Agile Scope Management

Insurance company uses agile methods to limit scope of software requirements and then increases frequency of releases to build out the appropriate business capabilities, giving IT's customers an opportunity to iteratively describe their key requirements. ...

... "Keith Young, IT director at Standard Life, oversees approximately 500 programmers, and said the agile approach minimises the risk of an application not meeting business requirements. " ...

Via ComputerWeekly: Agile software development

Software Requirements Specifications: The Right Way

There's a useful article on Developer.com by Aleksey Shevchekno on the proper way to create effective Software Requirements Specifications.

He discusses the importance of use cases, how to design use case scenarios, the proper structure of a Software Requirements Spec, and even the appropriate language to use. He also suggests making the spec technology-independent and recommends appropriate wording.

Even for those with Agile projects, where the requirements will evolve as prototypes and iterations are developed, it's a valuable exercise to go through. Read on...

Software Requirements Specifications: The Right Way