System Requirements Analysis

And why it is important even if you are selling an old product to a new customer

I was asked this question whilst giving a training course to some System Engineers.

We already have the product, we are just selling it to a new customer. ‘Why do I need to do Requirements Analysis’?

I’ll admit, I did have to think about it for a short time. But the answer is quite simple.

You need to do Requirements Analysis (on the new customers Requirements) to show that the existing product does actually meet the requirements.

Requirements, Analysis, Architecture

If you are selling a product that you have sold many times before, of course you “know” that it is what the new customer wants. Or at least you think you know. But:

1. Every customer is slightly different, they all probably want minor changes, or have slightly different use cases, or a different environment, or different standards to comply to. So maybe the existing product needs modifications and its very helpful to know exactly what needs modifying and trace it to requirements. Perhaps the customer will drop them to make a saving.
2. Many quality and safety standards require traceability that shows how a product (or a design, an implementation etc) meets the given requirements.