Requirement Versions, Baseline and History

Owned by Sanjay Sahani
Last updated: May 14, 2013

The Operations available to users are all specified in Requirement Operations. This section will focus on the need / context of such functionality.

In large systems, Requirements creep is a major problem and most often the prime reason for failure to meet a Project's Schedule, Cost and Quality constraints. While following modern practices like Scrum may deliver results in a Sprint, the long term impact on the overall project may remain hidden from the view. In a nutshell, it is important to

  • Control change, and be able to evaluate the impact, wherever the changes take place.
  • Baseline an agreed upon set of Requirements, between two parties.

Requirement Versions

Key points to note in RMsis,

  • the Requirement Versions are separate database records, even though they may have the same reference numbers.
  • A Version Number is appended to the Reference Number within curly braces.
  • User has to explicitly commit a version.
  • User can create a new copy of a committed version. 
  • When new versions are created, user has to explicitly ensure the validity of dependencies and links.

Requirements Baseline

Typical User Scenario

  • The project team selects a set of requirements for a Sprint.
  • The chosen requirements are debated upon, and modified on an ongoing basis.
  • The team gradually builds consensus on requirements.
  • When there is a universal agreement, the agreed upon requirements are baselined.

Creating Baseline in RMsis

  • For all the chosen requirements
    • Identify (within the team) a requirement for review, discussion and update.
    • "Mark for Baseline", when consensus is built on the chosen requirement.
  • When all the chosen requirements have been "Marked for Baseline", open up the set for final review by the team.
    • Resolve issues, in case of any comments.
  • If team has no further comments, Requirements Manager will "Create Baseline" from all the requirements "Marked for Baseline".

Viewing a Baseline

All entities associated with a baseline can be viewed by selecting the target Baseline from the drop-down list.

Requirements History

Requirements History is available with the detailed view of each Requirement, as shown below: