Requirements Capture Support

Some of the enquiries we get are quite straightforward, with the requirement expressed unambiguously in terms of (for example) number of channels of a particular interface type. We can generally respond these by identifying which of our standard products meet the need; naturally, we are very happy to do this. And where we believe that more than one product might suit the application, we'll identify all the candidates and describe their characteristics.

Many of our enquiries, though, come from potential customers who simply haven't had the time to analyse and/or document their requirements. In some cases there are uncertainties within the project which make it simply impossible, at the time, to completely define what's wanted. In cases like this we are ready to work with you until we arrive at a clear agreement of what's needed. We put this down to business development, but in truth it's an engineering activity. Only on very rare occasions (where the extent of the definition work is clearly vast) do we treat the requirements capture phase as a commercial opportunity. We welcome opportunities to show people that we know what we're about – and we don't see why they should have to pay for offering these opportunities to us.

So, how does it work? Clearly, cases differ in detail, but the general flow is as follows:

You tell us what you're trying to achieve. The more detail the better (obviously) and (we have a strong preference here) in operational terms rather than as a 'solution design'. A short document (or e-mail) is useful – but we'll start with whatever we get, from a simple telephone call or 'back of the envelope' sketch to a full blown requirement specification.

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