To do or not to do: If the requirements engineering payoff is so good, why aren´ t more companies doing it?

One thing that keeps many software-development organizations from doing serious requirements engineering before beginning development is the perception that doing requirements engineering wastes time and delays getting on to the real work, designing and programming. The first third of this paper presents anecdotal and case study evidence that upfront RE pays off big. The second third is a discussion on structural and cultural barriers to industrial adoption of RE practices. The final third is a free-wheeling discussion on these and related issues