Requirements Engineering in Global Software Development: Preliminary Findings from a Case Study in a SW-CMM context i

Abstract

The requirements engineering is an important phase in the software development process. In geographically distributed environments (Global Software Development), requirements become critical due to the characteristics of the distributed development (physical distance, cultural differences, trust, communication, etc). The objective of this paper is to analyze the requirements engineering in geographically distributed environments, identifying the main challenges. The results are based on a case study carried on at Dell Inc., a multinational organization that has offshore software development centers in Brazil, India and Russia, and was recently recognized as a level 2 organization in the SW-CMM Model in the Brazilian unit. The results suggest the necessity to adapt the requirements engineering to the distributed software development environment, addressing the main existing challenges. The problems and the solutions adopted are presented, aiming to relate these solutions to the organization distribution level, considering the project team, users and customers.