Fitting business models to system functionality exploring the fitness relationship

Abstract

One of the major concerns in Requirements Engineering is to establish that the 'whys' of the system to be developed fit the 'whats' of the delivered system. The aim is to ensure a 'best fit' between organisation needs (whys) and system functionality (whats). However, systems, once developed, undergo changes and it is of prime importance that the changed need and the changed system functionality continue to preserve the 'best fit'. We explore the fitness relationship to reveal its nature and its engineering process. We identify major issues that must be addressed in this process to arrive at the best fit. We also consider the preservation of this relationship in the face of change and discuss some issues specific to this scenario. The results presented are founded in our experience in about a dozen industrial and research European projects. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.