A MOD DE&S team needed systems requirements (functional and non-functional) to be developed for a counter defence for unmanned air systems.

There was a particular challenge as the post of requirements manager had been vacant since the beginning of the project. Therefore the current requirements had multiple authors who didn’t necessarily have specialised requirement writing knowledge.

Our approach

As the lead requirements manager, Synoptix was responsible for:

• Translating and linking the user requirements to the system requirements document (SRD)

• Authoring the verification and validation processes that would form the integrated test, evaluation and acceptance (ITEA) documentation

• Leading the evaluation process for responses for the invitation to tender.

• The requirements were imported into the chosen requirements management toolset (DOORS) where all the documentation could be easy to capture, trace, analyse, and have changes managed. Exemplar versions of the existing documentations were also written as a Learning Form Experience (LFE) reference point.

• An ITT compliance matrix was created to easily manage the 550 questions and answers from 18 individual markers, which were consolidated in consensus answers for a final mark.

Benefits

The requirements and surrounding documentation became standardised and traceable (full golden thread), with realistic measures of performance that were suitable for release to industry.

The ITT compliance matrix aided the project team in awarding a winner to the system that best fulfilled the user requirements.