Global Configuration application: User Interface usability

Context: Many ELM deployments include global configuration usage. Usual programmes contain a very large number of RM and QM components and streams and possibly even more of GC components and streams. However, the GC application (1) when focusing on the GC configuration structure does not provide a rich and easy way of borwing across all the different data and (2) does not provide a deeper view of the underlying engineering content.

Problem: GC user interface is not fit for actual usage, neither for pure GC management nor for tracing seamlessly to engineering artefacts.

Impact: Navigation is inefficient, user adoption is reduced, engineers spend additional time locating the correct artifacts and baselines. As a result, one of the key strengths of IBM ELM—the ability to manage and navigate engineering data consistently across tools through Global Configuration—is not fully leveraged, limiting the value of end-to-end lifecycle integration and traceability.

Goal of the Idea: Enrich the GC interface so that it fits to actual usage.

Why is it Useful?:

• Improves user experience and productivity.
• Helps users quickly access relevant engineering artifacts.
• To leverage the use of GC to a satisfactory level.

How Should it Work?:

• Propose a rich tree view (with collapse / expand features) including all possible content type from GC components as top level down to RM modules, QM test plan as lower level.
• display attributes and links as columns
• propose filtering and views capabilities, possibly based upon queries.
• give users the ability to select an element of the tree view to be opened directly (e.g. a GC, RM or QM component stream but also an RM or QM stream, or an RM module or a QM test plan)