Requirements Engineering Practices and Challenges in the Context of Big Data Software Development Projects: Early Insights from a Case Study

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

This paper reports on the results of an exploratory case study on a large-scale Big Data systems development project in the OilGas domain within a non-profit organisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the RE practices and challenges in such projects, currently bereft in the scientific literature. This investigation was focused on: (a) RE practices; (b) sources and distribution of requirements; (c) the role of Big Data characteristics and technologies in RE and systems design; and (d) RE challenges in engineering Big Data Systems. The main results show that (a) there is a lack of specific project tailored RE practices, tools, and frameworks for elicitation, specification and modelling, analysis, and prioritisation of requirements; (b) 40% of the system's requirements are considered Big Data-related from which 75% are identified from internal sources; (c) Big Data characteristics and technologies play an important role in defining quality requirements and system's architecture; (d) five challenges in eliciting, documenting, and analysing Big Data related requirements were identified and discussed. The findings suggest academics and practitioners opportunities to engage in further research in this area.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2020 IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Big Data 2020
EditorsXintao Wu, Chris Jermaine, Li Xiong, Xiaohua Tony Hu, Olivera Kotevska, Siyuan Lu, Weijia Xu, Srinivas Aluru, Chengxiang Zhai, Eyhab Al-Masri, Zhiyuan Chen, Jeff Saltz
Number of pages8
PublisherIEEE
Publication date2020
Pages2012-2019
Article number9377734
ISBN (Electronic)9781728162515
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Event8th IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Big Data 2020 - Virtual, Atlanta, United States
Duration: 10 Dec 202013 Dec 2020

Conference

Conference8th IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Big Data 2020
LandUnited States
ByVirtual, Atlanta
Periode10/12/202013/12/2020
SponsorAnkura TM, IBM, IEEE, IEEE Computer Society

    Research areas

  • Big Data Challenges, Big Data Requirements, Big Data Systems, Case Study, Requirements Engineering

ID: 260406923