This chapter outlined the methodology for discovering (elicitating) NFRs. It described a framework that can be leveraged by business analysts/solution architects/SMEs for elicitations of NFRs. The chapter also outlined a framework for prioritization of NFRs. The output of this stage will be the critical input for the solution architecture phase.

The next chapter outlines the solution part of NFRs, providing insights, guidance and principles for architecting NFRs. It covers all the key NFRs that are critical for any project; and, for each NFR, it provides the various alternatives pertaining to the solution and the design principles that need to be applied to achieve the desired outcome; for example, high availability, or scalability, or reliability, and so on. The chapter includes considerations for bespoke (Java, .NET) and COTS applications and are applicable for any IT applications/systems in different domains.