Even before the COVID-19 pandemic made remote working a necessity, managing major infrastructure projects involving hundreds of personnel working across multiple teams, disciplines and organisations represented a significant logistical challenge.

While social distancing restrictions may have changed where we work, thankfully through the use of agile, cloud-based platforms, the way we work has remained virtually unchanged.

Supported by Acmena’s expertise in requirements management, IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS Next has proved to be a critical factor in enabling teams to maintain momentum during the COVID-19 crisis on major projects such as the Transport for New South Wales Digital Systems Program and Cross River Rail in Queensland.

Facilitating better visibility, communication and collaboration across project stakeholders through real-time, multi-user editing, DOORS Next has enabled our various partnerships to manage the transition to a work-from-home model smoothly and efficiently. It has also been critical in allowing Acmena’s staff to continue to collaborate effectively with stakeholders and deliver key systems engineering, assurance and human factors support while working remotely.

According to Ricky Clayton, Systems Engineering Manager and Requirements Lead for Cross River Rail, DOORS Next has been vital in maintaining productivity and ensuring that teams working across the $5.4b project keep pulling in the same direction.

“We have a large team working across multiple organisations, who are now working from various locations around Australia due to the travel restrictions and social distancing,” said Ricky. “The collaborative cloud-based environment provided by DOORS Next has enabled the team to seamlessly transition to remote working while ensuring it is still possible to capture compliance evidence to support design reviews without the reliance on face-to-face discussions.

The configurable features of DOORS Next allow items such as review comments, status and sign-off of requirements to be managed in a fully auditable manner, without the need for physical signatures.”

As Australia moves closer to lifting restrictions and returning to work, DOORS Next will be a key component in facilitating a seamless transition back to a conventional working environment.

Contact us to find out how Acmena and IBM DOORS Next can help deliver your project faster and with greater certainty.