Chapter 4. How Long Do Requirements Take?

Analysts and managers sometimes ask me how long it will take to perform requirements development on their next project. There is no fixed answer to the question. Multiple variables contribute to this issue. Various industry averages have been published to suggest what percentage of a typical project’s effort should be devoted to requirements development. Data from different benchmarks don’t agree very well, though, and whether these "typical" projects are similar to your own is questionable.

Industry Benchmarks

Here’s an illustration. Table 4-1 presents some industry benchmark data for the average percent of total ...

Get More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.