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Process > Scope Management > SRS
A Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document is one of the central artifacts in the course of a software development project. It defines what shall be developed in great detail. The SRS is a rather technical document and usualy requires your significant attention to read and understand it.
The SRS is a format of the Specification. The SRS is based on the Vision and provides details for each Feature from it.
The SRS is created by a system analyst according to details provided by the requirements specifier (your representative). The SRS includes four sections:
IEEE 830-1998 'Recommended Practices for Software Requirements Specifications' is used to structure, define and maintain the SRS.
The amount of effort contributed to SRS development and maintenance depends on the project size and complexity. However, average numbers (in correlation with the project Budget) are as follows:
| Budget, staff-hours | Functional Requirements | SRS size, pages | Efforts, staff-hours | Time, weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000-2200 | 40-130 | 20-60 | 150-280 | 3-5 |
| 1900-3500 | 100-400 | 40-100 | 200-400 | 4-7 |
| 3000-5000 | 350-700 | 80-200 | 350-700 | 5-9 |
Functional Requirements for the SRS are uniquely identified and used in a Traceability Matrix in order to provide backward traceability for Features.
Citation from our software development contract: Specification is a description of Deliverables that may include Functional and Non-functional Requirements to Deliverables from user perspective ("black-box"), design constraints, use-cases, Glossary, and external interfaces description (including graphical user interfaces, GUI). Wherever used, Specification means either one of the following: Effective Specification, Alpha-Specification or Beta-Specification. Specification is also referred to as "Software Requirements Specification (SRS)", "Scope Statement", or "Change Request".
Last update on Jan 26, 2011