OSLC

OSLC (Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration) is a family of OASIS specifications that define how lifecycle tools — requirements, change, test, configuration, architecture — link to each other using web-standard linked data. It originated at IBM and is now the integration backbone of choice for ALM/PLM toolchains where vendors prefer not to centralize on a single hub.

What it covers

• Linked-data resources — every artifact (requirement, defect, test case) is a URI with RDF and OAuth-protected access.
• Domain specifications — Requirements Management, Change Management, Quality Management, Configuration Management, Architecture Management.
• Cross-tool traceability without copying or replicating the underlying record.
• Configuration Management 2.0 — versioned linking across baselines and streams.
• Adoption by IBM ELM/DOORS Next, PTC Codebeamer, Siemens Polarion, and Dassault tools.

Relationships (see sidebar)

• Dependency of the ALM Traceability, Requirements Traceability Matrix, and Digital Thread capabilities.
• Supports the Systems Engineering, Requirements Management, and Configuration Management processes.
• Implemented (or claimed) by tools including PTC Codebeamer and Siemens Polarion.