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IBM Requirements Management SaaS solution keeps many large Engineering/Construction/Public Works projects running smoothly

IBM’s requirements management solutions have been used for years to help organizations to build software and hardware systems. Lately, IBM’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution has helped governments, as well as engineering and construction firms, keep large public works projects running smoothly.

In the high-profile case of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project, IBM’s solution supports the delivery of the multibillion-dollar project.

Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) uses IBM’s technology to simplify the management of the delivery of the Metro Tunnel Project, the largest ever investment in public transport in Melbourne, Australia. Construction involves the cooperation and collaboration of many different public and private organizations.

IBM’s DOORS Next requirements management SaaS solution was implemented by the RPV team and partners to create a single, collaborative, secure environment to capture, trace, analyze and manage project requirements in real-time. All while preserving the data privacy and Intellectual Property of the various organizations delivering the project.

Instead of gathering updates from different companies’ systems, the IBM solution enables a single source of information that is securely controlled and selectively shared with each organization as needed. This improves project predictability, minimizes rework and increases communication.

IBM business partners in Australia – including Acmena, are supporting this project – see their detailed blog post here – and is using this solution as a platform to share requirements on large public works projects in New Zealand and Australia.

Recently several large engineering/construction firms in the US and Canada have also turned to IBM’s requirements management SaaS solution for managing large public construction projects. One firm is a consortium developing rail and light rail transit infrastructure in Canada. Another client is one of the top five largest contractors in North America.

Why are these firms turning to IBM requirements management?

Increasing competition and greater project complexity are driving architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) firms as well as public entities to seek ways to reduce costs and improve project performance. For AEC firms’ requirements are the basis for every project, defining what the stakeholders need and what the product must meet in order to satisfy those needs. Requirements are the basis for project planning, risk management, and acceptance testing.

There is often a lack of identification, management, and traceability of the requirements during the project development process in construction projects. These gaps can be solved with IBM’s requirements management solution, DOORS Next.

Use of requirements management tools in the construction industry has been limited in comparison to requirements management in the system and software world. The large number of diverse stakeholders in these large construction projects significantly increases complexity and makes coordination of effort difficult – hence the need for a requirements management solution to keep everyone on the same page.

Why Software as a Service?

Typically, an organization chooses a SaaS solution for a variety of reasons – lower overall cost, increase in efficiency, productivity, flexibility, etc. However, these large engineering and construction projects are unique in that they often involve dozens of different organizations. A cloud-based solution allows these companies to collaborate without compromising corporate firewalls. This also allows organizations to scale up and down depending on their involvement in various stages of the project – all without capital investment in hardware and software.

For more detailed information on the IBM requirements management and Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) visit:

Case Study: Rail Projects Victoria – Keeping Melbourne’s most complex rail project on time and on track

Acmena Blog: Rail Projects Victoria: Requirements Management

Articles and Press Releases:

IBM keeping the AU$11 billion metro tunnel on track

IBM and Rail Projects Victoria keeping the $11B Metro Tunnel on track – Press Release

Vic Metro Tunnel Project employs IBM tech

Tom Hollowell, IBM
trhollow@us.ibm.com