Regarding requirements management, there are plenty of tools on the market. Two of the heavyweights are Valispace and JAMA Connect .
Both offer a multitude of features designed to streamline complex engineering projects. However, each software package has its unique strengths and focuses. This blog post will compare and contrast Valispace and JAMA Connect to help you make the best choice for your engineering team.
Overview
Valispace is a browser-based tool designed for hardware engineers to collaboratively develop and track their project data, like requirements and system models in real-time. It was designed from the ground up to support complex engineering projects, particularly in the aerospace, defense, automotive, and robotics industries. Valispace also enables the calculation of parameters across disciplines, reducing errors and increasing efficiency.
JAMA Connect is a comprehensive project management tool that includes requirements, test, and risk management. JAMA is widely used across multiple industries, from healthcare to aerospace. It’s designed to facilitate collaboration and maintain alignment across large teams working on complex projects.
Requirements Management
Both tools offer robust requirements management functionalities, but they approach it differently.
Valispace’s requirements management is integrated with its system engineering approach. It offers the unique capability to link your requirements directly to the component or system data, allowing for a real-time calculation of parameters.
Changes in data or requirements are automatically propagated through the system, keeping everyone in the loop. This drastically reduces errors caused by outdated information or manual entry. Another plus offered by Valispace, is the possibility to have an AI assistant to help you with your requirements.
Powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, ValiAssistant can help you in generating, improving, breaking down and even finding inconsistencies among your requirements.
JAMA Connect, on the other hand, offers a more traditional requirements management system. It is highly customizable, allowing users to define their workflows, fields, and item types.
It provides review and approval workflows, allowing teams to ensure their requirements are met before moving on. Additionally, JAMA Connect provides powerful traceability features that can trace relationships not only to requirements, but also to other artefacts like test cases and design documents.
Collaboration
Valispace and JAMA Connect place a high priority on facilitating collaboration.
Valispace stands out with collaboration features specifically designed for engineering teams. Its browser-based interface enables real-time collaboration and immediate updates, reducing error risks and fostering effective teamwork.
It incorporates an intelligent notification system, keeping everyone alerted to vital changes. Discussions, tasks and timelines are also some features present in the tool to ensure full collaboration and traceability.
JAMA Connect, while offering review workflows, threaded discussions, and @mentions, is geared towards a broader project team demographic.
Its features, though beneficial, may not match the specialized needs of engineering teams. The Review Center, aimed at facilitating team-wide reviews, may lack the real-time and automated update capabilities that give Valispace its competitive edge.
Integration
Integration with other tools is crucial when choosing a requirements management tool.
Valispace offers integration with popular tools like MATLAB, Excel, and JIRA. It allows data to be exported in various formats, including PDF and Excel. Importantly, it also has an open REST API for custom integrations.
JAMA Connect has a broader range of pre-built integrations with tools like JIRA, Slack, and others. Its REST API offers flexibility for custom integrations, and it also supports importing and exporting in a variety of formats.
Combining the Power of JAMA Connect and Valispace
While JAMA Connect and Valispace each offer unique strengths, they can also be harnessed together to create a comprehensive engineering management solution.
An engineer could utilize Valispace for real-time calculation of engineering data and parameter management.
Valispace’s ability to automatically update linked requirements following parameter changes reduces errors and streamlines the workflow. Also, with the help of the ValiAssistant, engineers can get real-time insights to improve the speed and accuracy of complex engineering.
JAMA Connect could then be employed for a broader project management scope. It provides robust requirements, risk, and test management, and its exceptional traceability and collaboration features can help improve team alignment and coordination.
To integrate these tools, a regular data synchronization protocol would need to be established. This could involve periodic data import and export or using APIs for automated data transfer.
While this dual-tool approach broadens the feature range, careful management is necessary to maintain data consistency. The combined use of both tools aims to capitalize on their strengths, providing a more comprehensive solution for complex engineering projects.
Conclusion
Both Valispace and JAMA Connect are powerful tools for requirements management. Valispace’s is a more modern and hardware-centric tool that focuses on engineering data and real-time calculations, and can provide a significant efficiency boost if your team is specifically dealing with complex hardware systems.
If you’re looking for a more generalized and traditional project management tool with requirements management features, or if your workflows are highly customized, JAMA Connect could be the better choice.