Evaluation Framework for Analyzing the Applicability of Criteria Lists for the Selection of Requirements Management Tools Supporting Distributed Collaboration and Software Product Line Requirements Management

Effective requirements management and enabling tools are critical for successfully developing and maintaining services and products. The identification and selection of an appropriate requirements management tool can be a costly, time-consuming, and error-prone undertaking especially in the context of software product line requirements management, requiring the tools to support both product and platform development activities that often involve geographically distributed, collaborating, and competing stakeholders. Criteria lists have been developed to facilitate the selection. This research (1) creates an evaluation framework to review the applicability of the lists for the selection of requirements management tools supporting distributed collaboration and software product line requirements management and (2) leverages the framework to perform the evaluation. The lists are found to provide little support for evaluating the tools from the viewpoints of distributed collaboration and software product line requirements management. Future research is needed to create a more comprehensive list addressing these viewpoints.