Tag Archive for: Collaboration & Alignment

Jama Connect Features in Five: Jama Connect Interchange – What Sets Us Apart

Learn how you can supercharge your systems development process! In this blog series, we’re pulling back the curtains to give you a look at a few of the powerful features in Jama Connect… in about five minutes.

In this Features in Five Integration Series video, Mario Maldari, Director of Solutions Architect at Jama Software – will demonstrate the Jama Connect to Jira integration via Jama Connect Interchange™.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Mario Maldari: Hello. My name is Mario Maldari and I’m the Director of solution architecture here at Jama Software. Today we’ll be discussing the Jama Connect to Jira integration via our Jama Connect Interchange. We’ll be focusing on some specific advantages and differentiators that our integration provides for our clients. These advantages provide added value to our integration and allow our clients to better meet the needs of their process and ultimately speed up their development time with improved quality.

Let’s start in Jama Connect’s Live Trace Explorer™ and analyze gaps in coverage between system requirements and user stories. We can easily drill down into the trace view and identify gaps within our coverage. Once the gaps are identified, we can create new user stories to satisfy the coverage and improve our traceability score. Let’s go ahead and do that.

You’ll now see the gap in coverage for this particular item has been satisfied and is no longer being flagged by the tool. One unique aspect of our Jira integration is that a user can configure the synchronization interval. It can range from 15 seconds to up to 24 hours. This built-in flexibility allows for the integration to be customized to meet the needs of many different process flows and organizational needs.

RELATED: Jama Connect Interchange™ for Software and Product Development Teams: Live Traceability Realized

Maldari: Navigating back to the user story that we just created in Jama Connect, you will now see an integration URL has been populated to the corresponding user story that was just created in Jira. In this case, the synchronization was quick, 15 seconds. Any subsequent update made to the item in Jira will synchronize and reflect back in Jama Connect with the same frequency. This way the two tools are always kept in sync and there is essentially no lag time.

Another major differentiation that our integration provides is the ability to create conditional rules for the integration. This allows users to be very specific about conditions for the creation and synchronization. They do not have to worry about the burden and overhead of sinking their entire project. They can be very specific regarding the conditions.
As an example, imagine a process that dictates that a new user story in Jama Connect will only get created in Jira when the Jira status in Jama Connect is set to do. This provides the requirements manager a level of process control where they can review the user stories and determine which ones and when they should be created in Jira.

In the Jama Connect Interchange configuration, if I navigate to the creation rule tab, I can see that there is a rule for user story creation. It’s configured to be triggered when the Jira status is set to do. I can add any number of rules and conditions based on my particular process flow. This allows for customization at a lower level and does not require the entire project to be synchronized.
Now let’s see how this works in Jama Connect. Utilizing Jama Connect’s List View, I can see which stories do not currently have a Jira status field set. I can review these and determine that I would like them to be created and synchronized to my Jira project. I can utilize the bulk edit feature and set the status for multiple items at a time.

RELATED: How to Achieve Live Traceability™ with Jira® for Software Development Teams

Maldari: Because of the conditional rule I have set in my Jama Connect Interchange settings, all three of these user stories will be created in Jira and participate in synchronization. You will see that the Jira URL has now been populated and the corresponding item has been created in Jira. This is just an example, but you can imagine how this flexibility can be applied across your projects and specific to your attributes.

Another important distinction to note is how relationships in Jama Connect and Jira are maintained through the integration. This allows for a more holistic, contextual view of how requirements and user stories relate outside the direct linkage of the integration. For example, as a developer in Jira, I may want to have a reference to how the requirements relate to upstream and downstream links. By choosing a relationship type and performing a field mapping, I’m able to get this reference to display as web links in Jira. As a developer in Jira, this allows me to get a sense for the overall context of the traceability.

In this example, a developer will see a user story come into their queue, and they will have a web link reference to the upstream and downstream requirements in Jama Connect. This provides them with additional context while working on developing the user story. They are even able to navigate directly to those items in Jama Connect for further detail.

One of our core philosophies at Jama Software is making our tools easy to use and therefore easy to adopt and maintain. Our integration to Jira is no exception. The user interface is point and click and the field mapping has intelligence built in that does most of the work for you. It’s also worth noting that we do not require you to be a Jama Connect administrator to set up, configure, and utilize our integration. Jama Connect Interchange also provides detailed event logging, which allows IT teams to monitor events and current status of the configured integrations.

As you can see, the Jama Connect to Jira integration offers teams a robust set of features with configuration options to meet various organizational needs. This flexibility and ease of use combined with specific well-thought-out functionality sets us apart from other requirement tools in Jira integrations. To find out more about our Jama Connect to Jira integration through our Jama Connect Interchange, please reach out to your customer success manager or visit our website today at jamasoftware.com

To view more Jama Connect Features in Five topics, visit:
Jama Connect Features in Five Video Series

This image portrays artificial intelligence pointing to a screen to indicate it is performing requirements management.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Requirements Management

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere – from healthcare, to finance, to customer service – the integration of AI into various business processes has become a game-changer. One area where AI’s impact is particularly profound is in requirements management, a key process in product, systems, and software development.

Effective requirements management is crucial for the success of any project, ensuring that the final deliverables align with stakeholders’ needs and expectations. By leveraging AI, organizations can enhance their requirements management processes, leading to improved project outcomes, increased efficiency, and reduced risks.

Understanding Requirements Management

Requirements management involves the process of gathering, analyzing, documenting, and managing the needs and requirements of stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. It ensures that all project requirements are clearly defined, tracked, and verified, minimizing the chances of misunderstandings and errors. Traditional requirements management, while effective, can be time-consuming and prone to human error. This is where AI steps in, offering innovative solutions to streamline and enhance the process.

RELATED: How the EARS Notation Supports Effective Requirements Management and Live Traceability™

The Role of AI in Requirements Management

  1. Automated Requirements Elicitation: AI-powered tools can automatically gather requirements from various sources, such as emails, documents, and meeting notes. Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms can analyze text data to extract relevant information, saving time and ensuring that no critical requirements are overlooked.
  2. Intelligent Document Analysis: AI can analyze and interpret complex documents, identifying key requirements and relationships between them. This capability allows for more accurate and comprehensive requirements documentation, reducing the risk of misinterpretation and gaps.
  3. Enhanced Traceability and Impact Analysis: AI can improve traceability by automatically linking requirements to their corresponding design elements, test cases, and implementation tasks. In the event of a change in requirements, AI can quickly assess the impact on the project, providing valuable insights for decision-making.
  4. Predictive Analytics and Risk Management: AI can analyze historical project data to identify patterns and predict potential risks and challenges. By leveraging predictive analytics, organizations can proactively address issues before they escalate, ensuring smoother project execution.
  5. Real-time Collaboration and Feedback: AI-powered collaboration tools facilitate real-time communication and feedback among stakeholders, ensuring that everyone is on the same page. These tools can also provide intelligent suggestions and recommendations, enhancing the quality of discussions and decisions.
  6. Continuous Learning and Improvement: AI systems can continuously learn from past projects and refine their algorithms, leading to ongoing improvements in requirements management processes. This continuous learning capability ensures that organizations stay ahead of the curve and adapt to evolving project needs.

Case Study: AI in Action

Consider a software development company implementing AI in their requirements management process. By using an AI-driven tool, the company automated the elicitation of requirements from client emails and documents. The tool identified and categorized requirements, linking them to specific project tasks and design elements. This automation reduced the time spent on manual documentation by 50%, allowing the team to focus on higher-value activities.

Moreover, the AI tool provided real-time impact analysis when changes were requested by the client. It quickly identified affected areas, allowing the team to make informed decisions and adjust project plans accordingly. The result was a more agile and responsive project management process, leading to increased client satisfaction and successful project delivery.

Conclusion

The integration of Artificial Intelligence in requirements management represents a significant advancement in how organizations handle complex projects. By automating routine tasks, enhancing traceability, and providing predictive insights, AI empowers teams to deliver high-quality projects on time and within budget. As AI technology continues to evolve, its impact on requirements management will only grow, offering even more innovative solutions to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s projects.

Organizations that embrace AI in their requirements management processes will not only improve their project outcomes but also gain a competitive edge in an increasingly dynamic and demanding business environment.

Note: This article was drafted with the aid of AI. Additional content, edits for accuracy, and industry expertise by McKenzie Jonsson and Mario Maldari.

RELATED: Best Practices for Writing Requirements Webinar

Unleash the Full Potential of Your Requirements with Jama Connect Advisor™

Successful product delivery starts with precise, well-written requirements that align design, software, and hardware teams with clear project goals. Jama Connect Advisor™ is a cutting-edge tool powered by natural language processing, guiding system engineers and product developers to create effective requirement specifications based on INCOSE and EARS standards.

Teams are using Jama Connect Advisor to:

  • Improve the quality and usability of requirements
  • Save time authoring, reviewing, and updating requirement statements
  • Continuously enhance team requirement authoring skills with regular use
  • Deliver programs and projects on time and on budget with long-term success

LEARN MORE:
Improve the quality of your requirements, save time, and enhance team skills with Jama Connect Advisor™.

In this image, you see a hand pointing to a tablet with information displayed, which portrays the power of simplifying an audit with an itemized database.

In this blog, we recap a section of our recent eBook, “Simplify Audit Documentation by Leveraging the Power of an Itemized Database” – Click HERE to read the whole thing.

Simplify Audit Documentation by Leveraging the Power of an Itemized Database

How to enhance efficiency, auditability, and stay ahead of the competition with Jama Connect® for Medical Device Development

In the current landscape of medical device and life sciences development — in addition to facing relentless pressures to innovate, remain competitive, and release quality products — medical device developers also must comply with rigorous regulations and standards for their products to be marketed, distributed, and sold in regulated markets like the United States and the European Union.

However, reliance on traditional documents or legacy document-driven systems like Cognition Cockpit and Polarion poses challenges for professionals, particularly those in roles such as quality assurance. This eBook delves into the transition from document-centric workflows to itemized databases, focusing on Jama Connect® as a solution to enhance efficiency and auditability in product development processes.

RELATED: Jama Connect® for Medical Device & Life Sciences Development Datasheet

The Challenge of Document-Centric Workflows

Traditional product development processes for medical device companies revolve around document-centric workflows. This section highlights the inherent limitations and complexities
associated with managing requirements, traceability, and change control solely through documents.

Challenges include:

  • Manual traceability matrices often lead to a time-consuming and error-prone process, making it challenging to maintain accurate and up-to-date links between requirements, design elements, and test cases, which are critical for regulatory compliance and product quality.
  • Version control issues can result in confusion, inconsistencies, and potential compliance risks, as stakeholders struggle to identify the most current documentation amidst multiple iterations, revisions, and parallel development efforts.
  • Difficulties working in an Agile workflow can hinder traceability and documentation, as the rapid pace of iterations and evolving requirements make it challenging to maintain clear and auditable links between user stories, tasks, and regulatory documentation, impacting the ability to demonstrate compliance and validation.

  • The absence of a single source of truth contributes to inefficiencies, as disparate document repositories result in data silos, inconsistent information, and difficulty in
    reconciling different versions of documentation, leading to confusion and potential errors in audits or reviews.
  • Slow quality management processes can delay the verification and validation of documentation, impacting the timely detection and resolution of compliance issues, and the ability to demonstrate adherence to regulatory standards, potentially delaying product approvals and market entry.
  • The risk of errors escalating during iterative design phases grows as manual documentation processes and fragmented tools make it difficult to track and manage changes, increasing the likelihood of overlooked requirements, design inconsistencies, and compliance gaps that can surface during regulatory assessments and audits.

RELATED: Traceable Agile™ – Speed AND Quality Are Possible for Software Factories in Safety-critical Industries

The Value Proposition of an Itemized Database

Central to this transition is understanding the inherent value of itemized databases like Jama Connect. This section explores the tangible benefits, including real-time traceability, proactive change management, and improved product quality.

By embracing itemized databases, organizations can:

  • Accelerate Product Development Cycles: By accelerating product development cycles, organizations can increase their market competitiveness and improve their ability to meet customer demands, while minimizing the risk of delays or missed opportunities caused by manual documentation processes.
  • Maintain Proactive Traceability: By maintaining proactive traceability, organizations can demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the development process, while enabling faster detection and resolution of issues before they escalate.
  • Gain Visibility into Progress and Coverage: By gaining visibility into progress and coverage, organizations can identify gaps and redundancies in their documentation, prioritize requirements, and allocate resources effectively, improving overall product quality, and reducing the risk of compliance issues.
  • Proactively Manage Risks: By proactively managing risks, organizations can reduce the likelihood of errors and minimize the potential impact of issues, ensuring patient safety and reducing the risk of product recalls, legal liability, or damage to reputation.
  • Link Suspect Items and Manage Change: By linking suspect items and effectively managing change, organizations can streamline the change management process, minimizing the impact of revisions on other items, and ensuring that each change is properly reviewed and validated before implementation.
  • Maintain an Agile Workflow: By easily maintaining an Agile workflow, organizations can support their development teams, empowering them to collaborate and innovate effectively, while ensuring that their processes remain compliant and traceable throughout the development lifecycle.
  • Enhance Documentation: By enhancing compliance documentation, organizations can improve their ability to adhere to regulatory requirements and expectations, minimize the risk of non-compliance, and demonstrate their commitment to patient safety and quality outcomes.
  • Reuse Requirements: By reusing requirements and enabling release management, organizations can optimize their resources, reduce duplicative efforts, and improve their ability to deliver products that meet customer needs and expectations.
  • Automate Version Control: By automating version control, organizations can minimize the risk of errors caused by manual processes, streamline the review and approval of documentation, and improve their ability to manage multiple iterations and revisions while maintaining an accurate audit trail.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS EBOOK IN ITS ENTIRETY:
Simplify Audit Documentation by Leveraging the Power of an Itemized Database

This image portrays a digital background with a banner reading, "SysML is Not Enough: Why You Still Need a Requirements Management Tool"

SysML is Not Enough: Why You Still Need a Requirements Management Tool

All engineering process models (Agile, waterfall, spiral development, V-model, concurrent engineering, iterative…) describe managing requirements as the most critical key to success. Well-understood requirements provide a single connection point for communication across the engineering teams. Using a Systems Modeling Language (SysML) tool alone to manage requirements instantly creates a silo between engineering teams.

Requirements, tests, architectures, and risks are utilized by every stakeholder when developing a new product or building or modernizing a new system. Customers generate needs and requirements and care what the development status of those are and whether the development team is following the necessary process especially if it requires contract adherence or must meet regulatory laws or industry standards.

Software, hardware, and testing teams also access requirements to be able to analyze, develop, and test. Additionally, they are creating requirements at their given subsystem level too.

Systems Engineers work across all levels of requirements and coordinate the other engineering disciplines. NASA best describes it as, “Systems engineering is a holistic, integrative discipline, wherein the contributions of structural engineers, electrical engineers, mechanism designers, power engineers, human factors engineers, and many more disciplines are evaluated and balanced, one against another, to produce a coherent whole that is not dominated by the perspective of a single discipline.” – NASA

As you can imagine functionality such as configuration management of requirements, traceability between needs, requirements, tests, risks, and architecture are necessary. Systems engineers have been using various tools and even manual techniques for decades to do this.

RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution

The Advertised Purpose of SysML

SysML is a graphical modeling language that is used within some systems modeling tools (such as Dassault’s Catia Nomagic) that enables systems engineers to perform “engineering” of the system. SysML “supports the specification, analysis, design, verification, and validation of a broad range of systems and systems-of-systems.” – Wikipedia

SysML is only a decade old; already a new, more complex version has recently been released; and SysML is yet to be widely adopted. It is widely thought to hold promise for the discipline of model-based systems engineering (MBSE). It is not the only language in use for MBSE though; LML and OPM are examples of modeling languages too, being used within other systems modeling tools.

However, a SysML model is difficult even for those trained in the language. Some indicate the learning curve is steep and the mechanics in the tools are difficult as cited in a recent article by Technology Strategy Partners. Additionally, the variety of tools that support SysML don’t consider themselves as a replacement for a true requirements management tool either. Capabilities from a dedicated requirements management tool such as Jama Connect have built-in collaboration, configuration management, baselines, managing traceability across multiple levels of objects, managing the verification and validation activities, controlling access and change to objects using role-based permissions, and showing real-time workflow states at the object level.

“What SysML lacks is its usage during key Systems Engineering (SE) phases like detail design or implementation phases wherein specific solutions like CAD, Software coding or network design for embedded systems are used,” said Kiran Jacob, Dassault Systems.

Also challenging is usage by software teams during later-stage design phases. Communication of the model (its requirements) becomes critical when needing to validate requirements with the customer, with product managers, and with other engineering disciplines outside of the SysML Scribe (tool jockey). The greater responsibility of the systems engineer as a cross-disciplined communicator requires the use of tools outside of the SysML tool to communicate. Effective communication of requirements is best represented in dedicated requirements management tools.

RELATED: Traceable Agile™ – Speed AND Quality Are Possible for Software Factories in Safety-critical Industries

Conclusion

In conclusion, while SysML and other modeling languages offer significant promise for the discipline of model-based systems engineering, they are not without their challenges. The complexity of SysML, along with its steep learning curve and the limitations of the tools supporting it, often hinders its effectiveness in later stages of design and implementation. As such, relying solely on SysML can create silos within engineering teams, impeding the critical communication and coordination necessary for successful systems engineering.

Effective requirements management remains the cornerstone of any engineering process, ensuring all stakeholders — from customers to software and hardware teams — are aligned and informed. Dedicated requirements management tools, such as Jama Connect, offer robust features like collaboration, configuration management, and traceability, which are essential for managing the multifaceted aspects of modern engineering projects. These tools facilitate clear communication of requirements, verification, and validation activities across all engineering disciplines, thereby supporting the holistic, integrative approach championed by systems engineering.

Ultimately, the synergy between specialized requirements management tools and SysML can provide a comprehensive solution, leveraging the strengths of both to enhance the efficiency and success of engineering projects. As the field continues to evolve, adopting a balanced approach that incorporates the best practices and tools from both domains will be key to navigating the complexities of modern systems engineering.

Manage by Exception

In this blog, we recap our eB00k, “Manage by Exception: Data-Driven Practices to Improve Product, Systems, and Software Quality” – Download the complete paper HERE.

Manage by Exception: Data-Driven Practices to Improve Product, Systems, and Software Quality

Requirement errors in product development cost time and money and create potential liabilities. The expense of these errors can make up between 70% and 85% of all rework costs. When leaders don’t have data related to the execution process, teams aren’t tracing requirements back to the “‘why’,” and when there’s a lack of insight into aspects like verification coverage, you’re much more likely to encounter programs late in the development cycle, resulting in expensive problems.

This creates the all-too-familiar scenario seen in the news of product, systems, or software defects and the resulting fallout. Organizations can avoid many of these challenges by accessing the right data at the right moment — and ideally early — in the development process. As most executives and managers know, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Using data to measure allows your teams to spot recurring patterns and abnormalities early, before they grow into larger challenges later in the development cycle.

Requirement errors in complex product, systems, and software development can consume between 70% and 85% of all project rework costs.

Why “Data-Based Management” is Critical, and How it Uncovers Gaps

Management by exception is a method that empowers your team with data focused on early warning indicators. It’s these warnings that help support faster and more informed decisions.

As a result, leaders can focus on exceptions rather than needlessly micromanaging and intervening with teams when the data shows that development is going as expected.

In other words, when using data, the goal isn’t to micromanage, but to do the opposite: leverage the data to do less micromanagement.

The result is fewer manual requests, fewer status updates, fewer test procedure specification reports, and fewer unnecessary meetings.

Data-driven practices help you automatically evaluate exceptions without needlessly relying on a person to manually hunt them down, evaluate them, and communicate about them. Instead, abnormalities and oversights are brought forward to reduce managerial workloads by minimizing unnecessary intervention and allowing more time to be spent in areas that have the greatest impact.

RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution

Examples of Exceptions in Daily Product, System, and Software Development and Requirements Management

As you adopt a data-driven approach, there are several considerations, but the first is identifying the expected or acceptable process for your research and development function.

Many organizations don’t have a defined practice; instead, operations are based on how things have always been done. Defining processes gives you greater focus.

Once you have an expected process, you can leverage the data to manage by exception but also take things a step further by managing requirements quality, traceability, and completeness. These capabilities will help predict and prevent poor outcomes in product, system, and software delivery.

A tool such as Jama Connect® can help you successfully manage exceptions, such as in these four examples.

1. Version and Change Management – The Jama Connect dashboard shows requirements missing verification. For example, it might flag two requirements missing verifications, and if you click for more details, you can view a filtered list of those requirements. And you can ask Jama Connect to show those missing a downstream verification. The filters are a powerful way to understand and create audits for capturing those exceptions in your process.

2. Derived Requirements Missing Rationale – Using a filter, Jama Connect allows you to see if a particular requirement has a missing rationale. For example, a hardware or software engineer may create a new requirement. But when that’s done,
it’s crucial to have a solid rationale for why, especially if the requirement is not directly related to a stakeholder’s need or contractual requirement. You don’t want to introduce unnecessary capabilities that aren’t going to align with the actual user needs or have a real rationale behind them.

3. Remediate Rejected Requirements – Jama Connect has a capability called Review Center. It allows you to send requirements into a review with colleagues, which can increase the quality of the requirements and create a shared understanding. Leaders can quickly spot the rejected requirements and discuss how to move forward. With many organizations working remotely, this capability helps increase asynchronous collaboration so that working sessions and meetings can more efficiently focus on exceptions.

4. Find Poorly Written Requirements – The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) created a handbook of recommended rules to author well written requirements. For example, requirements using vague terms that are not testable could be flagged for improvement.

With Jama Connect Advisor™, powered by natural language processing, INCOSE’s best practices, and the Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax (EARS), teams can now check the quality and accuracy of their requirements.

RELATED: Requirements Traceability Diagnostic

Critical Metrics to Consider

Having data, a way to view it in context, and metrics to track it empowers your leaders to make the right decision at the right time and predict how well the project or product development will trend. Metrics are an essential part of that equation, and here are two to consider tracking.

1. Requirement Quality – Most product, system, or software failures are due to undocumented, poorly written, or misunderstood requirements. And the later in the product lifecycle the problem is discovered, the higher the cost. Measure your requirement quality, and if you need support, your Jama Software team of in-house experts can help with audit assessments, training, and other resources to help improve the quality of your requirements.

2. Traceability Score™ – Traceability is a core tenet of building complex products, but it hasn’t been measured in a standard way in the past. But if you can measure it, you can improve it.

For example, Jama Software has aggregated and anonymized over 40,000 projects and over 6,000 traceability models using Jama Connect. And we’ve defined an actual approach to measure a Traceability Score™.

Our Traceability Benchmark study shows this traceability score produces a clear correlation between quality and time to market.

It starts with setting up the expected behavior of your engineering team – the traceability model. We take the number of established relationships among the different model elements in the traceability model and divide that by the number of expected relationships defined by the project’s relationship and traceability model. This gives us the traceability score.

For example, a requirement should have three different elements:

Imagine an example where you have two of those established, but one is missing. The Traceability Score is 66%, and with that metric, you can take the appropriate action. Our above-mentioned benchmarking research showed that higher Traceability Scores™ equaled improved product quality and faster time to market.

Integration of your digital engineering tool suite is critically important. In product development, many tools such as Excel, development applications, modeling applications, testing applications, and others are used. These tools capture critical data about your product and system development lifecycle.

But if they aren’t integrated, you can’t measure critical information like your Traceability Score. As a result, managing by exception isn’t possible due to a lack of data, which risks product delays, extra costs, and even compliance and audit failures. Ensure that critical tools are integrated to support real-time data visibility.

TO LEARN MORE, DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE WHITEPAPER HERE:
“Manage by Exception: Data-Driven Practices to Improve Product, Systems, and Software Quality”

SOC2 Type2

Streamlining SOC2 Type 2 Compliance: How Jama Connect® Can Help Enable Audit Success

In today’s business landscape, technology and data play a crucial role. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to prioritize the security and privacy of sensitive information. One way to do this is by undergoing a SOC2 Type 2 audit.

A SOC2 audit provides an independent, third-party validation that a service organization’s information security practices meet industry standards stipulated by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.) During the audit process, a service organization’s non-financial reporting controls as they relate to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of a system are tested.

This audit provides customers and partners with trust and assurance regarding an organization’s data security practices. It also helps businesses in regulated industries meet compliance requirements, manage risks by identifying and mitigating security threats, and gain a competitive edge by demonstrating a strong commitment to security. Furthermore, it can drive internal improvements by enhancing policies and procedures related to data protection.

Jama Software® is the only vendor in the requirements management and traceability space that is SOC2 Type 2 compliant both on the application layer and the data center offerings. In this blog post, we’ve invited Jama Software team members Sarah Voget – Team Lead, Project Manager, Jennifer Esposti – Project Manager, and Cooper Graham – Compliance Analyst, to detail their experiences preparing for and passing the SOC2 Type 2 audit and how they will use Jama Connect® to improve future audits.

Preparing for the audit process

Tell us about your experience with SOC2 audits in the past. What tools have you used at other companies? What were some of the challenges or drawbacks to those solutions?

Sarah Voget: The biggest challenge I ran into at previous companies was that no one tool could easily compile and track evidence for recurring audits. Passing an audit requires a company to compile substantial evidence from a variety of sources in a variety of formats. For example, we upload free text answers from subject matter experts (SMEs) to specific audit questions along with supporting screenshots, policy documents, PDF reports, etc. While tools like OneDrive or Excel could keep such information somewhat organized, it was incredibly difficult to have a holistic picture of audit evidence over time. Each year during audit prep, I felt like I had to reinvent the wheel by tracking down audit evidence from a variety of systems and SMEs all over again.

Tell us how you came up with the idea of using Jama Connect® for SOC2 compliance.

Voget: When I first joined Jama Software, I attended an internal presentation about Jama Connect, where I learned about our product’s strength in end-to-end requirements tracking. A lightbulb went off in my head because that’s really what audit prep is all about. An audit is like a list of requirements that we must prove we’re meeting, and each year, we reevaluate our effectiveness at meeting those requirements. It’s critical for us to understand how we met certain requirements in the past and to continuously iterate on our security policies and procedures as they relate to those requirements. Once I made that connection, I realized the potential power of Jama Connect as an internal audit preparation and readiness tool.

Can you provide any information about how you formatted Jama Connect initially to prepare for the audit?

Voget: My first attempt at using Jama Connect for audit prep focused on the big problem I mentioned earlier: compiling huge amounts of evidence in one place where I could easily access it over time.

RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution

Lessons for future audits

Taking lessons from the first SOC2 audit using Jama Connect – what did you think could be improved on? What were the wins?

Jennifer Esposti: For the initial audit, Jama Connect was used primarily as a content management tool, which allowed us to organize and document the required evidence. This year, we wanted to expand our use to include the monthly, quarterly, and annual maintenance we do as a cross-functional team to ensure we are maintaining the necessary processes for SOC2 compliance.

Cooper Graham: In the first year run-through, we stored some critical information, such as the trust criteria and some information around the auditor questions and requests and our responses in Jama Connect, which limited those resources to those involved in the audit. The primary win was seeing the potential of the Jama Connect application for managing and tracking our SOC2 preparation. Having a foundation in the application that we could build on year-to-year rather than starting from scratch for each year’s preparation. Using additional features and elements in the Jama Connect application for collaboration and organization of our preparation.

What changes have you made from the initial SOC2 audit?

Esposti: From a project management perspective, I use the test management functionality within Jama Connect to organize the monthly, quarterly, and annual check-ins. The test cases provide a clear and consistent process for the project team to follow.

Graham: Using the test management functionality, we were able to organize and track recurring check-ins to ensure we were prepared for the upcoming audit. We were able to document more specific questions and responses that were provided during the previous audit to have a better understanding of the auditor’s asks and wants. It also gives our subject matter and individuals involved in the audit the ability to see what was previously asked to prepare for the upcoming audit.

How is Jama Connect well suited to help teams prove SOC2 compliance?

Graham: As a requirements management product, the ability to identify the requirements, track the associated testing, and include evidence or links to key artifact locations really assists in the organization for the audit and ensures nothing slips through the cracks.

How are you leveraging features in Jama Connect for this year’s audit and beyond?

Esposti: My focus this year is on using the test management functionality to organize our evidence and ensure we are performing the required tasks on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. For future audits, I’d like to explore ways we can use Jama Connect to track our progress year-over-year.

Graham: We are utilizing Jama Connect’s Test Management functionality in a new way this year. The ability to organize monthly, quarterly, and annual check-ins and create test plans associated with specific teams ensures that all of the pre-audit due diligence is performed. The ability to create test cases that can be reused ensures consistency for every check-in. Having everything laid out in Jama Connect allows us to identify gaps and potential improvements to test cases and collaborate more effectively with key stakeholders. In the future, we plan to use Live Traceability™ to have a better view of the SOC2 process, from requirements to testing to end results. As the Jama Connect application goes through its releases, new features and functionality are being continuously added. We’re constantly looking to see if there are new elements that would aid us in preparation for future SOC2 audits.

RELATED: Traceable Agile™ – Speed AND Quality Are Possible for Software Factories in Safety-critical Industries

CONCLUSION

Meeting SOC 2 Type 2 requirements requires careful attention to detail and strong management of organizational processes. A comprehensive solution like Jama Connect can greatly assist teams in navigating this complex terrain. By centralizing and automating requirement management, Jama Connect ensures traceability, transparency, and accountability throughout the development process. Its collaborative features facilitate efficient communication and documentation, which are crucial for meeting SOC 2 Type 2 standards.

Using Jama Connect, engineering organizations can now intelligently manage the development process by leveraging Live Traceability™ across best-of-breed tools to measurably improve outcomes.

Live Traceability enables organizations to meet SOC2 Type 2 standards by effectively tracking data and processes within their systems. By utilizing Live Traceability, companies can demonstrate their compliance with SOC2 Type 2 standards through well-documented information and audit trails. This promotes transparency and accountability. Staying updated with the latest SOC2 Type 2 standards is crucial for maintaining secure operations and reducing risks. Jama Connect remains current by regularly updating its platform to adhere to the latest SOC2 Type 2 standards, ensuring companies remain compliant and secure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Seven Steps to Performing FMEA

Welcome to this deep dive into the world of FMEA

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a powerful tool used in various industries to identify and mitigate potential failures in a process, product, or system. In this blog, we will take a detailed look at the seven steps involved in performing an FMEA.

RELATED: Jama Connect® FMEA Framework for Automotive

1: Define the scope and team.

  • Clearly define the boundaries of the process, product, or system you are analyzing, assemble a multidisciplinary team consisting of experts from different areas to ensure a comprehensive analysis.

2: Break down the process.

  • Divide the process into manageable steps or components. This helps to identify potential failure modes at each stage.

3: Identify potential failure modes.

  • Brainstorm all potential failure modes for each process step. These are the ways in which the process or component could fail to perform its intended function.

4: Assess the severity.

  • Assign a severity rating to each failure mode based on its potential impact on the customer, product, or process. This helps prioritize which failure modes require immediate attention.

5: Determine the causes.

  • Identify the root causes or factors contributing to each failure mode. This requires conducting thorough analysis and gathering relevant data.

6: Evaluate the current detection controls.

  • Assess the effectiveness of the current controls in place to detect or prevent failure modes from occurring. Identify any gaps or weaknesses that need to be addressed.

7: Calculate the risk priority number RPM.

  • The RPM is a numerical score obtained by multiplying severity, occurrence, and detection ratings. This allows you to prioritize which failure modes require immediate action

RELATED: FMEA Framework for Medical Device Development

By following these seven steps, you can perform a comprehensive FMEA and proactively identify and mitigate potential failures or risks in your process, product, or system. Remember, FMEA is an iterative process that requires continuous improvement. Regularly review and update your analysis as new information becomes available and track the effectiveness of your implemented actions. Thank you for diving deep into the seven steps of performing FMEA. Now you have a better understanding of how to apply this critical process in your industry.

Note: This article was drafted with the aid of AI. Additional content, edits for accuracy, and industry expertise by Karrie Sundbom, McKenzie Jonsson, and Decoteau Wilkerson.

In this blog, we recap our eBook, “Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution for Aerospace” – To download the entire thing, click HERE.

Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution for Aerospace

Use a Single Platform to Accelerate Innovation in Aerospace Systems Development

Consistently meeting product security, reliability and safety requirements proves the top challenge for aerospace systems development lifecycles. Contract complexity, streams of new regulations and policies, in addition to the challenges presented by increasingly networked systems, add to the already onerous development processes. This can lead to unmet technical performance parameters or delayed airworthiness certification reviews which for commercial aviation today takes years, to possibly lengthen out even more.

Effective management of these shifting complexities impacts your ability to meet compliance and ultimately, critical timelines. As a result, your development teams could find themselves:

  • Mired in rework
  • Making trade-offs without context
  • Stuck in unproductive meetings

In this industry, aircraft and space systems development requires strict attention to safety and security requirements, as well as continuous innovation and fast paced development to remain competitive. Ineffective stakeholder collaboration and communication between suppliers, government customers, contractors, and vendors can lead to delivery delays and cost overruns.

Bottom Line: The accelerated development of safe, high-quality aerospace systems, coupled with a highly complex regulatory and contractual environment, create competing challenges, and make it difficult for teams to focus.

What if you didn’t have to compromise?

This Buyer’s Guide incorporates insights from Jama Software’s more than ten years of experience partnering with forward-thinking systems development teams. We’ve designed a platform to help aerospace systems development teams manage the systems engineering data and controls. This allows them to:

  • Align to industry regulations quickly
  • Simplify contract deliverables and certification preparations
  • Accelerate time to market and mission

Use these insights to better understand the challenges you’re up against and thoughtfully consider potential solutions. Plus, learn how to get the buy-in you need to undertake the kind of transformation necessary to succeed with complex systems development.

Making the Case for Change

Jama Connect for aerospace systems development helps organizations to manage systems complexity and replace documents or legacy tools with a single digital platform. When requirements, architecture, V&V, and safety analyses are managed in a centralized location, contract deliverables and certification preparations become a straightforward process and the business impact and value of the platform becomes clear across the organization. That makes executive buy-in easier.

Corrective actions can cost anywhere from $1.6 million for a small change (Gulfstream Model G–1159A and G–1159B airplanes and all Model G–IV and GIV–X airplanes to remediate the ground spoiler actuator installation) to a large corrective action that has indirect costs of lost revenue and diminished market cap at over $20 billion (Boeing 737 MAX). Those costs are especially significant considering the price tag of system development – $75 million in FAA compliance alone—and an average timeline of three to seven years for type certification alone. For a space system, a failure can mean the entire loss of a system or spacecraft; typically there is only a single system created.

Chart showing time-to-market competitive market costs.

If your company is not considering the importance of transitioning to a more streamlined development process, time is not on your side. Failing to act quickly can leave your organization even further behind. But to see the value a positive impact a system can have, stakeholders in an organization have to appreciate the challenges first.

This is where you come in. You can help quantify the problem within your organization and provide data to help make the case for change.

Go through the exercises in the next section using data from your organization to identify your current situation and the size of the potential opportunity.

RELATED: CIMdata: Digital Thread in Aerospace and Defense

Tools to Assess Four Development Pain Points

Throughout the past decade of working with organizations developing complex aerospace systems, four common systems development pain points continuously arise for those who have yet to transform their process.

We’ll provide context around the problems and share equations with examples to help you uncover the savings from a modern systems development solution. Remember to adjust the variables according to your company’s metrics to get a more precise estimate, and rethink how your team functions.

Improving any one of these four aspects of your development process produces real savings. While the calculations on the following pages aren’t cumulative, they impact one another and can add up to significant value for your organization.

This is the potential of using a modern systems development platform. If realized, it can radically change your business and be the competitive edge you need in today’s market.

The Four Common Development Pain Points

  • Unproductive Work Time
  • Lengthy Time-to-Market
  • Rework
  • Defects

Unproductive Work time

Are your days spent in inefficient meetings, sifting through emails and document versions for historical information or waiting for reviews and approvals? You’re not alone. Many teams suffer the repercussions of archaic, siloed development. A modern process maximizes efficiency by tackling the root causes of momentum-killing delays and holdups.

Calculate how much unproductive work time is costing your business and imagine the possibilities of getting that time back. What could you do with one extra hour each day?

PRO TIP: We’ve seen long status meetings shrink or vanish when teams have the right solutions in place. Think about your team’s schedule and adjust the average time saved per person based on the time spent in meetings each week.

Lengthy Time-to-Mark

Time to market or meeting a mission deadline and quality are usually seen as compounding challenges. Understanding the impact of change, capturing decisions, communicating feedback and reusing
existing intellectual property — all aspects that can help speed time-to-market — can be improved with a modern systems development solution.

PRO TIP: Cost savings can certainly be great and have an impact on your bottom line, but don’t forget the qualitative implications. Consider what it would mean for your systems line and brand to be first-to-market with game-changing systems.

RELATED: Tracing Your Way to Success: The Crucial Role of Traceability in Modern Product and Systems Development

Rework

In our experience, approximately 30-50% of a given project is rework. Rework is any time spent on extra work — including mid-development changes, incorrect testing or fixing defects — and it costs your company big time. Requirements errors cause the majority of rework. Improving the ability to track requirements from definition through testing to catch changes and adjust scope can ensure
you’re building the right thing and massively reducing overall lifecycle costs.

Complete the equation below to get an understanding of the number of hours your team spends in rework and the value of that in work hours alone.

PRO TIP: If your organization is working on more than one system at a time, repeat this calculation for each and add up the savings for a holistic view.

Defects

It’s common for requirements to have a defect at some point between definition and delivery. The important thing is to have a system in place that can quickly and accurately identify defects and
track their impact up and downstream. This provides visibility into the problem as early as possible when it’s less detrimental to fix.

PRO TIP: This calculation factors in personnel hours, but you should also think about the cost of parts, delays, and missed opportunities. Plus, should defects go undetected due to sub-par requirements or testing, releasing lower-quality systems could have devastating consequences.

“A document-centric approach often requires a gatekeeper and really limits collaboration – that creates a bottleneck. With Jama Connect, all our development teams can work together from anywhere with a shared collaboration hub.” – David Cubbage, Director, LEO Satellite Engineering and Production, Telesat

This is a preview of our eBOOK, “Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution for Aerospace”
– To download the entire thing, click HERE

This image shows people working together and portrays project lifecycle (PrLM) management.

In this blog, we’ll recap our eBook, “Project Lifecycle Management (PrLM): A Comprehensive Guide. Click HERE to download the entire thing.

Project Lifecycle Management (PrLM): A Comprehensive Guide

Welcome to “Project Lifecycle Management (PrLM): A Comprehensive Guide.” In our eBook, we will explore the principles, methodologies, and best practices for effective project management throughout its lifecycle. Whether you area. seasoned project manager or someone new to the field, this guide will provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to successfully navigate the various stages of a project and deliver exceptional results.

Project Lifecycle Management (PrLM) vs. Product Lifecycle Management

We know there is often some confusion between Project Lifecycle Management (PrLM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) so just to set the stage, here is the high-level difference:

  • Project Lifecycle Management (PrLM) — the focus of this paper — refers to the overall management of a project from its inception to its completion. It encompasses activities such as project planning, execution, monitoring, and delivery. PrLM focuses on managing the project-specific processes, resources, and deliverables to ensure successful project outcomes within the defined constraints of time, cost, and quality.
  • On the other hand, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) deals with managing a product from inception to delivery throughout the course of its entire lifecycle. PLM involves the strategic planning, development, and support of a product while taking into account factors like design, engineering, manufacturing, testing, distribution, and even customer service. Throughout its lifespan, it attempts to maximize the product’s quality, functionality, financial success, and market viability.

In summary, while PrLM is concerned with managing the overall project activities, PLM is focused on managing the lifecycle of a specific product, system, or software, including its development, production, and market presence.

With that clarified, let’s begin our journey into the world of Project Lifecycle Management.

RELATED: Traceable Agile – Speed AND Quality Are Possible for Software Factories in Safety-critical Industries

Understanding Project Lifecycle

What is a Project Lifecycle?

A project lifecycle refers to the series of distinct phases that a project goes through, from its initiation to its closure. It is a structured approach that helps project managers effectively plan, execute, and control their projects. Each phase of the lifecycle has specific objectives, deliverables, and activities that contribute to the overall success of the project. By understanding the project lifecycle, project managers can proactively manage risks, allocate resources efficiently, and ensure that project goals are achieved.

Importance of Project Lifecycle Management

Project lifecycle management is crucial because it provides a roadmap for project managers to follow. It enables them to break down complex projects into manageable stages, making it easier to monitor progress and track outcomes. By adhering to the project lifecycle, organizations can enhance their project success rates, improve resource allocation, and minimize risks.

Common Methodologies Used by Project Lifecycle Management

Project Lifecycle Management methodologies provide a structured framework for managing
a project from initiation to closure. It is important to note that because of the similarities in desired outcomes and development process cross-functionality, PrLM and PLM methodologies often overlap. Here are descriptions of some of the top PrLM/PLM methodologies:

  • Waterfall Model – The Waterfall model is a sequential approach to PrLM. It divides the project into distinct phases, such as requirements, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance. Each phase must be completed before moving to the next. It’s suitable for well-defined projects with stable requirements.
  • Agile PrLM – Agile PrLM is an iterative approach that emphasizes flexibility and collaboration. It allows for continuous feedback and adjustments throughout the project. Agile PrLM is ideal for projects with evolving requirements and a need for rapid iterations.
  • Stage-Gate Model – The Stage-Gate model breaks the project into stages or phases, each with a decision gate where project stakeholders review progress and decide whether to proceed to the next stage. It’s useful for ensuring alignment with strategic goals and minimizing risks.
  • Spiral Model – The Spiral model is a risk driven PrLM approach that combines elements of Waterfall and iterative development. It involves repeated cycles of planning, risk analysis, engineering, and evaluation. It’s suited for projects with evolving requirements and high uncertainty.
  • V-Model (Verification and Validation Model) – The V-Model extends the Waterfall approach by emphasizing the importance of validation and verification at each phase. It highlights the relationship between development phases and corresponding testing activities, ensuring a robust validation process.
  • Iterative and Incremental Model – This PrLM approach involves breaking the project into smaller, manageable increments that are developed and tested iteratively. It allows for early delivery of partial functionality and is commonly used in software development.
  • PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments 2) – PRINCE2 is a structured project management methodology that includes a well-defined project lifecycle. It focuses on governance, documentation, and clear roles and responsibilities, making it popular in government and public sector projects.
  • Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) – CCPM is a PrLM methodology that prioritizes resource management and identifies the critical chain of tasks that impact project completion. It aims to reduce project delays and improve resource utilization.
  • Design Thinking – Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to PrLM that emphasizes empathy, ideation, and prototyping. It’s often used in creative and innovative projects to solve complex problems and improve user experiences.
  • Hybrid PrLM – Hybrid methodologies combine elements of multiple PrLM approaches to tailor the methodology to the specific needs of a project. Organizations often customize their PrLM processes by selecting components from different methodologies. Selecting the appropriate PrLM methodology depends on the project’s nature, goals, constraints, and the organization’s culture. Project managers and teams may adapt or blend these methodologies to best suit the project’s unique requirements and dynamics.

RELATED: Requirements Traceability Benchmark

Common Phases of a Project Lifecycle

This image shows a circular flow chart depicting the common phases of a project lifecycle.

Although the specific phases may vary depending on the project management methodology used, there are typically five common phases in a project lifecycle: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure. Each phase serves a distinct purpose, from defining project objectives and creating a project plan to delivering the final outputs and conducting a post-project evaluation.

Grasping the fundamentals of project lifecycle management enables project managers to lay a strong foundation for their projects. The next chapter provides a comprehensive
overview of the project lifecycle, emphasizing its significance, the key stakeholders involved, and the challenges that may arise. With this knowledge, project managers can embark on their project journeys with confidence and a clear understanding of the path ahead.

Initiating the Project

Defining Project Objectives and Scope

The initiation phase is the starting point of a project, where the project objectives and scope are defined. This involves identifying the desired outcomes, deliverables, and benefits that the project aims to achieve. Clear and well-defined objectives help align the project team and stakeholders, providing a common understanding of what needs to be accomplished. Additionally, project scope defines the boundaries of the project, specifying what is included and excluded. It is essential to establish realistic and achievable objectives and scope to set the project on the right track from the beginning.

Conducting Feasibility Studies

Before committing resources and efforts to a project, it is crucial to assess its feasibility. Feasibility studies evaluate various aspects, such as technical, economic, operational, legal, and scheduling feasibility. This analysis helps determine whether the project is viable and aligns with organizational goals and resources. It allows
stakeholders to make informed decisions about proceeding with the project, modifying objectives, or exploring alternative approaches. Conducting thorough feasibility studies during the initiation phase minimizes the risk of undertaking projects that may prove unworkable or unprofitable in the long run.

Identifying Stakeholders and Their Requirements

Identifying and understanding project stakeholders is a critical step in the initiation phase. Stakeholders include individuals or groups who have a vested interest in or can
influence the project’s outcomes. It is essential to engage stakeholders early on to gather their requirements, expectations, and concerns. By involving stakeholders
from the beginning, project managers can gain valuable insights and build support and commitment for the project. This identification process lays the foundation for effective stakeholder management throughout the project lifecycle.

Developing a Project Charter

A project charter serves as a formal document that authorizes the existence of the project and provides a clear understanding of its objectives, scope, constraints, and stakeholders. It outlines the project’s purpose, defines the project manager’s authority, and establishes the project’s high-level requirements. Developing a project charter during the initiation phase helps align stakeholders, gain project sponsor approval, and set expectations. The project charter becomes a guiding document that shapes the project’s direction and provides a reference point throughout its lifecycle.

Establishing the Project Team and Roles

During project initiation, it is essential to assemble a capable project team and define their roles and responsibilities. This involves identifying the necessary
skills and expertise required for the project and selecting team members accordingly. Assigning roles and responsibilities clarifies expectations, promotes accountability, and ensures that all necessary tasks are covered. Building a cohesive project team in the initiation phase sets the stage for effective collaboration and lays the groundwork for successful project execution.

By effectively initiating a project, project managers establish a solid foundation for success. This chapter has explored the critical aspects of project initiation, including defining project objectives and scope, conducting feasibility studies, identifying stakeholders and their requirements, developing a project charter, and establishing the project team and roles. Through careful planning and consideration in the initiation phase, project managers can position their projects for smooth execution and set the stage for achieving the desired project outcomes.

This has been a preview of our eBook, “Project Lifecycle Management (PrLM): A Comprehensive Guide.
Click HERE to download the entire guide.
Image showing why documents are difficult for requirements management

In this blog, we’ll overview our recent eBook, “The Strategic Transition: From Word and Excel to Modern Requirements Management” – To read the entire thing, download it HERE

Why Relying Solely on Documents Won’t Cut It in the World of Complex Product, Systems, and Software

Unless your organization’s business model is built on a foundation of inefficiency, you should not be using disparate documents for managing requirements. Whether it’s Microsoft Word, Excel, or a combination of both, trying to wrangle your product’s requirements solely in documents carries a lot of risk and will gradually eat away at your company’s bottom line.

There was a time when using disparate documents wasn’t such a problem for managing requirements, but as products grow in complexity, those days are fading. Many companies no longer produce products that contain just hardware or software; today it’s likely a combination of both, increasing development complexity exponentially.

Integrating hardware and software means teams spanning various engineering disciplines all need to stay aligned throughout development, especially when things like safety standards and regulations are involved.

Using documents alone, will simply not be up to the task of meeting today’s complex products, systems, and software development. When you need precision, context, and accountability for your requirements, a modern requirements management solution is really the only answer.

In the blog post below, we recap our  “The Strategic Transition: From Word and Excel to Modern Requirements Management” eBook in which we detail some of the reasons why you’ll want to leave disparate documents for managing requirements in your rearview. You’ll also get an overview of the benefits you’ll gain by moving to a purpose-built software solution for requirements management.

Five Drawbacks of Documents

Microsoft Word and Excel serve many purposes, and have done so for decades. And, in terms of requirements, for early-phase documentation and coordinating simple projects, they still remain effective tools.

As the complexity of product and systems development grows, so does your list of requirements. And teams need solutions that provide simple and streamlined collaboration, not jumbled — often quickly outdated — comments and suggested edits.

Teams need to be able to instantly connect to globally distributed colleagues to facilitate real-time feedback and make smarter decisions with full context around requirements. Documents simply aren’t up to the challenge.

RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution

Here are some of the key limitations for a document-based approach for storing requirements:

1. Documents are tedious to maintain

Anyone who has ever managed requirements with documents and several collaborators is familiar with the unique pains of this approach. Whether it’s Word documents that are hundreds of pages long or Excel spreadsheets with thousands of lines, keeping them fresh with updates and free of errors is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming.

2. Versioning difficulties

Collaborating on any kind of important documentation can be painstaking, especially when there’s an enormous amount of requirements involved. For instance, when reviewing requirements, it’s incredibly easy for two people to be looking at different versions of the same set of requirements, and not even know it. And even if it’s a cloud-based version of requirements, there are still plenty of opportunities for someone to unintentionally change something without getting prior approval, and that adjustment not being accounted for in future versions. Plus, online/cloud-based documents do not automatically create different IDs and versions for each requirement or highlight the changes between versions.

3. No traceability

There’s so much room for error through email chains and undisclosed updates. It’s incredibly simple, for example, to miss a tiny change that could have critical ramifications upstream or downstream.

4. Reviews are time consuming

Without traceability, review cycles with an enormous document of requirements are extremely long. You’re likely looking at scheduling lengthy meetings or passing around version after version, pulling team members away from other priorities, which is not ideal when you’re focused on getting to market quickly. And if you’re trying to manage reviews asynchronously, collaboration becomes tricky and timelines are likely to get pushed as people’s schedules shift.

5. Exhausting collaboration between teams

Sharing constantly evolving requirements files among multiple stakeholders and different teams throughout the development and testing process is risky, frustrating, and time-consuming. And with your customer demanding a perfect product, system, or software delivered ASAP, you can no longer afford that kind of inefficiency.

Seven Benefits of Using a Requirements Management Solution

Despite rising product complexity and regulation, most development teams do not have a sophisticated requirement management system in place. In fact, according to a recent survey, almost one-third of teams have no system in place and rely on formal processes with email, documents, and shared spreadsheets.

Another 52% manage their requirements with a system which is not meant for managing requirements, like Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) or Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems. And only 15% have chosen to invest in a formal dedicated requirement management solution.

Using a dedicated requirements management solution allows teams to stop getting bogged down on processes and start innovating. For example, MediSync, reports that investing in Jama Connect® has saved 80% of the time that would have otherwise been spent on meetings, sorting through versions of Word documents and emails, and consolidating feedback in review cycles.

Grifols saved around 80 hours per project in medical device development when using the Jama Connect Review Center. And RBC Medical saved around $150,000 per project by improving team collaboration and workflow efficiencies using Jama Connect.

RELATED: The Jama Software® Guide to Requirements Traceability

Here are some of the benefits you’ll get from investing in a solid requirements management solution:

1. Version and change management

A solid requirements management solution will maintain a history of each change made to every requirement. You’ll also be able to record the rationale behind each change, and refer back to a previous version of a requirement if necessary. Some solutions contain a change proposal system that links change requests directly to requirements. And, with a formal requirements management solution, you’ll always know you’re looking at the most recent version of the requirements.

2. Requirements attributes

With a strong requirements management solution, you should be able to record several descriptive attributes for each requirement. The right requirements management software should generate several system-defined attributes such as the date the requirement was created, its current version number, and the person on the requirements should be able to view these attributes, even if only a couple of individuals are allowed to update the attributes’ values.

3. Facilitate impact analysis

A requirements management solution enables requirements tracing by letting you define links between different types of requirements, requirements and different subsystems, and individual requirements and related system components (designs, modules, tests, and user documentation). These links help you analyze the impact that the proposed change will have on a specific requirement. It’s also very helpful to have the ability to trace each functional requirement back to its origin or parent so that you know exactly where every requirement came from. And some solutions use a traceability link to raise suspect flags to a linked item whenever a change is made, so you know exactly what needs to be reviewed after a change.

4. Track requirements status

Collecting requirements in a database lets you know how many discrete requirements you’ve specified for the product. And tracking the status of each requirement during development helps communicate how things are coming along to those across the organization. So, a project manager has good insights into prior states if he or she knows that, for example, 55% of the requirements committed to the next release have been verified, 28% have been implemented but not verified, and 70% have not yet been fully implemented. This type of information gives the project manager information to anticipate the project’s progress, and relay the message to stakeholders accordingly.

5. Control access

A requirements management solution should let you bring as many people into the system as possible, and grant them permission to access the specific parts they’re working on. This helps teams across the organization feel more invested in the product being developed and its progress.

6. Facilitating communication with stakeholders

A requirements management solution should allow team members to discuss requirements issues electronically through a threaded conversation, in one central location, as opposed to having communication spread out across various platforms. It will automatically trigger email messages and notify effective individuals when a new discussion entry is made or when a specific requirement is modified. And it should allow team members to reach out to each other, but also contact non-project members and external users.

7. Recycling/reusing requirements

Storing requirements in a central database facilitates the reuse of them in multiple projects or sub-projects. And requirements that logically fit into multiple parts of the same product can be stored once and referenced whenever necessary to avoid duplicates. This saves a lot of time and reduces the chance of making errors.

TO READ THE ENTIRE EBOOK, CLICK HERE:
 The Strategic Transition: From Word and Excel to Modern Requirements Management