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Identifying requirements for a construction software : a case study of a public sector construction organization

University of British Columbia

Over the past 10 to15 years, there has been a boom in the construction software market. Most of these software’s have functionality to support processes like document management, on-site data logging and reporting, and safety management. They simplify the process of entering and storing the data through supporting mobile and cloud-based computing. Several construction organizations are looking to adopt such IT solutions in their existing processes. One challenge they face is identifying the requirements for the software, and ensuring that it meets the needs and expectations of the internal stakeholders. This thesis aims to address this issue. In this thesis, a case study of one such organization is presented; the case organization was looking to adopt a construction software in its Engineering Services division, and facing the challenge of identifying its internal requirements. This thesis uses a structured requirements capture approach, adopted from the domain of software development, and applies it to some of the existing processes in the organization. Semi-structured interviews were used to document the current Business Use Cases (BUCs), and challenges relating to different business areas. Each documented BUC was analyzed to identify the software requirements, which can address the existing challenges and make the processes more efficient. The requirements were validated through using self-checklists, stakeholder verification and expert reviews. The methodology for capturing requirements is presented in a way such that it can easily be replicated by other organizations. Overall, this thesis dissertation highlights on the importance of pulling requirements from the stakeholders, and presents a case of applying systems development approach on typical construction processes.

Text

2016-08-16

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/58807

Civil Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/