How Jama Software Can Help Industrial Machinery Developers Stay Competitive in 2025

Layoffs in the industrial machinery sector are rising across Europe, reflecting growing pressures in an industry that is becoming increasingly complex. For machinery development engineers, systems engineers, and product managers, finding ways to streamline processes, ensure compliance, and get products to market faster is more important than ever. Enter Jama Software.

Jama Connect^® is a powerful tool tailored to help machinery developers tackle challenges, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge. By providing robust solutions for requirements management, risk mitigation, and team collaboration, Jama Software offers a way forward amid rising industry complexities.

This blog will explore the evolving industrial machinery landscape in 2025, highlight the challenges driving the need for efficiency, and show how Jama Software can help companies save money while maintaining their competitive advantage.

The Industrial Machinery Landscape in 2025

The industrial machinery sector is on the brink of transformation as we approach 2025. Innovation is surging, but so are challenges. Here are the key factors shaping the current landscape:

1. Increasing Complexity of Machinery Development

Today’s machinery is more advanced than ever. With the rise of automation, IoT, and advanced robotics, machines require intricate systems integrating hardware and software. This complexity demands precise requirements management and traceability to avoid costly missteps.

2. Growing Regulatory Demands

Industrial machinery must comply with stringent safety and regulatory standards, such as IEC 61508. Meeting these requirements adds layers of complexity, often requiring significant time and resources to ensure full compliance.

3. Cost Pressures and Market Competition

Global competition is intensifying, pushing businesses to innovate faster while keeping costs low. Additionally, labor shortages and economic instability in key regions, including Europe, are forcing companies to optimize their operations to maintain profitability.

4. Focus on Sustainable Development

Sustainability and energy efficiency are no longer optional but essential. Product developers must design machines that meet green standards while maintaining performance and reliability, which adds another layer of complexity.

Navigating these challenges requires a new approach to machinery development. That’s where Jama Software steps in.

RELATED: The Top Challenges in Industrial Manufacturing and Consumer Electronic Development

How Jama Software Helps Save Money in Machinery Development

Jama Software is designed to meet the unique needs of industrial machinery developers. From cutting costs to boosting productivity, Jama Connect offers solutions that address some of the most pressing challenges in machinery development.

1. Efficient Requirements Management

With Jama Connect, machinery developers can manage complex requirements effectively. Here’s how it helps cut costs:

• Clearer Specifications: Reduce rework by ensuring all stakeholders understand and agree on requirements from the start.
• Live Traceability™: Track changes and link high-level requirements to detailed specifications, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
• Faster Reviews and Approvals: Jama Connect’s collaborative review process significantly shortens approval times, reducing delays in development.

For example, FORT Robotics, an industrial robotics company, used Jama Connect to reduce their requirements approval process from weeks to just minutes, creating significant time and cost savings.

2. Enhanced Collaboration Across Teams

Siloed communication often leads to misaligned goals, increased errors, and wasted time. Jama Connect eliminates these inefficiencies by offering:

• Real-Time Collaboration: Teams can work together across functions, share feedback, and resolve issues seamlessly in one platform.
• Cross-Functional Visibility: Gain a comprehensive view of the development process, helping teams identify potential risks early.

This level of collaboration reduces miscommunication and minimizes resource wastage, which is especially important in cost-sensitive industries like machinery development.

3. Compliance Made Easy

Meeting compliance standards like IEC 61508 is both time-consuming and costly. Jama Software simplifies compliance by:

• Providing Best Practice Frameworks: Teams can use pre-configured templates and guidelines tailored for safety-critical systems.
• Ensuring End-to-End Traceability: From initial requirements to testing and maintenance, Jama Connect ensures that all steps comply with industry standards.

By streamlining compliance processes, Jama Connect helps reduce the risk of costly recalls or regulatory penalties.

4. Risk Mitigation

Every development project carries inherent risks, especially in complex machinery systems. Jama Software minimizes risks through:

• Proactive Risk Identification: Built-in risk management features help teams identify potential issues early before they escalate.
• Continuous Monitoring: Track risks throughout the development lifecycle, ensuring they remain under control.

Minimizing development risks saves both time and money, preventing costly setbacks that can derail a project.

5. Accelerating Time to Market

The faster you can get your product to market, the more competitive your business will be. Jama Connect speeds up product development with:

• Streamlined Processes: Automated workflows and traceability reduce time spent on manual tasks.
• Reuse of Requirements: Save time by reusing validated requirements for similar projects, eliminating redundancy.

Hannah Potter, Systems Engineer at IonQ, shared, “The review function has been a lifesaver… We can use our requirements and test plans for the basis of future designs, targeting our goal of continuing to build better and faster machines.”

6. Cost-Effective Scaling

For companies experiencing growth, scalability is a major concern. Jama Software is designed to scale with your business needs without requiring expensive customizations or additional tools. Its robust platform supports even the most complex systems with ease.

RELATED: Traceable Agile™ – Speed AND Quality Are Possible for Software Factories in Safety-critical Industries

Why Now Is the Time to Adopt Jama Software

The industrial machinery sector is at a critical juncture. Developers who adapt to the current complexities will thrive, while those who cling to outdated processes risk falling behind. Jama Software provides the tools needed to stay ahead in this fast-changing market.

Here’s why you should consider Jama Software now:

• Save money by eliminating inefficiencies and reducing rework.
• Meet regulatory standards faster and with confidence.
• Collaborate more effectively across teams and locations.
• Mitigate risks to ensure smoother development cycles.
• Stay competitive by launching high-quality machines faster.

Take the Next Step Toward Cost-Effective Machinery Development

Whether you’re dealing with mounting cost pressures, compliance challenges, or complex system requirements, Jama Software is the solution you’ve been searching for. With tools built specifically for industrial machinery developers, Jama Connect empowers your team to cut costs, save time, and maintain consistency in delivering innovative products.

Start your cost-effective development journey today. Book a Demo or Get Started with Jama Connect.

In this blog, we recap our webinar, “Migrating from IBM DOORS: Learn Why and How Rockwell Automation Made the Switch” – Click HERE to watch it in its entirety.

Migrating from IBM^® DOORS^®: Why and How Rockwell Automation Made the Switch

As a modern alternative to traditional legacy platforms like IBM DOORS, Jama Connect^® enables digital transformation with a more efficient and user-friendly approach to managing risk and compliance. And although the benefits are innumerable, some organizations hesitate to migrate to a modern platform because they believe it’s a painful, slow process.

You will hear directly from one of our customers, Rockwell Automation, about why they decided to migrate from IBM DOORS and how they were able to successfully move to Jama Connect.

In this session, the Rockwell Automation team answered the following questions, and more:

• Why was now the right time to switch tools?
• How easy was it to switch environments while preserving IP?
• How did the Jama Software® team assist you in making the migration process as smooth as possible?
• What are the drivers for continued and expanded use of Jama Connect?
• What are the key benefits you have realized since the migration?

BELOW IS AN ABBREVIATED SECTION OF THIS TRANSCRIPT ABOUT MIGRATING FROM IBM DOORS

Sheila King: Rockwell has some business units that have functional safety products with the 61508, and although it’s not widely used at Rockwell, teams have solved their traceability and requirements management at the business unit level using Classic DOORS. Other teams were using homegrown requirements tools and traceability, including Doxygen, and yet other teams were using Word documents and Excel spreadsheets and doing the manual brute force way of doing traceability and requirements. But then when the security landscape changed and we realized the vulnerabilities of industrial automation, the 62443 cyber security specification was invented and we decided that we needed to use it, so we needed a site certification and in the process we adopted the IBM CLM product with the DOORS Next Gen RTC for planning and RQM for test management.

Mario Maldari: What led you to consider making a switch away from the tools that you were using and why was that change needed?

King: We were already in the throes of adopting the CLM DNG tools and developing our product cycle in order to meet the 62443 certification, and we decided in that process that we really needed to up our game. We needed better planning tools for our test integration and continuous integration and delivery, and we needed better tools for requirements management. That included the ability to move data widely between products because that’s real life and in the current tools, the DOORS Next Generation (sometimes called DNG or DOORS NG) tools, we needed to use the ReqIF, which was really an administrative thing as opposed to people being able to move their own data. We also had the solution for DOORS NG and RQM and RTC and we hired a third party or we contracted a third party vendor to manage that and we decided we needed a better integration for that, for our vendor. For the tools themselves, we needed variant and configuration management and native real-time traceability.

RELATED: IEC 61508 Overview: The Complete Guide for Functional Safety in Industrial Manufacturing

Maldari: Can we spend a few minutes looking at the primary considerations you have for selecting Jama Connect as opposed to DOORS Next Generation?

King: Yeah. We actually created a grassroots working group to evaluate tools and we evaluated several. Our top two were of course Jama [Connect] and Helix. The tiebreakers were this, Jama Connect had functional safety-ready certification and anybody who goes through functional safety knows how much value that is for your audit. We needed a strong review center and Jama [Connect] has that. We needed baselines in order to be able to not have to use SAP for saving our documents. We like the rational database and the ability to configure different item types. We not only use Jama Connect for our requirements, but we use it for our threat models and our fault models, and we also liked a lot the structure, the permission structure that allows you to specify all the way down to requirement if you need to, how you’re going to protect your data in the tools. And with our fault and models or design for security and threat models, that is our business risk or business restricted setting.

Maldari: Thank you. We know the value of an organization’s environment is their data. You spend a lot of money buying tools and maintaining tools, but the real value is the data that you have inside of those tools. Can you share some of the concerns Rockwell had going into the migration?

King: First of all, we were going to having all our data in the cloud. And so we had our CISO team get involved in that and they did an evaluation because not only were we now putting requirements in the cloud, we were putting our source in the cloud with Git. We were putting our planning, our tests in the clouds, our anomalies in the cloud, some kind of scary stuff to have in the cloud, and so we had a CISO audit and they decided that it was very safe to do that. Secondly, when it comes to actually keeping our data safe, the truth is we asked Jama Connect to explain to us how they were going to keep it safe and they convinced us that they could, and so they’ll tell you how they kept our data safe.

Maldari: Maybe that’s a good transition to the next question. This is just a discussion around were there any specific steps you took to protect the data and IP?

King: Because we had such a short window for moving all the content over, we made backups as it was in our current tools and then moved them into the tools and we used the ReqIFs, the collections and all that stuff from DNG and just about every other way you can export data out of that and back it all up. And then once we moved it into Jama Connect, actually just handed it over to the Jama Software team and they imported it and then we migrated it and “Jama-tized” the data once we had it inside.

RELATED: Traceable Agile™ – Speed AND Quality Are Possible for Software Factories in Safety-critical Industries

Maldari: Maybe we could bring Preston into this as well. Can you and Preston share some of the details around the migration approach?

Preston Mitchell: Yes. I’ll go ahead and let Sheila start and then I’ll jump in after.

King: So just as I mentioned, we had six months to do it, so we had three phases that we started with. We worked with our stakeholders to identify all the content to be migrated, and then we again had the extremely tight window we elected, like I mentioned, to adopt, to bring it over into Jama Connect as is.

Mitchell: Thanks, Sheila. Yeah, the slide that’s being presented right now basically illustrates the standard migration approach utilized by the Jama Connect team and our partners. Every migration is going to have unique elements, needs, but in the case of Rockwell’s migration, this template married very well. As Sheila was taking care of the planning, we transitioned really seamlessly into analysis and discovery. During the discovery and proof of concept stages. We did come across a few issues, very common in migrations, so we required some customized tool development, but once we had validated the integration tools and the approach, the final stages was fairly straightforward process.

Sheila was generating all of the extracts from the legacy systems and she would transfer those to the Jama Software team and then we would load them into Jama Connect. And as Sheila said, in some cases we go through a cleaning of the data prior to migration, but again, given the short window for this migration, we just elected to bring all the data over from DOORS Next Gen, which in some cases some of the modules had over 170 attributes, which we were able to consolidate and clean down quite a bit later. But again, with a short timeframe, we just elected to bring everything in as is cleaning up afterwards and Jama Connect because they were coming up against a pretty critical deadline where they were losing access to their DOORS instance.

Maldari: That sounds pretty comprehensive. Sheila, now that you’re at the other end, how would you rate your experience around migration and user your satisfaction?

King: Oh, well, the team was just great. They worked really hard to integrate and migrate our data. Anytime we ran into an issue, we got the software group and I keep forgetting the name of the team, I just call them the software group because that’s what we are, software. Anyway, but they’d come in and they would write some code to add to their data exchange to manage the data that was coming out of the tools, and it just worked really very well. The Classic DOORS group had a hundred and I can’t remember, seven fields, and we were able to talk them down into just, I think it’s 10 now.

WATCH THIS WEBINAR IN ITS ENTIRETY:
Migrating from IBM^® DOORS^®: Learn Why and How Rockwell Automation Made the Switch

Editors Note: In this blog post, we cover the five advantages of cloud over on-premise software deployment. To learn more about the advantages of a Jama Connect® cloud deployment and key considerations when choosing a cloud-based engineering tool provider, please read the full whitepaper here. 

Cloud over On-Premise: An Introduction

Business is changing. In a world where remote work models are growing more common, teams are widely dispersed, and technology services are commonly hosted in the cloud, companies that are still managing requirements and traceability with an on-premises system may find themselves losing competitive advantage. Keeping an edge over the competition could come down to how quickly you can develop a product and get it to market, thus your requirements management system is of paramount importance.

Wading into the world of cloud deployments might seem risky. How can you manage data and software when it’s not on your premise? How can you ensure data security? Can you ensure uptime when the infrastructure is not under your control? Does it matter where my data is stored? Plus, numerous other questions you might be asking yourself.

While some kind of formalized requirements management solution is certainly better than none, there are distinct and significant advantages to a cloud deployment over an on-premises deployment.

Hosting your software and data on-premises essentially means that your organization is responsible for installing and maintaining all the deployment of updates and patches, server and memory sizing, redundancy, disaster recovery, back-ups, performance, latency, data storage and management, security, uptime, accessibility, and the items go on and on. This responsibility could include keeping everything in your own physical location with your own servers, but it can also mean using your own cloud storage or cloud service, such as AWS, for hosting. With an on-premises deployment of your requirements management software, your IT department will be responsible for all the management and upkeep of your software and data, including any troubleshooting.

With a cloud deployment, you purchase the number of licenses you need, and then all the responsibility for the hosting and management of software and data is held by the software provider. The software provider manages all aspects of the set-up and running of the software. In this model, you are only responsible for paying for the subscription; the software provider updates and patches, maintains security, hosts and backs up the data, ensures uptime, and provides troubleshooting when necessary.

A cloud deployment offers a host of advantages for even the smallest deployments. Here are five reasons to think about moving your requirements management solution to a multi-tenant SaaS environment:

1. A cloud deployment reduces your risks

When you deploy on-prem, you place all the risk of equipment failure, downtime, performance and latency, and data breaches on your own organization. If servers go down, you bear the cost of downtime, including lost productivity and potential lost data. Downtime is expensive, both in real dollars lost and in lost reputation. Uptime Institute’s 2022 report found that 60% of outages cost over $100,000; in manufacturing, downtime can cost up to $5 million per hour, according to ITIC.

Data breaches could cost even more. A data breach into your own servers or your hosted cloud service could compromise progress on projects. In addition, your organization becomes responsible for all regulatory compliance that concerns your data and software. The additional steps to satisfy compliance could add time to market in addition to adding cost to your projects.

By moving your requirements management solution to the cloud, your software vendor bears the risk. Your provider must fulfill the terms of the contract with guaranteed uptime and security protocols, relieving your organization of responsibility for those risks. More importantly, when your software provider must meet industry security standards through independent auditing, you can rest assured that your data is safe and secure without undergoing rigorous auditing within your own organization.

2. A cloud deployment allows you to better manage IT resources

Most IT departments are understaffed and overwhelmed. A 2019 survey of IT decision makers found that 86% of them say it’s challenging to find IT professionals. Once they are hired, they often have to manage everything from servers to phone equipment to onsite security to software rollouts, making it difficult to gain or hone expertise in any single technology.

When you opt for an on-premises deployment, your IT department will bear the responsibility for managing software updates, data storage, and troubleshooting for your requirements management software. Not only does this type of deployment add one more thing to your overworked IT staff, but it also puts this business-critical software in the regular queue with everything else.

With a cloud deployment hosted by your software provider, you can transfer the resource management of your software and data to people who are already experts in requirements management software and cloud hosting. Software updates roll out quickly in the cloud, and you gain instant access to a knowledge base and expertise that your on-site IT staff may not have while freeing IT to pursue other critical projects.

RELATED: When evaluating product development software tools,  not all cloud is equal – learn more about the differences

3. A cloud deployment saves you money

Deploying an on-premises solution doesn’t just involve hardware expenses and software licenses. In addition to the cost of IT resource management, your on-premises deployment will also likely involve costs such as security software for every server, fees to upload to your own cloud service for backup, extra firewalls, security reviews, and PEN tests. These costs add up quickly and come straight out of your IT budget.

In contrast, with a cloud deployment, you pay one fee per license required, and your software vendor takes on the obligation for maintaining security, uptime, and all other IT costs. The total cost of your per user licenses will likely be far less than the total cost of an on-premises deployment.

4. A cloud deployment improves business continuity

Building and IT emergencies happen, and if you lose access to your building or servers go down, it will take time to restore servers or access data stored from a remote location. Even a short period of downtime can result in tens of thousands of lost dollars, and yet a PWC survey found that 95% of business leaders say their crisis management capabilities “need improvement.”

With cloud deployment, your team can work from anywhere, anytime, with guaranteed access to software and data, allowing you to rest assured knowing that your data is protected. Your software vendor bears the responsibility for uptime guarantees, and with built-in layers of redundancy, outages are rare or very brief.

5. A cloud deployment offers easy scalability

With an on-premises deployment, your organization is limited by its available data capacity, whether that involves a physical server room or an amount of data capacity purchased in the cloud. As your organization grows, additional physical servers or additional cloud storage become necessary, and it’s possible that hiring just one or two people could require purchasing more hardware and attendant software licenses than are necessary.

A cloud deployment makes scalability easy by allowing the purchases of individual licenses as your company grows, so that you are never paying for more licenses than you need. In addition, data storage comes with the license, so you never have to worry about outgrowing your server room, your IT staff, or your cloud storage subscription fee.

Jama Connect® Cloud Deployment

Jama Connect is the only requirements management platform that creates Live Traceability™ through a multi-tenant cloud deployment. Ensure you understand the cloud deployment model of your potential software providers and evaluate the pros and cons while also understanding where the system and your data will be stored. It may be the difference between a scalable, highly available, secured environment vs. a single point of failure that isn’t secured or compliant with today’s rigorous security standards.

Lab Softwares and How They Support Modern Healthcare Laboratories

Modern healthcare laboratories look to information system software, also known as lab software, to support the management of lab-related patient data and maintain the complex and regulatory nature of lab testing.

Information systems designed for laboratories play an important role in meeting quality control standards by decreasing errors, incorporating automation, improving workflows, and more. Technological advances in laboratory instrumentation have resulted in a greater demand for (and reliance on) laboratory data to support clinical, microbiology, and public health needs.

In this blog post, we will define the differences between different information and management systems.

What is a LAS: Lab Automated System?

A Laboratory Automation System (LAS) is an integration of process control software and automation hardware, according to Sage Journals. LAS tends to appear in high throughput environments such as core labs, reference labs, or big testing labs such as LabCorp/Quest Diagnostics and is used to address high demands from basic to more advanced testing.

In larger labs, the same sample will be subjected to various instrumentations for different types of tests. This helps streamline test activities, reduce human error, and increase throughput. Through this method, some labs can generate 1000’s of test results per hour.

The notion of laboratory automation has existed for years, mostly in industrial and nonclinical environments, with plans to implement automation systems in clinical laboratories.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology, laboratory automation system “consists of robots, conveyor systems, machine vision, and computer hardware and software. Specimen movement and result reporting are based on identifying specimens using bar-coded specimens and bar-coded specimen carriers,” also known as pucks. Implementing a laboratory automation system depends on the presence of a laboratory information system information system.

RELATED: Understanding FDA Medical Device Class and Classifications, and its Impact on Requirements Management

What is a LIS: Lab Information System?

A Laboratory Information System (LIS), sometimes referred to as a laboratory information system or laboratory management system, is computer software that supports modern laboratory operations by processing, storing, and managing medical data. A LIS can also be categorized as a Medical Device Data System (MDDS), for which FDA regulations apply.

LIS is used by physicians and lab technicians to manage and coordinate patients’ medical data. According to TechTarget, “basic laboratory information systems commonly have features that manage patient check in, order entry, specimen processing, result entry and patient demographics. An LIS tracks and stores clinical details about a patient during a lab visit and keeps the information stored in its database for future reference.”

What are LIMS: Lab Information Management Systems (LIMS) and how does it compare to LIS?

LIS technology is closely related to laboratory information management system (LIMS). However, there are differences between the two software types.

A LIS is a healthcare system that holds clinical data. By comparison, LIMS can be deployed in “healthcare but it is also used in non-medical settings, including in environmental testing laboratories, pharmaceutical laboratories and water treatment plants” plus academia research and exploratory work.

LIMS stores and manages captured data, as well as producing reports from that data. The data capture process of a LIMS or LIS can reduce the time and error associated with the manual transcribing process.

What regulations do lab softwares follow?

Maintenance of laboratory information systems took on added importance with the introduction of the meaningful use program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services monitor the meaningful use program and consists of sets of criteria split into stage 1, stage 2, and stage 3.

Participating healthcare providers that successfully prove their electronic health record (EHR) systems or EHR modules – such as a LIS – satisfy program criteria and are eligible for incentive payments.

It is defined as an EHR module if a LIS is tested and certified to meet meaningful use criteria or other health IT certification standards.

“Some meaningful use reporting measures that could involve a LIS include the electronic submission of lab test results to public health agencies and the incorporation of clinical lab test results into a certified EHR system,” – TechTarget.

RELATED: Understanding FDA Medical Device Class and Classifications, and its Impact on Requirements Management

How Can Jama Connect Help?

As mentioned above, software plays an integral role in maintaining innovative laboratory processes. Whether it’s the software that drives the LAS track system, data storage and retrieval for LIMs, or maintaining the sample identification chain of custody in LIS, developing safe and effective software is essential to provide value to the lab and patients. Lab software manages complicated and logistical issues with patient data at risk, therefore documenting and managing the software requirements is ever more important. Whether required by regulations or not, maintaining a set of requirements is good business practice. The requirements provide the foundation for defining what the software can and cannot do for the lab.

Since many of these products are global, a common requirement that is needed, but generally overlooked or addressed late is localization and internationalization of the software. It is much harder and more expensive to add these software capabilities post launch, so maintain a good set of requirements for highlight these needs and provide visibility to the development team.

Furthermore, testing of these software requirements confirms that the right software was developed to fulfill its intended use, purpose, or goal. As with most products, change is evitable as the environment may change (new regulations), software bugs are found, or new features are added as the product evolves.

Jama Connect can also support understanding the impact change has on these software requirements, and its related activities.

To learn more about how Jama Software helps medical device companies, download our solution overview: Jama Connect Medical Device Solution Overview

Why Modern Engineering Teams Aren’t Using IBM DOORS or DOORS Next Generation for Requirements Management

If you’re currently using DOORS for requirements management, you likely know that moving to a different solution is necessary, and you might be considering DOORS Next Generation. However, fast-shifting market dynamics require a new approach to accelerate innovation. As a modern alternative to traditional legacy platforms, Jama Connect^® enables digital transformation with a more efficient and user-friendly approach to managing risk and compliance.

To adapt to increasing industry challenges and complexities, innovative organizations are now requiring best-in-class software to scale development, reduce risk, save time, and ensure compliance to quality and safety regulations — and migrating to a new requirements management tool, will be a necessity to keep pace with the competition.

The leader in requirements management software, Jama Connect outranks IBM DOORS Next^®
for implementation time, adoption, ROI, & market presence

  G2 Grid® for Requirements Management Software

Related: Why Migration Efforts from IBM Rational DOORS to DOORS NG Are Failing – And an Alternative Path.

5 Key Reasons Teams Are Choosing Jama Connect over DOORS NG

Considering choosing Jama Connect over DOORS Next? Jama Connect consistently stands above DOORS Next (for requirements management tools) in the G2 Grid^® for overall satisfaction, performance, user experience, collaboration, reviews and approvals, implementation, usability, user adoption, and overall ROI.

Fastest Time to Market/ROI

• Deploy in weeks, not months with easy updates and high performance
• Pre-configured frameworks to satisfy industry regulations
• Intuitive user interface and workflows that drive efficiency
• Jama Software in-house industry-focused subject matter experts

Highest Adoptability

• Intuitive design with a better UX and ease of use that enables adoptability across teams and disciplines
• Lowest learning curve, minimal training required
• Actionable visibility into status, progress, and risks
• Permissions-controlled access for your entire organization

Maximum Collaboration

• Designed for connecting remote / distributed development teams and disciplines
• Real-time communication captured in context
• Secure access for internal and external stakeholders
• Delivers end-to-end Live Traceability™
• Improves productivity

Lowest Total Cost of Ownership

• Simple and straightforward administration
• No need for custom scripting or continuous updating
• Scales easily without big infrastructure investment
• Unlimited no-cost access for extended internal/external stakeholders

Built for the Modern Engineering Stack

• Jama Connect Traceable MBSE™ encourages and enables MBSE approach
• Integrates with market-leading tools with open REST API
• Teams can work in preferred tools with complete traceability visible in Jama Connect

Related: Moving from Modules to Models – Is it finally time to leave IBM® DOORS® behind?

See how DOORS Next stacks up against Jama Connect
in key areas below.

Jama Connect is a proven IBM DOORS and DOORS NG alternative with flexible, scalable, and reliable migration solutions, including:

• Operation in an IBM DOORS supply chain. Innovative companies leverage Jama Connect to get up and running fast with a modern requirements management process that tightly aligns with industry standards and practices that support regulatory compliance. Organizations can connect to customers and suppliers that use IBM DOORS through Data Exchange for Jama Connect.”
• Integration services. Jama Connect provides integration with key product development lifecycle tools.
• Coexists with IBM DOORS. IBM DOORS is embedded in many organizations and may take some time to migrate completely. Progressive teams and divisions can get started on Jama Connect quickly while the larger organization works toward replacing existing programs over time. This approach is supported through a mix of integration, migration, and exchange services.

DOORS has been a faithful requirements management tool that has served the product development community well for almost 30 years. But to stay competitive, it’s necessary to switch to a modern requirements management solution like Jama Connect.

Jama Software^®‘s Live Traceability™ allows engineering teams to quickly and easily access the latest and most complete information for any requirement, no matter the stage of development or tools used. This real-time capability boosts productivity by ensuring teams work with the latest data and reduces risks like delays and defects by finding issues early. Research shows that issues found late can be much more expensive to fix, which is why Live Traceability is so important. Jama Connect® helps overcome the limitations of older tools, leading to better results in many industries such as automotive, medical devices, aerospace & defense, and more.

To learn more about making the switch from IBM DOORS or DOORS Next Generation to Jama Connect, download our datasheet.

Why Migration Efforts from IBM Rational DOORS to DOORS NG Are Failing – And an Alternative Path.

IBM Rational DOORS was built in 1991 when it became clear that document-based tools such as Microsoft Office did not offer the capabilities able to manage and analyze requirements traceability. And while it was revolutionary at the time, not much has changed about the product in over 30 years.

Many teams are looking to switch away from Rational DOORS because of IT mandates, poor usability due to an antiquated user interface, lack of collaborative features, and a host of other reasons.

However, thinking that migrating to DOORS Next Generation is the easiest, most logical next step is a mistake. In this post, we’ll discuss why many migration efforts from IBM Rational DOORS to DOORS NG are failing, and provide a simpler, more modern alternative.

Considering a switch? If you want to move away from IBM Rational DOORS, you are not constrained by a specific path of migration.

Leaders might already understand the need to switch from Rational DOORS, but they aren’t sure of the next best step. Some lean toward switching to IBM DOORS NG with the assumption that it will be easier to learn and deploy than starting from scratch with a new solution.

However, the only thing that DOORS Next shares with the original DOORS is the name; otherwise, it’s a completely different platform that takes the same level of migration effort that any migration away from DOORS legacy would take. Any expensive DXL customizations — which can sometimes add up to more than a million lines of code — cannot be migrated to DOORS Next.

As you make your decision on whether to migrate away from DOORS or not, consider the risks associated with DOORS and the benefits of choosing a different option.

Risks may include:

• Loss of control and employee frustration. Employees frustrated with DOORS work outside of DOORS, most often in Microsoft Word or Excel, which means that requirements are no longer maintained in a central system and a rigorous process is not followed. This leads to an inability for management to monitor key metrics for the end-to-end process to identify process risk patterns.
• Increased operational costs. Continuing the existing path of using DOORS increases an organization’s risk and expense complying with ever demanding IT security regulations.
• Disruption in business. New users are reluctant to pick up the antiquated user interface of DOORS, expecting software to be as intuitive as applications in their social environment. Not having the ability to move fast and scale business to meet innovative market demands will cost your business time and resources.
• Missed market opportunities. Errors, defects, and omissions not found until the end of the process cause costly delays and overruns. A company’s long-term success can be hindered by delayed launches and missed market opportunities.
• Increased exposure to risk in regulated markets. A requirements management tool helps you stay compliant and increase visibility in regulated markets. Limited customer and cross-functional involvement in the review and approval of requirements and a lack of stakeholder alignment create unnecessary risks. And, the absence of process exception tracking, which determines if requirements have been omitted or modified, creates additional exposure. With more stakeholders refusing to use DOORS, compliance is checked after the fact with the arduous task of tool admins importing data and then running trace analysis. Extended stakeholders who are using DOORS are only able to see any errors long after they have been introduced and eventually imported.
• Distraction from the core business. An ineffective requirements management tool encourages organizations to create customizations rather than simply configuring a tool to meet process needs. Developing and maintaining ad-hoc customizations forces an organization to focus on how to create requirements management functions rather than focus on core business. A modern requirements management solution enables teams to work faster and more efficiently, leading to faster time to market.

Related: The Inside Story: Data-Model Diagnostics for IBM® DOORS®

Need more proof? Here’s what IBM says about migrating from IBM Rational DOORS to DOORS NG

Looking at Rational DOORS and DOORS NG Side-by-Side

It may sound like migrating from Rational DOORS and DOORS NG is just a click of a button, the two systems have completely different infrastructure, processes, and structure. It’s a very complex and manual process. In fact, migrating to DOORS NG will cause major architectural shifts that will impact performance and require extensive employee training.

Related: Requirements Traceability, Does My Data Matter?

There are a number of data types, including historical data, that can’t be migrated at all. But don’t take it from us; IBM says it themselves.

Additionally, there is no upgrade path from Rational DOORS to DOORS NG

5 Common Migration Myths Debunked

Transitioning to a new solution doesn’t have to be challenging; however, there are some assumptions that mislead us into thinking that difficulty is inevitable. Consider the following myths:

MYTH 1: Migrating away from IBM solutions will be more expensive. The amount of work that goes into upgrading to DOORS Next or transitioning to a new RM solution is the same, differentiated only by the quality of the tool and services available to help with migration. An option other than the DOORS family is most often a better fit for your organization.

MYTH 2: Customization will carry over to DOORS Next. You spent a lot of time customizing IBM DOORS and may believe those customizations will transition seamlessly to DOORS Next. However, this isn’t the case and is the reason selecting a different solution doesn’t involve more work.

MYTH 3: DOORS is already deployed and cheap to maintain. Continuing the current path with IBM DOORS is an expensive option in the long term, and often requires dedicated personnel. Switching to an alternative RM solution can improve efficiency while saving money.

MYTH 4: Business disruption is too difficult. The right RM tool will empower teams to effectively hit deadlines, collaborate, and improve business outcomes

MYTH 5: The user experience will suffer., Many people refuse to use DOORS due to a challenging user experience. DOORS Next is a completely new tool with a new user experience. Adopting a user-friendly solution allows teams to collaborate far more effectively as team members can accelerate concepts, designs, and validations for faster times to market.

Related: Moving from Modules to Models – Is it finally time to leave IBM® DOORS® behind?

Migration Away from IBM Rational DOORS is Inevitable – Here’s An Alternate, Easier Path

The fact is, IBM DOORS is extremely outdated, and at some point, updates and support will inevitably end.

If you’re currently using DOORS, you likely know that moving to a different solution is necessary, and you might be considering DOORS Next. However, fast-shifting market dynamics require a new approach to accelerate innovation. As a modern alternative to traditional legacy platforms, Jama Connect® enables digital transformation with a more efficient and user-friendly approach to managing risk and compliance.

Customers agree, naming Jama Connect the overall leader (#1) in requirements management software on G2, outranking IBM DOORS Next for implementation time, adoption, ROI, and market presence.

Jama Connect is a proven IBM DOORS alternative with flexible and reliable solutions, including:

Operation in an IBM DOORS supply chain. Innovative companies leverage Jama Connect to get up and running fast with a modern requirements management process that tightly aligns with industry standards and practices that support regulatory compliance. Organizations can connect to customers and suppliers that use IBM DOORS through Data Exchange for Jama Connect.

Integration services. Jama Connect provides integration with key product development lifecycle tools.

Coexists with IBM DOORS. IBM DOORS is embedded in many organizations and may take some time to migrate completely. Progressive teams and divisions can get started on Jama Connect quickly while the larger organization works toward replacing existing programs over time. This approach is supported through a mix of integration, migration, and exchange services.

Are you considering DOORS for requirements management or considering making a switch? Learn more in our eBooks, Why Move Away from IBM® DOORS® Legacy, and Why Now? and Moving from DOORS Next® to Jama Connect^® for Requirements Management

Achieving Live Traceability™ with Jama Connect^®

Jama Software^®‘s Live Traceability™ allows engineering teams to quickly and easily access the latest and most complete information for any requirement, no matter the stage of development or tools used. This real-time capability boosts productivity by ensuring teams work with the latest data and reduces risks like delays and defects by finding issues early. Research shows that issues found late can be much more expensive to fix, which is why Live Traceability is so important. Jama Connect^® helps overcome the limitations of older tools, leading to better results in many industries such as automotive, medical devices, aerospace & defense, and more. To learn more, visit Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution

To learn more about the three flexible approaches to support companies moving away from IBM DOORS and how our migration team can help, download our datasheet.

Today’s guest post is from Kemi Lewis (aka Rico Tubbs), senior consultant at Jama Software. Kemi has 21 years of experience in systems engineering in the aerospace industry and considers himself a recovering IBM® DOORS® evangelist. 

Q: What are some cool things about yourself?

A: I am lucky enough to train Brazilian Jiujitsu under direct lineage to the original creator, Helio Gracie. The physics geek in me loves how body mechanics and leverage apply in BJJ.

Q: Why are you “aka Rico Tubbs”?

A: I loved Miami Vice as a kid and thought it was a funny stress reliever during the pandemic signing into Zoom meetings to see if anyone got the 80’s pop culture reference, whether it was internal with the CEO/executives or external with a customer – 80% of the time it worked 😉 other 20% of having to explain still made people recall their childhood.

Q: What are some challenges you have experienced in your career?

A: Getting people to listen to your technical recommendations or getting others who are at a lower level to be heard in the same respect. This has been due to several factors, everything from what your “title” is, to me looking youthful, to being of West Indian/African American descent, to my calm friendly personality which leads to my input not being taken seriously since I am not yelling my point across. I never understood why executive leadership or program management would throw their engineering teams “under the bus” to save face with the customer. We win as a team and we lose as a team, so why would I go above-and-beyond for anyone who displayed that negative characteristic. Product development only gets better when you incorporate insight from all parties involved, no matter their title.

This stereotyping has also been associated with being the “IBM DOORS guy” vs being a subject matter expert in systems engineering for a given product, where your technical acumen has been dumbed down to a tool or that systems engineering is just IBM DOORS.

Q What led you to your position here at Jama Software?

A: I have been a huge fan of Jama Software ever since discovering it while looking for an alternative to DOORS for a new product development launch. I championed its use at a small engineering company, and then when the small company was acquired by a conglomerate engineering company. When the career opportunity at Jama Software became available via LinkedIn, I jumped at the chance to be able to help other companies be successful using Jama Connect. I only wish Jama Connect had been available to me when I first started working in engineering. From the impact of COVID-19, most teams are requested to do more with less without being provided with ways to enable/empower them to do more with less. Utilizing Jama Connect is an effortless way to increase that efficiency and effectiveness; don’t expect higher product development productivity to magically happen using pixie dust.

Q: What was your first week like at Jama Software?

A: My first  week at Jama Software was like drinking from a fire hydrant. The thing I love most about working at Jama Software is the mentality of if you win, I win, and we all win – which is very refreshing.

Q What’s a common myth about (Traditional/Classic) DOORS and can you debunk it?

A: That it is a bad requirements management tool, which it is not. A good analogy – IBM DOORS is like a land-line rotary phone which stopped upgrading after switching to a push-button touch-tone phone and now there are smartphones available, like Jama Connect, which are mobile and make you more productive.

Q: Is (Traditional/Classic) DOORS required by the DoD (Department of Defense)?

A: No. Any DoD contract just requires what tools will be used to manage requirements for the duration of the program.

Q What advice would you give someone thinking about using DOORS for a new project?

A: Will you get FULL collaboration & engagement from your product development team by this tool selection? Well, (Traditional/Classic) DOORS does allow teams to  to collaborate – it’s just not modern as one would expect. DOORS is exceedingly difficult to use (in my experience, we had 12 weeks of training only to fumble around in the tool) and administrative intensive with extremely high maintenance costs, e.g., as a small engineering company, IBM DOORS’s licenses and the yearly support and services costs are VERY expensive compared to its competitors, thus this was the driving factor in me looking for a tool with a better ROI, given no one in our product development teams was using it.

Will this tool choice make their productivity better or worse? Jama Connect is much easier to collaborate successfully in product development compared to DOORS, but here are the difference makers you will get with Jama Connect: It’s a web-based tool that works on any OS platform. Social media based actionable comments allow people to resolve the issue just by replying to the comment notification via email without even having to be in the tool. Jama Connect Review Center allows light weight users to engage in and provide feedback only on data relevant to them.

Q What do you wish you had known when you started out?

A: Even if you love IBM DOORS, always keep an open mind as there are other alternatives out there that can make you more productive and not keep your data hostage in a tool.

Q: Can you recall any “bad times” when using IBM DOORS?

A: It amazes me how much time I used to spend hacking/debugging (Traditional/Classic) DOORS DXL scripts just to “TRY” to export some information out of DOORs correctly since the option of using Report/Telelogic Publishing Engine (RPE/TPE) was an expensive product add-on that was not purchased. The hacker engineer in me always liked the debug challenge of getting it to work, but from a productivity standpoint it was terribly inefficient.

Q: In your opinion, what are the best features in Jama Connect?

A: Ease of use. Jama Connect is a simple, intuitive, web-based tool that makes product development teams more collaborative and efficient, since everyone is working from the same source of truth.

Q: How does Jama Connect create new ways of working?

A: Jama Connect provides a more data-centric POV with Living Requirements™ that create end-to-end project traceability, visibility, and reuse where there is a real time system of record for the active product development process while providing a flexible platform with integrations that support multiple solutions across the ALM-PLM ecosystem.

Here is a Living Requirements dashboard in Jama Connect that now enables you to see what previously was hidden until too late using (Traditional/Classic) DOORS or a document-based solution. By showing process exceptions, risks can be found early and mitigated at the lowest cost.

Q: Does the collaboration in Jama Connect make product development easier for you?

A: 100 times easier. Getting any specification reviewed and approved was painstakingly long in legacy or document-based solutions. You had to export it to Word/Excel then send a chain email which led to a rat’s nest of emails and different versions that were all uncoordinated due to updates being made by each reviewer. And thus, you are constantly merging and resending out the same doc to make sure everyone is reviewing the latest version, in addition to making all the reviewers cognizant of each other’s inputs. So much time was saved not having to constantly merge 10 different versions of a Word document or Excel spreadsheet over multiple iterations. This legacy/document approach taken in the past was the main factor in losing new business via customer RFP bids repeatedly, given the amount of time wasted versus utilizing Jama Connect’s data-centric solution. Jama Connect Review Center made a 70% reduction in engineering hours spent on non-value-added work, review, and approval time.

Q: Are there any resources or advice you can share that has helped you on your journey?

A:

1. Be humble. The most success I have had in my career is by treating people how I would want to be treated.Think and act collaboratively.
2. Ego can get in the way of excellence. I have personally experience this where if the idea did come from them, it wasn’t an innovative idea thus several years and millions of dollars wasted trying to “recreate the wheel” when a COTs scalable “wheel” solution was already available and an industry standard.
3. The bitterness of mediocre quality lingers long after the sweetness of the low price is forgotten.Always look at things for the expected lifecycle duration of their use and do not be shocked when it does last. This has occurred in my career time after time where ONLY the initial cost is considered, yet there is surprise and panic when things start failing and customers are unhappy. It’s just like the three little pigs – a cheap/wooden straw house will not survive the hurricane forces of Mr. Big Bad Wolf! Pay for the bricks!

Achieving Live Traceability™ with Jama Connect^®

Jama Software^®‘s Live Traceability™ allows engineering teams to quickly and easily access the latest and most complete information for any requirement, no matter the stage of development or tools used. This real-time capability boosts productivity by ensuring teams work with the latest data and reduces risks like delays and defects by finding issues early. Research shows that issues found late can be much more expensive to fix, which is why Live Traceability is so important. Jama Connect^® helps overcome the limitations of older tools, leading to better results in many industries such as automotive, medical devices, aerospace & defense, and more. To learn more, visit Buyer’s Guide: Selecting a Requirements Management and Traceability Solution

This post is Part I of our two-part series on digital transformation.

The future of Earth might depend on space. Governments from countries around the world and private space companies funded by billionaires are designing new space technologies that push the envelope of technology and complexity. Systems built to operate in the space environment must also be ready for quite a lot of hazards. Here on Earth, we don’t have to worry about operating in a vacuum; getting hit by space debris and micro-sized meteoroids; radiation from the sun and the universe itself; charged particles; or variances in gravity.  

Gone are the days where you have a decade or more to design and develop a new system. With changing global economies, dramatically evolving political landscapes, and shrinking pools of money, waste needs to be eliminated from development. Digital engineering strategies are aiming to eliminate wasteful stovepipes in information and communication centered around not just the product development lifecycle but even the acquisition lifecycle. For deployed space systems in many cases, you only get one shot at getting it right.  

Digital engineering is an integrated approach that uses authoritative sources of system data and models as a continuum across disciplines to support lifecycle activities from concept through disposal. In the simplest of terms, it is the act of creating, capturing, and integrating data using models and innovative technology in an orchestrated manner in order to unlock greater value and provide positive impacts on cost and schedule. This integrated approach means that the data from the digital models such as CAD models, electrical circuit models, system models, and software models as well as the domain discipline processes are orchestrated tightly. Hardware, systems, and software engineers are now working much more closely to design and develop systems. 

At NASA it is believed that “Digital transformation leads to more informed decisions, increased operational efficiency, and streamlined processes.” Digital transformation is not just converting paper records into digital format. It is not about making Word and PDF documents available to more people. Digital transformation is about transforming how you communicate and collaborate with not only your co-workers but also with your customer and suppliers. It is the reinvention of the way processes themselves are performed; it’s not just a change in IT.  

New digital engineering tool ecosystems must be flexible and agile enough to be used by broad, cross-functional teams as well as be responsive to technology changes. One key ingredient for digital engineering success is to make use of models. In the systems engineering community MBSE is seen as the state-of-the-art technique. Requirements management however, which is a pillar of systems engineering, extends beyond the systems model. Highly abstract requirements such as stakeholder expectations, mission goals, and concepts of operations as well as design requirements at the element, subsystem, and component level benefit from a model-based approach. 

Using Jama Connect for Requirements MBSE 

Jama Connect’s unique user interface allows non-technical stakeholders to visualize a model of the system of interest and interact with the requirements in familiar views like documents and spreadsheets. Using Jama Connect in the application of MBSE to create models is supported by a series of pre-defined views and its underlying relationship ontology which enforces the rigor and consistency demanded by the framework. It can also be used in alongside dedicated SysML tools to act as the dedicated requirements system since data organization in Jama Connect is compatible with SysML tools. This makes it attractive to organizations that do not have enough trained staff or licenses to use dedicated SysML graphical modeling tools. 

The Human Element of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is not just about learning to use new tools and incorporation of models but is also about changing to a new company culture and mindset. It becomes necessary for stakeholders and engineers across all disciplines to develop new skills in both systems thinking and real time collaboration. Jama Connect has built-in technology that facilitates better cooperation and communication. It helps eliminate communication silos and becomes a bridge between the requirements data and common communication systems like email. Emails transform to in-app discussions, @mentions, and actions. Requirements reviews in Jama transform into virtual review of data rather than production of documents with iterative reviews of endless redlines. Reviews streamline the feedback sharing process. This reduces the rounds of revision by letting teams give clear feedback on requirements. They don’t need to spend hours figuring out the changes suggested and what needs to be worked upon. 

Parting Words 

The complexity of space systems and the global race to ensure the future of Earth needs the benefits that transformation to digital engineering brings. Doing this successfully enables you to simplify complex development cycles, bridge collaboration gaps, build quality products, get to space faster, and build safe and successful systems. 

To learn more about how Jama Connect for Airborne Systems helps teams to improve their ability to communicate, track, and test requirements for teams in the aerospace industry, download our solution overview. 

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A critical area of opportunity is product development. Processes in this area are often fragmented across a variety of teams, all working in silos. This puts organizations at risk for product delays, defects, cost overruns, failed verifications and validations, recalls, and more. Two major challenges are:

1. Critical information is fragmented. Product development processes are fragmented and siloed within teams.
2. Critical data is trapped. The requirements that specify dependencies and outcomes are trapped within static documents.

Many organizations still use document-based requirements management workflows, which creates fragmentation and doesn’t help companies better serve their customers or get products to market faster. Additionally, product development teams don’t have visibility into what they need most, and communication is siloed and disconnected. Adopting end-to-end visibility supports stronger digital transformation and helps you get products to market faster and with greater efficiency.

Why Document-Based Requirements Management Isn’t Designed for the Future

Over half of product launches (55%) don’t happen on time. The root cause is often product development issues, such as missed bugs or “feature creep.” Using document-based requirements complicates challenges because there may be many different versions of the same document floating around an organization. Stakeholders struggle to connect, give feedback and provide timely approvals. Additionally, as a company grows, managing documents in this way is not scalable.

The result is product teams spending a large amount of time on manual tasks, in some cases more time than they would spend developing and managing the actual requirements. Improved collaboration is possible if organizations use solutions that enable real-time interactions, shorter review cycles and a consolidated system of record. This creates a single source of truth that supports more efficient product development and digital transformation.

RELATED POST: What is the Digital Thread?

How creating a single source of truth supports digital transformation

Fragmentation and confusion occur when project activities are spread out across many different communication channels. Teams face difficulties creating a cohesive workflow and getting everyone on the same page. A few potential challenges of not having a single source of truth are:

• Projects evolve in an “out of sync” environment. Key updates manually circulating in lengthy documents may be lost in inboxes. A disconnected communication process complicates the tracking requirements and can even change them, resulting in different versions of the truth.
• Stakeholders are confused about which document is the latest version. Lack of cohesive communication may leave confusion about which version of a document is the most up to date. Teams may work in silos and make time-consuming errors due to this issue.
• A document-based approach creates extra manual work. A document-based approach, such as one using Word or Excel, isn’t designed for managing requirements, leaving additional manual work. For example, teams may need to create their own processes for adhering to industry standards.

A platform that centralizes everything in a single system of record offers a single source of truth that is often missing from many product development processes.

RELATED POST: Requirements Management – Living, Not Static

Centralizing Your Requirements in a Single Platform

Digital transformation is about delivering value through improved understanding of data, alignment of data and the ability to act on that data. Achieving a single source of truth by centralizing your requirements in one platform enables you to secure a competitive edge in the market.

As product development processes become more complicated, traditional document-based requirements management has revealed its age and limitations. To successfully move from a document-based process, you need a solution that can do the following:

• Supports real-time communication and provides the full context of conversations.
• Provides a single system of record for requirements, risks and tests.
• Supports risk analysis throughout the entire development process.
• Allows for easy exporting of reports to prove compliance and pass audits.
• Offers end-to-end traceability that enables you to view the impact of a change prior to its being made and ensure product quality with complete coverage.

Jama Connect enables real-time collaboration in one convenient location and replaces fragmented workflows spread across multiple documents and communication channels. Collaborators can easily manage requirements and risks in a single system in real time, which results in a single source of truth. This helps you prevent many of the challenges that arise from emailing collaborators with new changes or requirements, or requesting that comments be left in a Word or Excel document.

RELATED POST: The Importance of Centralizing Your Requirements in One Platform

Moving Into the Future

True digital transformation requires organizations to evaluate how technology can support the right strategy, generate accurate insights and foster informed decision-making. When looking at strategies to integrate digital transformation into your organization, consider leveraging a competitive advantage in the area of product development.

Doing this successfully enables you to simplify complex development cycles, bridge collaboration gaps, build quality products, get to market faster and reduce risk around compliance.

Download our eBook to learn how optimize product development with strategic team collaboration.

DOWNLOAD NOW

Digital transformation helps companies secure a competitive advantage through improved productivity, greater customer loyalty, happier employees and a larger bottom line. It’s the foundation on which companies build more value for their customers. In the past, digital transformation may have been considered an IT project, but the reality is that it ripples throughout every part of the business.

Digital transformation has become more critical during the pandemic as companies are challenged with working remotely and delivering on customer expectations without missing a beat. One study found that over half of IT decision makers (59%) reported plans for accelerating digital transformation efforts when previously, only 15% of companies were prioritizing digital transformation.

As companies move forward, they need tools that support the delivery of what their customers expect, whether it’s faster, more connected experiences or getting the products they need delivered at record speed.

Why is digital transformation important?

Digital transformation helps your company secure a competitive edge that delights your customers and streamlines back-end operations. For example, you may need greater traceability across a product’s life cycle, the ability for employees to collaborate in real time or greater visibility into risk management. It’s the strategy that underpins your decision about what tools are essential. A few benefits include:

Improves the customer experience.

Even if you’re using the tools to develop better products, a digital-first culture has a direct effect on the customer experience. And improving the customer experience is key, since 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. During 2020, the customer experience overtook product and price as the key brand differentiator.

Builds a stronger employee experience.

Most companies know that employees are their greatest asset, and by providing your people with the tools they need to do a better job, you create a more engaged and efficient workplace, which translates to happier customers.

Optimizes processes.

Digital transformation helps you optimize existing processes and make them more efficient. You can streamline workflows, improve digital processes, automate time-consuming tasks and overall make your workplace more efficient.

Creates greater profitability.

Research shows that 80% of organizations that completed digital transformation reported improving profits, and 85% reported improvements in market share. On average, leaders forecast 23% higher revenue than that of their competitors.

Improves agility and productivity.

During 2020 companies learned that agility wasn’t important; it was essential. Tools that support digital transformation help your company innovate faster, streamline workflows and improve productivity.

RELATED POST: The Importance of Centralizing Your Requirements to One Platform

How can companies embrace digital transformation and achieve better results?

Developing a digital transformation strategy, or revisiting an existing strategy, is a good place to start in creating more agility and success in your plans. What tools will help you meet digitizing requirements or, if you’re developing products, meet complex product requirements? Consider doing the following.

Define what it means to your company.

What is your desired outcome once your digital transformation strategy is deployed? It’s all about the end game, so define your goals well upfront. Consider examining the people, processes, data and technology that you use now, and then align those elements with your goals. Where are the gaps? Are you struggling with efficient collaboration? Is product development inefficient? Identify the areas that matter most.

Foster a digital culture.

Digital adoption comes from the top down. Share your strategy with employees, and get buy-in. How will their jobs improve due to the changes, and how will they be able to serve customers better? Share these details to get everyone on board.

Define value.

A key goal for any digital transformation strategy should be to provide value. How does the strategy serve your overall business vision? Do you need to streamline processes, drive greater revenue or develop larger customer value? You need a baseline and the ability to successfully measure those changes while staying agile.

Support agility.

It’s critical to stay fluid enough to adjust to fast-changing market conditions and respond quickly. Rigid KPIs need to give way to more flexible and agile requirements that have room for iteration. Adaptive design allows you to pursue more frequent changes to transformation strategies and thereby generate the best results.

RELATED POST: Why You Should Swap Documents-Based Requirements Management for Real-Time Collaboration

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

As you define your strategy, it also helps to be aware of a few potential pitfalls so that you can avoid them. For example, more technology isn’t always the answer. Success lies in adopting the right technology. Consider these common pitfalls:

Failure to define a digital transformation strategy.

Digital transformation must start with a vision, and adoption of technologies and tools must directly stem from that vision. How can the technology support the goals and objectives?

Not asking the right questions.

Asking the right questions can help you shape your digital transformation strategy. For example, what do you truly need to better meet customer demands? Do you need to streamline complex product development through improved collaboration? Do you need real-time collaboration to improve workflows? Look at overarching goals and narrow down the tools that make accomplishing those goals easier.

Lack of leadership support.

Digital transformation isn’t a “one and done” project but instead a living, breathing process of iteration. It requires leadership support in continuously revisiting the strategy and making changes as needed to improve the strategy.

Creating strategy in a silo.

The IT department may have largely been responsible for digital transformation in the past, but that is no longer the case. It’s a cross-functional project that affects leaders, as well as employees, from all parts of the business.

Moving Into the Future with Greater Success

Digital transformation is a critical element on the path to the future. Few businesses will stand the test of time without a strong plan to adopt beneficial technologies, such as those needed to digitize requirements management and complex product development. For example, as product development processes become more complex, traditional document-based requirements management has shown its age and limitations. This alone is a powerful opportunity in digital transformation strategy.

However, many organizations haven’t upgraded their requirements and risk management processes to keep pace with innovation, putting them at risk for slow development cycles, costly changes and regulatory recalls. Identifying opportunities such as this will help your company adopt digital transformation with great strength and success into the future.

Check out Part II of this blog series, “How Jama Connect Can Help with Digital Transformation.”

Download our eBook to learn how optimize product development with strategic team collaboration.

DOWNLOAD NOW