A stakeholder is someone who has a vested interest in the new system to be built. They may be a passive stakeholder (they will not be involved in the production of the system) or a active stakeholder (they will have a part to play in the system to be built).

Under normal circumstances a new system will involve two companies. First is the company who requires a systems and the second is the company who will produce the system. We can call them the customer and the developer. In the real world this line can not always be drawn. A lot of companies now have ICT departments who will develop systems internally. Some development companies will outsource the work if they do not have the required technical skills or man power. Thankfully these subtleties are outside the scope of the course. As such we will stick with the simple idea of customer and developer.

Both the customer and the developer will have people who will have an interest in the project and they are listed out below.