Rm tools

Requirements Management Tools
A Qualitative Assessment

Rajat R. Sud and James D. Arthur
Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24060 USA

{rsud, arthur} @vt.edu

Abstract

This report is primarily aimed at people with some background in Requirements
Engineering or practitioners wishing to assess tools available for managing requirements.
We provide a starting point for this assessment, by presenting a brief survey of existing
Requirements Management tools. As a part of the survey, we characterize a set of
requirements management tools by outlining their features, capabilities and goals. The
characterization offers a foundation to select and possibly customize a requirements
engineering tool for a software project. This report consists of three parts. In Part I we
define the terms requirements and requirements engineering and briefly point out the
main components of the requirements engineering process. In Part II, we survey the
characteristics and capabilities of 6 popular requirements management tools, available in
the market. We enumerate the salient features of each of theses tools. In Part III, we
briefly describe a “Synergistic Environment for Requirement Generation.” This
environment captures additional tools augmenting the requirements generation process. A
description of these tools is provided. In the concluding section, we present a discussion
defining the ideal set of characteristics that should be embodied in a requirements
management tool. This report is adapted from a compendium of assignments that were
prepared by the students of a class in Requirements Engineering, offered by Dr. James D.
Arthur of the Computer Science department at Virginia Tech, in the spring of 2002.

Keywords: Requirements Engineering, Requirements Management, Requirements
Management Tools

Part I

A Brief Introduction To
Requirements Engineering

This chapter begins with some background information about Requirements
Engineering and outlines the activities involved in generating requirements. Then we
set the stage for understanding the requirements management process. Note that it is
beyond the scope of this report to elucidate each of the core activities comprising the
requirements engineering process. We have, however, provided a brief summary of
each of the core activities. For further details of theses activities, the reader is advised
to seek a comprehensive reference in Requirements Engineering

Introduction to Requirements Engineering

1 Requirements Engineering

Software Systems Requirements Engineering is the process of discovering
stakeholders, their needs and documenting these in a form that is amenable to analysis
communication and subsequent implementation. There are inherent difficulties in this
process. Stakeholders (including customers, users and developers) may be numerous and
distributed. Their goals may vary and conflict depending on their perspectives of the
environment in which they work and the tasks which they wish to accomplish.
The process of Requirements Engineering is comprised of the following core
activities:

• Problem Synthesis
• Requirements Elicitation
• Requirements Analysis
• Requirements Specification
• Requirements Verification and Validation
• Requirements Management

Problem Synthesis
The process through which the customers’ problem is identified, analyzed and
decomposed, with the intent of gaining a deeper understanding into the real problem at
hand

Software Requirements Elicitation
The process through which the customers (buyers and/or users) and the developer
(contractor) of a software system discover, review, articulate, and understand the users’
needs and the constraints on the software and development activity

Software Requirements Analysis
The process of analyzing the customers’ and users’ needs to arrive at a definition of
software requirements

Software Requirements Specification
The development of a document that clearly and precisely records each of the
requirements of the software system

Software Requirements Verification and Validation
The process of ensuring that the software requirements specification is in compliance
with the system requirement (or customer needs or Concept of Operations document),
conforms to the document standards of the requirements phase, and is an adequate basis
for the architectural (preliminary) design phase

Introduction to Requirements Engineering

Software Requirements Management
The planning and controlling of the requirements elicitation, specification, analysis
and verification activities

2 Software Requirements Management

Seventy-one percent of all software development projects result in complete failure
(i.e., premature cancellation or shelf-ware upon completion). Poor requirements
management is generally considered one of the major causes for product failure. If we do
a poor job of understanding our customers’ needs, deciding the right features to build,
and writing down what we think we want out of a system, how can we possibly expect a
successful project?

“Requirements Management involves establishing and maintaining an agreement with the
customer on the requirements for the software project. The agreement forms the basis for
estimating, planning, performing, and tracking the software project’s activities throughout
the software life cycle.”
- (CMM Practices Manual, CMU/SEI-93-TR-25, L2)

The key to requirements management is communication. A good requirements
management process helps ensure a high level of communication between stakeholders.
For the developers to fully understand the needs of the customers, they must fully
understand those needs, and have an open channel of communication with the customers.
To deliver a high quality application, it is imperative that customers play an active part in
the development process.
Communication is also crucial when requirements change, as they do in any project.
Once changes have been agreed upon, they must be incorporated into the project scope,
and be communicated to developers and customers, as well. An effective means of
communication is thus essential to getting the project right the first time and avoiding
expensive re-work later in the development cycle.

Part II


–A Survey

Many tools have been developed for Requirements Management until now. Table 1
introduces them with a brief description of their characteristics, features and
capabilities. Table 2 tabulates organizational factors that are instrumental to reach a
conclusive decision


Requirements Management Tools can assist organizations in defining and
documenting requirements by allowing them to store requirements in a central location.
Project teams can then access the requirements to determine what is to be developed, and
customers can access the requirements to ensure that their needs were correctly specified.
Customers and team members (developers) can then participate in informed discussions
in case of any discrepancies, or seek further clarifications in case of uncertainties. This
also aids the process of classifying and prioritizing requirements.

Requirements Requirements Requirements Security and Portability Configuration Communication/ Change Online Usability Requirements
Management Traceability Analysis Accessibility and Backend Management Collaboration Management Publishing Specification/
Tool Compatibility Documentation
Use Cases are Requirements Requirements Compatible ‘Requirements Stores Any change Rational Integration with Requirements
linked to organized into protection with MS Word Revision requirements in made to an ClearQuest MS Word are elicited from
requirements. packages facilitated by providing History’ central locations element is generates provides users use cases
Any change stored in a providing context and automatically enabling access reflected in all automatic with a familiar providing a
made to a use database. attributes, formatting keeps track of and review by the other change interface to structured
Rational Suite case is From different links and user through a all changes to entire elements request document and approach to
AnalystStudio reflected in the views of the permission familiar requirements development automatically. forms on the edit represent user-
(Use Case requirements database, privileges interface and records team. Web Establishes Web to requirements. system
Modeling) as well. Also attributes of the rationale interface traceability manage Built-in interaction
supports priority, status, behind any facilitates viewing relations input from templates
generation of difficulty and revision and modification among stakeholders provide quick
test cases, version of requirements requirements means to
facilitated by number can be thereby create new
the integrated assigned enabling projects
suite change
assessment
‘Requirements Customizable Workgroup Integration Revision Check-Out / Change Shared files Data Viewing Automatic
Allocation user-defined privileges with MS tracking and Check-In enables Proposal are stored windows requirements
Matrices’ attributes may assign “Add, Office baseline the sharing of Management on a server. enable capture and
forms be associated Edit, View products allocation data between enables a RDT concurrent syntax parsing
traceability to every and Delete different sites, change supports up views of directly from
links between requirement access to and the ability to proposal to to 255 different data. existing
RDT 3.0 requirements, users collate this data be identified, concurrent Document documents
design, back to the and any data users Views allow
development master database which will be data to be
and test added, edited in
components changed, or tabular format.
deleted as a These views
result of it are fully user
being defined
accepted
Defines Defines Users are Built upon the Records RTM e-mails all Maintains a Formulates Uses word- Parses a
traceability different categorized in Oracle project stakeholders on complete web processing document to
relationships attributes for groups and database baselines the status of all change interface for packages from load
between different types assigned technology before and proposed history database Adobe, requirements
RTM individual of access after changes changes including query, Interleaf and into a database
Workshop 5.0 requirements requirements privileges are versions of discussion Microsoft for its
and and set incorporated impacted threads and user interface,
requirements attribute requirements updating providing a
and other values for and rationale requirements familiar
system individual for each attributes interface
elements requirements change

Requirements Requirements Requirements Security and Portability Configuration Communication/ Change Online Usability Requirements
Management Traceability Analysis Accessibility and Backend Management Collaboration Management Publishing Specification/
Tool Compatibility Documentation
Provides ‘user- A set of states No listed Integrates DOORS On-line Change Records the Telelogic Provides MS Telelogic
defined, multi- are associated security with MS Word Database Proposals and change DOORSnet? Windows DocExpress
level with each support. and Excel, as Managers Review Systems, history of generates Explorer-like provides ‘one-
traceability for requirement Permits well as with manage Discussion requirements. web view for project click’ operations
relationships’ – (New, In customization other project Threads and Notifies team interfaces to navigation. to generate
Telelogic requirements Review, Partly of interfaces Telelogic baselines, distributed data members of facilitate Customizable requirements for
DOORS to test, approved, for every user tools and archiving and management all changes by searching, user interface complex
requirements Approved, third-party deleting collaboration with email sorting and by editing systems
to design, More applications baselines as remote team automatically editing colors and
design to information the project members requirements graphics to
code, etc. required, On progresses and highlight
Hold, Rejected submitting pertinent
and Applied) change information
proposals
Adds links and Requirements No listed Compatible Baselines Online web Requirements A snapshot Detailed Tabular
tables for each analyzed from security with third requirements publishing Triage of the graphical representation
requirement. multiple support party by ensuring all facilitates permits requirements representations recording,
These tables perspectives – application stakeholders execution of evaluation of can be indicating the tracking and
Omni Vista can have Market, (not listed) ‘sign off’ on customized impact on published to effects of annotating
OnYourMark customizable Financial, the latest queries and overall project the web or adding features requirements.
Pro attributes Development agreement sharing of based on exported to on resources Permits
enabling the information, all individual an XML (budget, time, importing
user to through the web factors format schedule, etc.) requirements
customize interface from third party
traceability tools
links
Multiple Spreadsheet Centralized ‘Open Independently Online Each change Provides GUI is Documents
method of views permit repository Architecture’ versions each discussions creates a team customizable requirements
traceability sorting and provides permits requirement. capture unique history members using wizards. and glossaries
visualization prioritizing security, requirements Baselines information more record; with a Complex to define
enable users requirements visibility and to be linked to specific effectively than differences network scripting industry terms,
to understand according to availability to external versions asynchronous between one connection languages not project terms,
Starbase effect of cost and all source code providing (email) version of a access to required to corporate terms,
Caliber-RM impact of value. requirements generators, users the communication requirement requirements draft etc.
requirements Different views data test suites option to Immediate and another data, requirements.
change on may be and project compare notification of are imposing Can be
other created based management requirements changes sent to highlighted minimal customized to
requirements, on the data applications versions to all stakeholders with the bandwidth support many
tests, tasks collected assess reason for the requirement requirements
and/or source volatility change processes
code recorded.

Table 1: A Qualitative Comparison of Requirements Management Tools


Requirements Cost Operating Platform Requirements
Management Tool Expenses/
(in U.S. dollars) Licensing
Fees

Processor Disk Space Operating System Other Requirement(s)
(Client + Server)
$ 2034 per user Includes 1 >= 300 MHz 96 MB Microsoft Windows Word Processor: Microsoft Word
Rational Suite year of 128 MB RAM NT 4.0, or Microsoft 97, 2000 or 2002
AnalystStudio support recommended Windows 98, 2000 Database: Microsoft SQL Server
(Rational Requisite Pro or Millennium 7.0 or greater, Oracle 7 or 8
Component) Edition (creates MS Access databases
by default)
License: Licenses can be node
locked or floating. A license
manager (flexLM from
GLOBEtrotter) is provided with
AnalystStudio.
$ 2995 per user for $ 650 per >=200 MHz 60 MB Microsoft Windows Word Processor: Microsoft Word
RDT 3.0 software user >= 32 MB 95/98/NT 4.0/2000 97, 2000 or 2002
support for RAM
1 year recommended
RTM Workshop 5.0 N/A N/A >= 200 MHz 250 MB Microsoft Windows Word Processor: Microsoft Word
>= 64 MB 95/98/NT 4.0 and or Adobe FrameMaker
RAM UNIX Database: Oracle 7 or 8
recommended License: Uses the floating
networking license manager
Telelogic DOORS N/A N/A >= 200 MHz 40 MB Microsoft Windows License: Supports network
Follow 98/2000/NT (floating, node locked, etc.)
Manufacturer licensing
recommended
RAM
Omni Vista N/A N/A N/A N/A Microsoft Windows N/A
OnYourMark Pro 98/2000/NT
Starbase Caliber-RM N/A N/A >= 200 MHz 125 MB Microsoft Windows Database: Caliber-RM ships
>= 256 MB 98/2000/NT with a server version of the
RAM Java-enabled web object-oriented database
recommended client (OODB), Versant Object
Repository, which is also
commercially available
License: Caliber-RM may be
licensed either by seat or on a
concurrent user basis

Table 2: Organizational Factors

Part III

Tools supporting the Synergistic Environment
For Requirements Generation

In this chapter we describe an environment for requirements generation, being
developed at Virginia Tech, and list some tools that we have conceived in support of
this environment

SERGen: Supporting Tools

1 Overview

The Synergistic Environment for Requirements Generation, being developed is the
first of its kind and provides the requirements engineering process the much-needed
structure that it has been lacking. Upon completion, the visual representation of the
environment will provide guidelines & protocols, and the context in which the activities
are progressing, while requirements generation will be facilitated by means of a set of
tools and artifacts. For example, a text editor will provide means to document the
requirements. An automated requirement measurement tool1 will then be employed to
parse the requirements specification and ensure consistency and unambiguity. The
process will further be supported with tools such as email managers, hierarchy
generators, schedulers, etc. The operation of all the tools will be under the auspices of
the framework outlining the process. We provide a brief description of these tools in the
section below.

2 Requirements Management Tools Supporting The
Synergistic Environment
This section provides a list of tools being incorporated in the Synergistic
Environment. It must be noted that these tools are not just applicable to the environment,
but can be generically applied to any requirements management effort.

Hierarchy Generator
The first activity performed while organizing a requirements elicitation meeting is
participant selection. This selection varies depending upon the methodology employed
for conducting the elicitation meeting. For example, Joint Application Development2
(JAD) and Participatory Design3 (PD) advocate different approaches to selecting
participants. JAD promotes the selection of a cross-section of a hierarchy of users. It
advocates that participants should preferably represent all ‘user classes.’ On the other
hand, PD encourages the selection of participants from the same strata. According to PD,
this helps participants to shed inhibitions and engage more actively in the proceedings,
without having the fear of being evaluated by seniors. For the advantages and
disadvantages of each methodology, the reader is advised to refer to the footnote at the
end of this page.
For a requirements engineer, who is not a part of the organization, selecting
participants can be a daunting task, especially in larger projects where requirements are to
be elicited from a large populace. Remembering the name, contact information, role and
designation of each stakeholder can be tedious.

1
NASA ARM - http://satc.gsfc.nasa.gov/tools/arm/
2
For more details refer “References”
3
For more details refer “References”


The Hierarchy Generator helps in managing information about stakeholders and
selecting representative participants, depending on the methodology adopted. Referring
to Figure 1, each node in the tree represents the information about the stakeholder,
including the contact details, role and other pertinent information. The corresponding
level of the tree represents the designation of the stakeholder in the organization. The
requirements engineer is simply expected to enter the information about each stakeholder
and a tree-like structure, as depicted in Figure 1, will be generated automatically.

Information about
stakeholder

Figure 1: Participant Node Tree

In case the JAD methodology is employed, then a participant must be selected such
that every hierarchy level is represented. A representative pattern, as shown in Figure 2
may be followed, such that every node (participant information) enclosed in the red zone
is sent a meeting notification.

Representative set
of participants

Figure 2: Participant Selection as per the JAD Methodology


Similarly, the selection criterion for the PD methodology is depicted in Figure 3.

Representative set
of participants

Figure 3: Participant Selection as per the PD Methodology

The Hierarchy Generator automates the selection of the representative set of
participants and sends out the elicitation meeting notification to every participant.

Scheduler
The Scheduler is responsible for charting the course of activities to be performed to
ensure an effective requirement generation process. An underlying framework supports
the Synergistic Environment. This framework dictates the sequence of activities
performed and accounts for the need of an additional iteration. Simply put, the
framework is responsible for scheduling and planning all activities.
The Scheduler displays the timeframe within which these activities are to be
performed, as shown in Figure 4. The front-end of the Scheduler consists of a calendar
that actually displays what activity is to be performed and when. The Scheduler is
dynamic, i.e., after a particular activity, the requirements manager is asked as to whether
another iteration is required. If affirmative, then the (pending) schedule is automatically
readjusted to incorporate the additional iteration.


Resolve
Ambiguities

Conduct
Elicitation Send Meeting
Meeting Notification

Prioritize
Conduct Risk Requirements
Analysis

Figure 4: Scheduler Front-End
Callouts provided by mouse-over effects

The Scheduler enforces structure to the requirements generation process and also aids
planning the overall development process. It must be noted that the Scheduler is
customizable, accounting for missed meetings or passed deadlines.

Email Manager
The Email Manager supports communication amongst stakeholder. It is invoked after
the selection of the participants is made (using the Hierarchy Generator) and the template
for the Meeting Notification is prepared. An email notification is automatically sent to all
intended recipients. A schematic representation is shown in Figure 5.


Template
Repository

Customized Meeting
Notification(s) and
Agenda Templates Meeting Notification
Email and Agenda dispatched
Manager to stakeholders

Hierarchy Generator

Database containing
Contact Information
of Stakeholders
Figure 5: A Schematic Representation of the
Email Manager

The Email Manager also facilitates all other communication between the
requirements engineer and the customer/users.

Discussions and Conclusions

There are numerous tools4 available that support the requirements management
process. This report surveys six popular tools. Some tools have more features that are
more important than others. The leading products have features that make the process
easier, efficient and faster for the administration and the team members.
We have enumerated some features that are crucial in a requirements management
tool. We have also provided a table that provides questions to be answered while
selecting a requirements management tool.

Ability to manage versions and changes
At some stage of development, a project should define a requirements baseline, a
specific collection of requirements that a particular release will contain. A requirements
management tool must record a history of the changes made to every requirement. This
will help explain previous decisions and rationales, thereby minimizing the scope for
ambiguity.

Store requirements attributes
Comprehensive information and attributes about requirements should be stored to
promote understandability, for customers as well as developers. Attributes must be
visible to all concerned stakeholders and selected individuals should be able to update
values. Requirements management tools automate the generation of several system-
defined attributes, such as date created and version number, and allow the definition of
additional attributes of various data types. Attributes such as author, person responsible,
origin or rationale, release number, status, priority, cost, difficulty, stability, and risk
further augment understandability.

Link requirements to other system elements
Tracing individual requirements to other system components helps ensure that
developers do not inadvertently overlook any requirements during implementation.
Different kinds of requirements and between requirements in different subsystems should

4
A fairly comprehensive listing of all available requirements management tools can be obtained at
http://www.incose.org/tools/tooltax.html

Discussions and Conclusions

be defined. When analyzing the impact of a change proposed in a specific requirement,
the traceability links reveal the other system elements that the change might affect.

Track Status
A good requirements management tool will help track the status of each requirement
during development thereby supporting overall project status tracking. If a project
manager knows that 55% of the requirements allocated to the next release have been
implemented and verified, 28% are implemented but not verified, and 17% are not yet
fully implemented, then he or she has good insight into project status.

View requirement subsets
Requirements Management tools can help sort, filter, or query database(s) of
requirements to view subsets of the requirements that have specific attribute values.

Control access
Permissions should be set for individuals or groups of users. This prevents miscreants
and inadvertent accesses to requirements.

Communicate with stakeholders
Most requirements management tools let team members discuss requirements issues
electronically. E-mail messages can notify the affected individuals when a new
discussion entry is made or a requirement is changed.

Backend Compatibility with Editors
Most requirements management tools described in this section are compatible with
popular editors, such as Microsoft Word. This is helpful to distribute and edit
requirements and interchange information with other tools.

Publishable Web Interfaces
Recent tools have the ability to publish information on the Internet with a click of a
button. This helps sharing information and promotes remote collaboration, particularly in
development efforts requiring remote collaboration

No. Question Answer
1 Does the tool support analysis of existing documentation? Y/N
2 Does the tool support automatic parsing of documents? Y/N
3 Can the tool compare different versions of the same document (detect Y/N
changes)?
4 Does the tool support the reading of requirements from external tools? Y/N
5 Does the tool support requirements traceability? Y/N
6 Does the tool have the capability to categorize requirements as they are elicited Y/N
and documented?
7 Can the tool capture or generate graphical representations (system architecture, Y/N
analysis graphs, tables, etc.) of the system?
8 Can the tool link requirements to other system elements (use cases, design, Y/N
code, test cases, etc.)
9 Does the tool support the association of attributes to every requirement? Y/N
10 Can the tool detect inconsistencies in requirements (incomplete traceability Y/N
links, missing attributes, etc.)?
11 Does the tool provide information of requirements verification (whether a Y/N
requirements was implemented or not, who did it and when)?
12 Does the tool maintain a history of requirements changes? Y/N
13 Does the tool have the ability to baseline requirements document and then Y/N
compare different baseline?
14 Does the tool provide security to prevent inadvertent or malicious modifications Y/N
to information?
15 Does the tool support the generation of the Software Requirements Specification Y/N
(SRS) in standardized formats?
16 Does the tool check for inconsistencies (spelling errors, etc.) in the SRS? Y/N
17 Does the tool support querying? Y/N
18 Does the tool integrate with other CASE tools? Y/N
19 Does the tool provide publishable web interfaces? Y/N
20 Does the tool support communication among team members? Y/N
21 Is support offered for single and multiple concurrent users?
22 Which platforms and operating systems does the tool run on?
23 Does the tool use a commercial or a proprietary database to store Y/N
requirements?
24 What are the hardware and software requirements for the tool?
25 Does the tool provide an interface for manipulating information? Y/N
26 Does the tool manage change by adjusting for a change in all pertinent places? Y/N
27 Does the tool support web access to the information stored in the database? Y/N
28 Does the tool have a warrantee? Y/N
29 Are user manuals online or hard copies are provided? Y/N
30 What kind of support does the vendor provide?

Table 3: Ready Reckoner for selecting a Requirements Management Tool

References

A Brief Introduction to Requirements Engineering

Thayer R.H., Dorfman M., Software Requirements Engineering, Second Edition, IEE
Computer Society, ISBN 0-8186-7738-4

Existing Requirements Management Tools

Rational Suite AnalystStudio – http://www.rational.com/products/astudio/index.jsp
RDT 3.0 (Requirements Design and Traceability) – http://www.igatech.com/rdt
RTM Workshop 5.0 –
http://www.chipware.com/sub1.php3?section=rtm&sub=RTM_Overview
Telelogic DOORS – http://www.telelogic.com/products/doorsers/index.cfm
Omni Vista OnYourMark Pro – http://www.omni-vista.com/Products/OnYourMarkPro
/index.htm
Starbase Caliber-RM – http://www.borland.com

Wiegers K.E. – Automating Requirements Management, http://www.processimpact.com

Tools supporting the Synergistic Environment for Requirements
Generation
E. Carmel, R.D. Whitaker, and J.F. George. PD and joint application design: A
transatlantic comparison. Communications of the ACM, 36(4): 40—48, June 1993

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