Requirements value chains: stakeholder management and requirements engineering in software ecosystems

Abstract

[Context & motivation] Market-oriented development involves the collaboration of many stakeholders that do not necessarily directly interact with a given development project but still influence its results. These stakeholders are part of the requirements value chain for the concerned software product. [Question/problem] Understanding the structure and functioning of requirements value chains is essential for effective stakeholder management and requirements engineering within the software product’s ecosystem. [Principal ideas/results] The paper explores and exemplifies fundamental concepts that are needed to characterize and reason about requirements value chains. [Contribution] This characterization is used to describe the relevant knowledge landscape and to suggest research avenues for understanding the principles needed for managing requirements-based stakeholder collaboration.