  Weak alignment of requirements engineering (RE) with verification and
validation (VV) may lead to problems in delivering the required products in
time with the right quality. For example, weak communication of requirements
changes to testers may result in lack of verification of new requirements and
incorrect verification of old invalid requirements, leading to software quality
problems, wasted effort and delays. However, despite the serious implications
of weak alignment research and practice both tend to focus on one or the other
of RE or VV rather than on the alignment of the two. We have performed a
multi-unit case study to gain insight into issues around aligning RE and VV by
interviewing 30 practitioners from 6 software developing companies, involving
10 researchers in a flexible research process for case studies. The results
describe current industry challenges and practices in aligning RE with VV,
ranging from quality of the individual RE and VV activities, through tracing
and tools, to change control and sharing a common understanding at strategy,
goal and design level. The study identified that human aspects are central,
i.e. cooperation and communication, and that requirements engineering practices
are a critical basis for alignment. Further, the size of an organisation and
its motivation for applying alignment practices, e.g. external enforcement of
traceability, are variation factors that play a key role in achieving
alignment. Our results provide a strategic roadmap for practitioners
improvement work to address alignment challenges. Furthermore, the study
provides a foundation for continued research to improve the alignment of RE
with VV.
