Whether you own a software development company or other high-tech business that operates via project work, improve your requirements process by purchasing requirements management software online. The current project failure rate runs around 18%, much improved over times past, but you can still avoid falling into the category by using requirements management project management software.

To meet user demands, requirements management software offers companies a structured way to identify, track, manage and fulfill requirements to ensure project success. While searching for a software solution, consider the following:

1. Find software for requirements management with free trials.

2. Gather data on all costs associated with any requirements management software.

3. Consider ease of use and installation before you purchase any requirements management software.

Action Steps for Select Project Management Software
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Look for all-in-one project management software: requirements management included

Ensure your project management team's success throughout the lifecycle of product development with the right software.

I recommend: Invest in Accept Innovation Foundation, an on-demand, modular requirements management project management software solution. With Accept, you get integrated innovation management. It lets you link together strategies, requirements, budgets and resources so you can create a plan focusing on the areas of greatest strategic value and financial return. You can capture/prioritize requirements from different sources and trace those requirements upstream and downstream with appropriate documentation. Requirements management features include ranking requirement/product/portfolio priorities relevant to goals/commitments/costs/resources/benefits and distributing task and status ownership. Try a free trial of Accompa's on-demand product management tool for managing requirements. This web-based software for requirements management allows you to store, track market and product requirements. Beneficial features include central online database, real-time requirements sharing and collaboration, automatic tracker for requirement history, requirements prioritization, document generator and customization tools.

Find a requirements management software supplier for your software development company

As a critical aspect of software development, requirements deserve the close and careful attention you can provide them when you buy project management software for requirements management.

I recommend: Let MKS Integrity for Requirements Management automate management of your requirements. The MKS solution offers requirements change and configuration management, traceability, authoring, visibility/metrics and architecture/administration. It also gives users the capability for requirements reuse. Try a 30-day free trial of Borland CaliberRM before you purchase software – it helps small and large companies both ensure applications meet end users' needs throughout the application lifecycle. You'll gain access to a centralized repository, adaptability to fit your processes and end-to-end impact analysis.

Locate a requirements management software distributor that uses an agile approach

Companies that incorporate agile methodologies for product development management emphasize individuals/interactions more than processes/tools, working software more than comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration more than contract negotiation and responding to change more than following a plan. Using this approach promotes minimization of overall risk and lets a project adapt quickly to changes.

I recommend: Start with the free Rally Community Edition software to get agile project management for a single team. Rally lets you evolve your customer requirements just in time throughout the project lifecycle and helps you provide on-time delivery to customers of the features they value most. The Community Edition includes project management, requirements management, test management and defect management. For a fee, Rally also offers on-demand online requirements management project management software and an enterprise edition for multiple teams, projects and programs. Start with a free trial and then consider a monthly commitment to Gatherspace.com, a fully hosted on-demand project management and requirements management online solution. Gatherspace gives you features like requirements management capabilities, use case functionality, requirements traceability, iteration planning, security and collaboration, report generation and issue/bug tracking management. You can choose either the on-demand or on-site version, and you'll get a 30-day money-back guarantee. Try FeaturePlan Requirements Management Software – just watch the demo (or schedule a private demo) to see if the product will meet your needs.

Tips & Tactics for Making the Most of Project Management Software

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When sifting through requirements management software information, ensure the provider you choose offers the technical service and support you expect. Check out the company's days/hours of available support and the price you pay for specific technical support plans.