Ravenflow, the leader in Rapid Requirements Definition™, today announced the newest version of its flagship requirements definition software. RAVEN 5.0 now supports IBM’s new requirements definition platform, IBM Rational Requirements Composer, based on their Jazz technology for collaborative software delivery. Additionally, RAVEN 5.0 also provides integration with IBM Telelogic DOORS®, and also has a number of new capabilities focused on the user experience.

"How requirements are gathered, then managed, is among the first and most important activities in delivering information systems projects," said Gartner analyst Matt Light. Moreover, "a leading indicator of IT project success is whether requirements are specified in a manageable fashion."

“Visual validation is an important part of the requirements definition and management process,” said Michael Loria, vice president of business development, IBM Rational Software. ”With RAVEN for IBM Rational Requirements Composer, customers will be able to better ensure requirements are correct from the beginning of a project, saving valuable time and money.”

IBM Rational Requirements Composer will help software delivery teams gain consensus on how a project should be designed using familiar business artifacts such as storyboards, sketches, scenarios and models. RAVEN 5.0 is the first software solution that will work within IBM Requirements Composer which will provide visual validation of requirements and instantly identify where missing requirements are located in order to increase productivity and efficiency, enabling customers to:

• Deliver applications faster: by allowing teams of business analysts, stakeholders, and subject matter experts to collaborate quickly to define precise application requirements and publish accurate specification documents. RAVEN reduces the time required for stakeholders to approve specifications, reduces developer rework due to requirements errors, and seamlessly integrates requirements and testing, often saving months from business application projects.
• Reduce application development costs: by quickly finding missing requirements and allowing the users to view suggested changes which will accelerate their work efficiency and quality. Unlike traditional drag-and-drop requirements tools, the RAVEN software automatically parses plain English text and generates visual models and specification documents that are intuitive to non-technical stakeholders and subject matter experts.
• Leverage Microsoft Word: RAVEN Express TM is the industry’s first requirements elicitation and definition product that is integrated directly into Microsoft Word. Use of RAVEN Express within Requirements Composer provides additional productivity to users editing Microsoft Word documents within Requirements Composer.

Additionally, RAVEN 5.0 offers integration with IBM Telelogic DOORS®, the market-and technology-leading family of solutions for requirements management for advanced systems and software development.

“The main goal of RAVEN working within IBM Rational Requirements Composer is to help organizations deliver applications to the market faster,” said Susan Boers, president and chief executive officer of Ravenflow. ”RAVEN 5.0 achieves this by offering visual validation methods that transform how organizations collaborate, resulting in a more efficient process. For existing DOORS users, experiencing the visual validation of writing and communicating the right requirement from the Customer will also provide huge savings as well as provide improved customer satisfaction.”

“As a management consulting firm focused exclusively on requirements management, Centerline Partners bridges the gap between process owners and IS,” said Andrew Simon, partner and co-founder of Centerline Partners. “We selected RAVEN as a strategic partner based on the rigor of its structured syntax and real-time diagramming and visualization capabilities. RAVEN’s rigor forces consistency across all project participants and provides us with an industry changing enabler to our rapid requirements management methodology and services.”

To launch this release, Ravenflow is offering a series of live webcasts addressing RAVEN working within IBM Requirements Composer, RAVEN’s integration with IBM Telelogic DOORS, as well as RAVEN 5.0 new features. Registration for this webinar series is open at www.ravenflow.com.

For more information about RAVEN 5.0 and RAVEN for IBM Rational Requirements Composer or IBM Telelogic DOORS, visit www.ravenflow.com or call 877-557-2836.

About Ravenflow

Recently named by IDC the fastest growing vendor in the requirements field, Ravenflow software enables business analysts to quickly build stakeholder consensus on requirements, reduce the time required for stakeholders to approve specifications, reduce developer rework due to requirements errors, and seamlessly link requirements and testing. Business analysts and stakeholders across all industries depend on Ravenflow's award-winning RAVEN to quickly visualize and validate software requirements. RAVEN integrates with IBM Rational and Telelogic applications, Microsoft Visual Studio and HP. Ravenflow is based in Emeryville, CA; for more information, please visit www.ravenflow.com.

All products mentioned in the release are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ravenflow. All other trademarks, trade names, and/or product names are used solely for the purpose of identification and are the property of their respective owners.