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Powerful but Clunky
October 16, 2020

Powerful but Clunky

Kathy Ding | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Rational DOORS

We use DOORS as a requirements repository for the product and software. We use it to track, edit, and trace requirements coverage. It's used all across the business group I'm a part of amongst many roles. It is robust and large enough for all of our products both current and legacy.
  • Stores requirements
  • Compatible with HP ALM
  • Filters well and is customizable
  • Terrible UI and not intuitive
  • Too slow to connect to, launch and run
  • Scripts to use the features are way too complicated to write and maintain.
  • Wastes time to get access, connect.
  • Many other tools are faster and easier to use.
DOORS is not a suite nor an integrated tool like HP ALM or Rally. It only does one thing and cannot hold defects or accommodate sprint planning. It is older, takes longer to connect and load, and has an inconvenient timeout. It does do a basic job and can be customized to show a clear picture of requirements coverage but it takes some training to use.
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.
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.

Do you think IBM Rational DOORS delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with IBM Rational DOORS's feature set?

Yes

Did IBM Rational DOORS live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of IBM Rational DOORS go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy IBM Rational DOORS again?

No

Jira Software, Rally Software (formerly CA Agile Central)
It is quite powerful and robust as a tool for all of our requirements. It is also compatible with HP ALM, our formal test management tool so that we are able to export comprehensive trace matrices for reporting purposes. However, it is a clunky, difficult, and extremely slow tool that is not well adapted to agile software development.