As a QA Manager, working for a client where the project uses waterfall methodology; company is very traditional that is highly regulated with many requirements & standards and I require a tool & process to measure & sign off the quality.
The client would me to create Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) tool to achieve the following:
Mapping requirements to test cases
Mapping to any document or user stories for requirement
To validate stage of TC writing/ if TC is ready for testing by QA - Draft > in Progress > Testable in software > needs update
Map the type of testing required per requirement, compliance, accessibility, security, etc
What phase of STLC does the TC need to be executed?
Test status/execution per TC or requirement - Passed, Failed, CNT, etc
Tracking bugs per TC or requirement
Typically I create such a tool to cover my needs via a spreadsheet. Just wondering if there is other alternative tools that I can use to save time on sheet creation & maintenance?
For 2, 3, 5, 6 - Typical Test management tool like Xray or Testrail
For 7 - You have Jira
But I havenāt seen a tool that covers 1 or 4, is any such tool out there? ideally it would be great if there was single tool that cover all of these.
I have used JIRA-XRAY
product manager adds all the requirements into JIRA as stories for the sprints
QA adds test cases in XRAY plugin for all those JIRA stories and links test plans, test cases, test execution status.
This way requirements, test cases, test execution remains in a single place
In my current employment Iām setting up a similar structure as @meg90 describes (Jira with the XRay plug in).
In my previous job we used JAMA, and Iām also aware of a tool called Polarion.
For me it is important that such a tool provides an API so that you can make it easier (automate and integrate) to enter, modify and extract data. Something you can do with JAMA and Jira; not sure about Polarion
We use Jira Xray for test protocols, but thereās also another plugin specifically for requirements that Iāve found really helpful. Itās R4JāRequirements for Jira.
We have a few qtest licenses just to be able to use qtest explorer, but itās quite expensive and personally I didnāt like how much it forces you to use their own process-heavy workflow for test cases instead of being able to adapt the tool to your own workflow. A lot of these tools are like that, unfortunately.
Have you ever used Decision Tables. There is an AI enabled Decision Table processor that once you built your table in the spreadsheet UI and have all your rules listed, you can use the options in the āLogic Menuā to have LogicGem find any missing, redundant, contradictory or ambiguous rules and it will then fix them for you so that you have a validated and complete table. For communicating with your client you can generate documentation of the table and rules in several naturall languages. Using the āCompiler Menuā you can translate the table into source code in 24 programming languages. You can view a demo video of a Business Analysts working with perfecting business rules here: Videos - LogicGem Cary Harwin
@c32hedge Iām not a fan of Qtest. Like you say it is very labour heavy and forces to work in their way rather giving you the data to work in your own way. I find it hard to clear overview of traceability.
@meg90@c32hedge Iām consisting Xray with Jira. Does Xray have any overview of a requirements traceability? A screen with list of total requirements of the product in test with number of tests per requirement, test status per requirement, etc?
@c32hedge Or is that why you use R4JāRequirements for Jira as well to map the requirements with tests?
Or is that why you use R4JāRequirements for Jira as well to map the requirements with tests?
Yes, exactlyāthe two seem to integrate pretty well. We use a ātests/is tested byā link type to link protocols with the associated requirements. Then on the requirement, it will show things like āCoveredā or āNot Coveredā based on whether such a link to a protocol exists, and once you execute a protocol as part of a formal Test Execution it will update the status of the linked requirements based on whether the linked protocol(s) passed or failed.
A screen with list of total requirements of the product in test with number of tests per requirement, test status per requirement, etc?
This would be provided by R4J. It adds some of its own querying features where you can build those kinds of traces using JQL queries and filters.
Using R4 within your company, does other disciplines like PMs use this tool to write & track the requirements or do they write them in user stories? Then QA would have to map the story to the tests for the matrix.
If the latter, is this time communing overhead for QA?
The challenge Iām facing is convincing everyone involved SDLC use this tool as collective to increase efficiency. If I canāt then Iām weighting up if R4 is still worth using as QA only tool.
What about describing the requirements as scenarios?
If the scenarios are the requirements, there is no need to map anything.
You then exercise these scenarios to try to find if your product do not
adhere to the requirements.
@joaofarias Good idea. I love to do this. In my situation I will require some training and mind set shift with PMs. First thing, we need to decide what tool to manage our requirements, then agree on the standards of writing/providing them.
