MKS Requirements 2005 is what the company calls a "right weight" requirements management tool designed to optimize the software development process.
MKS Requirements 2005 is built as an integral part of an enterprise software configuration management (ESCM) system, part of the process management and workflow capabilities of MKS Integrity Manager. It's designed to provide a seamless connection and real-time flow of information between business users and developers who collaborate via a single platform, unified interface, and common process.
Traditionally, requirements management software has been functionally cumbersome and loosely integrated and has a high administrative and cost overhead, according to MKS. The "right weight" requirements management approach is intended to make the solution more intuitive and easy to use, and encourage broader participation from users in the requirements process.
The software is an extension of MKS Integrity Manager's process and workflow engine, offering a common tool for collaboration between business users and developers. It includes the following:
- Single repository with audit trails to maintain a history of requirements and changes
- Flexible workflow with approval cycles spanning business and development teams
- Clear and visible connection between development results such as source code and documentation and associated requirements via change packages in support of IT auditing and compliance initiatives
- Automatic triggering of "suspect" requirements and development tasks to show real-time impact of requirements change between business users and developers
- Integration with Microsoft Word to let business users use familiar tools to build requirements for import into MKS Requirements 2005
- Hierarchical structure and presentation of requirements to provide organization, trace-ability, and impact analysis of requirements change
- Historical reporting to give project managers a view on how requirements have changed over time
- Querying, charting, and reporting for team communication and senior management visibility
The MKS Requirements 2005 software binds requirements management into the full application lifecycle process, says David Martin, MKS vice president Product Management. The fact that business users, systems analysts, and developers all collaborate via a single tool ensures a high degree of interaction between the teams. This approach should improve project estimates and delivery, MKS says.
In addition, the connection between requirements, development activity, and development artifacts ensures high auditability, which IT organizations have to demonstrate for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, Martin says.
See http://www.mks.com.