Identifying Stakeholders

The RUP encourages eliciting requirements directly from the stakeholders on a project. What exactly is a stakeholder? A simple definition is any person who is affected by the product being developed. The end user of the product to be developed is one of the most important stakeholders, but others must be identified and kept in mind as well. Consider the following:

• Who will manage the operation of the software to be produced?

• Who will maintain the software to be produced?

• Is the system role-based? If so, what are the roles, and who do the roles map to in the user organization?

• Does the system produce reports of any kind? If so, who is interested in these reports?

• Will the system interface to other systems (either newly developed or legacy applications)? If so, who develops and maintains those systems?

• Who is financially supporting the software development and is ultimately responsible for its success or failure?

An organization chart for every organization identified in these questions will be useful in identifying potential stakeholders.