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1. Assess Your Legacy Data

Audit your existing safety data to determine what needs migration:
Data TypeTypical SourceVolume
Hazards (HARA)Excel / DOORS / Tool___ items
Safety GoalsExcel / DOORS / Tool___ items
Failure Modes (FMEA)Excel / Tool___ items
RequirementsDOORS / Excel___ items
Test CasesHP ALM / Excel___ items
Risk ControlsExcel / Tool___ items
CharacteristicsExcel / Tool___ items
Traceability LinksDOORS / Excel___ links
Process FlowExcel / Visio___ steps
Control PlansExcel___ items
Prioritize by compliance impact: hazards/FMEA → requirements → test cases → supporting artifacts.
ISO 26262 requires bidirectional traceability from hazards through safety goals to requirements and test cases. Map legacy IDs to new Polarion IDs before breaking old system connections.

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2. Prepare Your Data for Import

Transform legacy data into Polarion-compatible format: Option A: Direct Excel Import (for structured tabular data)
  1. Export each artifact type to separate Excel files
  2. Add required Polarion column headers:
    • ID (legacy reference — will become externalId custom field)
    • Title (Polarion title field)
    • Description (rich text — preserve formatting with HTML tags)
    • Type-specific fields (e.g., severity, exposure, controllability for hazards)
  3. Create link columns using Polarion syntax:
    • linkedWorkItems for requirement refinement links
    • verifies for test-to-requirement links
    • mitigates for control-to-failure mode links
Option B: XML Import (for complex hierarchies with attachments)
  1. Export from legacy tool to XML (DOORS DXL export, ReqIF, or custom script)
  2. Transform XML to Polarion import format using XSLT stylesheet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<work-items>
  <work-item>
    <field id="type">systemRequirement</field>
    <field id="title">Sensor response time constraint</field>
    <field id="description"><![CDATA[System shall detect obstacles within 100ms]]></field>
    <field id="externalId">LEGACY-SRS-042</field>
    <link role="refines">CUSTOMER-REQS-012</link>
  </work-item>
</work-items>
Create custom field externalId (type: String) to store original legacy tool IDs. This maintains traceability for regulatory audits requiring evidence migration history.

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3. Create Target Document Structure

Set up Polarion modules before importing:
  1. Navigate to Requirements space in sidebar
  2. Create modules matching your V-model decomposition:
    • CUSTOMER-REQS (Customer Requirements Specification)
    • SRS (System Requirements Specification)
    • SUBSRS-<SubsystemName> (Subsystem Requirements per subsystem)
    • DRS-<ComponentName> (Design Requirements per component)
  3. Navigate to Risks space
  4. Create FMEA documents using Nextedy templates:
    • System FMEA (one per system element)
    • Design FMEA (one per component)
    • Process FMEA (one per manufacturing process)
  5. Set document types via Properties → Type:
    • systemRequirementsSpecification
    • designRequirementsSpecification
    • sfmea, dfmea, pfmea (Risksheet document types)
Polarion form layouts are role- and type-specific. Importing a systemRequirement into a designRequirementsSpecification document will fail validation. Verify type constraints in .polarion/documents/ before import.

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4. Import Work Items

Execute the import using Polarion’s built-in wizard or SVN commit: GUI Import Wizard:
  1. Documents → Import/Export → Import Work Items
  2. Select Excel or XML file
  3. Map columns to Polarion fields:
    • Title → title
    • Description → description
    • Legacy severity → hSeverity (HARA) or fmSeverity (FMEA)
    • Legacy ID → externalId (custom field)
  4. Choose Create new work items (not update existing)
  5. Select target module (e.g., SRS)
  6. Validate → review 100% of mappings before commit
  7. Import → Polarion creates work items with generated IDs
SVN Bulk Import (for large datasets >500 items):
  1. Checkout project SVN: svn checkout https://polarion-server/svn/YourProject
  2. Place import XML in modules/<ModuleName>/_import.xml
  3. Commit: svn commit -m "Import legacy requirements from DOORS"
  4. Polarion processes import on next synchronization (1-5 min)
Import a representative 10-item subset to verify field mappings, enumeration values, and formula calculations before bulk import. Delete test items after validation.
Recreate link relationships from legacy tool: If legacy links are ID-based (e.g., DOORS module references):
  1. Use Polarion’s Link by ID feature during import
  2. Map legacy ID syntax to Polarion format:
    • Legacy: DOORS-SRS-042 → Polarion: PROJECT-123 (use externalId lookup)
  3. Create link mapping table in Excel:
    • Column A: Legacy Source ID
    • Column B: Polarion Source ID (after import)
    • Column C: Legacy Target ID
    • Column D: Polarion Target ID (after import)
    • Column E: Link Role (refines, verifies, mitigates)
  4. Generate Polarion XML update script to batch-create links
If legacy links are lost (Excel-based systems):
  1. Use TestAuto2 RTM PowerSheets to manually re-establish links:
  2. Leverage BERTopic clustering for semi-automated link suggestions:
    • Export requirement descriptions to CSV
    • Run semantic similarity analysis (cosine similarity >0.7 suggests link)
    • Review and approve suggested links in PowerSheet
Run Traceability Report after import to verify ISO 26262 compliance. All ASIL-rated requirements must have bidirectional links to safety goals and test cases.

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6. Import FMEA Risk Analysis Data

Migrate failure modes and risk ratings:
  1. Follow Import FMEA from Excel guide for detailed Excel template structure
  2. Preserve three-level FMEA hierarchy during import:
    • Item (system element) → Failure Mode → Cause (with severity/occurrence/detection)
  3. Map legacy RPN calculation to TestAuto2 Action Priority:
    • If legacy RPN >200: Action Priority = H (High)
    • If legacy RPN 100-200: Action Priority = M (Medium)
    • If legacy RPN <100: Action Priority = L (Low)
  4. Link imported risk controls to failure modes using mitigates link role
  5. Update post-mitigation ratings in Risksheet columns

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7. Configure Risksheet and PowerSheet Views

Adapt configurations to match legacy workflow terminology:
  1. Open .polarion/nextedy/sheet-configurations/hara.yaml
  2. Rename column headers to match legacy tool labels (preserves user familiarity): 
    columns:
  - id: severity
    header: "Severity (S)" # Match legacy FMEA terminology
  - id: exposure
    header: "Exposure (E)" # ISO 26262 term, may differ from legacy
  3. Configure saved views replicating legacy tool filters:
    • “High Priority Failures” (Action Priority = H)
    • “ASIL D Items” (ASIL = D)
    • “Open Risk Controls” (status ≠ Closed)
  4. Customize Traffic Lights thresholds to legacy tool’s color scheme
See Customize Risksheet Columns and Customize PowerSheet Columns for detailed configuration syntax.

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8. Migrate Attachments and Evidence

Transfer supporting documentation:
  1. For each work item with attachments in legacy tool:
    • Download attachment from legacy system
    • Open work item in Polarion
    • Attachments tab → Add → upload file
  2. For bulk attachment migration (>50 files):
    • Place files in SVN: modules/<ModuleName>/_attachments/<WorkItemID>/<filename>
    • Commit to SVN — Polarion auto-links attachments to work items by ID match
  3. Update External Evidence Links for off-system test results
For large test reports or certification PDFs stored in enterprise content management systems, add hyperlink custom field pointing to DMS location rather than duplicating files in Polarion.

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9. Validate Migration Completeness

Verify all critical data transferred correctly: Quantitative Validation:
MetricCheckRecovery Action
Work item countLegacy count = Polarion count per typeRe-run import for missing items
Link countLegacy traceability matrix row count = Polarion link countRecreate missing links via PowerSheet
ASIL coverage100% hazards have ASIL assignedReview HARA Risksheet for blank cells
FMEA coverage100% failure modes have Action PriorityRecalculate formulas in FMEA Risksheet
Qualitative Validation:
  • Open 10 random requirements → verify rich text formatting preserved (bold, tables, lists)
  • Open 5 random FMEA rows → verify S/O/D formulas auto-calculate Action Priority
  • Run Traceability Report → verify no broken links (red cells)
  • Check dashboard statistics match legacy tool’s final export counts

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10. Decommission Legacy System

After validation passes:
  1. Export legacy system to final archive (PDF or read-only export)
  2. Update project charter to reference Polarion as authoritative safety data source
  3. Revoke write access to legacy tool (read-only archive mode)
  4. Train users on TestAuto2 Navigation and Role Dashboards
ISO 26262 Part 8 Clause 10 requires retaining safety lifecycle evidence for product lifetime + 15 years. Archive legacy system exports with timestamp and SHA-256 hash for regulatory audits.
You should now see: All legacy safety data visible in TestAuto2 dashboards with preserved traceability links. Run Generate Safety Readiness Scorecard to verify ISO 26262 compliance post-migration.

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See Also