Introduction
The Change Management System (CMS) and the Requirement Tracing System (RTS) toolset’s provide a methodology and supporting toolset to aid project managers and software developers manage and control software/systems development projects. The systems provide for the collation of metric based analysis information that allows informed decisions to be made and acted upon.
Flexibility and adaptability are key features of the CMS and RTS systems. With each module capable of being tailored to suit any particular project and development methodology. As a result of this adaptability, the toolset can be used outside of a development framework, if required.
The CMS and RTS toolset’s has been developed around the Microsoft® Office Suite. This provides a functionally rich and standard platform for the CMS and RTS system, providing:
- Compatibility across multiple Microsoft® Office products. Therefore, information can be shared between the various components of Office. Data sharing is not restricted to be only within the CMS or RTS toolset’s.
- All the standard features provided by Microsoft® Office are available to the user to complement the tool specific functions.
- Availability is high, due to the general acceptance of the Microsoft® Office Suite as a defacto industry standard.
The current version requires Microsoft® Office 2000/XP version but is also compatible with Microsoft® Office 97 and will operate on any operating system (such as Win95/98®, NT4®, Win2000®, WinXP®) that supports Microsoft® Office. CMS and RTS will also operate under a networked environment.
The CMS and RTS systems are not required to integrate, rather complement each other in a holistic approach to change management. The diagram below illustrates the interaction between the various sub-modules.
Change Management System
The CMS toolset comprises of 5 sub-modules that may be purchased separately and added-on to the core system at a latter time. These modules are as follows:
- Database Alteration Request (DBAR), used to manage changes to a database related development. This will include table changes, table attributes, triggers, stored procedures, and code tables.
- Program Design Alteration Request (PDAR), used to manage changes to the program design and will include internal interfaces, interfaces to other executable units under the control of the development team, as well as interfaces to external sources.
- Defect Identification Report (DIR), used to manage defects found in a software development based project.
- Issue Tracking Register (ITR), used to manage the resolution and tracking of issues/risks associated with a project.
- System Alteration Request (SAR), used to manage and control changes to the baseline requirements currently being developed by a software development team. and
- Risk Management Register (RMR), used to identify risk and risk impacts on projects and provides a mechanism to assign risk mitigation strategies and track them.
- Each of the above sub-modules are Excel® based.
Below is a sample of one of the DIR analysis graphs:
Requirement Tracing System
The RTS toolset comprises of 4 sub-modules that may be purchased separately and added-on to the core system at a latter time. These modules are as follows:
- Requirement creation and specification, known as the Functional Specification,
- Requirements fulfillment, covering the design and coding of the individual requirements, known as the Program Design Specification, and the system acceptance testing of the same, known as the Test Specification, and
- The requirement-tracing database providing the analysis of the requirements defined for a system.
The RTS sub-modules are based on a combination of Excel®, Word®, and Access®.
Related Web Sites
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