A method that is used to verify the association between the requirements shown in the Requirements / Specifications and other project documents, including design and testing documentation. Testing ensures that the requirements have been implemented correctly based on the design and the Requirements Traceability Matrix provides that evidence.

Requirements traceability refers to the ability to describe and follow the life of a requirement, i.e., through all phases of development such as requirements, specification statements, design, tests, models, and developed components.

In most cases, Information Technology (IT) staff are concerned with making sure all individual requirements are identified and lead to complete testing.

For requirements tracing and resulting reports to work, the requirements must be of good quality. Requirements of poor quality transfer work to subsequent phases of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), increasing costs and schedule slippages and creating disputes with the customer.

The Requirements Traceability Matrix contains the following topics:

  Purpose
  Requirements Matrix:
      General Information
      Interfaces
      Behavorial Requirements
      Non-Behavorial Requirements
      Correctness
      Requirements Traceability
      Other Information.

Scroll down to the IT Requirements Traceability Matrix example below.