ReqTraceability

ReqTraceability, short for requirements traceability, is the practice of establishing and maintaining explicit links among requirements and the artifacts that realize and verify them throughout a system's lifecycle. It typically supports bidirectional traceability, enabling tracing from requirements to design, implementation, and tests, and in reverse from artifacts back to their originating requirements.

Its primary purpose is to ensure that every requirement is addressed by the system and can be verified and validated. It facilitates impact analysis when requirements change, supports compliance with standards, and provides evidence of coverage for verification activities. A requirements traceability matrix (RTM) or equivalent data model is a common representation used to document these links.

Key artifacts involved include the requirements specification, design artifacts, code modules, test cases and results, and change records. The typical process includes planning traceability, creating unique identifiers for requirements, establishing links across artifacts, maintaining the links as artifacts evolve, and periodically auditing the traceability data to identify gaps.

Tools range from standalone requirements management systems to integrated ALM/PLM platforms. Popular solutions include IBM DOORS, Jama Connect, Polarion, ReQtest, Jira with traceability add-ons, and similar products. Standards and domains such as ISO/IEC 29148 on requirements engineering, ISO 26262 for automotive safety, and DO-178C for aerospace safety emphasize traceability as part of compliance.

Common challenges include incomplete or changing requirements, growing volumes of artifacts, and keeping links synchronized across distributed teams. Best practices include defining a clear traceability plan, assigning unique IDs, enforcing traceability in workflows, automating link maintenance where possible, and conducting regular traceability reviews to close gaps.