Tag Archive for: Requirements & Requirements Management

Requirements Traceability: Links in the Requirements Chain, Part 1

Derived requirements traceability is a form of requirements management focused on tracing requirements that aren’t explicitly defined in higher-level requirements, but which are necessary for meeting them and for making the overall system work as expected. In derived requirements traceability, teams will document the dependencies and logical links between these lower-level requirements and other system elements.

Derived Requirements, Explained

For example, let’s say a hypothetical automotive system has a higher-level requirement stating that it must be capable of traveling at very high speeds. A derived requirement in this case might say that the system also needs to be lightweight. While this requirement is not defined by the project stakeholders, satisfying it is essential to the engineering process of the entire system. If the end result is not light enough, the original requirement for fast travel won’t be met, either.

Another way to look at it: Derived requirements are decomposed from other requirements, including business and stakeholder requirements. Adequately tracing them serves several general purposes:

  • It facilitates impact analysis, by helping identify all the work products that might need modification before implementing a proposed change.
  • It follows the life of a requirement, both forward and backward in relation to customer needs, and from origin through implementation.
  • It creates a roadmap, showing at which points each requirement or business rule was implemented.
  • It simplifies the packaging up of requirements baselines, which are snapshots of approved requirements assigned to product releases at points in time.
  • It helps meet certain medical regulatory requirements, such as the design controls under FDA CFR 21 820.30 for aligning device design inputs and outputs.

In practice, proper derived requirements traceability will involve cataloging all of the connections between derived requirements and other types of requirements, plus business rules, architecture and design components, source code modules, test cases, help files, and documentation. This process ensures that the product in question is ultimately maintainable, compliant, and tightly aligned with customer expectations.

Enabling Traceability as Part of Requirements Management

For sufficient derived requirements traceability, each requirement must have a unique and persistent label that allows for unambiguous tracking throughout the project. A centralized, modern requirements management solution is preferable to numerous discrete requirements documents for this purpose.

Not only does such a management tool provide one convenient place for collecting feedback and collaborating in real time on reviews and approvals, but it also supports live traceability of upstream and downstream relationships, with clear visibility into the impact of changes on all levels of requirements as well as test coverage. Accordingly, project teams can set up four distinct types of traceability links for their derived requirements.

Four types of requirements traceability

Figure 1. Four types of requirements traceability.

RELATED: Vave Health Migrates to Jama Connect® to Accelerate Development and FDA Clearance

The Four Types of Derived Requirements Traceability

1. Forward to Requirements

When customer needs evolve, requirements may have to be adjusted in response. By making these adjustments, project teams can keep pace with changes in customers priorities, introductions of new business rules, and modifications of existing rules, among other events.

2. Backward From Requirements

Tracking backward from requirements can provide clarity into the origin of each derived requirement. For instance, a requirements management tool could show the link between the derived requirement, the requirement it came from, and the customer use case being addressed.

3. Forward From Requirements

Once derived requirements begin flowing into downstream deliverables during product development, it’s possible to draw trace relationships between requirements and their corresponding elements. This type of link provides assurance that every requirement is satisfied by a particular component.

4. Backward to Requirements

Finally, this type of link allows for visibility into why certain features were created. Consider how most applications include lines of code that don’t directly relate to stakeholder requirements. Even so, it is important to know why a software engineer wrote that code in the first place.

While a full accounting of all four types is beyond the scope of this piece, let’s look at a more in-depth example of the fourth type. Suppose a tester discovers unexpected functionality with no corresponding requirement. It could indicate two divergent possibilities:

  • The underlying code might have been implemented to meet a legitimate implied (derived) requirement, which could then be added to the requirements specification.
  • Alternatively, it might simply be orphan code that no longer belongs in the current product.

Traceability links create clarity in such situations, shining a light on how the different pieces of a system all fit together. Conversely, test cases derived from – and traced back to – individual requirements offer a mechanism for detecting unimplemented requirements, because the tester won’t find the expected functionality.

Some possible requirements traceability links.

Figure 2. Some possible requirements traceability links.

There are many types of traceability relationships possible within a project, and not all of them will be needed on every project. However, there are good motivations for implementing derived requirements traceability, via a best-in-breed solution with flexibility that can be leveraged as needed for a given project.

RELATED: How Jama Connect® Helps Program Managers with DOD 5000 Adaptive Acquisition Framework

The Main Motivations for Derived Requirements Traceability

At a high level, traceability contributes to a more efficient product lifecycle and superior project management. More specific reasons for implementing it include:

Certification

Traceability data can support certification of safety-critical products, by demonstrating that all requirements were implemented.

Impact analysis

By tracing derived requirements, it’s less likely that something will be overlooked when determining the effects of changes to requirements.

Maintenance

Clear traceability simplifies maintenance, as changes (e.g., in response to updates to government regulations or corporate policies) can be performed with more confidence. A modern requirements management tool makes it easier to show where each applicable rule was addressed in requirements.

Project tracking

Traceability information offers an accurate record of the implementation status of planned functionality, with missing links indicating work products not yet created.

Reengineering

List functions in a legacy system set for replacement and use traceability data to record where they were addressed in the new system’s requirements and software components.

Reuse

With derived requirements traceability in place, it’s more practical to reuse product components by identifying packages of related requirements, designs, code, and tests.

Risk reduction

Documenting component interconnections reduces risk in the event that a key team member with essential knowledge about the system departs the project.

Testing

The links between requirements, tests, and code help indicate the likely locations of bugs when a test yields an unexpected result. Also, knowing which tests verify which requirements will save time by allowing for the elimination of redundant tests.

The second article in this series discusses the requirements traceability matrix, and the final part proposes a procedure for making requirements traceability work on your projects.


What is Requirements Traceability and Why Does it Matter for Product Teams?

Product complexity is growing at an exponential rate. As it does, requirements move between more and more departments and stakeholders throughout the course of the development process. Requirements traceability helps product teams overcome one of the biggest challenges they face with requirements management.

The number of decision points is higher than it’s ever been. Each decision needs to be made understanding the impact on the requirement itself and on the product overall. It is essential to maintain visibility into the activity taking place and to be able to tie it all together.

That’s where requirements traceability comes in. What follows is a look at the definition of requirements traceability, as well as its purpose, importance, and benefits. You’ll also find common challenges of requirements traceability, along with a few ideas to help you start overcoming those obstacles today.

Common challenges 

If all this sounds like traceability is too difficult, fear not. While there are some challenges to requirements traceability, there are also many templates and tools you can use to streamline the process (more on that below). For now, let’s tackle some of the challenges so you can see how they can be overcome.

Differing organizational viewpoints.

Not everyone has the same understanding of why and how traceability should be performed. Stakeholders in sponsor or management positions may only view requirements traceability from a standard or regulatory perspective. They see it as a “must-have” but may not understand the additional benefits of requirements traceability (as discussed above) in the way a project or systems engineer might.

One way to tackle this obstacle is to educate stakeholders on what can be achieved if end-to-end traceability is achieved. Share this article with everyone involved in your development process so they can have a basic understanding of why requirements traceability is an essential part of requirements management, beyond simply knowing they need it to cover their bases.

Organization-wide adoption.

There are a variety of reasons a company might be slow to adopt traceability. Training is one such example. As considered regarding stakeholders, not all teams or individuals working on a project know why traceability is so crucial, or they simply may not know how to execute proper traceability correctly. Additionally, some people may be worried that traceability data from their decision points could come back to bite them.

If this is a challenge for your organization, again, education is imperative. But even beyond that, you need to create a culture in which traceability is seen as an inherent part of the development process. Start by creating clear policies regarding how the organization manages traceability. Then develop a positive training program for all new and existing employees to complete. If you choose a requirements management tool, make sure it has a strong track record of being intuitive and easy to use software that adapts to your process—not the other way around.

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Cost of implementation.

Getting an entire development organization on the same page regarding requirements traceability, then ensuring proper execution, can be a costly endeavor. The time spent developing policies, conducting training, and creating/maintaining traceability data add up and can even make folks feel less productive. Additionally, you may choose to adopt a traceability tool to streamline your process, which means upfront costs will be higher than previous projects.

Overcoming this obstacle requires a mindset change. We urge you to consider the cost of doing nothing. Unproductive work time, lengthy time-to-market, rework, and defects are all extremely expensive symptoms of inadequate requirements traceability. Each of these carries a hefty price tag. For a look at exactly how much these complications could be costing your organization, check out the calculators on pages 9-11 in our Buyer’s Guide. While there are costs to implementing requirements traceability and management tools, the amount saved throughout the development process far outweighs the short-term investment.

Managing change.

When building complex products, change is inevitable. It is essential that team members know about the changes and scope their impact across the product development lifecycle. That means looking closely at any related system requirements, downstream requirements, and verification tests that may be affected.

Performing this activity can be cumbersome and time consuming with manual requirements traceability tools. And the associated risks are similar to doing nothing, simply because you cannot be sure you’ve accounted for everything when dealing with static documents and human error.

If you’ve experienced this setback in your organization, it may be time to explore automated requirements management tools that enable live traceability with living requirements.

Jama Connect’s Requirements Management Enables Live Traceability™ Across Your Development Process

Bridge engineering siloes across development, test, and risk activities. Provide end-to-end compliance, risk mitigation, and process improvement with our intuitive, award-winning requirements management platform. Learn more! 

Improper management tools.

Some development teams are still tracing requirement relationships using Word or Excel documents and collaborating via email. A Requirements Traceability Matrix is one example of a document that manually traces elements of requirements management including, business requirements, objectives, design elements, and test cases via a spreadsheet. Teams input the list of requirements and fill in the related data. The spreadsheet is static but is updated manually by the team throughout the development lifecycle.

There can be advantages to using a Requirements Traceability Matrix if you are developing a product that doesn’t have many requirements. And it is better than not tracing at all. You can even use a template to create a Requirements Traceability Matrix. However, if your product is complex, with many requirements, you’ll likely experience many of the challenges discussed above.

In the case of complex products, a Requirements Traceability Matrix does not have the functionality you’ll need to keep up with the pace of change and create a quality product in the timeframe required by stakeholders. Flexible requirements management tools like Jama Connect can even capture trace relationships across teams and toolsets, further enhancing the benefits of traceability.

Insufficient compliance framework.

Regulated industries need requirements management to demonstrate compliance with industry standards. There are specific ways reviewers and regulators must receive regulatory submissions. To pass an audit you must present proof of comprehensive traceability.

If comprehensive traceability wasn’t performed throughout your development process, a lot of time will be committed to gathering the necessary information after the fact. Even if traceability was meticulously maintained in Word or Excel, there will still be time spent compiling it into an acceptable format for regulatory submission. In the meantime, competitors that make traceability inherent to their process will be first to market.

Sound familiar? Luckily, there are tools that perform end-to-end traceability and come with frameworks aligned with industry standards. Requirements management tools like Jama Connect simplify the audit process with export templates, thus speeding up the compliance presentation process.

RELATED POST: Requirements Management Tools and Software

Templates and tools to streamline the requirements traceability process

There are numerous tools available to assist with the requirements traceability process. It’s important to assess your needs to know what is best for you.

Are you creating a straightforward product that doesn’t have functional safety or regulatory requirements? If so, a Requirements Traceability Matrix may suffice. Download this Requirements Traceability Matrix template to get started today.

Are you creating a multifaceted product with both software and hardware components? Will you be required to prove functional safety or regulatory compliance? In these cases, you’ll need a requirements management tool with bidirectional traceability and compliance templates you can easily export.

Here’s some additional recommended content on traceability you might find helpful:


What is Traceability?

What is traceability? In this blog, learn its definition and why it is crucial for product teams.

Product complexity is growing at an exponential rate. As it does, requirements move between more and more departments and stakeholders throughout the course of the development process. Requirements traceability helps product teams overcome one of the biggest challenges they face with requirements management.

The number of decision points is higher than it’s ever been. Each decision needs to be made understanding the impact on the requirement itself and on the product overall. It is essential to maintain visibility into the activity taking place and to be able to tie it all together.

That’s where requirements traceability comes in. What follows is a look at the definition of requirements traceability, as well as its purpose, importance, and benefits. You’ll also find its common challenges, along with a few ideas to help you start overcoming those obstacles today.

The Definition

Traceability (or requirements traceability) is the tracking of requirements throughout the product development lifecycle. It is a documented thread that provides forward and backward visibility into all activity surrounding each requirement (including design, development, testing, and support). Requirements traceability helps minimize the risk of negative outcomes and maximize productivity. Its benefits include greater team efficiency, easier regulatory compliance, and higher-quality products.

Complex Upstream and Downstream Requirements Traceability

What’s its Purpose and Importance?

Traceability enables product teams to associate a specific requirement with all the related project artifacts, as well as other requirements, both forward and backward, so that anyone can see how the activity relates to the requirement—and vice versa—at any point during development. This functionality, also called live traceability, fosters team collaboration and enables early detection of possible production risks.

Think of it this way: How important is it to have your products developed correctly in terms of definition, quality, and timing? Mission critical, right? That’s why requirements traceability is so critical.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of requirements traceability throughout the product development lifecycle. For example:

  • Simplifies project estimates
  • Enhances process visibility
  • Increases development efficiency
  • Improves impact analysis of change
  • Demonstrates verification and validation
  • Strengthens product quality
  • Proves compliance or functional safety

A single line of sight on a requirement, or a digital thread, is supremely important for application lifecycle management (ALM) and product lifecycle management (PLM). Both endure tight timelines and increasing numbers of requirements — including those from regulations, where compliance is non-negotiable.

Knowing the relationship between requirements, risk, tests, and so forth, is the difference between developing a compliant product on time and getting stuck in rework, delaying launches, and dealing with unhappy stakeholders. With requirements traceability, you don’t have to compromise on speed or quality.

The bottom line is that end-to-end traceability confirms you’re building the right thing and helps you prove compliance or functional safety. Without it, your development efficiency and product quality are in jeopardy.

Forward, backward, and bidirectional: The mechanics of creating a digital thread

To connect all the phases of the product development lifecycle, from customer needs through support, four distinct kinds of links must be used to thread the process end-to-end. This includes high-level requirements as well as derived requirements—those not specifically defined but necessary for meeting defined requirements or having the system work as expected. Derived requirements must also be adequately traced to reap the full benefits of live traceability.

RELATED POST: Building an Audit Trail Through Live Traceability

Forward

There are two kinds of forward traceability: forward to requirements and forward from requirements. They both trace from an upstream component to downstream artifacts. The difference is in where they begin.

Forward to requirements traces from customer need to requirements. This is important because customer needs can evolve over time. If they do, requirements may need to change as a result. Following this type of forward traceability enables teams to be informed of changes in priorities at any time throughout development.

Forward from requirements traces relationships between requirements and corresponding downstream artifacts, including test cases. This type of trace ensures that each requirement is not only satisfied but verified and validated.

Backward Trace

Backward

Like forward traceability, there are two kinds of backward traceability. This pair traces from an endpoint, or downstream work product, to upstream elements. The two types of backward traceability have differing starting points.

Backward from requirements gives insight on how a requirement came to be by linking the requirement to the customer use case it addresses. This enables teams to improve decision making by understanding the origin of a requirement.

Backward to requirements begins at performed work and traces to its requirement. It gives visibility into why specific items were created and how different pieces of a system fit together. Tracing in this way also allows testers to find gaps or missing requirements.

RELATED POST: Checklist: Selecting a Requirements Management Tool

Bidirectional

Bidirectional requirements traceability is the ability to perform both forward and backward traceability. Bidirectional traceability is optimal because it gives teams full visibility from requirements specifications through building, testing, changes, defects, and back again. Traceability of this caliber can only be achieved through automated requirements management tools, such as Jama Connect®.

Requirements Traceability Relationship Map

Here’s some additional recommended content on traceability you might find helpful:


This image portrays our webinar series on Optimizing Product and Systems Development Processes

Optimizing Product and Systems Development Process with Jama Connect

Standardizing Requirements Management Across the Organization 

Is your organization struggling with costly production failures?

A survey by Engineering.com revealed that a staggering 83% of companies faced production outcome failures — such as significant delays, cost overruns, product defects, compliance gaps, recalls, omitted requirements, and extensive rework — often stemming from inadequate requirements management.

In contrast, implementing standardized requirements management can lead to enhanced consistency, repeatability, predictability, and a distinct competitive advantage.

In this webinar, Matt Mickle – Director, Solutions & Consulting at Jama Software, explores the advantages of establishing, implementing, and enforcing requirements management standards within your organization.

In this session, you will learn:

  • The key benefits of standardizing requirements management across your organization
  • Common challenges encountered during the standardization process
  • How to leverage Jama Connect to implement best practices and streamline your requirements management standards

RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution for Medical Device & Life Sciences

Managing Development Complexities across Hardware and Software Teams

With the growing complexity of products and software, the more complicated the process required to build it becomes — and the accompanying increased risk of flaws which can lead to expensive, and potentially reputation-harming recalls. Managing complexities across software and hardware development requires the entire development process to consider (and include) a variety of teams and interdependencies.

In the second episode of our Optimize with Jama Connect webinar series, we will discuss some of the key challenges that teams face when integrating hardware and software requirements, risks, and tests, with a document-based or legacy tool approach. We’ll also discuss how Jama Connect and its integration capabilities helps teams developing complex systems and products to:

  • Reduce product development risk
  • Provide end-to-end traceability for all involved teams
  • Improve product quality

WATCH NOW

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

A More Effective and Efficient Product Development Process

An ideal product development process requires close collaboration between teams, up-to-date knowledge of applicable regulations, and an efficient requirements management platform for defining, verifying, and validating requirements. However, not every manager is convinced that his or her team needs to do a better job on requirements development and management, or that such an investment will pay off —despite numerous industry studies which indicate that requirements issues are a pervasive cause of project distress.

In this webinar, we’ll cover some of the ways our customers have used Jama Connect to improve not only their requirements, risk, and test management processes, but also their end-to-end product development process and outcomes.

Watch this webinar to learn more about how Jama Connect helps teams to:

  • Speed development with fine-grained, structured data
  • Spot bugs and problems sooner by improving visibility
  • Rethink linear development processes to work in parallel

WATCH NOW

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