You reap, what you sow, this clichéd word hasn’t lost its relevance a bit and has become even more pertinent in today’s ever changing and competitive business scenario where enterprises are constantly looking for differentiators to provide enhanced service delivery.

Technologically speaking, even though it caters primarily to each and every sectoral thrust this age old saying holds a fundamental value that is even more entrenched as a mainstay in any software development activity. When enterprises look for an IT based resolution for their pain points it’s more or less propositioned that an initial requirement analysis will be followed up by a generic development, testing, setup and installation phases.

Enterprises so logically inclined to get the deliverance as soon as possible and reduce the underlying costs recurring due to extended product development activity seek for an out an out off the shelf product that fits into their scheme of things ideally. But in this melee of targeted outputs and factored growth, they forget the basic tenet that one size never fits all. The basic idea being – fetch an existing product and customize it to the underlying needs in the fastest possible time.

The activity that always bears the brunt of such requirement is the elicitation process which according to enterprises is always ongoing alongside a development activity rather than something which needs investment separately in time or money. This stop-gap effort results in disasters for some and usually catastrophes for many. Businesses usually do not see time spent on initial requirement gathering as something which is worthy of some deliberation. Also the technology firms in order to improve the portfolio seek to forego this activity in order to meet deadlines. It’s only in the long run that these defaults start taking shape of a potential explosion waiting to happen.

Enterprises should understand the cost-benefit analysis of this important activity as though treating this as a simultaneous activity may be putting less strain on the critical money supply but then any critical default here has the potential to bleed the same inherently. A service agency also might be hell bent to deliver the offering without due care to the elicitation activity but then it also becomes an eyesore for them in the long run. Yes one does have believers in this model as benefits apprised range from being cost-effective to speedy to supporter’s favoring constant inputs of ideas as according to them not many a times even the businesses are understanding the actual requirement of the project at hand and the related knowledge and input has to come and incorporated on as and when basis. Though this may seem ideal but then it has its own fallacies of making the product inherently unstable and patchy.

Requirement gathering activity performed with the due intent and before a product is developed helps in synergizing and energizing the stakeholders who are now equipped with a tool that enables them to be actively involved in the product development and seek an offering that best suits there business requirements. Dedicated time spent in the initial phases of the development helps in standardizing and hard-coding the requirements. The technology firm delivering the product also gets to understand the as-is requirement of the business and prepares an offering that becomes an ideal solution to the clients needs. Also focusing more on the initial phase allows business and the technology firms to understand the related time / effort / cost investments that they need and can invest and hence are cushioned against any related defaults or overruns. The scope for frequent changes beyond the initial phase also reduces drastically and the end product becomes immensely stable thereby providing enhanced user experience. The expectant costs attached with this activity may seem high in the hindsight but is purely worth the effort as the costs for frequent related support and up gradation activities gradually reduces.

Even though the present business scenarios have led businesses to think poorly of this core aspect of any product development but the age old saying of “a stitch in time, saves a dime” surely has come of age.