Extracted from a new report from IAG Consulting, they are acknowledging companies that practice with poor requirements is crying out for over-budget costs and regular failure. Their "Business Analysis Benchmark" report includes 100 companies with 110 enterprise technology projects examines how important the requirements are to the project are.

All of the projects were worth more than $250,000 (the average value was $3 million) and focused on adding new functionality. The report analyzed the caliber of business requirements practices among the projects, as well as the financial consequences of those practices and which practices lead to project success.

The study found that 68 out of the 100 companies had poor requirements practices. These companies were more likely "to have a marginal project or outright failure than a success" and their projects were more likely to "run away" (take 80% longer than expected, deliver a product 30% less functional than desired, or cost more than 160% of the original budget). These poor analysis capabilities led to three times more project failures than successes.

The 32 companies remaining had higher likelihoods of finishing satisfactory projects on schedule and within their given budget. This was attributed to their top-notch business requirements processes, advanced technology, and the competence of employees assigned to the project.

So what can businesses do to improve their requirements processes? The survey makes several recommendations, such as auditing "three specific characteristics of business requirements documentation" and "forcing failing projects to redo requirements." Here are some other suggestions the study makes:

Requirements should not be regarded as a "target" or a "deliverable," but rather as a process. "Companies which focus on both the process and deliverables of requirements are far more successful than those focusing only on the documentation quality." Companies that focus on both the techniques and the progress of developing documentation are the ones which enjoy a competitive advantage and satisfied customers.

"The level of competency required is higher than that employed within projects for 70% of the companies surveyed." So the solution is to get better IT skills. This will enable your business to put the right people to work on the right problems, thus increasing efficiency, and will also improve your employees' level of skills and their ability to solve problems, this increasing productivity and harmony in the work place.

You must make a commitment to change. While businesses know how important requirements are, many are reluctant or don't know how to change their established routine. "CIOs must look at making improvement across all the areas of people, process, and tools used to support processes to gain organizational improvement."

If you want something done, you need to do it yourself. The art of updating a business infrastructure involves systematic changes that involves the entire organization. This is an addition to companies that have optimal requirements must still run into scope creep, mistakes, and failures. The report suggests that the superior companies spend on average $3.63 million on a project that should cost $3 million. This is better than the average company that meets their budget on less than 20 percent on most projects. The firm IAG Consulting reports with better requirements that companies meet 80% success and that the projects are finalized on time and within budget.

Samantha Lorry is a Business Analyst with a budding interest in article writing. For more information on business analyst jobs, see Business-Analyst-Career.com - Or check out this Woman-owned IT Staffing company and BA Job Openings