ABSTRACT
In the complex world of software development and system design, requirement management plays a crucial role in guiding projects towards stakeholder satisfaction and system alignment. This paper dives into the essence of Requirement Management, highlighting its importance in harmonizing stakeholder expectations with deliverables. Further exploration made into industry-leading tools such as JIRA, IBM DOORS, and Helix RM, emphasizing their capabilities in capturing, traceability, versioning of requirements and team collaboration. By comparing these tools, this study offers insights into their unique strengths and alignments with various project needs. Overall, the paper highlights the importance of effective Requirement Management in fostering project clarity, consistency, and successful outcomes.
INTRODUCTION
Requirement management(RM) is the process of evaluating, tracking, and prioritizing requirement change. It is a methodical way of gathering, compiling, and describing the system requirements as well as achieving and sustaining agreement between client and project team on the evolving system requirements.
Requirement management is important because it ensures that an organization documents, verifies and meets the needs of the customers and internal or external stakeholders. The role of Requirement management includes:
- Ensuring alignment between the needs of stakeholders and the system's capabilities.
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It helps in maintaining consistency across the project’s scope which helps in ensuring the
project delivers what it promises.
RM minimizes the chance of project scope creep, which avoids the project going over
budget and overtime.RM makes sure that the company is working on the right projects and the projects are
being executed correctly.
To manage requirements we use requirement management tools. These tools help us to capture,
track and manage requirements throughout the project development life cycle. These tools help
the organization achieve their requirement management goals. The tools we are going to look at
in this paper are JIRA, IBM DOORS and HELIX RM.
JIRA:
JIRA allows project teams to create user stories or requirements often tied to a project backlog.
Through customization of fields and workflows, JIRA can adapt to the specific requirements of
the project team seamlessly. JIRA also allows the teams to link user stories to tasks, bugs and test
cases to ensure that the requirements are always met consistently throughout the development
and testing phases. JIRA also keeps track of changes made to requirements which helps the
teams to refer back to previous versions of requirements. JIRA has a version control system
which keeps track of the changes to version. Team collaborations are at the center of JIRAs
workflow by leveraging features such as comments, mentions and shared dashboards. JIRA
integrates with various popular tools, thereby ensuring a seamless flow of information across
platforms.
In agile project management JIRA stands as a powerhouse. Its features are meticulously designed
to bridge the gap between deliverables and requirements while maintaining collaboration. JIRA
enables team to work more cohesively, ensuring that the final product is in line with the expected
requirements
IBM DOORS:
IBM DOORS empowers project teams to document detailed requirements with structures
hierarchies. DOORS caters uniquely to nuanced intricacies of the project by leveraging its
specialized modules and attributes. DOORS also provides high traceability by linking high-level
needs to system requirements which ensures the alignment from conceptual validation. DOORS
also, like other tools, maintains archives of user stories to refer back to. Features like comment
reviews and detailed visual traceability aid in team collaboration.
IBM DOORS is a solution designed to bring clarity and structure to complex projects not just a
requirements management tool.
Helix RM:
HELIX RM is mainly used in capturing and organizing requirements which are often associated
with project milestones. Like other tools, HELIX RM can be customized to suit the distinctive
demands of project teams. HELIX RM demonstrates extensive traceability by allowing
connections between requirements and their corresponding design or test elements, guaranteeing
alignment throughout the product life cycle. It also maintains an audit trail of all requirement
modifications, allowing teams to refer to historic data. Features like review approvals,
annotations and integrated visual reports help teams collaborate better. The tool ensures deep
connection between requirements and their design or testing elements. HelixRm is the most
efficient tool with its adaptability and comprehensive customization options.
In conclusion, HELIX RM is more than just a requirements management tool. It’s a complete
solution that addresses the multifaceted needs of project teams, ensuring clarity, coherence, and
collaboration at every step of the product life cycle.
COMPARISON OF CAPABILITIES OF THESE TOOLS :
| Feature/Capability | JIRA | IBM DOORS | Helix RM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Requirements Capture | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Traceability | Yes | Yes (enhanced view) | Yes |
| Versioning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Collaboration | Yes | Limited | Moderate |
| Impact Analysis | No | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic Signatures | No | No | Yes |
CITATIONS
1) Atlassian. (2017). "JIRA Software Documentation." Atlassian Official Documentation.
[Online]. Available: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/docs
2) IBM Corporation. (2023). "IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS
Family." IBM Official Documentation. [Online]. Available:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-doors-documentation-library
3) Perforce Software, Inc. (2023). "Helix RM: Requirements Management Tool." Perforce
OfficialDocumentation. [Online]. Available:https://www.perforce.com/customers
CONTRIBUTIONS
Rushil Desetty(G01383984)(GMU)
Mohnish Hitendrabhai Raval(G01373613)(GMU)
Abhay Joshi(G01394679)(GMU)
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