ARCHIVED - An Enhanced Framework for the Management of Information Technology Projects - Part II Solutions: Putting the Principles to Work

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APPENDIX 1

ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

This Appendix contains the Assessment Questionnaire. This Assessment Questionnaire is comprised of 117 questions that can be used assess current practices in departments. Twenty of the questions are from the original Enhanced Framework Assessment Questionnaire, eight are from the SEI-CMM questionnaire and 89 are modified Softguide questions.

Appendix 1a
Assessment Questionnaire against the Enhanced Framework
for the Management of IT Projects

Framework Element	Yes	No	Don't Know	N/A	Comments
1. Principle: Information technology projects are aligned with, and support, business directions and priorities
Is approval for the project based on a business-case analysis that relates the investment directly to the business function and demonstrates the benefits of the investment to the department or government as a whole?
Is there a business case template used by all projects?
Is there a documented process for preparing the business case, obtaining approvals, reviewing the business case, etc?
Will the business case be reviewed and revalidated at each scheduled gate and whenever there is a significant change to the project or the business function?
2. Principle: Clear accountabilities are established
Are overall departmental accountabilities for the project defined in a project charter?
Is there a project charter template used by all projects?
Is there a documented process for preparing the project charter, identifying roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, obtaining approvals, etc?
Are all core project management responsibilities and functions performed by Crown management? (This includes core functions associated with managing and controlling project plan, scope, time, cost, quality, risk, human resources, procurement, contract and communications.)
If it has been necessary to outsource any core project management functions, are they being acquired from a supplier other than that involved in the primary development contract?
3. Principle: Project managers are developed and work within a corporate discipline
Does the assigned project manager have the knowledge, skills and experience required to manage the project's scope, size, complexity and risk profile?
Are the competencies expected and required of project managers documented?
Is there a documented process that defines a training and development path for project managers?
4. Principle: Project management decisions are based on risk management
Does the project have scheduled checkpoints or 'gates' when it will be reviewed and where management will decide on its future and, if necessary, take appropriate corrective action?
Does the department's defined project life cycle detail when and where gates should be established and what criteria must be satisfied before clearing the gate?
Have only the funds needed to reach the next gate been allocated to the project?
Has a risk assessment consistent with practices outlined in SEI Continuous Risk Management Guidebook been used to identify and assess the risks?
Is there a documented risk management process (including tools, techniques and practices) that all projects must use?
Has project complexity been determined at the initiation of the project using Function Point Analysis (FPA)?
Is a performance measurement tool based on the national standard, C/SPMS, being used to provide data at frequent intervals to the (Crown) project manager on the time and money expended and on the work completed?
Have PWGSC procurement officers been involved early in the project planning so as to develop a procurement process that reduces delays, and to design a procurement plan that best aligns the contracting plan with the project plan?

Appendix 1b
Departmental Assessment – System Engineering Questions

System Engineering Questions	Yes	No	Don't Know	N/A	Comment/ Explanation
1. Is there a documented process to elicit, stimulate, analyze, and communicate customer needs and expectations to obtain a better understanding of what will satisfy the customer? (This involves engaging the customer in ongoing dialogue designed to translate his/her needs and expectations into a verifiable set of requirements that the customer understands and that provide the basis for agreements between the customer and the project.)
2. Are candidate solutions studied and/or analyzed prior to selecting a solution to satisfy the business problem and its constraints?
3. Are business requirements allocated/mapped to various system functions (including objects, people, supporting processes, products and services) as part of the system design activities and/or the selection of off-the-shelf solutions?
4. Are technical architecture requirements derived and allocated as part of the system design activities?
5. Is there a process whereby software acquisitions are planned, including establishing budgets, determining the schedule, defining an acquisition strategy, identifying risks, and defining requirements for the software product?
Do documented guidelines and procedures exist for the acquisition of software products?
For the software product being acquired, is transition to the software support organization planned?
Is there a documented process to ensure that system elements will function as a whole? (This primarily involves identifying, defining and controlling interfaces, as well as verifying system functions that require multiple system elements.)

Appendix 1c
Assessment Questionnaire – Using Capability Maturity Model Questions

Framework Element	Yes	No	Don't Know	N/A	Comment/ Explanation
1. Requirements Management
1. Are requirements agreed upon by the customer, project management and project team members?
2. Are requirements documented and available to all project team members?
3. Are changes to requirements reflected in the project's effort and cost estimates, and size of product estimates?
4. Are changes to requirements negotiated and agreed upon by the customer, project management and project team members?
5. Are requirements traced to design components, code components and test plans or procedures?
6. Are requirements analyzed for completeness, understandability, feasibility and consistency?
2. Project Planning
1. Are the project activities defined and documented in a plan? (Project Plan)
2. Do procedures or guidelines exist for estimating project effort and cost, and size of work products?
3. Are the commitments of external groups documented and agreed upon by the affected groups (i.e. configuration management, documentation management, quality assurance, customer and sub-contractors)?
4. Is the project plan reviewed by the project manager, managers of other affected groups, and project team members?
5. Are project risks (cost, resource, schedule, or technical) identified, assessed and documented?
6. Are the planned activities of the project based upon a defined life cycle?
7. Have facilities (i.e. office space, computer equipment) and support tools been identified and procured or developed?
3. Project Tracking and Oversight
1. Are the project effort, cost, and schedule tracked on a frequent basis?
2. Are sizes of work products tracked and the sizing estimates updated accordingly?
3. Are the project activities adjusted and re-planned when the project actuals are found to deviate significantly from the original project plan?
4. Are internal project reviews conducted periodically with affected groups to track progress and issues?
5. Are reviews conducted at significant milestones with the customer to review results, plans and status?
6. Are estimated and actual data for project effort, cost, and work product sizes recorded for use in this project and future projects?
7. Are technical issues or problems identified, documented, and tracked to closure (i.e. problem reports, issues database)?
4. Subcontract Management
1. Are subcontractors selected based upon an evaluation of their capabilities?
2. Do documented guidelines or procedures exist for the evaluation of subcontractors?
3. Are the commitments between the prime contractor and the subcontractor documented in a contractual agreement?
4. Does the prime contractor conduct periodic technical reviews with the subcontractor to review technical material and status?
5. Does the prime contractor conduct periodic management reviews with the subcontractor to review progress and status?
6. Does the prime contractor conduct an acceptance test as part of the criteria for accepting the subcontractor's product?
7. Is the subcontractor's performance evaluated periodically and reviewed with the subcontractor?
8. Are the product acceptance criteria documented in an Acceptance Test Plan, which has been agreed upon by the prime contractor and the subcontractor?
5. Quality Assurance
1. Does a Quality Assurance (QA) Plan, containing QA activities, responsibilities, and schedule, exist for the project?
2. Are QA activities conducted in accordance with the QA Plan?
3. Does Quality Assurance report directly to the organization's senior management?
4. Are QA activities and their findings reported to the project periodically?
5. Are QA individuals trained in quality assurance?
6. Are issues of non-compliance that cannot be resolved within the project, escalated to the level of senior management?
7. Does QA verify that the activities of the project comply with the Project Plan and the designated standards and procedures identified in the Project Plan?
8. Does QA verify that work products comply with the standards, procedures, and contractual requirements, as stipulated or referenced by the Project Plan and Statement of Work?
6. Configuration Management
1. Does a configuration management (CM) Plan, outlining CM activities, responsibilities, and schedule, exist for the project?
2. Are CM activities conducted in accordance with the CM Plan?
3. Are project work products, supporting tools, and any software or procedures required to regenerate the work products identified and controlled?
4. Does CM library system serve as a repository for the controlled items?
5. Is there an established procedure for checking items in and out of the CM library system?
6. Is there an established procedure for generating baselines from the CM library system?
7. Is information on the contents of the baselines and the status of the CM library available to the project?
8. Is there an established procedure and mechanism for controlling changes to the controlled items (i.e. Change Request Procedure)?
7. Organization Process Focus
1. Do activities to develop standardized processes and to improve them exist within the organization?
2. Does responsibility for defining process development and improvement exist at an organizational level, and not a project level?
3. Are the project's or organization's processes assessed periodically to determine process strengths and weaknesses?
4. Are action plans based upon the process assessment generated and implemented?
5. Does the organization have a company-wide plan for process development and improvement activities?
6. Is there an Organizational Training Plan for conducting process training across the organization?
7. Does senior management provide the support, resources, and funding to enable the process improvement activities to be effective?
8. Organization Process Definition
1. Does the organization have developed and documented standardized processes (i.e. description of project life cycle)?
2. Does the organization encourage and promote the use of standardized processes?
3. Is there a collection of process assets (e.g. process descriptions, tailoring guidelines, coding standards, development procedures) that can be easily tailored and used by the projects?
4. Are the standard processes continually assessed and improved?
5. Are new technology, tools, and methodologies related to process being assessed and evaluated?
6. Are estimated and measured process data retained in a database for use in process improvement and in planning future projects (e.g. size estimates, effort data, productivity data, defect data)?
9. Training Program
1. Does each project specify its technical and managerial training needs (e.g. type of training required, by whom, and when)?
2. Do the individuals on a project receive the necessary training as identified?
3. Does a training plan for the organization exist, specifying training needs, type of training available, funding, resources, schedules, and standards for course development?
4. Are training courses produced in-house, developed and maintained according to the organization's training plan?
5. Does the organization's training program receive the necessary support, resources, and funding from senior management to make the program effective?
6. Are measurements used to determine the quality of the training program?
10. Integrated Project Management
1. Does the project have defined processes that have been developed from the organization's standard processes?
2. Do the activities described in the Project Plan follow the project's defined processes?
3. Are historical data from past projects (as contained in the organization's project process database) used for project planning and estimating? (These historical data include software size, effort, cost, schedule, productivity and activity data.)
4. Are the project's effort, costs and schedule managed according to a procedure?
5. Is the size of the work products managed according to a procedure?
6. Are the project's risks identified, assessed, documented and managed according to a procedure?
11. Software Product Engineering
1. Is the project's defined software process supported by effective mechanisms, and tools?
2. Are procedures for using the defined software process documented and adhered to?
3. Are requirements analysis and verification conducted in accordance with the project's defined process?
4. Is the product designed in accordance with the project's defined process?
5. Is the product implemented according to the project's defined process?
6. Is the testing conducted according to the project's defined process?
7. Are the work products (i.e. outputs) of the requirements analysis, design, implementation, and test activities consistent with each other and the customer requirements?
8. Are the necessary resources (i.e. technology, skills, equipment) available to the project?
12. Inter-group Co-ordination
1. Are commitments between project groups agreed to by the affected groups and documented? (Commitments could be documented in the Project Plan.)
2. Are representatives from affected project groups involved in establishing the project requirements and in negotiating with the customer?
3. Does an established procedure exist for identifying, recording, tracking and closing inter-group issues?
4. Do the project groups work together on a regular basis to monitor and co-ordinate technical activities and to resolve technical issues?
5. Is the Project Plan used to co-ordinate and track the activities of the various groups?
6. Are work products delivered to other project groups reviewed to ensure they meet the group's needs?
13. Peer Reviews
1. Is peer review of work products conducted on the project? Examples of work products suitable for review are requirement specifications, architecture, design descriptions and test plans.
2. Is the review material distributed to the reviewers prior to the meeting and with sufficient time allocated for the material to be reviewed?
3. Are defects identified during the review meeting recorded and tracked to closure?
4. Does the Project Plan or a Peer Review Plan identify the work products to undergo peer review?
5. Are peer reviews conducted in accordance with a documented procedure?
6. Does the reviewer use peer review checklists, which identify the criteria for the review of the product?

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