Project Management Software > Requirements Management Software

Here’s our February 2011 roundup of the latest technology solutions for project leaders, teams and organizations, including social-based requirements management … security-focused PPM … enterprise-level Agile integration … software lifecycle management … and more.

Requirements management can mean many things to many people. For some it is about managing scope creep, for others it is all about traceability from definition through implementation. With that in mind, let’s explore some of the issues and challenges currently confronting effective requirements management.

A new agile procurement process--one that can operate in conjunction with and alongside an agile software development methodology--should significantly improve both the procurement of software vendor’s services and and successful delivery of software projects. This article will explore the underlying principles as well as map the reconciliation points required to harmonize agile development and procurement methods.

PM principles state that there should be absolute clarity in obtaining the requirements. If the fog of ambiguity clouds this phase, the delivered project will never be accepted by the stakeholders. Here we examine some of the glaring issues in the requirements management process.

This will be the first in a series of articles that will look to provide the background of issues involved with managing an agile software development project under a traditionally linear and sequential project procurement process. Software development has been deliberately chosen for the example industry since that’s the domain for which agile is most typically used, but for those using agile in other industry domains, the general issues and proposed solution should work equally well within your industry.

The second State of Requirements Management Survey, sponsored by Ravenflow and Jama Software, is open through December 10, 2010.

Efforts of winners have evolved into the BA Skills Center, which acts as resource for more than 100 business analysts at Merck.

Ever stop to ponder all the different PM frameworks that have been developed over the years and which one you should be using in your organization? Is there really one best framework out there? The options are dizzying, so here we take a look at four of them in depth. What can they do for you? Remember, one size does not fit all...

Agile needs to change the rules of deployment; otherwise, it’s losing effectiveness. If you are going to commit to agile development, then commit to more frequent deployments and everybody wins. Let’s take a look at changing the product deployment model with agile.

Some love 'em. Some loathe 'em. But these frameworks and schools of PM thought are here to stay. What benefits and challenges do they present? Read on for both sides of the alternative equation...

All the project measures in the world are useless if the end result is not of high quality. But how do you quantify quality? What metrics measure how good something is? Agile practices respond by making quality part of the process rather than something you measure along the way.

Results from a survey offer business analysts, project managers, developers and other project stakeholders information to help transform the way they produce and manage software requirements.

Adult children. Jumbo shrimp. Seriously funny. I’m sure you recognize these expressions as oxymorons — self-contradictory phrases, often with an ironic meaning. Should we add “agile requirements” to the list? Does agile development fit in with traditional requirements practices? And if so, how?

Evaluating your project management practices requires some kind of metrics. SEI's Capability Maturity Model is one set of standards that will let you know how your PM measures up to the rest of the industry. It's a clear way to determine where you are and what you need to step up to the next level.

Requirements management tool will complement and extend Compuware's Changepoint IT portfolio management solution.

Why is change control so important? With everything a project manager is responsible for, why so much concern over it? What does it really mean, and how do we perform it?

How do you align the method to the natural attributes of a project? First, you have to understand the various software development project approaches. This article provides an overview of several popular SDP approaches and identifies some basic criteria for selecting one approach over another.

Employers often look only at their own industry when hiring, because not every PM can make the jump--and if they can’t, things can get very bad very quickly. So what should employers look for--and by extension, what should PMs demonstrate that they are capable of doing? Does industry matter in your career? How transferable is the project management skill set?

How can you adapt Scrum-like tools and techniques within a Waterfall project management environment? What can you do to reduce resistance and reap the benefits Scrum has to offer? In short, how can you get down and Scrummy within a Waterfall world? Here are some ideas you might find useful.

Few know the evolution of Application Lifecycle Management and how the Structured Revolution of the 1970s and '80s was a major turning point in software development. This article presents a retrospective on ALM and Structured Development Life Cycles--those that shaped it, the influencing principles and the related methodologies and tools the movement spawned.

The key criteria used to determine the successful outcome of a project applied against other engineering disciplines are also applicable to software ones. If we know that, why do software projects have a poor track record of delivery? Read on to find out how we can improve it.

Agile adoption outside of software is nothing new--it dates back very close to the origin of today’s agile methods, predating the term “agile”. However, what is new and noteworthy is the rate and scale of non-software agile adoption being witnessed today. Now--as more companies than ever are exposed to agile methods in their IT practices--these methods are being employed beyond the regular IT domain.

Sometimes a pure agile approach is not appropriate for a particular project — the important thing is getting the work done, not strict adherence to a process. Still, a non-agile project can benefit from the inherent values of agile, including strong team collaboration, prioritized, incremental development, and regular progress assessment and adaptation.

It is important to define your project’s technical architecture early in the process, with input from the team. This includes all the hardware, software and other technologies your project requires. It will need to be flexible, but the sooner you get it right, the better off your budget and schedule will be.

New board members will join nine returning members to help guide the organization’s growth in the coming year.

We all want Subject Matter Experts, but what happens if we get Subject Matter Zeros? How does that impact your schedule, and what about team members who have “other project commitments”? Before you know it, that six-month schedule that looked pretty comfortable is looking like a fairy tale.

In the previous installment, we reviewed five effective leadership behavior questions. This article provides a set of technical project management questions that assess the candidate’s knowledge of project management tools and techniques.

One of the most established standards organizations (and their pronouncements) is often missing from the IT governance conversation: the International Organization for Standardization. Did you know that the ISO has been very active in the governance and compliance space? Here is an update on the standards that you might find useful.

The first step in scaling agile is to move from partial methods to a full-fledged, disciplined delivery process. The second step is to understand eight scaling factors and determine which are applicable to the range of complexities your project teams face. Here, agile thought leader Scott Ambler presents his scaling model.

The cloud is moving in and taking over. What does this mean for the typical project manager? And as importantly, what does this mean for the organization considering moving its projects into the cloud? Clearly there are some benefits, but there are also some potential challenges. In this column, we examine both sides of the issue in an effort to bring some clarity to project management in the cloud.

Project leaders and sponsors would rather be involved in projects that will effectively solve business problems, and for this reason, they should be the first to recognize the importance of having a skilled business analyst on their teams. Tapping the power of business analysis minimizes the risk of project failure.