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2/15/2008 5:58 AM

	K_Ellis
1 posts

New Research: Companies with poor requirements spend on average $2.24Million more per project

Modified By ModernAnalyst.com on 2/15/2008 4:16:07 PM)

A new research study on the impact of business requirements on organizations has been released. The study is backed by a large number of surveys of strategic projects in larger companies across North America.

Some top level findings:

Companies with poor requirements, on average, spend $2.24 million more per project on strategic projects than those that employ requirements best practices.
Companies with poor requirements and business analysis capability have three project failures for every one project success.
Only 32% of companies employ practices that make the likelihood of project success “Probable”. The remaining 68% enter every project with an “Improbable” likelihood of success, even before they begin the project.
Over 40% of the IT development budget for software, staff and external professional services will be consumed by poor requirements at the average company using average analysts. This requirements premium is avoided by organizations that consistently use best practices in business requirements when completing projects.

The full report can be accessed through www.iag.biz

The executive summary can be pulled from http://www.iag.biz/images/resources/iag%20business%20analysis%20benchmark%20-%20executive%20summary.pdf

The data is designed to help analysts show the importance of what they do, quantify the impact of good quality requirements, and show a path for success that is backed by statistics.

I look forward to your comments.

2/15/2008 12:41 PM

	Adrian M.
765 posts

Re: New Research: Companies with poor requirements spend on average $2.24Million more per project

Hi Keith,

Very nice study! Thank you for sharing with the BA community!

Here are a couple of comments:

very informative statistic of the "premium" that companies end up paying when using low quality requirements ~ 60%,
also good to see the things that successful projects have in common: mature requirements process, technology, & competencies,
I also like your finding that "Elite requirements elicitation skills can be used to change success probabilities on projects."

This report is great news for business analysis and for those interested in the business analysis profession. All organizations involved in creating business applications need competent business analysts in order for the projects to succeed (especially larger projects).

- Adrian

Adrian Marchis
Business Analyst Community Blog - Post your thoughts!

2/15/2008 2:12 PM

	David Wright
141 posts
www.iag.biz

Re: New Research: Companies with poor requirements spend on average $2.24Million more per project

Mr. Ellis,

It's a small world; I have just joined IAG and start on Tuesday.

Is your previous paper on explaining importance of requirements to executives also available on the site? I recommend it to all our fellow members as well.

Dave Wright

David Wright

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