MRD – Market Requirements Document

By: Diane Shired, CTM

Meaning of MRD – "Market Requirements Document", is a document written by the Product Marketing Manager or other marketing/business group representative of customers to express their wants and needs for the product or service. Once written the MRD is then given to the engineers to propose a new product or revision. The Product Marketing Manager is considered the customer expert and is responsible for what is developed and why. Engineering is considered the product expert and is responsible for how the product is developed. In the technnical industry a MRD is created and approved by management before a PRD (Product Requirements Document) can be created.

MRD is written with the assistance of research, marketing communication, engineering, sales and finance. The document covers the target market, customer needs, competitive environment, features & schedule, SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities & threats) analysis and features considered for future versions of the product or service.

A MRD can be described as a blue print for a new or revised product/service that is introduced to the marketplace. Sometimes there can be significant overlaps between the MRD and the PRD for a given project.

The components of a written MRD are:

Executive Summary

Purpose

Goals

Delivery Date

Target Market & Customer

Overall position

Competition

Use Model

Customer needs & Corresponding Features

Systems & Technical Requirements

Quality Assurance & Testing

Appendices

Other Related Definitions:

"An article published by WebProWorld emphasizes the importance of establishing a strategic process and communication system for IT outsourcing to get around delays in software releases. Outsourcing presents twin advantages: cutting down costs, and providing a process that brings with it predictability and an orientation towards positive results and success. At the same time, any move to outsource needs to take care that an efficient communication channel is first opened with the service provider. This will help ascertain that the software development process is on the right path, and is according to the requirements. This communication needs to be documented in the form of a marketing requirements document (MRD). The MRD should include the software release schedule, and factors related to the architecture and critical user interface of the software that is to be developed. It should also incorporate the functionality of the product and the channels through which it will be sold and distributed. Essentially, in an outsourced situation, the MRD should act as a control of the development process.

WebProWorld reports:
Some companies make a distinction between an MRD and a PRD—a Product Requirements Document. The PRD has more details on what the software should do. For example, you need both an MRD and PRD when you are creating several services and products. The MRD describes the product strategy, market positioning and sales channels required to deliver the products with specific sets of functionality to the market. The PRD on the other hand focuses on the detaA central part of our approach to preparing MRDs is the development of one or more conceptual views of the product. The conceptual views represent the external characteristics of the product from different viewpoints. For example, what concepts underlying the product does a user need to understand in order to use it effectively? What does an installer or systems administrator need to understand in order to deploy the product effectively? The conceptual views provide the basic structure for the refinement of the descriptions of the individual components. We use well-proven description techniques for these models, but we emphasize that we are modeling external conceptual models, rather than internal structure and organization. iled requirements of the software itself." [ Software & IT | Permalink, September 17, 2005]

"A central part of our approach to preparing MRDs is the development of one or more conceptual views of the product. The conceptual views represent the external characteristics of the product from different viewpoints. For example, what concepts underlying the product does a user need to understand in order to use it effectively? What does an installer or systems administrator need to understand in order to deploy the product effectively? The conceptual views provide the basic structure for the refinement of the descriptions of the individual components. We use well-proven description techniques for these models, but we emphasize that we are modeling external conceptual models, rather than internal structure and organization." [Instep - A Chasm Group Affiliate]

Related Links:

CNET - Requirements Management Database 1.1.007
Infrasystems, LLC - Thinking of writing an MRD? Stop!!

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