Requirements Development

Impact and Feasibility Analysis

Implemented requirements generate changes to the organization, technical architecture, security, business processes, and/or groups of people (both internal and external). The project team will be able to mitigate risks, set expectations and prevent unexpected consequences by understanding how the project will affect these organizational variables. Impact analysis includes identifying the impact if a requirement is not implemented, as well as the impact if it is included in the project deliverables. Use this information to set priorities and provide change management guidance.

Organizational Impact
Extends beyond project focus and may include:
• infrastructure and technology strategies
• other applications
• work process changes

During the requirements elicitation and facilitation process, you may identify requirements that certainly are possible, but they are not practical. A simple checklist can be used to focus attention on those requirements that affect areas of concern. The level of impact (None, Low, Medium, High) can be estimated and decisions regarding the feasibility of accepting a requirement can be guided by this analysis.

Where the project plan incorporates a staggered implementation of the deliverable or the project will be executed using an Agile development methodology, impact analysis may be needed to determine which requirements should be implemented for development cycle. Factors to consider when performing impact and/or feasibility analysis include:

  • Associated costs,
  • Complexity of implementing the requirement,
  • Skill levels of the technical development team and the users who will use the application and
  • The organization's operational ability to support the completed project deliverables.

These factors can provide requirement attribute definitions (i.e., Is the cost associated with implementing the requirement 'High', 'Medium' or 'Low'?), contributing to categorization of requirements.
The project manager and business sponsors should carefully review 'High' impact changes to verify their validity, cost, feasibility, effect on operations, and any other factors discovered during the impact analysis. This assessment should prevent unexpected results during and following the execution of a project.