IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is an end-to-end engineering solution used to manage system requirements to design, workflow, and test management, extending the functionality of ALM tools for better complex-systems development.
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iRise (discontinued)
Score 6.0 out of 10
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iRise was a wireframe and prototyping tool with requirements management capabilities and ALM tool integrations. The product was discontinued in 2024, and is no longer available.
The software is robust enough to handle highly complex software development or other product development and can be used well beyond the range to do what a client needs. However, because of the inability to hold its users to proper best practices, things can get wildly out of hand and cascade over the years, creating unnecessary technical debt. The system has a lot of usable features, but they don't funnel users toward the correct processes and practices.
I can keep up with our UX/UI designer using iRise, and he's on a Mac and loves the Sketch, inVision software. I often trump him, by having all the direct customer feedback in place. This also works well with Pragmatic Marketing's approach to software. Requirements can be coded in line with Pragmatic's Strategy to Tactical framework. Love this software!
Recently my client has to have hovers as an enhancement to the current app. I used irise to show them how it would look in the future and they didn't like it. Finally because of the irise wireframe they decided not to have the hover - which was good before it was too late.
Client wanted a new interface to import Excel docs into the interface. I used irise to prototype the whole functionality.
I feel like it is too heavy sometimes and updating is not very straight forward. For example, if I want to change an incident ticket (IN) to a service request (SR) and add some comment for the change, I have to first change the IN to SR, then click refresh which takes a few seconds, then add a comment. If I forget the refresh step, my comment will be discarded without warning like my ticket is not in the latest status. This also happens when somebody else changes the ticket during my edit as I can not lock the ticket exclusively.
When working on a complex page that has multiple sections with multiple views of each sections, it gets difficult to navigate to the section you want. It would be easier if there was a search functionality for searching the sections or components within the page.
Drag and drop controls to have more properties. e.g. for a button. It would be easier if the properties included BorderStyle, BorderWidth, Color, BackColor etc. Currently, these options are not available on the properties and we have to use the formatting tool bar.
At the moment we are required by contract to continue to use the IBM DOORS software for our current client. Given that it can be expensive, if we were to use it after our current client's needs were met, we would have to secure other projects in order to justify the continued use of the software.
This platform solves the problem that enterprise software sales teams encounter, and iRise cuts to the chase. Sales people often say "do your magic thing with the prototype" and the customer gives immediate feedback, we change it on the fly
The UI is terrible and not intuitive. Users need training in order to complete tasks. Much like SAP, it's not the clearest tool. The tracing feature is especially complicated because you must write the scripts yourself. There is a learning curve. Also, even the setup, installation, and logging in each time takes a considerable amount of time.
It does a basic job and has the potential to complete some robust reporting tasks, however, it really is a clunky piece of software with a terrible user interface that makes using it routinely quite unpleasant. Many of our legacy and maintenance projects still use DOORS but our department and company use many alternatives and are looking for better tools.
It was easier to do all the change management-related activities, even configurations were handled very effectively. New process definitions and initiatives made it easier for better project deliverables. Effective resource allocations and better reporting and defect management. The overall cost of the tool is great too and well within budget.
We have used iRise instead of tools like Word, Excel, Visio, and other diagram tools found online. iRise is good because I think it captures the good parts of all these packages into one. I am able to easily create diagrams and mockups in one software package instead of cobbling together a bunch of other solutions.
It's part of CLM suite so it can be used to manage the whole lifecycle with tight integration with development module (Rational Team Concert) and quality module (Rational Quality Manager).
Comprehensive reports and dashboards provide better visibility.
