Project traceability is the ability to trace and link requirements, design, development, testing, and deployment artifacts across the software development lifecycle. Traceability ensures that each requirement is met by a corresponding design element, implementation code, test case, and deployment artifact.
The primary goal of project traceability is to establish a clear relationship between various stages of the software development lifecycle and to enable stakeholders to trace back any change or issue in the software product to its origin. Traceability ensures that all requirements are met, and any changes in the requirements are appropriately tracked and managed.
Project traceability is often achieved through a traceability matrix, which is a table that links each requirement to its corresponding design element, implementation code, test case, and deployment artifact. The traceability matrix allows stakeholders to trace the progress of a requirement through each stage of the software development lifecycle and to ensure that all requirements are met.
Traceability is crucial in highly regulated industries, such as healthcare and aerospace, where software products must meet strict regulatory requirements. However, project traceability is also important in any software development project to ensure that the product meets the customer’s needs and requirements and to enable effective tracking and management of changes throughout the development process.