We at SBDi recognize that many corporations take this time of year to look at reorganizing to meet the demands of business. We also receive many career-counseling advice questions from employees and consultants looking for opportunities to move and improve their career. For this reason, we begin this year's Tip of the Month section with a look at the Requirement Engineer Organization.

Requirement Engineer Organizations can be categorized in four styles:

1. Central or Divisional-Matrix
2. Focused-Matrix
3. Project Aligned
4. Combination

Central or Divisional-Matrix Organizations are formed when the Requirement Engineers are pooled together in a central group reporting directly to either the business or Information Technology organization. If divisions within the corporation each have their own Information Technology development staff, then they are divisional-matrix. The Requirement Engineers are not scattered among different project teams, but report into a single group manager. They are then assigned to different projects, as needed, creating a matrix style reporting. The Requirement Engineer is, for each project, reporting to both the project manager (or managers) for the project(s) as well as to his/her own Requirement Engineer manager. The benefit of having all Requirement Engineers grouped together allows for the continual sharing of ideas, techniques, and, of course, assistance to each other. Better communication exists when Requirement Engineers discuss their group's projects, which may stimulate conversation on how one project may impact another.

Though rare, some central or divisional matrix organizations report directly into the business unit. The benefit of this alignment allows the Requirement Engineer to be alerted of new projects immediately, and benefits the business unit by capturing non-technology-related requirements. The risk of this organization alignment is the possibility of not having access to technologists or technology information, such as data structures, program listings, and other valuable information to uncover additional requirements and constraints.

Focused Matrix Organizations are similar to the Central/Divisional Matrix. Requirement Engineers are assigned to different projects, as needed, creating a matrix style reporting. The Requirement Engineer is, for each project, reporting to both the project manager for the project as well as his/her own focused requirement engineer manager. The difference is that they may be separated by type of requirements they capture. For example, the data analyst (capturing information "what" requirements) may be separated from the business analyst (capturing process "how" requirements) who may be separated from the network engineers (capturing connectivity "where" requirements). In this scenario, it is the responsibility of the project manager to coordinate the efforts of each focused Requirement Engineer. The project manager must ensure that all of the requirements are complete, consistent, and do not conflict between the requirements.

Project Aligned Organizations take a decentralized approach. Requirement Engineers report directly to one manager: the manager in charge of the project. This is the least favored organizational style by SBDi. This style does not facilitate the continual growth of Requirement Engineers. It does not allow for moral support if a project manager does not believe in the requirement engineering process. It does not facilitate the sharing of information that may identify conflicts with other systems. Each project team may have a different requirement engineering process to capture requirements, creating an eclectic set of requirement sets that may or may not be reusable.

What is seen most often in corporations is a combination of both Matrix and Aligned Organization styles. Some focus areas are separated (usually the network engineers and data analysts). Those responsible for the other type of requirements are usually aligned with the project manager. Those matrix are usually aligned with the physical implementers for the focus area. In other words, the data analysts are grouped with the database administrators. This allows for key corporate infrastructures (data and network, for example) to be corporate-focused. The other type of requirements are left to the ability of the Requirement Engineer and project manager to be coordinated with other projects and written in a reusable manner.

When a decentralized style (focus, project, combination) is used, it is strongly recommended that, at minimum, a monthly meeting occurs between all categories of Requirement Engineers to share their experiences and knowledge. Requirement Engineering, as a discipline, is in its adolescence stage of development in the corporate world. Sharing and helping others is an important key to achieving maximum return on the corporation's investment.

Determining which organizational style is best suited for your organization will depend upon the following:

1. Size of the corporation
2. Number of projects
3. Type of projects
4. Number of skilled Requirement Engineers
5. The skill set of the Requirement Engineers

SBDi is available to assist your organization in defining an organization style and developing an organizational strategy to reorganize and implement the style that best fits your organization. Pat Ferdinandi