This ReadyNote is a tutorial on the software requirements engineering process. It provides a description of requirements elicitation, analysis, verification and validation, and specification. Special topics include the interface between software engineering and software requirements, and the roles acquisition management and project management play in requirements engineering. Two important IEEE Standards are described: IEEE Std 1362-1998, Guide for Information Technology -- System Design -- Concepts of Operations Document and IEEE Std 830-1998, Recommended Practice for Software Requirements Specifications. The guide concludes with three examples of system and/or software requirements specifications based on the IEEE standard, as well as diagrams and a list of selected references on system and software requirements engineering.

• Richard H. Thayer is a consultant in software engineering and project management, and a visiting senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to 20 years as a professor of software engineering at California State University, Sacramento, Thayer served as a senior officer in the US Air Force. His Air Force experience included six years as a supervisor and technical lead of scientific programming groups, four years directing the US Air Force R&D program in computer science, and six years managing large data-processing organizations.
• Thayer is a principal author for a Standard for a Concept of Operations (ConOps) document (IEEE Std 1362-1998) and a principal author of the Standard for Software Project Management Plans (IEEE Std 1058-1998). He has edited or coedited more than a dozen tutorial books, as well as over 40 technical papers and reports on software project management, software engineering, and software engineering standards. He has been an invited speaker at international software engineering conferences and workshops.
• Merlin Dorfman is a Quality Systems Advisory Engineer at Cisco Systems in San Jose, California. He is a member of the Network Management Technology Group (NMTG) Quality Team and also works with the team investigating the possible use of the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) at Cisco and with the team developing the next-generation product development process. Dorfman retired in 1997 from Lockheed Martin Corp., where he was a technical consultant in the System Engineering organization, Space Systems Product Center, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Company (now Sunnyvale Operations, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company). He was the first chair of the Space Systems Division's Software Engineering Process Group.
• Dorfman has been a guest lecturer on software systems engineering at the Defense Systems Management College (now part of Defense Acquisition University). An active Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Dorfman is a winner of its Aerospace Software Engineering Award for 1999, an affiliate member of the IEEE Computer Society, and a senior member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and its Software Division.