While reading BABOK, I came across the following requirements classification – what’s interesting, I worked with quite a few business analysts, however, many of them would not be able to clearly explain the difference between business requirements and functional requirements. The information below is for my reference, then. Not that it becomes absolutely clear what the difference is after reading this, however, it it’s , at least, clear that there is some.
Business Requirements
Statements of goals, objectives, and outcomes that describe why a change has been initiated. They can apply to the whole of an enterprise, a business area, or a specific initiative
Stakeholder Requirements
Describe the needs of stakeholders that must be met in order to achieve the business requirements. They may service as a bridge between business and solution requirements.
Solution Requirements
Describe the capabilities and qualities of a solution that meets the stakeholder requirements. They provide the appropriate level of detail to allow for the development and implementation of the solution. Solution requirements can be divided into two sub-categories:
– Functional requirements: describe the capabilities that a solution must have in terms of the behavior and information that the solution will manage, and
– Non-functional requirements or quality of service requirements: do not relate directly to the behavior of functionality of the solution, but rather describe conditions under which a solution must remain effective or qualities that a solution must have
Transition Requirements
Describe the capabilities that the solution must have and the conditions the solution must meet to facilitate transition from the current state to the future state, but which are not needed once the change is complete. They are differentiated from other requirement types because they are of a temporary nature. Transition requirements address topics such as data conversion, training, and business continuity.