Software Requirements, Second Edition

Chapter 4. The Requirements Analyst

Explicitly or implicitly, someone performs the role of requirements analyst on every software project. Corporate IS organizations identify specialists called business analysts to perform this function. Synonyms for requirements analyst include systems analyst, requirements engineer, requirements manager, and simply analyst. In a product-development organization, the job is often the product manager’s or marketing staff’s responsibility. The analyst is a translator of others’ perspectives into a requirements specification and a reflector of information back to other stakeholders. The analyst helps stakeholders find the difference between what they say they want and what they really need. He or she educates, questions, ...