Powersheet vs. Risksheet

Goal: Understand the key differences between Nextedy POWERSHEET and Nextedy RISKSHEET, when to use each product, and how they complement each other.

Nextedy offers two interactive grid products for Siemens Polarion ALM: POWERSHEET and RISKSHEET. Both render a spreadsheet-like editing experience directly inside Polarion, and both store their data as standard Polarion work items — but they solve different problems and are configured in fundamentally different ways.

Core Purpose

POWERSHEET is a general-purpose hierarchical sheet extension for Polarion. It is designed to manage any structured, multi-level data model — requirements traceability, test planning, task boards, custom domain models — across any domain or industry. You define what data to show and how to structure it through YAML configuration files.

RISKSHEET is purpose-built for risk analysis workflows. It targets safety engineers and cybersecurity analysts performing FMEA, HARA, TARA, STRIDE, or CVSS assessments in regulated industries such as automotive (ISO 26262), medical devices (ISO 14971), and cybersecurity (ISO/SAE 21434). It includes risk-specific capabilities — risk rating scales, RPN formulas, risk matrices, and risk review workflows — that are not present in general-purpose grids.

Configuration Model

This is the most significant architectural difference between the two products.

Powersheet: Three-Layer YAML Architecture

Powersheet separates its configuration into three distinct layers:

1. Domain Model — A YAML file that defines the semantic layer: which Polarion work item types, link roles, and document types are exposed as structured entity types and relationships. The domain model also enforces process constraints such as link cardinality rules.
2. Sheet Configuration — A separate YAML file that defines how the domain model data is displayed: which columns appear, how rows expand to show related entities, which views are available, and how editing behaves.
3. Document Entry Point — A Polarion LiveDoc that references a sheet configuration. One sheet configuration can be reused across many documents and even across projects with different Polarion type IDs (as long as each project has its own domain model mapping).

This separation means you can standardize a single sheet layout across an entire organization and adapt it to local Polarion configurations purely by adjusting the domain model — without touching the sheet configuration.

Risksheet: Single JSON Configuration per Document

Risksheet is configured through a risksheet.json file attached directly to each LiveDoc document (or inherited from a template document). This single JSON file controls the entire grid: columns, JavaScript formulas, cell decorators, CSS styles, enumeration dropdowns, hierarchical row levels, and link role bindings.

The configuration-driven design makes Risksheet highly flexible within the risk analysis domain, but it is intentionally scoped to that domain. There is no concept of a separate domain model layer.

Data Scope

Risksheet operates on a strict one document = one grid principle. Each Risksheet view displays only the work items contained within a single Polarion LiveDoc document. It cannot aggregate or join data from multiple documents.

Powersheet supports expansion paths — configuration-defined traversals that follow link roles to pull in related entities from across the data model. A single Powersheet can display a root entity alongside its linked children, traceability targets, and associated test cases in one view, even when those entities span different document types.

Typical Use Cases

Licensing and Integration

Risksheet and Powersheet are licensed separately. Owning one does not grant access to the other.

However, the two products are aware of each other at runtime. When both are installed and Powersheet holds a valid production license, Risksheet automatically unlocks additional capabilities from the Powersheet capability set. This integration is transparent — no manual configuration is required. Evaluation or trial Powersheet licenses do not activate these enhancements.

Summary

If your primary need is structured risk analysis with industry-standard rating scales and calculated risk metrics, start with Risksheet. If you need a flexible, model-driven grid for managing any type of Polarion work item relationships — including but not limited to risk — start with Powersheet.