Customizing Weight Boundaries
You can customize how ALM uses the values assigned to risk-based quality management criteria to determine the Business Criticality, Failure Probability, and Functional Complexity for a requirement.

For each requirement, ALM calculates the total of the weights (TW) of the values assigned to each of the Business Criticality criteria. ALM then uses this total to categorize the Business Criticality of the requirement as either C- Nice to Have, B - Important, or A - Critical. ALM automatically calculates the highest and lowest possible total weight and uses these to define the upper boundary of the Critical category and the lower boundary of the Nice to Have category. You define the boundaries between the Nice to Have and Important categories, and between the Important and Critical categories.
For example, suppose there are two criteria for Business Criticality, each with three possible values whose weights are 20
, 60
, and 100
. The minimum total weight is therefore 40
(if both criteria are assigned the value with weight 20
) and the maximum total weight is 200
(if both criteria are assigned the value with weight 100
). ALM automatically calculates these totals and uses them to determine the lower and upper boundaries for the categories. You determine the boundaries between the categories by typing 100
in the Nice to Have box and 160
in the Critical box.
In this example, ALM determines the Business Criticality for a requirement as follows:
-
If the sum of the weights of each of the criteria for a requirement is less than or equal to
100
, the requirement will haveNice to Have
Business Criticality. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights20
and60,
so the total weight is80
. -
If the sum is greater than
100
but less than160
, the requirement will haveImportant
Business Criticality. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights60
and60,
so the total weight is120
. -
If the sum is greater than or equal to
160
, the requirement will haveCritical
Business Criticality. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights100
and60
, so the total weight is160
.
To customize weight boundaries for Business Criticality:
-
In the Project Customization window, in the left pane, click Risk-Based Quality Management. The Risk-Based Quality Management page opens.
-
Click the Business Criticality tab. The Business Criticality tab displays criteria used to determine Business Criticality.
-
Under Calculation of Business Criticality value based on total weights, define the boundaries between different Business Criticality values. To define these boundaries, type the relevant values in the Nice to Have and Critical boxes.
-
Click Save to save your changes to the Risk-Based Quality Management page.

For each requirement, ALM calculates the total of the weights (TW) of the values assigned to each of the Failure Probability criteria. ALM then uses this total to categorize the Probability of the requirement as either 3 - Low, 2 - Medium, or 1- High. ALM automatically calculates the highest and lowest possible total weight and uses these to define the upper boundary of the High category and the lower boundary of the Low category. You define the boundaries between the Low and Medium categories, and between the Medium and High categories.
For example, suppose there are two criteria for Failure Probability, each with three possible values whose weights are 20
, 60
, and 100
. The minimum total weight is therefore 40
(if both criteria are assigned the value with weight 20
) and the maximum total weight is 200
(if both criteria are assigned the value with weight 100
). ALM automatically calculates these totals and uses them to determine the lower and upper boundaries for the categories. You determine the boundaries between the categories by typing 100
in the Low box and 160
in the High box.
In this example, ALM determines the Failure Probability for a requirement as follows:
-
If the sum of the weights of each of the criteria for a requirement is less than or equal to
100
, the requirement will haveLow
Failure Probability. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights20
and60
so the total weight is80
. -
If the sum is greater than
100
but less than160
, the requirement will haveMedium
Failure Probability. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights60
and60
so the total weight is120
. -
If the sum is greater than or equal to
160
, the requirement will haveHigh
Failure Probability. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights100
and60
so the total weight is160
.
To customize weight boundaries for Failure Probability:
-
In the Project Customization window, in the left pane, click Risk-Based Quality Management. The Risk-Based Quality Management page opens.
-
Click the Failure Probability tab. The Failure Probability tab displays criteria used to determine Failure Probability.
-
Under Calculation of Failure Probability value based on total weights, define the boundaries between different Failure Probability values. To define these boundaries, type the relevant values in the Low and High boxes.
-
Click Save to save your changes to the Risk-Based Quality Management page.

For each requirement, ALM calculates the total of the weights (TW) of the values assigned to each of the Functional Complexity criteria. ALM then uses this total to categorize the Functional Complexity of the requirement as either 3 - Low, 2 - Medium, or 1- High. ALM automatically calculates the highest and lowest possible total weight and uses these to define the upper boundary of the High category and the lower boundary of the Low category. You define the boundaries between the Low and Medium categories, and between the Medium and High categories.
For example, suppose there are two criteria for Functional Complexity, each with three possible values whose weights are 20
, 60
, and 100
. The minimum total weight is therefore 40
(if both criteria are assigned the value with weight 20
) and the maximum total weight is 200
(if both criteria are assigned the value with weight 100
). ALM automatically calculates these totals and uses them to determine the lower and upper boundaries for the categories. You determine the boundaries between the categories by typing 100
in the Low box and 160
in the High box.
In this example, ALM determines the Functional Complexity for a requirement as follows:
-
If the sum of the weights of each of the criteria for a requirement is less than or equal to
100
, the requirement will haveLow
Functional Complexity. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights20
and60
so the total weight is80
. -
If the sum is greater than
100
but less than160
, the requirement will haveMedium
Functional Complexity. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights60
and60
so the total weight is120
. -
If the sum is greater than or equal to
160
, the requirement will haveHigh
Functional Complexity. This could happen, for example, if the criteria have values with weights100
and60
so the total weight is160
.
To customize weight boundaries for Functional Complexity:
-
In the Project Customization window, in the left pane, click Risk-Based Quality Management. The Risk-Based Quality Management page opens.
-
Click the Functional Complexity tab. The Functional Complexity tab displays criteria used to determine Functional Complexity.
-
Under Calculation of Functional Complexity value based on total weights, define the boundaries between different Functional Complexity values. To define these boundaries, type the relevant values in the Low and High boxes.
-
Click Save to save your changes to the Risk-Based Quality Management page.