What is Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)?

What is Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)?

Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) is a document, we can prepare in simple excel format also, it maps and traces client requirement with test cases. It captures all requirements given by the client/ Captured in BRD or FRD/FSD. The main goal of Requirement Traceability Matrix is to verify that all requirements are checked via test cases so that no functionality is unchecked during Software testing.

Why Requirement traceability matrix or RTM is required?

A Requirement traceability matrix is used to record and track the relationship of the project requirements to the design, documentation, development, testing and release of the project/product. This is done by maintaining an excel sheet which lists the complete user and system requirements for the system (in form of use cases) which are in turn mapped to the respective documents like Functional Requirement, Design Document, Software Module, Test Case Number, etc.

An RTM is maintained throughout the lifecycle of the various releases in a project and it’s a vital document to track project scope, requirements and changes in any project.

The Requirement Traceability Matrix or RTM Contains below:

• Requirement ID
• Requirement Description
• Functional Requirement
• Status
• Architectural/Design Document
• Technical Specification
• Software Module
• Test Case Number
• Tested In

Why Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) is needed?

• Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)is used to trace the requirements.
• To test all the test cases.
• To ensure all the requirements are covered and tested/verified.
• By using Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM), we can able to identify if any requirement is not covered.
• It helps to cover the all the requirements and all are validated and tested as per the requirement.

What is the Advantage of Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM):

1. We can ensure all the test cases covered.
2. It allows to identify the missing functionality easily
3. It is easy to track the overall test execution status
4. It allows updating the test cases if any change in requirements or any change request comes.
5. We can ensure all the requirements covered and tested.
6. It helps to improve the quality of the product.
7. As we covered most of the test scenarios it helps to improve the client satisfaction.
8. As we tested most of the test scenarios it helps to avoid the escalation from the client.

Why Requirements Traceability Matrix  or RTM is Important?

The main responsibility of Testers or QA team to understand the Business Requirements/ Client requirements. And they need to test the application end to end. And team responsible to deliver the product without bugs or Defects. To achieve this goal, every QA or Tester should understand the requirement clearly and create positive and negative test cases.

Requirements provided by the client should be split into different scenarios. And Team needs to prepare or write the test cases as per the requirements, Team ensures to cover all the requirements and scenarios when writing test cases. Once team writes the test cases then team starts the testing for each Test Case. Each of this Test case must be executed individually.

How testing team or QA team will ensure to test all scenarios.

Here we may think that how testing team/ QA team to make sure that the requirement is tested considering all possible scenarios/cases? How to ensure that any requirement is not left out of the testing cycle?

A simple way is to trace the requirement with its corresponding test scenarios and test cases which team already written the test cases.

The traceability matrix is simply a worksheet that contains the requirements with its all possible test scenarios and cases and their current state, i.e. if they have been passed or failed. This would help the testing team to understand the level of testing activities done for the specific product.

I hope this article helped you to provide overview on what is Requirements Traceability Matrix  or RTM.

To know more about what is Requirements Traceability Matrix you can browse on Google to get more knowledge.

In a Business Analyst view this article is enough to understand what is Requirements Traceability Matrix or RTM.

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Pallavi

Business Analyst , Functional Consultant, Provide Training on Business Analysis and SDLC Methodologies.