A typical computer application includes a composite of software, hardware, and network components. System requirement specification (SyRS) is a detailed outline of the requirements necessary to create a complete system. These requirements are documented in an effort to define the complete functionality, availability, performance, and security needs of a system.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the largest technical society dedicated to standards in the electronic and computer field. IEEE has created a set of standard procedures on how a system requirement specification should be documented. This documentation includes guidance on the creation, organization, and modifications of the system's requirements.
The creation of a SyRS is typically completed by a business analyst. The business analyst is a professional who is responsible for converting business jargon into technical solutions. She is the liaison between the business and the technical community. A good business analyst is an effective communicator who can articulate business needs to a technical team.
There are many benefits in following the best practice guidelines for a system requirement specification. The requirements specification is the foundation of the architecture, design, and implementation that will be built. These requirements are used to determine the level of effort needed to complete a project. Bad requirements are comparable to a bad foundation for a building, which will always lead to a failed implementation.
All systems have performance requirements that should be documented within the system requirement specification. These requirements define the response time, availability, and productivity of a system on specific tasks. As an example, an insurance company could have a requirement to process 100,000 insurance claims per day. This requirements would be considered a performance requirement.
A functional requirement is a characteristic of a system based on specific business processes. A functional requirement could be as simple as rules for how an application should create and save data in the system. For example, a business could require that all persons must have an address before the system will save the data to a storage device. This functional requirement would be documented within the requirements specification.
The security requirements are often the most important aspects of a system. These requirements are documented to outline how data will be accessed and the what policies should be used for encrypting the data within the application. With the ongoing threat of hackers and online predators, cyber security has become an increasingly important requirement for most computer systems.
