Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM): Templates, Types, and Tools for 2022

If you are searching for "Requirements Traceability Matrix" templates, this is the right place. This post will detail all kinds of templates, types, and tools that will help you use RTM to trace your requirements.

What is Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)?

Requirements traceability is the process that tracks requirements as they move into design and development and where they go when they are checked in to the appropriate locations.

Having an RTM also allows you to monitor the amount of work taken up by the various groups and how much work remains. This helps you evaluate how efficiently your team is functioning.

The following requirements traceability matrix templates, types, and tools allow a more efficient and effective workflow for your company's requirements management.

Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) Essentials

Requirements traceability matrix (RTM) is a diagrammatic representation of functional requirements, showing how they relate to one another.

It helps trace each requirement back to its originator(s). In addition, it serves as a guide for identifying missing information or defects at any stage of the development process.

The matrixes can be used at different levels – from project level down to component level and even individual requirement level – depending on the number of stakeholders involved and their role in the project life cycle.

Why Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) Needed?

The main objective of RTM is to provide traceability between different elements of a project like projects, requirements, defects, test cases, etc. The below-mentioned points show why RTM is needed:

• It helps link all related documents together in one place to make it easy for anyone to access the required information at any time.
• It makes it easier for testers to understand how they can use this information while testing and what they should not do while trying.
• It helps testers identify gaps between documents such as requirements and test cases which may result in missing functionality during the testing phase.

Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) Types

Following are the types of RTM:

Forward traceability: Forwards traceability is proper when there are many revisions and a large backlog. It traces the product requirements from the definition phase to the testing phase.

Backward traceability: Backwards traceability works in the opposite direction as compared to Forwarding traceability. Backward traceability traces the validation of the product from testing to the requirement definition phase.

Bidirectional traceability: Bidirectional traceability supports both backward and forward tracing. It is often used in large projects with multiple development cycles. Bidirectional RTM covers all aspects of the development cycle, from the requirements gathering process to the testing cycle.

Benefits of RTM

The benefits of using a traceability matrix are numerous. It can help:

• Improve the quality of products and services.
• Reduce the time required to find information and resolve issues.
• Identify relationships between different parts of a product or service.
• Make it easier to identify problems and solve them more quickly.

Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) Tools

A Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) tool is software that automates the creation and maintenance of RTMs. It typically allows users to perform search queries on their RTMs, allowing them to see which documents contain which requirements or vice versa.

Modern Requirements4DevOps: Modern Requirements4DevOps integrates with Microsoft's Azure DevOps, TFS, and VSTS and provides project managers with traceability through every stage of the process

Visure Requirements:  Visure Requirements is a tool that tracks changes made during the development process, providing complete traceability.

ReQtest: ReQtest is cloud-based and customizable; it provides traceability from project start to finish.

Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) Template

Conclusion

This article has tried to cover all aspects of RTM tool development. However, there are times when you would need to have an urgent requirement change, or if you have to make a hotfix, you can make it with the help of RTM.

Nonetheless, RTM helps in preventing any dissociation between requirement and code. An RTM is a one-stop solution for the testers and the developers. Further, it determines the bugs that programmers need to fix as soon as possible to eliminate them.

Of course, you can also use the requirements traceability matrix as a standalone solution to identify a mapping between test cases and requirements.