Great article series on requirements! Thank you Dan for your insights.

Once an analyst has chosen the method(s) by which to select which requirements have highest priority, she should turn to her colleagues and other stakeholders for input to ensure that everyone is in agreement regarding the emphases of the project. She should also ensure that they understand and agree on the method(s) by which the requirements will be prioritized.

When it comes to the process of assigning a requirement’s priority, any requirement may be prioritized at any point in its lifecycle, according to BABOK. But regardless of when it is done, before a requirement can be prioritized, an analyst must consider what is most important from a business standpoint. There are a number of possible business considerations , including value, cost, risk, difficulty of implementation, likelihood of success, stakeholder agreement and urgency, each of which is described in more detail below. Often, a combination of these methods is used when considering the business need; rarely is one alone used in a vacuum.