An Information Systems Design Theory for Integrated Requirements and Release Management Systems

High-tech companies need to collect and analyze requirements and allocate them to appropriate product releases in market-driven product development. Development activities are typically scattered across multiple sites and involve multiple partners in different countries, complicating requirements and release management. Flexible, scalable, and secure groupware-based support for the activities provides substantial payoffs. Yet, the extant literature provides little theoretical guidance for designing and using requirements and release management systems in multi-site, multi-partner environments. This article develops the meta-requirements and a meta-design of an information systems design theory for the class of requirements and release management systems based on a case study in a global company and a literature review. The theory is scalable to meet the needs of global companies but simple enough so small and medium sized companies can also leverage it to implement requirements and release management solutions.