![\"requirements](\"https:\/\/www.jamasoftware.com\/media\/2022\/01\/2022-01-07-v2-requirements-traceability-how-to-go-live.jpg\")
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This post was originally published on January 7, 2022.<\/p>\n
Requirements traceability is required by many industry standards to ensure product quality and safety. The industry standards are based on decades of progress made in systems and quality engineering research with requirements traceability at the core. Benefits from requirements traceability are achieved if and only if traceability is used as a tool during the product development process. These benefits include greatly reduced or eliminated delays, defects, cost overruns, and rework. Here is an overview of the best practice approach to achieve Live Traceability\u2122.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with some definitions to make sure we are all on the same page. Requirement traceability is defined as tracking the development progress of product requirements from definition and design through development, testing, verification, and validation. There are two forms of requirement traceability: after-the-fact traceability and Live Traceability.<\/p>\n
Live Traceability requires a model of the key process elements and their relationship rules to monitor during the development process. The systems engineering V Model is a useful framework to start with for data object and relationship definition. Jama Connect\u00ae uniquely provides a point and click, configurable, relationship rule capability to enable Live Traceability. Below you see a sample relationship rule diagram from Jama Connect. Relationship rules vary by industry and company-specific requirements. Best practice templates are provided to comply with industry standards and configured to meet client-specific needs. The definition of a traceability model forms the foundation for model-based systems engineering since it defines model elements and their relationship to each other in a consistent manner across the entire system architecture.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jamasoftware.com\/media\/2022\/01\/Relationship-Diagram-No-Color-Boxes.png\")
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Once the relationship rules are defined, the next step is to set up continuous sync with best-of-breed tools and spreadsheets used by the various engineering disciplines. The traceability diagram below shows a typical example of best-of-breed tools and where they sync in the Jama Connect relationship model to deliver Live Traceability.<\/p>\n
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Most companies prioritize the areas of the traceability model that are most prone to lead to costly issues in the absence of a continuous sync. Most commonly, these areas are:<\/p>\n
Live Traceability provides the ability, for the first time, to manage by exception the end-to-end product development process across all engineering disciplines. The traceability model defines expected process behavior that can be compared to actual activity to generate exceptions. These exceptions are the early warning indicators of issues that most often lead to delays, cost overruns, rework, defects, and recalls. Below is a view of our Live Trace Explorer that shows you the LIVE state of development for any level of the development project you choose \u2013 from the entire cross-discipline effort down to a specific sub-component. Areas of greatest risk appear in red to show where requirement or verification coverage is lacking. Traceability is now a measurement that can be managed and improved with an overall Traceability Score and coverage and verification percentages..<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jamasoftware.com\/media\/2024\/10\/risk-mgmt-laptop-2.png\")
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The main benefits of Live Traceability across best-of-breed tools are as follows:<\/p>\n
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