Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESEEstablishment of the “RE-Process@WWK”
Fraunhofer IESE carried out a project together with WWK to establish the revised process “RE-Prozess@WWK.”
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Reference project: WWK Insurance a.G.
WWK is one of the 30 largest life insurance companies in Germany. In terms of business volume, the company is one of the most financially sound and equity-rich German insurers. On the product side, WWK is one of the market leaders in fund policies and biometric tariffs. This success reflects two cornerstones of the corporate culture: financial strength and innovative power.
Its high level of innovation is also the basis for establishing a modern requirements engineering process within WWK's project approach. In particular, the increase in complexity in both the functional and technical environments requires a standardized approach in order to continue to efficiently implement successful projects and changes. Together with Fraunhofer IESE, WWK launched a project in early 2013 to establish the revised “RE-Prozess@WWK” process.
First, in a joint workshop with representatives from various departments within WWK, the current status of requirements engineering (RE) was analyzed using the ReqMan framework. Best practices were also agreed upon, in which short-term improvement measures were to be established. Based on these decisions, the existing RE process and the associated documents were adapted in collaboration with WWK process owners, and an individual training concept was developed on this basis.
Following a two-day pilot training course, this concept was evaluated in terms of content and teaching methods. At the same time, the training participants received several weeks of coaching on how to apply the methods they had learned in real-life projects. This allowed them to consolidate what they had learned and test its practical applicability in their day-to-day work.
The experiences from the pilot training and the pilot phase were critically reflected upon. This led to the establishment of a continuous improvement process, which is also being applied in subsequent training courses and coaching sessions for employees. Since summer 2013, various areas of WWK have been gradually trained and coached in the individual RE-Prozess@WWK.
Goals/results
- Through training content and employee coaching, WWK was able to increase knowledge and application of the RE process by more than 50% in less than three months.
- Increase in satisfaction with the in-house RE process by a factor of 2.5
- Improvement in the quality of requirements documents
Customer Testimonial
That's what Richard Blachetta, Requirements Manager, Program Management, WWK Lebensversicherung a.G., says: