I am not sure if this is the correct place to ask this question. I am a 20+ year seasoned project manager and I have a BA working for me gathering business requirements for a request for proposal. I am conflicted with the structure of the requirements. In my career I have had requirements structured as “the solution must” or “the system will”. The BA working for me has structured all of the requirements as “ability to…”. The reason I struggle is, in my mind, if a vendor responds they can say they have the ability to do something but it doesn’t hold them to do it. If the requirements are formally demanded with a “must” or “will” I can then hold that vendor to the response contractually. While I feel ability is perfectly fine, does it actually reduce all ambiguity when it comes to holding a vendor to the requirement?
What is your opinion on this?
There is not intended difference between "the system will", "the system shall", "the solution must", "the ability to" . If you are concerned that the vendor would try to use this language to claim victory then you are working with the wrong vendor.
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