Requirements?

Recently I took on a project that needed help.  In my position, I commonly get brought into projects that have issues and need help.  This particular project is the acquisition of a piece of equipment. From the beginning of the project, there were no requirements.  The organization wanted this particular piece of equipment, but they did not have the requirements to use it.  I guess they were in a "buy it and we will figure it out" situation. This situation is not really what you want before an organization makes an expensive capital purchase.

The purchase is on hold.

We are now going back to the beginning and gathering the requirements and specifications for this piece of equipment.  I am building a Requirements/Specification Breakdown Structure to help visualize those requirements/specifications. Additionally, I am building the Requirements/Specification Breakdown Structure to show management the business case for the purchase of this machinery from this point of view.  The danger is that the data will not bear out the case for the purchase of the equipment and the previous work will be wasted, but that is why we have the process.

One lesson learned from this situation is to start with the actual requirements before falling in love with a piece of equipment.  Requirements need to be validated through the organization and provide an answer through a real business case.  So many organizations do not do this and end up wasting time and money on actions that do not provide value to the organization.