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Software Engineer at Kacst
Real User
Easy to use after deployment and highly stable solution
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a stable solution."
  • "The images are not clear. We have to use them as OLE objects. And in the testing part, I'm not sure how to link it with it. This is my main concern."

What is our primary use case?

We want to use it for requirement management.

What needs improvement?

The images are not clear. We have to use them as OLE objects. And in the testing part, I'm not sure how to link it with it. This is my main concern.

In future releases, I would like to see importing features. Like can we link it to PLM? And can we link it with Windchill? I found some difficulties when I imported to DOORS. It's easy to explore, but when I import, sometimes it lags, and sometimes the numbering is weird.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for six months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. 

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September 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. We have about 15 end users. We are planning to increase the usage and procure more licenses. 

How are customer service and support?

The customer service and support are good. There is room for improvement in speed of response. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The setup was not easy.

What about the implementation team?

Our IT team handled the deployment. It took them one and a half months. But we have only one working license for now. 

The product is easy to use after we deploy it. We took a training call on it. So I think now it's clear for most of them, but maybe not indeed, but it's enough for users to start working.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is quite high. We didn't pay for additional support. We didn't need it. They helped us without any cost in the installation part. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have PTC Windchill. But we need an extra license. Moreover, I want to know the difference between them because some people have knowledge of DOORS, and some people have knowledge of Windchill. And we need to decide which one we buy more licenses for and go with.

We are satisfied with IBM Rational DOORS, but since we have another choice, which is Windchill, we are not sure if we should go with DOORS now or we go with Windchill.

What other advice do I have?

Just to start working on it because I think it will simplify life.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Korhan Candan - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a aerospace/defense firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
User-friendly, easily traces all requirements, and includes a wide range of add-ons
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of this solution is traceability. We can track every requirement, including what the stakeholder must do and component-level requirements."
  • "Both the performance and the price could be improved."

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is traceability.  We can trace every requirement, including what the stakeholder must do and component-level requirements. We can trace them easily, which is very beneficial.

It is easy to use. You can use it easily. 

It is similar to an improved Excel spreadsheet. It is also simple to use for a newly graduated engineer.

What needs improvement?

I am not sure if this is due to our infrastructure, but the server is a little slow. Perhaps this is due to our computers or connections. My issue is that it's slow.

I am not sure if the solution is on IBM's or our company's side.

Both the performance and the price could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have worked with IBM Rational DOORS for one and a half years.

We are using version 9.7.

The latest version is next generation and we don't use it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

IBM Rational DOORS is very stable.

I would rate the stability of IBM Rational DOORS a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

IBM Rational DOORS is very easy to scale.

It makes no difference to us whether you have 20 or 2,000 requirements. IBM Rational DOORS makes it simple to manage them.

We have about 35 licenses, but there are many more users. They are all float licensees. 

IBM DOORS is used by approximately 60 people.

How are customer service and support?

I have not had any contact with technical support. 

If we have an issue, our IT department is in charge of contacting technical support.

Since last year, I have had no problems.

How was the initial setup?

I don't know because our IT department sets up the program.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is very expensive.

With five being the most expensive, I would rate it a five out of five. 

I am not sure why it is so expensive, but one license will cost approximately $15,000 in US dollars.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I worked on-site with Atlassian Jira, and Jira add-on requirements. In my opinion, it is nearly the same solution, but I have no experience with it. I only know that it is also used for account management, but I have no prior experience.

What other advice do I have?

They have a lot of add-ons. I believe they are now on the Cloud; you can use them on the Cloud or on a web browser. I would recommend that version to our company, but I have no suggestions for IBM to include this program.

I just evaluated it for our needs, and it completely meets them. I consider the technical aspects rather than the price.

If I consider the technical aspects alone, I would rate it a ten out of ten. Pricing would be a six or seven out of ten.

I would rate IBM Rational DOORS a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IBM DOORS
September 2025
Learn what your peers think about IBM DOORS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Lead Modeling & Simulation Engineer at Mitre
Real User
Good exporting functions, proven scalability, but technical support needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "I like being able to sort and categorize the requirements and the exporting functions."
  • "I think there is probably room to improve by offering free training."

What is our primary use case?

There are numerous projects that we are using with IBM Rational DOORS. They are isolated from each other and then we receive requirements from outside sources, load them into DOORS, and use them to do traceability into architectures developed in MagicDraw.

How has it helped my organization?

It has improved our ability to do traceability back to our initial requirements. The traceability allows us to be able to rapidly advise our sponsors.

What is most valuable?

I like being able to sort and categorize the requirements and the exporting functions.

What needs improvement?

I would recommend that fuzzy logic be added to the search capabilities. I think there is probably room to improve by offering free training.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM Rational DOORS for the past ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

IBM Rational DOORS is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I think overall it is scalable and has measured up to everything we have tested it with.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate technical support a six on a scale of one to ten. I have tried to contact them twice and never heard anything back.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

My initial setup and integration were more complex than I was expecting.

What about the implementation team?

I believe they did the deployment in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I would tell them to be very cautious about how they initially import their requirements into the product because that initial import seems to carry more weight and effect than I would have anticipated.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate IBM Rational DOORS a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Aman Singla - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
User-friendly and easy to set up but can lag at times
Pros and Cons
  • "The data logs are ver conveneint."
  • "They need to provide users with information on what options would be best for their setup."

What is our primary use case?

We capture the requirements of the clients and gain acceptance. We can also review the requirements and adjust further developments as necessary. 

What is most valuable?

The data logs are ver conveneint. 

The setup is very easy.

It is user-friendly. 

What needs improvement?

The speed lags based on the server and the remote connection.

They need to provide users with information on what options would be best for their setup. 

The export of the requirements does not allow me to see the linking of the requirements. I'd like to see some sort of visualization or flow chart so we would have an overview from a system perspective.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for four years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can request licenses if you need more access from more users. 

How are customer service and support?

I've never contacted technical support. The setup is done, and we have cleared the requirements. We've never had any technical difficulties that needed us to reach out.

How was the initial setup?

You can create a whole server inside the project. It's easy to set up. 

I wasn't directly involved with the deployment and do not know how long it takes. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You do have to pay for a license per person. 

It is worth the money given the market options. There's good compatibility between you and your clients that makes it valuable. 

What other advice do I have?

We are a customer and end-user. 

We have a server-based deployment. 

The solution has some of the most advanced features on offer, which is why we chose the solution.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It can meet the needs of any developer. However, it does lag a bit. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Systems Engeriner/Owner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Highly scalable, useful testing, and user-friendly interface
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of IBM Rational DOORS is the full requirements development and testing."
  • "It would be helpful if Microsoft provided a more user-friendly interface for updating and querying updates. Additionally, if there was a way for users to notify developers of any changes in requirements, it would allow for faster and more efficient updates to the solution's architecture. This could be in the form of a notification system that alerts developers of any changes that need to be made. Additionally, the solution is document-driven and it should be more digital."

What is our primary use case?

IBM Rational DOORS is used as a requirements management tool. It enables you to do full requirements development and testing.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of IBM Rational DOORS is the full requirements development and testing.

What needs improvement?

It would be helpful if Microsoft provided a more user-friendly interface for updating and querying updates. Additionally, if there was a way for users to notify developers of any changes in requirements, it would allow for faster and more efficient updates to the solution's architecture. This could be in the form of a notification system that alerts developers of any changes that need to be made. Additionally, the solution is document-driven and it should be more digital.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used IBM Rational DOORS for approximately 20 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the stability of IBM Rational DOORS a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have two people in the company that uses the solution.

We do not have plans to increase usage. We are moving towards a more digital environment where we are using SysML and UML to write requirements instead of text-based messages. IBM Rational DOORS should have the capability to model these requirements, but currently, the add-on they have is not effective.

While a large number of requirements may be present, managing them effectively is a separate challenge. There are various tools available for managing requirements, such as IBM Rational DOORS, but they may not always be sufficient. Effective requirements management is crucial in this field.

The field of engineering is evolving, moving away from traditional methods of management, such as using tools, such as  IBM Rational DOORS to organize and allocate textual requirements. The 2018 DOD strategy for digital engineering highlights this shift towards utilizing models rather than documents in the digital environment. However, many people are still stuck in the old ways and unaware of this change. It is important to keep in mind that the new way of doing things also involves developing architectures using the modeled requirements.

I rate the scalability of IBM Rational DOORS a ten out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

I rate the support of IBM Rational DOORS a ten out of ten.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used Excel spreadsheets prior to using IBM Rational DOORS.

What was our ROI?

The return on investment in system engineering is difficult to quantify as it primarily involves writing clear and comprehensive requirements. While a team may be dedicated to this task, measuring the return on investment can be challenging.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

IBM Rational DOORS is highly expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate IBM Rational DOORS a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Technical Sales Specialist at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
When you install it locally, you have the flexibility to do what you want
Pros and Cons
  • "When you install DOORS locally, you have the flexibility to do what you want with the solution. You can add functionality and do many things that you can't do with other tools or do well enough to satisfy your users' requirements."
  • "The web application DOORS Web Access doesn't have the same functionality as the standard client, so it's not a real substitute. For example, web Access only provides writing requirements, but you can't do much more with it."

What is our primary use case?

I use DOORS to support my customers, who are heavy users of the tool. I try to figure out what's wrong whenever they have some issues. For example, if they need some help, I use the tool to recreate my customers' environments and work with it to find solutions for them. About 10 people in my company do the same thing as me.

What is most valuable?

When you install DOORS locally, you have the flexibility to do what you want with the solution. You can add functionality and do many things that you can't do with other tools or do well enough to satisfy your users' requirements. For example, you can save linked versions when you do baselines, and then I can handle linked changes between different baselines. You can't do this with other tools, or it's hard to do.

What needs improvement?

The web application DOORS Web Access doesn't have the same functionality as the standard client, so it's not a real substitute. For example, web Access only provides writing requirements, but you can't do much more with it. If you want to change multiple attributes or something like that, it's better to use the standard client. I would also like to see some improvements in the reporting.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Rational DOORS off and on since 2001.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

DOORS is stable. I have seldom have problems with it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

DOORS is a file-based data storage system, so it isn't that useful for large user communities. If they want to work with the standard client, it is crucial to have a solid connection between the client and the database software because there's a lot of communication back and forth, so the scalability is not so great. Some of my customers have installations with upwards of 100 clients. 

How are customer service and support?

IBM support for DOORS is helpful and quick. You get a real solution in a short time most of the time.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up DOORS is easy, and I can handle it by myself. The initial installation takes around an hour, but the total deployment depends on your environment. However, you can handle it with a remote install, and installing the client itself takes only a few minutes. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate IBM Rational DOORS eight out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1734621 - PeerSpot reviewer
ARP4754 Structured Development & Process Assurance at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Reliable, easy to use, but could be more model-based
Pros and Cons
  • "What I like about DOORS is baselines, it's easy and I use the capability of multiple users. The traceability or links between different levels are very nice. Additionally, it is used by all of our suppliers, which brings us commonality."
  • "One of the things that many people complain about is it's hard to manage attributes. For example, tables or figures. This is something that can be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I am using IBM Rational DOORS for managing engineering requirements.

How has it helped my organization?

IBM Rational DOORS has helped our organization because of the sense of configuration baseline. That is key for us. With it, we can create and freeze baselines, put them on the configuration control,  and then use it as evidence. 

What is most valuable?

What I like about DOORS is baselines, it's easy and I use the capability of multiple users. The traceability or links between different levels are very nice. Additionally, it is used by all of our suppliers, which brings us commonality.

What needs improvement?

One of the things that many people complain about is it's hard to manage attributes. For example, tables or figures. This is something that can be improved. 

The most important improvement for me right that is needed is based on textual structure type, which has been good, but there are new trends and more model-based are required. For that, it's outdated, it does not work well. It's outdated when it comes to model-based requirements

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM Rational DOORS for approximately four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the solution is good. However, you can access the database remotely and when you have too many users, you see the performance reduces. I don't know what the exact threshold is to where the point that it starts affecting the efficiency. I know when there are too many people accessing the database simultaneously, it can get slow.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good in the sense you are allowed to have many users, but performance-wise it will decrease if you have too many. However, it can scale in different ways for certain other requirements, it is very good. I have no issues. It's easy to manage.

We have hundreds of people using this solution, mostly in the engineering department.

This solution is being extensively being used in organizations.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used technical support because whenever we have issues, we raise a ticket and the ticket is managed by our IT. If they need any higher-level solution they will contact the IBM Rational DOORS team.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are using Siemens Teamcenter for the same usage as IBM Rational DOORS, but for different databases, they are not interconnected.

What about the implementation team?

We have an IT department that does the implementation and all the maintenance of the solution.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others that want to use IBM Rational DOORS is you need to know what is the usage you want to give the solution. If any company wants to do something more mode-based oriented, I would not use IBM Rational DOORS. However, if you have a more textual requirement, IBM Rational DOORS is a good solution.

I rate IBM Rational DOORS a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Lead Modeling & Simulation Engineer at Mitre
Real User
Pretty straightforward and great for tracking changes but technical support is slow
Pros and Cons
  • "Starting to use the solution is pretty straightforward. There isn't too much of a learning curve."
  • "There needs to be quicker access to tech support. When I have a two minute question that takes two minutes to answer, it shouldn't take me 45 minutes and/or a few days of callbacks to get to the right technical support person. It's unnecessary and frustrating for the user."

What is our primary use case?

We had a large number of requirements coming in as a federal contractor and we put them in DOORS. We did exports from that to map those requirements to what we were doing and the architecture that we were building. We did that in MagicDraw, which we attempted to integrate with DOORS.

What is most valuable?

Being able to track changes to requirements and being able to export is the solution's most valuable aspect.

Starting to use the solution is pretty straightforward. There isn't too much of a learning curve.

What needs improvement?

I found the user interface to be unintuitive. It's something they need to work on. I wouldn't say it is bad, per se. It is just like learning to write cursive.

I would push for more extensive integration with other tools since, for example, I needed it to integrate with MagicDraw. Building in that type of integration and other such integrations would be helpful for our purposes.

There could be a better structure around onboarding to get people started. It was unintuitive as to how to get started. It needs to be clear as to what the first things a user has to do in order to get going. 

There needs to be quicker access to tech support. When I have a two-minute question that takes two minutes to answer, it shouldn't take me 45 minutes and/or a few days of callbacks to get to the right technical support person. It's unnecessary and frustrating for the user.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about two and a half years so far.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I don't recall any issues with stability, at least no more issues than anything else has. It's not buggy and doesn't suffer from glitches. I can't recall it crashing or freezing. It's pretty reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution seems pretty scalable, from what I have seen.

In our organization, we have about 25 people on the solution currently. We've extended slightly. I believe we have at least 50 licenses out there that can be used.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is okay. I would say it took a long time to get to the right person. That said, when I get to the right person, I found they were helpful. Overall, I'd say that their support could be faster and more responsive. They tend to be slow to react and hard to reach.

How was the initial setup?

From my point of view, I didn't do the initial setup. However, from the moment I started using it, I found it to be straightforward. 

I'm not sure how long deployment takes.

What about the implementation team?

I was not aware of anybody outside the organization coming in to handle the implementation, however, that doesn't mean that someone on the IT side didn't have that. I'm unsure if we had outside help.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't have much information about pricing. I do know that our organization bought more licenses than we need, however, so we can easily add more people to the solution when we need to.

What other advice do I have?

Although I cannot say with certainty, I do not believe my company has a business relationship with IBM.

I do not know which version of the solution we are currently using.

I would recommend the solution to other organizations.

Overall, I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. While it's largely helpful, there are just a few things, like unresponsive technical support and difficulty with the general learning curve, which could make it more user-friendly.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM DOORS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM DOORS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.