Atria ClearTrack(TM) Change Request Management System


Product Overview

ClearTrack is Atria's customizable change request management (CRM) system that tracks defects and enhancement requests throughout the entire software lifecycle. It is a highly customizable client/server product that includes a turnkey change request management application and embedded database so that all users within a software engineering team can quickly start submitting, tracking and managing change requests.

Change requests, which include both defects and enhancement requests, impact all groups within a software engineering team. ClearTrack controls the migration of change requests through the entire software lifecycle, and is designed for deployment and use by all members of a software engineering team, including:

With ClearTrack, everyone in the software engineering organization can easily access and act on the same lifecycle information, improving the team's overall performance.

ClearTrack can be used both as a standalone system and in conjunction with Atria's ClearCase, a leading Software Configuration Management (SCM) product for team-based development. Change Management is the integrated combination of SCM and CRM. ClearCase and ClearTrack used together provide an effective and comprehensive single-vendor Change Management solution to fully control the entire software development and maintenance process.

ClearTrack is based on technology acquired from Silicon Graphics, Inc. Atria Software owns full rights to this technology and has added significant enhancements to effectively address change request management needs in software development and maintenance environments.

Product Functionality (return to top)

An effective change request management system needs to provide the following capabilities:

ClearTrack addresses these needs by including a fully featured, turnkey change request management application for quick implementation, plus the ability to extensively customize this application or create a new change request application for specialized requirements and processes. An embedded, scalable database is included for reliability, and conversion examples are also included to simplify the migration of data from existing defect-tracking applications to ClearTrack.

Turnkey Application (return to top)

ClearTrack includes a fully defined turnkey application that allows customers to implement and deploy change request management quickly, with little or no modification. The key functionality provided by the turnkey application includes:

All these capabilities can be tailored for specific software engineering team requirements.

Pre-Defined States and Transitions (return to top)

ClearTrack controls the migration of a change request through its lifecycle. It provides a pre-defined collection of change request states (for example, "Assigned" or "Resolved"), and the transitions that are allowed as a change requests moves from one state to another. Actions (for example, email notification) and rules that govern the lifecycle are also provided.

The following diagram shows a portion of the change request lifecycle provided with ClearTrack.

Here is an example of how a change request can move through the lifecycle:

A change request is submitted and then automatically or manually assigned to an owner. Email can be triggered to notify the owner that a change request has been assigned. The owner then decides is this request has been previously submitted (duplicate) or is not a valid request (rejected). If accepted, the request is scheduled for work by the owner, who fixes the change request. The request then transitions to the resolved state.

Queries and Reports (return to top)

Querying and report generation are two critical areas for an effective change request management system. A set of pre-defined queries and reports are provided with ClearTrack to assist in quick implementation. ClearTrack also supports intuitive "query by form", where queries can be entered by selecting fields shown in the graphical user interface, instead of typing long lists of cryptic query commands. User-defined queries can be saved and re-used. Query results can also be sorted by the user's search criteria, presenting the results in the exact format desired.

The pre-defined reports give users a headstart on gathering project metrics. Change request information can easily be grouped, and summary information such as subtotals and totals can be included in ClearTrack reports, giving users the exact information they need. These reports contain both textual and graphical information, and can be previewed onscreen to ensure accuracy before printing.

Report templates are also provided for users to create their own reports and formats. The templates give users an easy and straightforward way to customize data gathering and reporting for specific requirements and formats. Shell scripts can also be used to generate reports in batch mode.

Intuitive Graphical User Interface (return to top)

ClearTrack is designed for both occasional, novice users and frequent, experienced users. ClearTrack provides an intuitive and flexible GUI to ensure that all users can begin to enter, access and utilize their change request information quickly and easily.

The main change request query screen has:

Popup menus are provided that contain values for specific fields to ensure entries are valid. Extensive on-line help is included, and complete documentation on the turnkey application as well as customization and administration procedures is provided.

Integration with ClearCase (return to top)

The turnkey application includes a tight integration with ClearCase. The integration is an effective process control mechanism to ensure users have accurate information about what is changing or has changed with their software and why.

The key features that the integration adds are:

ClearCase and ClearTrack together provide an extremely effective Change Management solution for team-based software development and maintenance from a single vendor.

Email Submission (return to top)

ClearTrack allows users to submit change requests to the database via email, providing greater flexibililty for remote access. Email access also permits other important applications such as call tracking and software testing to automatically integrate their output into ClearTrack. For example, customer support engineers using a call tracking product can enter change requests once through their call tracking product and the ClearTrack database will automatically be updated, improving the support engineers' productivity.

Attachments (return to top)

Attachments to change requests, including sample output, core dumps, and bit maps can be included to provide more detailed information.

Highly Customizable (return to top)

One of the key strengths of ClearTrack is that it can be extensively tuned to meet the specific needs of an organization. Users can tailor reports, queries, and the ClearCase integration to obtain the specific information they need. ClearTrack includes a Process Description Language to customize all aspects of the change request lifecycle (states, transitions, actions and rules), fields in the embedded database and user interface layout to reflect an organization's requirements.

Complete customization information is included with the standard ClearTrack documentation. Atria also offers consulting services to assist in customizing ClearTrack to the organization's development process.

Embedded, Scalable Database (return to top)

ClearTrack includes an embedded, transaction-oriented database to ensure high performance for change request management. ClearTrack's database is designed to support increasing amounts of data and growing numbers of users.

Conversion Examples (return to top)

ClearTrack includes examples to help customers currently using other defect-tracking tools to effectively convert their data to ClearTrack.

System Requirements (return to top)

ClearTrack 1.0 is supported on the following platforms:

Client systems: 16-32 MB RAM, 400 MB disk

Server systems: 64-128 MB RAM, 2 GB disk

Integration with ClearCase: ClearCase 2.1 or later is recommended.

Pricing and Licensing (return to top)

ClearTrack is available as a bundled solution with ClearCase, or as a standalone change request management system.

ClearTrack is licensed on a per-user basis. ClearTrack licenses start at $795 US list. ClearCase/ClearTrack bundle licenses start at $4595 US list. Quantity discounts and maintenance are available.

Availability (return to top)

ClearTrack will be available in the first quarter of 1996.

For More Information (return to top)

For more information on ClearTrack, please contact your local Atria Software Sales Executive, or contact Atria Software at (617) 676-2400; fax (617) 676-2410; e-mail info@atria.com. Or fill out this form.
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