Focal Point-CLM integration: how to find the properties you want

Previous posts looked at how to define REST view commands to integrate Rational Focal Point and the Collaborative Lifecycle Management applications. It’s pretty straightforward, if you can find the properties you want. Sometimes, you may not be sure what properties or data is actually available, or may want a particular property but can’t find it in the artifact’s template XML. In those cases, it’s helpful to use an interactive REST client to explore the artifact’s representation and discover its properties and associated resources (which often contain properties of their own that are of interest for the integration).

In the first video, we see how to use a REST client to query an RTC work item’s representation, and then to drill down into specific aspects of that representation, namely the resources associated with the work item. In the second, we see how to apply the knowledge of those underlying resources and properties when defining REST view commands.

Video 1: using the REST client to explore RTC artifacts

Video 2: defining REST view commands to access artifact resources and properties

My parting words on this: be curious, and give it a try.  If something in the artifact properties looks interesting, or you don’t know what it is, query it and find out. Set up a playground environment so you can try exchanging values between different artifact properties, and see what happens. I discovered quite a bit through simple trial and error.

Happy integrating!

Another FP-CLM REST view example

In the last post, we looked at defining a REST SYNCHRONIZE command to get work item properties from Rational Team Concert and update attributes in Focal Point. I figured we should probably take a look at the Requirements Management side of things also, so this time, the video shows how to define a REST PUT command to push values from Focal Point into artifact properties in the RM application of Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM).

My environment is still using Rational Requirements Composer 4.0.4; I believe CLM is up to 5.0.1 now, and the RM application is now called Rational DOORS Next Generation. However, the basic REST APIs should work the same. I’ll just refer to “RM” to be inclusive.

In the video, you’ll see how RM assigns random string identifiers to properties, and how to work around that. You’ll also see some troubleshooting. Otherwise, the process is really very similar to that for RTC and for the other types of REST commands.

Enjoy!

(tip: set the video settings to 720pHD for better resolution)

Defining REST view commands for Focal Point -CLM integration

Yes, I’m finally getting to the details of how you implement the integration between Rational Focal Point (FP) and Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM)!

In the video below, I show how define a REST view command in Focal Point to extract data from a Rational Team Concert work item artifact and update fields in a FP artifact (REST SYNCHRONIZE). The steps for defining a REST PUT (to push values from FP to RTC) aren’t shown, but are very similar.

(tip: set the viewing resolution to 720pHD for better resolution)

Before defining REST view commands, you do require some basic configurations, which are documented in the FP online help (and maybe another post). The video also shows a pretty simple use case, where you are accessing plain-jane attributes in RTC, like text strings or dates. In yet another video, I’ll show how you can access “special” values for the work item, such as other associated resources and enumeration values.

The same steps also work for Rational DOORS Next Generation (RDNG, or Rational Requirement Composer in previous incarnations). That said, RDNG is a bit tougher, since any custom attributes you define are given a random string identifier, which makes it difficult for YOU to identify them in the Attribute Mapping window. To overcome this, assign unique values to those attributes in RDNG proper so you can recognize them when you do the mapping.

FP-CLM integration – where do you start?

There are a number of things to consider when integrating Rational Focal Point (FP) and the Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM) offering (meaning primarily Rational Team Concert (RTC) and Rational DOORS Next Generation (RDNG)).

The technical implementation is one part (which I will get to in another post, honest). But before you start implementing, you need a plan of WHAT to implement. Unfortunately there’s no magic out-of-the-box setup, since there is much variability in FP and CLM configurations to support diverse organizational processes. So you need to analyze your processes, how you use the tools (at a high level), and what are the appropriate intersections – the usage scenarios and the data required.  Consider:

• your goals – what organizational improvements do you want to achieve?
• the user goals – for a given role or team, what should the integration enable them to do or learn?
• the data – what information is needed? how is the data used to accomplish the goal?

Here’s an example of how we defined some of the integration scenarios for the Governance of Application Development Outsourcing. The main goal was to increase success in supplier delivery by ensuring timely delivery of applications that meet business needs.

The JKE company used FP to identify, prioritize, and plan application content, and adopted CLM for their Supplier to manage the implementation, with JKE access to those tools. They wanted to communicate the content (Features) to the supplier for elaboration and confirmation of JKE sizings, and for implementation. And JKE wanted to ensure everyone agreed on what was being delivered (even if it changed), and to have a better idea of when to expect it based on realistic sizings and insight into implementation progress.

We decided to create artifacts in RDNG based on the FP Features, for elaboration. We also decided to have the Supplier estimate cost and effort for the artifact (which meant custom attributes), that would be reflected back to FP for planning purposes.

We also decided to create top-level work items in RTC for each Feature. We wanted to set the priority and business value based on the FP Feature. We also wanted to get data back on progress and test coverage.

These are just two examples of the scenarios we established; there were a few others as well. We refined our goals by exploring and experimenting with existing FP workspaces and CLM process configurations to get an idea of what was even possible. There were instances where the data we wanted was not readily available, or we needed extra steps or attributes. So the planning and implementation end up being somewhat iterative.

But you do need to focus on the primary goals for the integration, and possibly find alternative ways to get the data you need.  You’ll see some examples of this in later posts.

Why integrate Rational Focal Point and Rational CLM?

Following up on my previous post… Here are some examples of why or how you might use the integration between Rational Focal Point and Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM) to improve the collaboration between and effectiveness of your business and IT organizations.

Remember that you can create links between artifacts in Focal Point and CLM applications, as well as create and link new artifacts based on existing ones.

For example, you might link an approved project in Focal Point to the Release Plan in Rational Team Concert (RTC) that tracks its execution.  You might define desired content (features, epics, service requests…) in Focal Point, and then generate artifacts in Rational DOORS Next Generation (RDNG) for more detailed elaboration. You might also generate work items in RTC from that content for implementation.

You can view information about linked artifacts from the original artifact in its own repository. For example, a business user in Focal Point might hover over a linked RTC work item to see its current details and status; an RDNG or RTC user might hover over a Focal Point link to understand the business drivers behind the content request.

You can also exchange data between artifact attributes; for example, a business user could set the business priority for an RTC work item from the priority assigned in Focal Point.

If you already viewed my youtube video, you saw some examples of these integrations. If not, check it out! 🙂  I’ll be posting again with more details on how to implement the integration.

Integrating Business and IT with Rational Focal Point and CLM

Did you know… that business decision-makers can get insight into the execution of IT initiatives they’ve approved for investment? And see progress against requests and projects to help inform future decisions?  And collaborate with the execution team as implementation progresses?  And give the execution team more insight into the business too?

Rational Focal Point supports portfolio management capabilities to identify, evaluate, and select investment initiatives.  Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM) provides an integrated, collaborative environment for cross-discipline execution of IT initiatives.  And these offerings integrate to support the statements above.

Multiple integration scenarios are possible, depending on how a particular organization works and its processes – whether waterfall, agile, scaled agile, or other. The integration builds on OSLC principles of linked data, establishing relationships between artifacts in Focal Point and those in CLM, whether they already exist or are created through the linking process.

Why should you care? Many IBM customers and internal teams are already using this integration to Increase collaboration, communication, traceability, and insight.  A few benefits:

1. Business team has greater and more timely insight into execution of their initiatives, enabling greater business agility.
2. Execution team better understands what the business really needs, and can collaborate on ongoing basis to address any changes.
3. By also leveraging links within CLM, you can establish a traceability chain from the business request right through to test, ensuring shared understanding throughout the process to ensure what is delivered meets the business needs.

This youtube video explores one end-to-end scenario leveraging the integrations.  In future blog posts, I’ll give more technical details on the integrations and how to implement them.