A Relationship-Based Schema for Requirements Architecting and Management using Jama at JPL

One of the fundamental tools-of-the-trade for the modern systems engineer is the requirements management database. Within the aerospace industry, a variety of COTS Software Packages are employed, varying in complexity from a basic Excel spreadsheet to DOORS Classic and the Web-based DOORS NextGen (DNG), Polarion and Jama. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently made the decision to migrate from DNG to Jama as the institutionally supported requirements management database. While the core concepts behind both DNG and Jama are very similar, the way they each implement the various facets of the requirement lifecycle management is different. This change in environments affords the opportunity for reevaluating the processes and workflows currently employed with the goal of advancing the state-of-practice, particularly with an eye towards increasing efficiency of usage and eliminating repetitive, manual activities which tend to be error prone and erode the integrity of the database. This paper will lay out a proposed schema for implementing a requirements data model which leverages capabilities that are foundational to how Jama is intended to be utilized. Indeed, the approach described advocates for utilizing Jama not just as a requirements management tool but as a centralized systems engineering information database, collocating and consolidating, in a more efficient manner, the requirements development, verification planning, tracking, and execution, and especially in-tool change management. At the core of the proposed schema is a relationship-based paradigm. The proposed schema advocates for a shift in the organization principle which has historically relied on the concept of hierarchical modules or folders for designating ownership to a relationship-based paradigm that enforces ownership in a more explicit fashion while allowing for a requirement to be incorporated in several documents without undermining ownership or eroding change authority.