Requirements management is a sub-discipline of requirements engineering. It describes the principles and methods to file requirements and other relevant information so that everyone can find what they need. The requirements engineering guideline, as the central document, supports the implementation of the principles and methods.

To make requirement specifications manageable, specialized requirements management or modeling tools are used. They should be adapted to the company-specific development process and the requirements engineering methods.

 

Basics

Requirements management includes measures which support requirements analysis and the further use of requirements. These measures include:

  • Structuring the requirements document
  • Defining attributes to manage the requirements
  • Providing traceability of changes in the documentation
  • Creating traceability of dependencies of information among each other
  • Improvingcommunication between the project participants
  • Effectively linking information by using tool support
  • Recording all project participants and defining the required working steps using a defined workflow concept for the administration
  • Documenting information on the progress of the development process

Requirements Management Methods

To define the lifecycle of a requirement or other relevant information, it is important to proceed in a structured way. This is ensured by different methods for managing requirements:

  • Defining possible states of a requirement -  e.g. created until tested
  • Defining workflows for each role that may come into contact with a requirement in an administrative context
  • Defining a versioning scheme for requirements
  • Defining an attribution scheme to handle large amounts of requirements and to detach and edit subsets at the same time by filtering
  • Defining a traceability concept to ensure the traceability of requirements
  • Using a well founded structure, such as the SOPHIST DOHA structure, the SOPHIST IVENA structure or the structural approach STABLE
  • Establishing of a change and release management with a defined process
  • Defining reuse concepts for the long-term improvement in productivity

Tool evaluation – Requirements Management Tool

From a certain specification scope, the use of a professional requirements management tool is essential. If you are looking for a convenient tool, it is important to select a tool that maps the previously defined requirements engineering process. It would be fatal being compelled to design a new process based on the specifications of the tool. The topic data migration from former requirements management solutions should not be ignored as well.

Common requirements management tools on the market are:

  • Rational DOORS and Rational DOORS Next Generation by IBM
  • Visure Requirements by VISURE SOLUTIONS
  • Team Foundation Server by Microsoft
  • Polarion by Siemens
  • Rational RequisitePro by IBM
  • Integrity by PTC
  • Atego Requirements Synchronize by Atego
  • Jama by Jama Software
  • HP Application Lifecycle Management (HP ALM) by the HP Software Division of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • Caliber by MICRO FOCUS
  • Jira by Atlassian in combination with Confluence by Atlassian
  • Code beamer by Intland
  • MediaWiki by Wikimedia Foundation

The following tools are common for modeling requirements:

  • Enterprise Architect by Sparx Systems
  • Innovator by MID
  • MagicDraw by No Magic Inc.
  • Visio by Microsoft
  • Rational Rose Enterprise by IBM
  • TAU G2 by IBM
  • ARIS by Software AG
  • PowerDesigner by SYBASE
  • Silk Together by Micro Focus
  • Balsamiq Mockups by Balsamiq Studios
  • Rational Rhapsody by IBM
  • Yed by yWorks
  • Bizagi Modeler BPMN by Bizagi

Introduction of Requirements Management

The introduction of requirements management is part of the introduction of requirements engineering.  This is usually equated with the introduction of a requirements management tool. To ensure a successful introduction of the methods of requirements management and a corresponding tool, it is important to develop an introductory concept. This contains successful concepts for marketing and knowledge transfer and defines the criteria for suitable pilot projects.

 

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Your contact person:

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+49 (0)9 11 40 900 62

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