I am looking for free and/or open source requirements management tools. Does anyone have any experience with these tools and can recommend one or two? Thanks.
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10842answers:
14
+3
A:
I found the Open Source Requirements Management Tool (that's its name) on SourceForge.
After installing, I found that it was a client-server model tool, which I don't really like. In order to use it, I must start a server application and connect to it with the client. Although once I did that, it appeared to be a decent application, but not really what I was looking for.
However, I have yet to find anything better, so I might use it.
Thomas Owens
2008-10-02 22:49:27
Not updated in the last 2 years...
Rollo Tomazzi
2009-04-04 20:05:45
The community is quite active from what I see. I'm installing now and will update :-)
Etamar L.
2010-04-02 17:22:39
@Etamar - How'd you go with this tool?
Andrew
2010-05-09 23:22:11
Do you have any comments or thoughts about it? A link by itself means nothing to me or anyone else.
Thomas Owens
2008-10-02 22:51:25
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The problem with Requirements Management Tools is a lot ( most? ) organisations after installing them then seem to think that that's it, Requirements are now sorted.
IMO the best tool for requirements management is training and experience of your stakeholders, keeping the text of the reqs and even tying them to tasks is actually usually the least troublesome bit.
Tim Jarvis
2008-10-02 22:58:10
I'm thinking that you are right, coupled with a version control system that can handle binary files well, a good spreadsheet app, and a good document editor (OpenOffice covers both for me quite well).
Thomas Owens
2008-10-02 23:00:12
You're missing the point. The real question is how all of these bits and pieces integrate with one another, without having someone(s) working full time just on that. Very close to a management nightmare
Rollo Tomazzi
2009-04-04 19:56:08
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This decision largely depends on how you're gathering and documenting your requirements, and how large your team is.
If you have a small team (<5) then I would recommend you have a look at Mingle (http://studios.thoughtworks.com/mingle-project-intelligence). Its not open source, but is free for 5 users and provides much more than just a log of the requirements.
marcj
2008-10-02 23:08:38
Well, actually it's free for the first 5 users in a 6-months or 12-months subscription plan. Now you have questions right, like 'hmmm, what will happen in 6 or 12 months time?'...
Rollo Tomazzi
2009-04-04 20:02:28
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The most basic needs of any project are the project context (boundaries and scope of what will be developed or altetered), the objectives, the requirements that fulfill those objectives, a functional decomp / process map / activity diagram, and the ERD. One of the best tools for most of those items is Word. This is the easiest to update and makes stuff pretty for the execs.
Otherwise, yEd is a good diagramming tool. There is also a comprehensive UML modeling tool called StarUML that is a full fledged UML modeling tool and will output Use Cases to MS Word. It also will generate C# for you as well. The diagram is generates can be exported to .jpg as the diagram format is unto itself. It works well for quick modeling of activities, classes and interactions.
David Robbins
2008-10-02 23:18:45
my mind has been blown. I didn't know people thought this way anymore
Matt Briggs
2009-02-18 19:29:14
I did say 'for most". Clearly you can not use Word for diagramming, but if your exec's eyes glaze over at diagrams, you need to use English. Hence Word. Most business units will NOT go to a WIKI to look at requirements. Sad, but painfully true.
David Robbins
2009-02-18 19:30:59
Requirements management is also linked to development activities you know. In which case Word documents are close to useless.
Rollo Tomazzi
2009-04-04 20:00:43
There are so many pieces of the requirements process which Word is completely inadequate for. From the functional decomposition of the screens, linking information to UI elements on those screens, describing cross-functional requirements, iterating over multiple versions as requirements evolve, the storage and management of all the requirement documents that get produced.... the list goes on and on. Collaboration, workflow, approval, association to design and components - none of these aspects are catered to by a generic word-processing app. I'm sorry, but Word is so very far from the answer.
Marchy
2010-08-08 03:10:01
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If you don't need overly polished output, you may try a Wiki. I liked TWiki, because it allows you to structure pages with attributes (forms in their speak). So you can define your templates for requirements, use cases, dictionnary entries etc. You get revision control for free and publishing with PDF is good enough for many cases
pklausner
2008-10-02 23:54:31
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If you have a small team, take a look at www.artifactsoftware.com. It's free for 5 users, web-based (no install), and includes project planning, gantt charts, change management, test management, and defect management. Since everything is in one tool, you can trace requirements through the entire life cycle.
A:
You could use Drupal for pretty much everything requiring collaboration. We have used for requirements gathering , bug tracking , doc sharing etc.
Just create the proper book / folder / content structure and start adding stuff.
It takes 2 hours to set up on any Linux or Windows box.
YordanGeorgiev
2009-05-19 06:07:13
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Check out Code Roller whose community edition is free forever and unfettered by number of users or time. Code Roller offers more than just requirements management. It provides management for the complete life cycle of the application, from requirements to analysis to design to implementation to testing to deployment. Automation tools facilitate converting deliverables from each phase to the next without losing that relationship so you can always track back through the thread of decisions that were made. In addition to requirements management, you get change management, release management, document management, compliance management, the works.
Sounds too complicated? Not really. Check out this introduction and see for yourself.
Glenn
2009-08-11 04:14:28
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A:
Hi
A great tool for requirements management is QPack. Actually it provides a full application lifecycle management, including also testing and defect tracking.
They have a free edition designed for small teams
These are the links, hope it helps!
http://orcanos.com/Requirements%5Fmanagement.htm
David
David
2009-09-21 12:10:57
... tried it. It does not co-exist with a previously installed SQL Server. So it basically means it cannot be installed on a machine with Visual Studio installed!! Had to remove it after two hours trying out and searching support for an answer.
Etamar L.
2010-04-02 17:14:10
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Seems like there isn't any strong answer to this question. I've used some of the commercial tools (Doors, etc..) and some in-house alternatives and never been impressed. Maybe the answer is that you don't need a tool if you have good bug/issue tracking?
Lanny
2009-12-16 17:24:11
It REALLY depends. If you have relatively static requirements, then defect tracking systems may be okay. But for large projects with requirements flying in and out, and tracability needed, it will usually not suffice. Not to mention if you need pretty-printing and book-like publishing.
Etamar L.
2010-04-02 14:34:38
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Why does everyone seem to only associate requirements management with software development. It is a discipline applicable to any project/product development, and it seems as if it is still as poorly understood as it was when I last had something to do with this area around 10 years ago.
Those people who seem to think all that is required is some sort of word processor leave me speechless, as do those who see requirements managementas document driven. Exactly the reverse is true - a requirements document should be the product of the requirements process.
Probably the best tool I have have seen is:
http://www.serena.com/products/dimensions-rm-requirements-management/index.html
Don Williams
2010-05-06 06:04:30
and its the worst tool I've used for ages. Think PVCS with a (broken) requirements management addon. The Serena salesman who gave us the demo did say it'll take 6 months to configure it, and we have 3 Serena consultant on-site at the moment trying to do that - I think its beating them. Even our partners have changed their minds about how pants DOORS is after using Dimensions RM.
gbjbaanb
2010-05-06 22:07:51
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I don't know of ANY good open source requirements tools - even OSRMT is a dead project. However, I've recently been looking at a COTS product from a company called BluePrint Systems. It's unbelievable. I've worked with other products in the past, and none come close to this one. Easy to use: Excel-like requirements entry, and Drag-and-Drop Process diagrams (like Visio) with swim-lanes, 3-clicks to create a traceability relationship, built-in documentation templates, auto-flowchart design of Use Case scenarios... I could go on, but you'd think I'm a sales rep.
Of course, if budget is a factor, you probably don't want to waste your time. :) EVERYTHING in this space is expensive, including this one. Stick with your basic office suite to document everything manually like we've all done for years. A wiki (or a portal package like Drupal) is a good choice as a collaborative option - I'd recommend DokuWiki, because of the OpenDocument plugin that allows you to export pages to office-suite readable document files when you're done. Good Luck!
Ryan Maizel
2010-07-22 23:06:39