MicroTools takes the necessary time to clearly and concisely define the system.  A lot of companies talk about having clear product specifications and system’s requirements documents.

We rarely find a company that has the balance of clear specifications and responsive product development.

It is very hard to have both. If you spend too much time dotting every “i” and crossing every “t” you never get going on the product.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Getting your system defined up front saves time and energy during the rest of the project.  Even perfect circuits and flawless software are worthless if they solve the wrong problem.  While during a project definitions may evolve, agreeing on a clear direction at the start is a necessity.

Not everyone knows how deep the specification should go or the difference between systems requirements and software requirements. Balance and experience is important. We like to say that the system/software requirement document should provide everything that is needed to design, implement, and test the system/software. No more and no less.

Definitions – Not an Afterthought

MicroTools has consistently produced both clear specifications and responsive product development to our clients.  Since 1988, we have delivered thousands of pages of software and systems requirements documents to our customers as well as getting product out the door on time and on budget.

We generally work to IEEE standards for the format of our specifications but have also worked with DOD standards and with specific client standards.

What matters is not format – but clarity, completeness, and accuracy.

The “Phase 1” part of a project often entails the creation of software and systems requirements documents.  This approach allows our customers to clearly understand what technology and design solutions we recommend to apply to the project in “Phase 2+”.

Read more: Conceptualize