Top rated product
Product reviews
Rational Rational DOORS
A requirements management tool for systems and advanced IT applications
Average customer rating:
out of
5
21 out of 22(95%)customers would recommend this product.
Customer reviews for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
L3DOORSMan
Company size: 101-500
Role: Tester
DOORS: Excellent Tool, Demands Commitment
Date: November 20, 2009
DOORS is an excellent tool for companies to use to manage and verify project requirements. It has numerous capabilities to link related requirements, show requirements traceability, perform change impact analysis, and to exchange data with other software applications including Microsoft Office programs. DOORS provides a rich suite of capabilities that, when used properly, will enhance productivity and improve the quality of a company’s requirements management products.
However, the success and productivity realized by a company's use of DOORS will be determined not by the quality, robustness, or diversity of DOORS capabilities, but by the company's requirements management expertise and by its willingness to learn and fully embrace DOORS technology.
The succussful use of DOORS requires a commitment from management to integrate DOORS with existing requirement management practices and to train its engineers and project managers how to effectively apply DOORS’ capabilities.
Project managers and engineers must recognize the DOORS database as the central repository of project requirements data and wean themselves away from methodologies employing Word, Excel, and other tools to manage their project requirements. These peripheral tools and add-ons may be used judiciously to populate or update project requirement data, but project managers and engineers must adopt a mindset that no change is complete unless it has been captured in the DOORS project database.
For some companies the transition from Word, Excel, and other tools to DOORS may be a traumatic paradigm shift. However, difficulties associated with the transition to DOORS can be mitigated via proper training of staff and project managers and by the mentoring of DOORS experts who know the “best practices” for getting the job done.
Training and mentoring is required at multiple levels for a company to develop a successful DOORS operation. This includes training and mentoring for DOORS administrators, database managers, project database managers, and the standard users. Initial training and mentoring must be provided by external sources, but a company needs to sponsor internal training and mentoring programs on a continuous basis in order to bring other engineers and project managers “on board” and to expand the companies’ level of DOORS expertise.
DOORS is an excellent resource for requirements management. However, companies must make a commitment to integrate DOORS with its existing procedures and provide the necessary training and mentoring to realize maximum return on investment.
However, the success and productivity realized by a company's use of DOORS will be determined not by the quality, robustness, or diversity of DOORS capabilities, but by the company's requirements management expertise and by its willingness to learn and fully embrace DOORS technology.
The succussful use of DOORS requires a commitment from management to integrate DOORS with existing requirement management practices and to train its engineers and project managers how to effectively apply DOORS’ capabilities.
Project managers and engineers must recognize the DOORS database as the central repository of project requirements data and wean themselves away from methodologies employing Word, Excel, and other tools to manage their project requirements. These peripheral tools and add-ons may be used judiciously to populate or update project requirement data, but project managers and engineers must adopt a mindset that no change is complete unless it has been captured in the DOORS project database.
For some companies the transition from Word, Excel, and other tools to DOORS may be a traumatic paradigm shift. However, difficulties associated with the transition to DOORS can be mitigated via proper training of staff and project managers and by the mentoring of DOORS experts who know the “best practices” for getting the job done.
Training and mentoring is required at multiple levels for a company to develop a successful DOORS operation. This includes training and mentoring for DOORS administrators, database managers, project database managers, and the standard users. Initial training and mentoring must be provided by external sources, but a company needs to sponsor internal training and mentoring programs on a continuous basis in order to bring other engineers and project managers “on board” and to expand the companies’ level of DOORS expertise.
DOORS is an excellent resource for requirements management. However, companies must make a commitment to integrate DOORS with its existing procedures and provide the necessary training and mentoring to realize maximum return on investment.
Share this review:
Review 2 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
3
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
3
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
John
Company size: 10,001 or more
Role: Other
DOORS 8.2
Date: November 20, 2009
I am just starting to use DOORS 8.2 and really like this product. I will be using this product for Requirements Management and find it a valued product. Being able to input data and link between documents along with tracability is key to me as a manager of requirements. I also viewed the newer version for document output and upgrades with web access and am looking forward to having our company upgrade.
: www.raytheon.com
Pros: Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Provides faster and easier stakeholder consensus, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders
Share this review:
Review 3 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
5
out of
5
Performance:
3
out of
5
Scalability:
3
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
kyler
Location: All over, USA
Company size: 0-50
Role: Other
Very good at what it does
Date: November 20, 2009
I've been using DOORS for a long time. The software does work and will help you manage your requirements. DXL makes it customizable and helps DOORS adapt to whatever processes your company has in place.
DOORS is the leading RM tool and for good reason. However, the software itself is long in the tooth. The UI conventions are pretty poor, you must invest in training, and the tool is really expensive, meaning that it's not for smaller shops.
I wish the tool was more "modern" in look, feel, and features. It lacks things like a dashboard interface, and the web interface is an expensive add-on (why?). You really need an expert to get the most out of the tool.
Still, despite its shortcomings, DOORS is a great tool and properly used it can help almost any project get a handle on requirements. But it's pricey and requires an expert/consultant to get the most out of it.
Pros: Address compliance with regulations and standards
Share this review:
Review 4 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
2
out of
5
Performance:
2
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
Jswitch
Location: Alpharetta, GA
Company size: 1,001-5,000
Role: Architect
Reliable requirements database
Date: November 20, 2009
Doors provides a reliable requirements database enviroment, but it leaves room for improvement. The interface can be slow and cumbersome. There are many areas where the interface could be more helpful to the user such as creating new entries, linking entries, and searching the database.
However, overall it provides a stable database and is far superior to using Office to track system requirements.
Pros: Reduces rework, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders
Share this review:
Review 5 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
5
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
5
out of
5
Ease of use:
4
out of
5
Robert
Location: Massachusetts
Company size: 10,001 or more
Role: Other
Great product to a specific type of customer
Date: November 20, 2009
DOORS is the type of product that is useful to a specific audience. If requirements management, document control, version history, and traceability are necessary for you, DOORS should certainly be considered. In my usage, DOORS has fulfilled all of my needs. I will admit that at times, I feel like I don’t know the best way to accomplish something and later find out that I was right, but the tools to accomplish anything you want are there, you might just have to dig a little to find them.
Overall, I am very pleased with this product. With the frequent updates, it is able to stay relevant to me.
Pros: Manage project complexity, Address compliance with regulations and standards, Reduces rework, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders
Share this review:
Review 6 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
3
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
swatshots
Location: Sunny California
Company size: 501-1,000
Role: Developer
Date: November 19, 2009
DOORS is a very valuable tool to manage the hierarchical relationships between requirement levels and the verification and validation process.
Pros: Manage project complexity, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Provides faster and easier stakeholder consensus, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders, verification and validation
Share this review:
Review 7 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
3
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
tootall
Company size: 10,001 or more
Role: Tester
Date: November 19, 2009
DOORS provides a decent database for requirements tracking but the usability is difficult. If it wasn't for the ability to export and import to a more user friendly application it would be nearly impossible. Because of the import/export features I didn't rate it too poorly. Requirements baseline management for projects that have an iterative lifecycle where requirements move forward but the previous baseline may require updates doesn't exist. So there isn't a mechanism to handle multiple baselines of requirements.
Share this review:
Review 8 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
2
out of
5
Keeee
Company size: 10,001 or more
Role: Other
DOORS 9.2
Date: November 19, 2009
I'm new to DOORS, all I can say is you need some training :-) It just isn't very intuitive. The install, setup and so forth was pretty good, creating a project with the project wizard was not to bad, but then I got stuck. I did pull up the manual at that point, so far I've gotten a little way through the process. The features are powerful, but a bit of a learning curve.
Pros: supports linkages i.e. test objects
Share this review:
Review 9 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
4
out of
5
ptrainer
Location: Colorado, USA
Company size: 5,001-10,000
Role: Other
Good tool; good training support
Date: November 19, 2009
Supporting the organization's training needs when it comes to DOORS has been simplified by the excellent training professionals provided by Rational. Our engineering team often requires immediate-response, just-in-time training on the DOORS tool to support programs' launch. The training organization provides flexible, scalable offerings whenever our needs arise; tailored to our current and forecast needs. Instructors, materials, and post-training support have been exemplary.
Pros: Improves project team productivity
Share this review:
Review 10 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
5
out of
5
Ease of use:
4
out of
5
Josephus
Location: Huntsville, AL
Company size: 101-500
Role: Developer
The standard for reqirements mgt., for good reason
Date: November 19, 2009
I have used DOORS on and off over the past 10 years. Throughout that time, it has proven to be invaluable to completing requirements management tasks on a number of different programs I have supported. The interface is relatively easy to learn and master, so the ramp-up time is short. The tool includes collaborative features such as providing comments on requirements that can be read by the author later, and their response can be entered as well so that the dialogue is captured permanently. The only negative I would add is that DOORS (in my opnion) is best suited for medium to large programs with a fairly substantial development team, in order to gain full benefit relative to the investment. It may not be deemed cost effective for small development teams, given the price even for a single stand-alone user license. That said, it does make sense to use DOORS within a company or oganization that has several programs that can share licenses, and I strongly believe that the incorporation of DOORS into a company's standard toolset is almost certain to improve overall development process when used correctly.
: www.l-3com.com
Pros: Manage project complexity, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders
Share this review:
Review 11 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
4
out of
5
RaggedyAnn
Company size: 1,001-5,000
Role: Other
DOORS-The best requirements tool I have used
Date: November 19, 2009
I have worked with Rational DOORS on two programs while working at the company I am at. Two other programs I have worked on used other requirements tools. I used one before I ever used DOORS and when I went to DOORS it could do all the things I wished that the other tool could do like sorting on things using 'not'. The second program I worked on not using DOORs was after I had worked with DOORs on two other programs. It made me really appreciate all the things that DOORs can do like writing scripts so you can see the trace of child to parent to grandparent all in one view.
My company has DOORS as the standard requirements tool for the programs to use. They have made a great choice.
My company has DOORS as the standard requirements tool for the programs to use. They have made a great choice.
Pros: Improves project team productivity
Share this review:
Review 12 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
3
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
5
out of
5
Chris
Location: Arlington, VA
Company size: 10,001 or more
Role: Other
Great Requirements Management Tool
Date: November 19, 2009
DOORS is a very easy to use and manipulate requirements management tool. DXL allows you to customize the tool for a wide array of applications, tools, and reports. It also has many built-in features. It interfaces well with Microsoft products. It's very easy to use and teach.
Pros: Manage project complexity
Share this review:
Review 13 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
5
out of
5
Performance:
5
out of
5
Scalability:
5
out of
5
Ease of use:
5
out of
5
Kate
Location: global
Company size: 101-500
Role: Developer
New Discussion feature
Date: November 19, 2009
We decided to use the new DOORS 9.2 feature, "Discussion Threads", in a peer review of our system requirements. We offered DOORS discussions as an alternative for collecting redlines. It was well received. This feature was not only valuable in collecting redlines but we also used them to record the peer review's responses during the peer review itself.
After the review, a filtered list of all system requirements in DOORS that contained "open" discussions with their peer review decisions was exported to Excel so we could store them with other peer review data.
We were very happy with the results and plan to continue to use Discussion Threads in future peer reviews.
Pros: Manage project complexity, Reduces rework, Provides faster and easier stakeholder consensus, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity
Share this review:
Review 14 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
5
out of
5
AmyBhs
Location: Virginia
Company size: 1,001-5,000
Role: Analyst
Robust tool
Date: November 19, 2009
Our company has been using DOORS since past 10 years and it has been worked out extremely well for us when it comes to pricing or its excellent features. The best thing I like about this tools is that it is very simple and user friendly. We have not encountered any server or corruptions issues in past 5-6 years and our customers in the company who use DOORS are extremely satisfied with it. I would highly recommend this tool.
: www.freddiemac.com
Pros: Manage project complexity, Address compliance with regulations and standards, Reduces rework, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders
Share this review:
Review 15 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
5
out of
5
Ease of use:
4
out of
5
ToolManatHoneywell
Location: Redmond, WA
Company size: 10,001 or more
Role: Other
DOORS is the Best RM Tool!
Date: November 19, 2009
I have been supporting DOORS at Boeing and Honeywell for 10 years. I have worked with many groups, all of which have done tool trade studies, and have chosen DOORS over all others. DOORS has always been chosen because it gives Programs the most for what they are looking for.
Pros: Manage project complexity, Address compliance with regulations and standards, Reduces rework, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Provides faster and easier stakeholder consensus, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity
Share this review:
Review 16 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
5
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
ReqTek
Company size: 1,001-5,000
Role: Developer
DOORS 8.2
Date: November 15, 2009
DOORS is a capable and arguably class leading product for the management of requirements. If you are managing product developments of medium or higher complexity then this tool is a good chioce.
Its biggest plus - when properly installed and used, it facilitates traceability to the point of not thinking about it. Its biggest negative - a clunky UI that probably reflects how many years its been kicking around.
Its biggest plus - when properly installed and used, it facilitates traceability to the point of not thinking about it. Its biggest negative - a clunky UI that probably reflects how many years its been kicking around.
: www.resmed.com.au
Pros: Manage project complexity
1 of 1 found this review helpful.
Share this review:
Review 17 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
3
out of
5
Features:
3
out of
5
Performance:
3
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
3
out of
5
summitboy
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Company size: 5,001-10,000
Role: QA Manager
DOORS 8.2
Date: November 13, 2009
DOORS works best for larger projects with many requirements and long time scales (e.g. aerospace). As with any requirements management system, DOORS is not a "silver bullet"; you get out what you put in. You need buy in from your management to invest the resources for:
- Writing/reviewing formal requirements
- Entering and linking data
- Setting up and supporting infratructure
- Writing DXL scripts (see below)
- Training users
- Writing/reviewing formal requirements
- Entering and linking data
- Setting up and supporting infratructure
- Writing DXL scripts (see below)
- Training users
Cons:
- Opening and closing modules can be slow
- Some features missing or work in a way that makes no sense. You need to write your own DXL scripts to get things to work the way you want.
- Change Proposal System not very useful (we use Clearcase and ClearQuest instead)
- Not well integrated with CC and CQ
- Local licenses reasonable value for money; global licenses expensive
- You need a full-time administrator/requirements manager
- Not easy to merge requirements updated outside DOORS
- Does not fully support rich text formatting
- Opening and closing modules can be slow
- Some features missing or work in a way that makes no sense. You need to write your own DXL scripts to get things to work the way you want.
- Change Proposal System not very useful (we use Clearcase and ClearQuest instead)
- Not well integrated with CC and CQ
- Local licenses reasonable value for money; global licenses expensive
- You need a full-time administrator/requirements manager
- Not easy to merge requirements updated outside DOORS
- Does not fully support rich text formatting
Pros:
- Excellent User Forum that enables you to solve many problems yourself
- Customer support responsive to problems or feature requests
- Proprietary scripting language DXL is easy to learn (but it has to be to - see above)
- Excellent User Forum that enables you to solve many problems yourself
- Customer support responsive to problems or feature requests
- Proprietary scripting language DXL is easy to learn (but it has to be to - see above)
: www.navcanada.ca
Pros: Manage project complexity, Address compliance with regulations and standards, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Provides faster and easier stakeholder consensus, Facilitates requirements reuse, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders
0 of 1 found this review helpful.
Share this review:
Review 18 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
4
out of
5
Features:
4
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
4
out of
5
Ease of use:
2
out of
5
Mokhtar
Location: Brussels
Company size: 101-500
Role: Architect
THE Requirement Management Tool
Date: October 15, 2009
IBM Rational DOORS is a robust and performant tool.
It includes all what is needed to manage requirements through the lifecycle in the most professional maneer:
1. First it's robust: If you put something in DOORS, the date integrity of what you have put is garanteed. It's not always the case with other tools.
2. It's fast. Even with hundreds of people connected, it still has very good reponsive time.
3. It's built for Requirement Management. You requirements ares stored in objects with properties to categorized them, and the traceability is perfectly handled.
4. It gives some basic capabilities for configuration management and testing: If you don't have too complex testing and configuration management needs, there are some features that can help you handle that (baseline, baseline sets, ..)
5. It offers different perspectives on the requirements for different profiles through the use of views.
6. And, for me, the aspect that makes DOORS so good and attractive, it provides you with the capability of customizing it to your need through DXL which is a language built on a requirement management Model. I am not a specialist of it yet, but I must say that I am impressed by what you can do with it.
It includes all what is needed to manage requirements through the lifecycle in the most professional maneer:
1. First it's robust: If you put something in DOORS, the date integrity of what you have put is garanteed. It's not always the case with other tools.
2. It's fast. Even with hundreds of people connected, it still has very good reponsive time.
3. It's built for Requirement Management. You requirements ares stored in objects with properties to categorized them, and the traceability is perfectly handled.
4. It gives some basic capabilities for configuration management and testing: If you don't have too complex testing and configuration management needs, there are some features that can help you handle that (baseline, baseline sets, ..)
5. It offers different perspectives on the requirements for different profiles through the use of views.
6. And, for me, the aspect that makes DOORS so good and attractive, it provides you with the capability of customizing it to your need through DXL which is a language built on a requirement management Model. I am not a specialist of it yet, but I must say that I am impressed by what you can do with it.
There are two things, in my opinion, that should be improved in DOORS.
A. Its usability: DOORS is not an intuitive tool. You have to get used to it. Once you have been using it for a while, than you cannot spend one day without using it, but if it was more intuitive, that would help people like me convincing other people who are not especially fans of requirement management to use it.
B. It external API. Calling a tool via DOORS through OLE is very easy and woks very well. But apart passing a string to DOORS, or delving in complex C code, you cannot handle DOORS from outside.
A. Its usability: DOORS is not an intuitive tool. You have to get used to it. Once you have been using it for a while, than you cannot spend one day without using it, but if it was more intuitive, that would help people like me convincing other people who are not especially fans of requirement management to use it.
B. It external API. Calling a tool via DOORS through OLE is very easy and woks very well. But apart passing a string to DOORS, or delving in complex C code, you cannot handle DOORS from outside.
Conclusion; In my modest opinion, DOORS is the state of the art Requirement Management tool. But my message to the development team...please make it even better by improving its usability and the way it can be called from other tool.
: www.mutsoc.be or www.socmut.be
Pros: Manage project complexity, Reduces rework, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Facilitates requirements reuse, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders
1 of 1 found this review helpful.
Share this review:
Review 19 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
5
out of
5
Features:
5
out of
5
Performance:
4
out of
5
Scalability:
5
out of
5
Ease of use:
5
out of
5
SamLund
Location: Europe
Company size: 0-50
Role: Other
Use responsibly
Date: October 14, 2009
Actually DOORS should be shipped with the label "Use responsibly". It is very addictive, and can unnoticed lead to very complex situations. On the other, it is also a tool, which can handle most such situations with ease, and poses extendability options meeting even most demanding and challenging needs.
The most important feature of DOORS is its ability to serve users with different maturity and insight to requirements management. Be it for simple traceability, or strategic planning, DOORS is a platform to express and solve your requirements management challenge. This means, DOORS might initially give an impression of being expensive, but it can live longer with your organisation than any other tool you use. It is the last suite you ever use (pun intended).
The downside is, you need to be the responsible part of this relationship. You can bend and twist DOORS, but at the end, you need know which are your objectives and what you want to achieve.
: www.cnbsystems.com
Pros: Manage project complexity, Address compliance with regulations and standards, Reduces rework, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Provides faster and easier stakeholder consensus, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders, supports strategic management and planning, enables market alignment
1 of 1 found this review helpful.
Share this review:
Review 20 for Rational DOORS
Overall rating:
out of
5
Value for price:
2
out of
5
Features:
3
out of
5
Performance:
3
out of
5
Scalability:
5
out of
5
Ease of use:
5
out of
5
DOORSHandler
Location: UK
Company size: 0-50
Role: Developer
DOORS - can you handle it?
Date: October 2, 2009
DOORS is one of those products that is easy to pick up and use - and just as easy to misuse. If used badly then it is an expensive time consuming overhead which provides no apparent benefit. It is only when you use it properly does it come into its own, and like any high performance tool it needs to be controlled and directed. It requires a process, a data model and of course full commitment from the team. But once you have these then DOORS can potentially give you those massive savings downstream when it comes to verification and acceptance.
Pros: Address compliance with regulations and standards, Reduces rework, Aligns project deliverables to requirements and business goals, Provides faster and easier stakeholder consensus, Facilitates requirements reuse, Improves project team productivity, Enhance collaboration across engineering discipline with all stakeholders, provides a framework for product acceptance
2 of 2 found this review helpful.
Share this review:
