Requirements Traceability
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Good requirements traceability ensures all project deliverables in all development phases can be traced back to one or more requirement. Let’s say we are building a new system and one of the requirements was
As part of the design, we looked at various options and decided the best solution was to publish the product information on the new internal intranet and to send a notification to anyone who subscribed to information about new products. From this design we identified three functions.
A Requirements Traceability relationship to the original requirements must be maintained to ensure the integrity of the original requirement is not compromised should a change to the function be required.  This relationship can be maintained using a simple table or Requirements Traceability Matrix. If during our Design or Development phases a change is required to one of the functions, we must be sure that we trace back to the original requirement to ensure that the integrity of the original requirement has not been compromised. If the basic requirement is no longer being addressed, we must then cycle through our standard Requirements Management Process. A good Requirements Management Process to follow is the one developed by Clearly Put, a consulting company specializing in Requirements Management. The other important relationship that must be maintained is the relationship to the Testing Phase. Test Plans and Test Scripts should be developed immediately after the Business Requirements have been defined and validated. This will ensure that when testing is being performed it is aligned with the original requirements and not with the modules that were developed. Any changes throughout the Design and Development phases need to be reflected back to the original Requirements and then reflected in the Test Scripts. Continuing with our above example:  The Requirement aligns with the modules being designed and developed. The requirement also aligns with the test scripts. If a change occurs in the module that does not affect the requirement, then the Test Script does not have to change. If, however, the requirement is required to change, then the test script would have to change as well. Summary
Good Requirments Traceability requires that Business Requirements are aligned with all the development phases. The system modules must trace back to the original requirement to ensure any changes to the modules do not compromise the integrity of the original requirement. Any changes in the Business Requirement will require a cycle through the Requirements Management Process for that requirement. Test scripts must be built from the original requirement and not from the system module.
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