathered from a literature review and a workshop involving a small group of analysts. It was completed by 55 respondents, each of whom assessed the frequency of occurrence for pre-defined problems and optionally could report additional problems based on their work experience. A ranking of most frequent problems is presented in this paper. Additional analyses for more specific contexts: agile projects and smaller/larger development teams are also provided. Final sections of the paper include comparison of our results and results of reported surveys conducted in other countries, followed by a discussion.