Butler Group Technology Audit Visure Requirements

Reference Code: TA001520ADT
Publication Date: November 2008
Author: Chandranshu Singh and Mark Blowers
TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
IRQA 4
Visure Solutions
BUTLER GROUP VIEW
ABSTRACT
IRQA 4 is a Requirements Definition and Management (RDM) solution that provides requirements capture,
requirements modelling, requirements analysis, and high-level system services specification and validation,
along with integration with design, testing, and IT governance tools. The solution also provides requirements
quality management features, versioning capabilities, reports, dashboards, and workflow capabilities. Butler
Group believes that the solution provides comprehensive requirements management functionality. It further
adds value through its support for distributed development environments, and integration with IT Governance,
design, and testing tools. Although Visure Solutions was founded in 2007 and is a small company it already
has an impressive client list, with the solution at version four. In Butler Group’s view the solution has an
impressive set of integration capabilities, and can be adapted easily to existing RDM processes in
organisations, as well as the development methodology in use. The solution is suitable for organisations with
more than 500 employees.
KEY FINDINGS
Comprehensive RDM functionality that
supports complex distributed development
environments.
Good requirements dependency mapping,
requirements traceability, and change
impact analysis capabilities.
Extensive portfolio of integration modules
for design, testing, and IT governance
tools.
Focused and experienced RDM company,
with a notable client list.
Can be adapted to customers’ existing and
new development processes and
methodologies.
Commercial licensing arrangements being
developed for 2009.
LOOK AHEAD
Visure will continue to expand its international presence and invest in enhancing its IRQA RDM solution.
Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
© Butler Group. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied
Published 11/2008
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TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
FUNCTIONALITY
It is well known that large and complex IT projects have an unacceptably high failure rate. Development or
change requests which involve multiple business stakeholders, as well as diverse and globally distributed IT
teams, are prone to the risks of misinterpretation and miscommunication. In addition, it is often a challenge to
capture specifications which sometimes begin life as pure ideas and exist in unstructured formats, such as
documents, spreadsheets, and e-mails. As the number of stakeholders has risen and the web of legally and
locationally distinct IT teams has got more complex, the requirements management process complexity has
breached manually manageable levels, promoting investments in RDM solutions.
Product Analysis
To address the challenges faced by many enterprise IT departments in this area requirements management
software vendors provide unified repositories which trace requirements from formulation, through the
inevitable changes, test results, and finally acceptance. Some of these solutions also provide capabilities for
capturing requirements in unstructured formats and integration with downstream tools, such as testing
solutions. A common system of records, or a comprehensive ontology of the solution, comprising entities and
their interrelationships is maintained for all stakeholders and implementers.
Visure Solutions’ RDM offering IRQA 4 is aimed at simplifying requirements management, addressing the
business risks, and optimising the software development lifecycle. The solution provides requirements
capture, analysis, service specification and validation, traceability, testing and software change management
tools integration, versioning, workflow capabilities, requirements quality management, and reporting
capabilities. The salient features of the solution include:
Requirements Capture: Requirements can be automatically captured from documents, spreadsheets, and emails, or manually entered into the solution, which can present information in a tree structure, document
format, or in the form of diagrams. IRQA 4 allows multiple users to share requirements specifications among
themselves, depending upon user roles and access permissions. The solution provides requirements
prototyping and simulation capabilities. The requirement management process models provided by IRQA 4
are in the form of diagrams, which enhances visibility into process models.
Requirements Analysis: IRQA 4 identifies external entities (actors) that will interact with the system, and
models system interaction with external entities through use cases and context diagrams. The high level
functionality or services provided by the system are modelled using Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs), sequence
diagrams, or state diagrams. Inconsistencies in the aforementioned definitions are identified and
specifications are checked for completeness. IRQA 4 also facilitates software change analysis and
management. Butler Group is impressed with IRQA 4’s change impact analysis features and believes that the
capability would help highlight potential problems, and provide visibility into the impact of change requests on
projects and the business overall.
Requirements Quality Control: Another intuitive feature of the solution is quality control. IRQA 4 highlights
poorly written requirements specifications and suggests ways for rewriting them, and also provides a
dashboard for requirements quality reporting. Access is role-based, and requirements are presented to users
based on the level of abstraction required by their role.
Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
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Published 11/2008
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TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
Figure 1:
IRQA Metamodel
Source: Visure Solutions
DATAMONITOR
Requirements Traceability: For requirements to be clearly understood by all stakeholders it is imperative
that the complete evolutionary path of a unit of requirement be presented, starting from business needs to the
functional requirements and the relationships and interdependencies between various requirements. IRQA 4
enables users to navigate through requirements models, and with the help of a traceability matrix establish or
validate the relationships between various directly or indirectly related requirements. It is also possible to
visualise multilevel traceability in a hierarchical view, navigating from business needs to derived
requirements, and from these to services and tests. In the Relationships by Motive view the solution illustrates
relationships between user requirements and high-level services, and requirements and test scenarios, and
highlights suspect links.
Integration Capabilities: The product integrates with testing tools, extracts test cases from spreadsheets or
documents, and maps them to requirements and test results. Tests can also be initiated from within the
solution interface. The solution also integrates with various related categories such as application
development tools, software change management tools, and requirements-driven design tools, among others.
IRQA exchange enables integration with other RDM tools based upon an XML schema defined by Visure
which allows for data transfer from other RDM tools to IRQA 4.
Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
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TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
Specific integration examples include, but are not limited to, integration with IBM Software Architect (software
design tool), Test Director (testing tool), MKS Integrity Manager (workflow and change management tool), any
Source Code Control (SCC)-compliant software configuration management tool, and Microsoft Project
(project management tool). Visure Solutions also provides open APIs for custom integration with enterprise
applications for Java and Component Object Model (COM)-based platforms.
Overall, Butler Group believes that IRQA 4 is an impressive RDM solution and the platform’s integration
capabilities, particularly with testing solutions, deserve special mention.
Product Operation
The IRQA Requirements Definition and Management (RDM) product from Visure Solutions, currently at
version four, consists of a server component, a Windows-based client, and a purely http(s) Web-based client
application known as IRQANET. The solution provides native support for requirements capture, analysis,
specification, modelling, and traceability.
Figure 2:
IRQA 4 Solution Architecture
Source: Visure Solutions
DATAMONITOR
The server module provides text-based and graphical modelling features including requirements lists which
can be imported from documents including Microsoft Office Documents, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets,
Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, and Microsoft Office Outlook; and class and entity relationship
diagrams involving user-defined attributes and business concepts to represent the problem domain. The
requirements description also supports hierarchical requirements structure, and represents the relationships
between different requirements.
Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
© Butler Group. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied
Published 11/2008
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TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
The solution enables requirements management through use cases, sequence diagrams, and Data Flow
Diagrams (DFDs), and also provides test data capture, test cases creation and importing from spread sheets,
and integration with testing tools such that requirements can be verified and validated during the testing
phase of development life cycle. Requirements defined need to be checked for consistency and requirements
specification completeness, IRQA 4 provides these validation features out-of-the-box.
IRQA server allows sharing of the textual and graphical models of the system requirements, and the diagrams
enable easy navigation through functionality specifications. The textual requirements lists are displayed in a
Microsoft Office Word like view, where each chapter and sub-chapter corresponds to different types and subtypes of requirements as defined in the block diagram. Requirements, services, and tests managed using
IRQA 4 can also be shared among projects using the three different sharing modes (share, copy and link, and
copy), enabling component reuse. Components can be present in different versions in different projects
simultaneously.
Requirements lifecycle workflow capabilities, such as sending notifications to stakeholders, sending accepted
requirements to managers, and triggering changes in requirements attributes, are also provided by IRQA 4.
This can be achieved by associating actions connected with the diagrammatic representation, such as
sending e-mail notifications to users involved, sending finalised requirements to concerned parties, and
changing requirement attributes. Reporting facilities offered as out-of-the-box functionality include pre-defined
reporting templates, and report exporting facilities in various formats. A report designer for custom reports
and dashboards is also available in the IRQA Report Manager.
IRQA 4 provides a traceability matrix, enabling users to navigate and trace through requirements diagrams.
The solution also facilitates forward traceability and change analysis through this feature. Other features of
the product include requirements baselining, and analysis. Requirements analysis involves qualitative
analysis of individual or groups of requirements, and provides tips for rewriting them. Quality management
information can be viewed at project level thereby providing potential process improvements.
The solution features simplify the requirements management process, and support distributed development
environments. Versioning capabilities of the solution enable requirements reuse thereby lending support to
multiple product families and variants. Users can collaborate over projects; in fact collaboration is one of the
key benefits of a solution of this kind. IRQA 4 provides round-trip requirements communication capabilities to
facilitate stakeholder collaboration.
The http(s) Web-based client application IRQANet is a multi-user concurrent access tool which enables
access to and management of requirements information stored in the repository, without requiring specific
firewall settings. The tool supports manual creation, modification, and deletion of requirements; requirements
hierarchical organisation; requirements classifications and filtering; requirement analysis; version control;
domain facets management; and traceability. In order to create a ‘light’ client, the administrative features,
such as user-account control, project creation, and rights management, are not provided through the Web
client, and can only be accessed through the IRQA Windows-based client.
Product Emphasis
The product provides complete RDM functionality, including requirements import from documents,
spreadsheets, e-mails, and XML files; organises requirements in hierarchical order; provides graphical or textbased views whilst establishing relationships and dependencies between various requirements and
maintaining their traceability back to organisational needs.
Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
© Butler Group. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied
Published 11/2008
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TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
Butler Group is particularly impressed with the solution’s integration capabilities which include interfaces with
software change management tools, requirements-driven design and testing tools, user management
software, and project management tools. Butler Group believes IRQA 4 is a comprehensive offering and well
placed to support any development methodology followed by the client organisations, including CMMI, Spice,
and others, or even Tender Management processes using Requests for Information (RFIs) and Requests For
Proposals (RFPs). The solution belongs in the category of stand-alone RDM solutions, and fares well on
detailed features comparisons with other software of this type.
DEPLOYMENT
The product can be deployed in two ways: with or without new process enablement. Visure Solutions
recommends that organisations adopt a phased approach towards implementation, and add more elements
to the requirements process with time. IRQA 4 implementation without the adoption of new processes
typically consists of four phases, namely, initialisation, training, pilot, and tool roll-out.
During the Initialisation phase, the organisation’s current requirements process is mapped to the product, and
project templates are prepared for upcoming projects. This process takes from one to four weeks depending
upon the size of the customer organisation. The second phase involves training all system users, including
system administrators and end users with various roles and user profiles, according to the specified
customer’s process. This phase lasts from one week with one pilot project and training to four weeks where
several pilot projects need to be completed. The third phase is responsible for validating project templates
created initially, and user guidelines creation. This phase lasts from four to eight weeks, depending upon the
scope of the pilot project. Tool roll-out as the name suggests consists of organisation-wide tool deployment
with validated templates and usage guidelines. Visure Solutions, through its value-added network of partners,
provides consulting support to aid organisations in their deployment efforts.
A database administrator is recommended to ensure database performance and carry out normal
maintenance on the requirements repository. In addition the role of a solution administrator is recommended
for user provisioning, installing updates, new releases, and for creation of new projects on the IRQA server.
Visure Solutions provides custom-designed training courses depending upon client requirements. The training
courses are divided into two course groups, namely, advanced and basic. Advanced courses provide detailed
methodological and practical usage training covering all aspects of solution functionality and are
recommended for Project Managers, System Analysts, System Engineers, QA Managers, and Procurement
Managers. Basic courses provide training on functionality such as requirements capture and management.
Visure Solutions recommends this course for all users including non-technical ones.
The company provides technical support through the IRQA Service Desk Portal, which also includes access
to a knowledge base. Visure Solutions also provides a premium support service, which can be opted for in
case of specific technical support needs. The solution is available on Microsoft Windows platforms; for the
Web-based client the organisation would require a Web server (Apache Tomcat, for instance). Third-party
dependencies of the solution include a commercial database server (Oracle or SQL Server, for instance), and
a Web server for the IRQANet client application.
Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
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Published 11/2008
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TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
The solution integrates with Microsoft Office (Word and Excel) for requirements capture, and includes an
import/export tool for requirements import from these applications. The solution also provides XML for
Requirements Interchange (XRI), a proprietary format to facilitate interoperability with other RDM tools, and
APIs for integration with enterprise applications.
Business procedures and processes need not change due to product adoption: solution implementation
involves product adaptation to the existing requirements process in the customer organisation such that the
current process is made more efficient and less resource intensive. Visure Solutions identifies a lack of
management sponsorship as the primary reason for potential project failure.
The standard offering includes the IRQA server and the Microsoft Windows client. Optional components
include the IRQANet Web client, IRQA Report Manager, IRQA Quality Analyzer, and IRQA eXchange (tool for
integration with other RDM products).
PRODUCT STRATEGY
Visure Solutions targets medium-to-large enterprises with more than 500 employees for their RDM product –
IRQA 4. The company’s clients come from different vertical market segments such as Automotive,
Electronics, Government, IT, and Telecommunications. The company sells directly, as well as through
partners. Visure Solutions also collaborates with sector-specific consulting firms for sales and implementation.
Visure’s business partners include QA Systems, Barnsten, WSOP, Watertek, Nohau, TCP S.I., Oesia,
Aventia, and HOOD. The company has entered into technology partnership agreements with The Reuse
Company, and JustInMind.
The company offers two licensing options to customers, named user and floating. Floating licences can be
shared among users, and also used with the Web-based client. The licensing is based upon the total number
of users accessing the solution at one time. Visure Solutions currently does not provide separate server
licensing options; such mechanisms are planned for 2009. Whilst the company does not disclose product
pricing information, the company reports that the average project cost is €75,000, which includes IRQA,
IRQANet, IRQA Report Manager Licences, support and maintenance, training, and consulting services.
Annual support and maintenance is provided at 18% of the licence costs; it includes access to Service Desk
Portal for technical support, along with minor product releases and upgrades.
IRQA 4’s feature set is comparable to that of the leading vendors in this category. Over the past few years
there has been a movement towards integration of specialised RDM solutions with other Application Lifecycle
Management (ALM) products, based on either the vendor’s portfolio of products or an open-platform
approach. Butler Group believes that integration across ALM point solutions is the most pressing challenge
facing client organisations, and Visure’s focus on integration with numerous common testing and change
management solutions is well aligned with the requirements of the market.
COMPANY PROFILE
Visure Solutions was founded in 2007 as a result of a spin-off from TCP SI - a business and IT processs
consulting firm - of its requirements tool business unit, which had over ten years experience of developing
and implementing RDM solutions. The company’s flagship product is an end-to-end Requirements Definition
and Management tool – IRQA – currently in its fourth version.
Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
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Published 11/2008
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TECHNOLOGY AUDIT
Visure Solutions is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, and has offices in Valencia, and Amsterdam. The
company is privately owned and funded by venture capital from Bullnet Capital SCR S.A. Visure Solutions is
a small organisation with 90% of the employees based in Madrid, Spain. The company plans to double its
head count in the next 12 months. The geographical split of Visure’s revenues is EMEA 70%, with the rest
equally divided between the Americas and APAC.
Visure’s customers include Telefonica, Repsol YPF, Audi, ALSTOM, ST Microelectronics, Deustche Post,
Bosch Rexroth, Metro de Madrid, and the Spanish Ministry of Defence.
SUMMARY
The RDM solution market place is an interesting space particularly when viewed in the context of the broader
ALM market, which is populated with over a dozen key vendors, and includes behemoths such as IBM,
Microsoft, and Compuware, as well as rapidly growing companies such as MKS. Whilst Visure Solutions is a
relatively new entrant as a separate entity, IRQA 4 is a well-rounded solution that carries the DNA of ten
years’ previous development and knowledge. The company already has an impressive client list and has
established a good market presence in Europe. Overall, Butler Group believes that feature by feature the
solution compares well with leading vendors in this area, that the company has the right strategic focus, and
that Visure Solutions is likely to benefit from the growing realisation that RDM processes require a specialised
and adaptable tool.
Table 1:
Contact Details
Visure Solutions
c/ Labradores, 1, Planta 4
28760 Tres Cantos
Madrid
Spain
Tel: +34 91 806 17 13
www.visuresolutions.com
Source: Visure Solutions
DATAMONITOR
Headquarters
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Butler Group
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Visure Solutions – IRQA 4
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