Making the case for RTIME (or other SDLC Management tool)

Below is a simple 3-step process and some objective tools to help you select a requirements-based SDLC management tool and make the business case for investing in one.

1. Determine what solution fits your needs

This spreadsheet (RM_Tool_Feature_Criteria_List.xls)   lists some of the core features of a requirements management tool suite and highlights how they may align to your own feature criteria list. We invite you to compare and contrast RTIME with other solutions. Your analysis might find that there are a variety of tools that can help you with managing Business Objectives, Requirements Management or the complete Software Lifecycle Management. But few, if any, offer an all-in-one product.

2. Evaluate the total costs of the solution

Today's tools are all 'configurable'. But some are so configurable that they take weeks of training and a dedicated Administrator to initially install, configure and maintain (to say nothing of the training needed for end users). Once you short-list your solution options, search for 3rd-party companies that have built businesses around training on a particular tool. This is one indication that the Tool is a complex set of products. Be sure to ialso nclude these factors in your evaluation:

• Installation/Setup/Maintenance Fees
• Administrator and User Training, including Best Practice Sessions (if offered by the vendor)
• Dedicated Administrator Costs, required for most large-scale testing products
• Significant additional costs for each ancillary product module required for a complete SDLC solution

View competitive comparison chart.

3. Quantify the ROI

Improvements in Requirements matters significantly, but there are other Critical Success Factors that can make a big difference. You may also want to consider these benefits gained by picking the right tool suite:

• Higher Quality software. Quality means more than just producing defect free software. It is also about on-target software functionality that satisfies business requirements. What value do you place on satisfied stakeholders and customers that receive the capabilities they wanted, when they wanted it?
• Reduce the cost of scope creep by keeping the focus on business objectives and eliminating unnecessary/unneeded features.
• Reduce management overhead time and costs. Time spent reporting project information is the bane of every project participant. Generate reports quickly and effortlessly instead of wasting time constructing status reports, searching SharePoint or dunning the team with emails in search of core project information.
• Cost savings through knowledge retention. Employee turnover and project transfer can have very large cost impacts. Don't underestimate the big savings of bringing that new team member up to speed when your SDLC process is being managed through a simplistic Project Information Management system.
• Positive sales impact. Customers are always pressing for better, more comprehensive project communication. Don't discount how much value customers place on responsive, consistent reporting that summarizes project status. Think of how an intuitive tool suite can illustrate your company's systematic approach and professional discipline even in pre-sales situations.
• Optimization for your organization. Identify individual worker productivity and quality metrics. Keep your team tuned for maximum productivity. Find a tool that provides workflow and individual work queues.

Download ROI spreadsheet

Our ROI spreadsheet uses well documented measures of improvement factors in calculating ROI. As you will see in the spreadsheet comments, our conservative factoring of just rework and defect reduction through improved requirements yields very rapid payback for RTIME, even in small teams.

With RTIME, you can trial our software free for 30 days. If you still need more time, simply send us an e-mail and we'll be happy to extend it for you. No installation or setup fees. What's more we provide excellent customer support throughout your trial and typically respond within just a few hours of an inquiry. For product training you can use our free on-line tutorials or purchase an inexpensive 2-4 hour web-based product training. We also offer best practice services and workshops. If you prefer to license and install RTIME in your own environment, you can be assured that installation and configuration can be complete in just a few hours.