Information Contained in an IT Evolution Plan
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The IT Evolution Plan is not a single document; rather, it is a collection of planning information that is available to all the stakeholders and implementers of the IT evolution. This information could be on a Website or at a specific location in the organization's network. This plan is significantly more than a collection of schedules and responsibilities.
The IT Evolution Plan is under version control. It is important that all stakeholders have agreed to the current version, and that all users of the plan know the version of the current plan.
The following is a list of the information that is included:
1. Estimate of the Situation (E0S)
This is the EoS that was initially developed and has been kept up-to-date, as the evolution has progressed.
2. Risk Management Plan (RMP)
The RMP has been updated as the evolution has progressed. Specific schedules for mitigation strategies may be referred to here and contained in the scheduling information.
3. Key Work Products and Life Cycles
This section contains a complete list of the products, both hardware and software, that will be developed or acquired as a part of the evolution. The defined requirements for each product are referenced here. For each product, the life cycle that will be used to develop or acquire the product is defined.
4. High-Level Cost and Schedule Estimates
This section contains or references the initial cost and schedule for each of the work products. As the evolution progresses, the estimates are updated to accommodate changes to the work-product requirements or by calibrating the estimation process based on the actual data collected as a the evolution progresses.
-Estimation Process and Data
The process by which the estimates were derived is referenced here. All assumptions that were made as a part of the estimation process are also captured. One of the planning and management resources in the Survival Guide is a sample estimation procedure. The estimation data is maintained in a central repository so the actual schedule and cost information can be compared against initial estimates and the estimation process can be calibrated and improved.
The initial estimates that were computed as a part of the initial evolution process are in the form of ranges with probabilities. As the Plateaus Plans are developed, these estimates are refined based additional information about the projects that make up the plateaus.
5. Evolution Process Definition
The selected procedures, methods, and standards for developing the work products are identified. This includes the technical and management procedures, methods, and standards, as well as procedures and methods used in support activities such as configuration management.
6. Measurement Plan
This section includes or refers to the Evolution Measurement Plan.
7. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
This section identifies the evolution WBS
8. High-Level Schedules
This section identifies the schedules for the evolution. It defines the schedule for each Plateau and the interdependencies between plateaus and between different projects within each plateau. The schedule includes all major milestones and reviews.
9. Plateau Plans
This section defines the content of each plateau and refers to the Project Charters for the projects contained in each Plateau. As the detailed schedule for each plateau and project are developed, they are referenced by the IT Evolution Plan.
10. Location of Other Key Planning Information
There is a large amount of information that the Evolution Team and stakeholders will need to access. This includes such things as:
- The Technical Architecture as described in the Agency Technical Architecture Reference Set (A-TARS)
- The Quality Assurance Plan
- The Configuration Management Plan
- Subcontract Management Plans
11. Training Plan (training of team)
This section describes the skills needed by the members of IT Evolution Management Team and other affected individuals involved in the execution of the IT Evolution Plan. Once all skill needs are identified, this section describes how the individuals will obtain the necessary skills.
12. Tools and Facilities
This section describes the tools and facilities needed by the members of IT Evolution Management Team and other affected individuals involved in the execution of the IT Evolution Plan. Tools include computers and software tools (such as Microsoft Project) that the individuals will need. Once all tools and facilities are identified, this section describes how the individuals will obtain the necessary tools and facilities.
13. Critical Resources
This section describes the resources (such as bandwidth, server resources, or personal computer capabilities) that will be required to implement the evolution. Sufficient analysis must be done to determine which of these resources may be critical to the success of the evolution. For each of the critical resources, a plan for the monitoring and acquisition of these resources is included.
14. Project Organization
This section defines the roles of the IT Evolution Management Team. It shows how the IT Evolution Team relates to the other parts of the HS organization, including the program and project organizations.
15. Staffing Plan
This section defines the staff that will be required to do the IT evolution. As plateaus and projects are defined, this section will refer to the staffing plans of the plateaus and project.
16. Responsibility Matrix
This section defines the responsibilities of various members of the Evolution and Project teams. One technique used to define the responsibility matrix is called "PARIS." For each work product, define " PARIS "
- P = Primary - The Primary organization or individual
- A = Approval - The Approving organization or individual
- R = Reviewer - The Reviewing organization or individual
- I = Input - The organization or individual that will supply required Information
- S = Secondary (if needed)