Identification of need

Defining a requirement specification and budget

The first stage of acquisition pre-contract (or sourcing) is to liaise with the people who have a requirement in order to determine exactly what they need and to define a specification. The specification of requirement can take a number of forms including output/outcome based, functional or standards employed.

Identification of need should normally involve an analysis to ensure that there are no better alternative solutions; in particular, you should challenge the requirement to discuss whether it can be deferred (acquired later), diminished (reduced requirement) or deleted (the purchase avoided).

Complexity reduction is another term for diminishing the requirement and an example might include simplification or standardisation the requirement.

A further step at this stage is to determine the budget available to fulfil the requirement.