Um estudo empírico sobre engenharia de requisitos em empresas de produtos de software

Abstract

The software market faces an increase in competitivity and in demands for software. Enterprises are led to develop software targeted not only at specific customers but also at huge consumer markets. Companies that deal with several consumer markets are known in the literature as developers of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS), also called packaged software, product software or market-driven software. COTS suppliers face many challenges and problems, mainly those known as Smallto- Medium Enterprises (SME). Some special studies show that the unsuitability of activities comprised by the Requirements Engineering Process is a critical factor for software projects success. Thus, this work presents an empirical study carried out with thirteen product software companies located in Recife - Pernambuco, Brazil. The empirical study was based on Experimental Software Engineering and on the qualitative paradigm, having as its main goal an investigation about which practices are performed and the main challenges and difficulties faced by Small-to-Medium Enterprises throughout the Requirements Engineering process