Introduction To Requirements Traceability | BusinessAnalystMentor.com

Requirements traceability is a systematic approach, commonly used by business analysts or project managers to establish and maintain bi-directional links between different project artefacts, including requirements, business needs, design, or testing. 

Through this process, an analyst identifies the lineage of each requirement, both in the forward and backward direction, and its relationships with other requirements. This way, each requirement can be appropriately managed and approved throughout the project lifecycle.

The main purpose of requirements traceability is to make sure that each requirement is accurately traced and validated, so it can be properly aligned with the overall project objectives and stakeholders’ expectations. Plus, it can help analysts discover any missing functionalities or identify implemented functionalities that are not supported by any of the project requirements. 

By using requirements traceability, BAs can better understand the relationships between business needs and solutions, allowing them better plan, prioritise, and allocate requirements.

During the requirements traceability process, the analyst will trace certain requirements (and designs, too) to other requirements but also trace their links to solutions, business rules, and other work products. 

Each of the identified links is then assessed for the value it delivers and the use of the newly-formed relationship. Relationships can be divided into a couple of categories, depending on whether requirements or other elements derive from one another, depend on one another, satisfy the need of another element, or validate one another.

When working on requirements traceability, business analysts use various techniques and methods from their toolbox, including business rules analysis, functional decomposition, process modelling, and scope modelling. 

In addition, they may use technical tools such as specialised requirements management software or spreadsheets.