4.7.3 Assessing Requirements Engineering Processes with the REAIMS Model: Lessons Learned
Marjo Kauppinen, Sari Kujala · INCOSE International Symposium · 2001
Abstract Organizations are becoming increasingly interested in improving their requirements engineering processes. The assessment of the current situation is the first step towards systematic process improvement. The REAIMS model (Sommerville et al. 1997) has been developed to evaluate the status of existing requirements practices. This paper describes an assessment process and two assessment instruments that can help organizations to use the REAIMS model. We evaluated the model, the process and the instruments by performing an assessment in three organizations. The results of the study indicate that the REAIMS model provides useful information for communication, motivation and process improvement planning. REAIMS assessment results are dependent on assessors, and are therefore not reliable for long‐term monitoring and benchmarking as such. A systematic assessment process such as the one described in this paper can improve reliability of assessment results.