The first step in any application development project is to collect the user requirements. Get that wrong, and the project will be in trouble.
While there are automated tools to manage requirements after they're gathered, there aren't many tools for developing them in the first place. So Accenture Technology Labs is working to change that.
The R&D lab is building a suite of software tools that automate steps of the requirements development process while enforcing the use of well-known best practices, according to an Accenture blog post .
A tool developed to ensure clarity in the requirements document, for example, performs semantic and syntactic analyses to identify unclear text that could result in misunderstandings. (Poorly written requirements lead to rework, higher costs and delays.)
Accenture said it has used the requirements analysis tool on more than 200 IT projects and has seen "significant cost savings."
Other plans call for a "requirements acquisition assistant" and a "glossary development assistant."
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