Stop Juggling Spreadsheets! Manage Requirements with Altium 365 RSP

The complexity of electronics design has outpaced traditional methods for requirements management. From what we see, 30 to 50 percent of development teams still track requirements with spreadsheets or basic text documents, while others resort to adding notes directly onto designs or using task management tools like Jira. 

This fragmented approach–with requirements scattered across multiple systems and teams–creates significant risk as products become more sophisticated. Engineers find themselves toggling between spreadsheets, documents, and design files, struggling to accurately track requirements. 

The Hidden Costs of Scattered Requirements

When requirements live in multiple locations, problems multiply. Engineers report spending hours searching for current specifications, while project managers struggle to maintain version control. Design teams often proceed with outdated information, leading to rework that could be avoided.

The impact extends beyond wasted time. Without proper requirements tracking, design flaws often surface late in development and create extensive delays. In regulated industries, scattered requirements make compliance verification nearly impossible. Hardware and software teams working from different requirement sources can also find themselves building incompatible solutions. During audits, proving requirement implementation becomes a time-consuming challenge that involves piecing together documentation from various systems.

A New Approach to Requirements Management

The Requirements & Systems Portal (RSP) in Altium 365 represents a different way to handle requirements. Built on technology from Altium's acquisition of Valispace, RSP brings requirements management directly into Altium's electronics development ecosystem.

"Requirements are where you usually start a project–where you describe what you want to do, how you plan to build something, and what the project needs," explains Louise Lindblad, VP of Product for Systems Engineering at Altium, in the latest podcast. "That piece of the puzzle was somewhat missing in Altium 365 and Altium's products. That's why Valispace was brought in, to connect the requirements phase to the detailed design."

Connecting Requirements to Design

RSP goes far beyond simple requirements listing with its comprehensive requirements management capabilities. RSP makes requirements accessible through both the Altium 365 web interface and Altium Designer. Engineers can access requirements while working and can create direct links between requirements and specific design elements, while stakeholders can quickly locate where each requirement is implemented in the design. This connection eliminates the common problem of requirements becoming disconnected from the implementation.

"It's about having requirements readily available and directly connected to the design process, reducing miscommunication and ensuring accurate data sharing," explains Lindblad. This direct connection between requirements and design implementation helps teams catch potential issues before they become costly problems.

The system can automatically check certain design parameters against requirements–such as board layer count–and flag violations. For example, if a requirement specifies a maximum of seven layers for a board, RSP automatically checks the actual layer count in the design and alerts users to any violations. While automated verification helps catch issues early, engineers always maintain final control over the validation process.

The team plans to significantly expand these verification capabilities, including pulling net data and BOM properties. According to Gonçalo Ivo, Head of Product for RSP, "The long-term vision is to enable requirements to specify that all components on a board must operate within a specific temperature range, say minus 20 to plus 55 degrees. The goal is to pull that data directly from your components during the selection process."

Version control in RSP tracks every change, creating a clear audit trail throughout the project lifecycle. Teams can see who modified the requirements, when changes occurred, and why adjustments were made. This traceability helps prevent the common problem of working from outdated specifications and drives quality and compliance.

Team Visibility at Every Step

Real-time collaboration capabilities allow team members to comment on requirements directly within the platform, breaking down organizational silos. Instead of maintaining separate email chains or scheduling additional meetings to discuss specifications, conversations happen in context. Each comment links directly to the relevant requirement, creating a clear record of decisions and discussions.

Engineers have three key actions available while working with requirements. They can place requirements directly in the design, indicating exactly where implementation occurs. They can assign requirements as tasks to other team members, tracking both placement and task status. Additionally, engineers can contribute directly to requirement validation, updating the verification status from either the Altium Designer or Altium 365 environment. 

"From the system engineer's perspective, they no longer need to constantly check with the electronic engineer to ask: Is my requirement being fulfilled? Is it being considered or implemented?" explains Ivo. Instead of this ambiguity, with RSP, "every time an electronic engineer places a requirement, the system engineer–or other electronic engineers–can directly navigate to the specific location in the design where the requirement has been implemented."

AI-Powered Requirements Management

RSP includes ValiAssistant, an AI-powered tool with the potential to assist teams with developing and refining requirements. The tool excels at breaking down complex, high-level requirements into detailed specifications. The power of this AI assistance becomes clear when tackling complex projects. 

For example, take an autonomous drone with one-hour flight endurance–ValiAssistant can help engineers systematically decompose this high-level goal into specific technical requirements, accelerating a process that traditionally demands extensive engineering work. The main benefits include helping get started, breaking down the requirements properly, and ensuring there are no inconsistencies. And, with automatic validation, users don't have to manually check that each value is correct–they can set up automatic rules to verify requirements against design specifications.

Beyond decomposing requirements, ValiAssistant continuously analyzes specifications for clarity and consistency, suggesting improvements and identifying additional considerations based on system context. Yet, as Ivo emphasizes about the AI, "It's always just assistance. Ultimately, it's the engineers who make the final call."

Straightforward Implementation

Moving existing requirements into RSP doesn't require starting from scratch. The system offers straightforward import capabilities for Excel files, allowing teams to transition from spreadsheet-based systems quickly. "It's just a drag-and-drop process," explains Ivo. "You won't have to start from scratch–you just upload the file, link it to a block, and in minutes, you'll have everything set up with traceability."

Once requirements are in the system, RSP provides comprehensive visibility into requirement status and implementation. Changes automatically propagate throughout the project, ensuring all team members work with current information. The system enables task assignment and tracking, allowing teams to manage requirement implementation effectively.

Engineering Focus Returns to Innovation

When requirements management becomes integrated into the entire development workflow and partly automated, engineers can direct their expertise toward solving complex design challenges rather than managing documentation. Teams that previously spent hours validating specifications across multiple systems can now focus on pushing technical boundaries and creating innovative solutions.

"Engineers will have more time to focus on what they were hired to do: actual engineering, rather than hunting for requirements in documents," explains Lindblad. This shift enables a more innovative approach to design. Teams can confidently experiment with changes, knowing they can instantly see the impact across their entire project. As Lindblad notes, "This ultimately allows your organization to be more innovative because there's more time for experimentation and improvement."

Interested in AI-powered requirements management and systems engineering? Discover Altium 365 RSP today!