A Requirements Package (a.k.a. Requirement Templates Package) represents a comprehensive collection of requirements. The Evaluation Specification Editor (ESEdit) lets you quickly and easily import requirements from a Requirements Package using drag & drop. ESEdit is part of the Evaluator's Application Suite (EAS).

The Business Infrastructure Requirements Package is the largest Requirements Package and includes all other Requirement Packages. It pays tribute to the fact that modern service-oriented architectures demand a well-integrated business infrastructure, which provides basic services that multiple applications can make effective use of. Repository services, business process management services, business rules management services, and security services are just a few constituents of a modern business infrastructure.

This article explains how you can make effective use of the Business Infrastructure Requirements Package. Please read on to learn more about how you can dramatically cut down on the time needed to arrive at a well-authored Evaluation Specification.

You can make effective use of Requirements Packages in basically two situations:

1. You choose to create an Evaluation Specification from scratch
2. You intend to enhance an existing Evaluation Specification

First, let us have a look at the Business Infrastructure Requirements Package. Please click here to open the Requirements Package Browser in a new window. Please note that a license is needed to fully view the contents of the Requirements Package.

The Requirements Package is hierarchically organized. It is composed of Requirement Categories and Requirements. The browser view provides you with insight into the structure of a typical Requirements Package and the structure of Requirement Categories and Requirements.

An Evaluation Specification is also hierarchically organized. If you are already familiar with the basic ideas, you know that an Evaluation Specification is composed of parts, sections, paragraphs, requirement groups and requirements.

It is absolutely necessary to establish mutual understanding of an Evaluation Specification (and thus a Request For Proposal (RFP)). In practice, more often than not, authors of an Evaluation Specification are too vague not only about requirements but also about their context. It is no wonder that vendors tend to interpret requirements in a broadminded fashion. It is their intent to demonstrate that their product meets the requirements. 

As a result, it is not uncommon that misunderstandings surface fairly late in the evaluation process. The usual results are time-consuming inquiries directed at vendors and substantial delays in the evaluation process. Not least, the risk of arriving at a disadvantageous decision increases with mounting time pressure.

As a consequence, it is a good idea to express the context of your requirements as well as the actual requirements as precisely as possible. A Requirements Package proves helpful here in two ways.

Firstly, when you author an Evaluation Specification, you can import text from Requirement Categories into an Evaluation Specification. Text would typically be pasted into Sections, Paragraphs and Requirement Groups. The actual context determines the most suitable option to use.

Text pasted in from Requirement Categories helps establish mutual understanding between the Evaluation Specification author and all the vendors that will receive the RFP. Thus, the danger of late "surprises" is effectively minimized.

Secondly, you would import Requirements from the Requirements Package using drag & drop, which is quite easy and quick.

In summing up, making effective use of a Requirements Package helps you author high-quality Evaluation Specifications, and, in addition, helps you speed up the evaluation process dramatically.