Too many times I have seen folks try to skip steps in the systems engineering process and watched as they failed to achieve a workable design. Today I’d like to discuss the importance of getting requirements right before design starts. A recent case in point involved development of shipboard electronic controls, but the same idea of setting requirements early and managing them throughout the Systems Engineering process is critical to success in any project.

A design agent selected a vendor for a control system for incorporation in a new ship design, without fully understanding the functional and performance requirements. After getting into the program and subsequently spending precious funds, the customer realized they hadn’t adequately described the requirements the vendor needed to satisfy, but it was too late to recover the funds already spent.

So, who’s fault is it? The vendor or the customer? Well each has some culpability, but more importantly an informed customer should only let a contract with a mature set of requirements, even if it involves having a vendor help solidify those requirements as part of a phase one of a project, before letting the final contract. Also, the vendor shouldn’t promise to deliver the solution if they don’t understand the problem (read requirements). The company’s reputation will only suffer in the long run, when unhappy customers pass along their dissatisfaction to others.

So the lesson learned here is:

GET THE REQUIREMENTS RIGHT EARLY!