hardScenarioCase StudyMidSeniorLead
The sponsor has already bought the software and wants you to write the requirements for it. How do you approach that?
4 min readUpdated 2026-08-15
Answer
Short answer
Do not campaign to reverse a signed purchase; change what the requirements are for. Capture the business needs and outcomes independently of the product, run a fit-gap against them, and report each gap with a closure option and a cost so the sponsor can decide where to configure, change process or accept a shortfall.
Keep fit gap analysis explicit in the answer because that is the concept the interviewer is actually trying to test.
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Likely follow-ups
- You find a statutory reporting requirement the product cannot meet. What is your next move, and to whom?
- How do you write requirements that can measure the benefits case when the design is largely fixed?
- The vendor says a gap is closed by a roadmap item due next year. How do you treat that?
- How would you run this differently if the implementation partner had not yet been appointed?
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