Non-functional Requirement Analysis and Recommendation for Software Services

Non-Functional (NF) requirement is very important for the success of a software service. Considering that there could be multiple services implementing a same function, it is crucial for software providers to understand the real NF demands from consumers so that they can meet these demands and attract users. It is also crucial for consumers to know what is being offered so that they can pose realistic NF requests. We address both issues here by proposing a NF requirement analysis and recommendation system which works for both providers and consumers. NF requirements from various sources are first collected, and then we apply the factor analysis technique to identify those independent latent factors which contribute to those observable NF values. Finally we use cluster analysis to summarize the popular NF demands. Our experiment result shows the effectiveness of this approach.