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111 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What does SA-CMM stand for?
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Software Acquisition Capability Maturity Model
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Why was SA-CMM developed?
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Developed to provide a framework for the acquisition process
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what is SA-CMM?
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A capability maturity model provides a framework to facilitate the improvement of a process by identifying the ultimate goal and what is required to achieve that goal
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What does KPA stand for?
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Key Process Areas
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T/F: KPA does not belong to 1st level?
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T
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what does KPA mean?
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1. KPAs state the goals that must be satisfied to achieve each level of maturity.
2. Typically, a portion of the goals or activities of some higher-level KPAs are satisfied/performed at a lower level. 3. Once a maturity level is achieved, the concept of the model requires that the satisfaction of all lower level goals be maintained. 4. |
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Which of the following Key Process Areas (KPAs) does not belong to Level 2 of SA-CMM
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Acquisition Risk Management
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SA-CMM level 1 Initial
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competent people and heroics
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SA-CMM level 2 Repeatable
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Basic Poject Mgmt.
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SA-CMM level 3 Defined
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Process standardisation
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SA-CMM level 4 Quantitative
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Quantitative Management
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SA-CMM level 5 Optimising
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Continuouse Process Improvement
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Which of the following is not true about the dependence between Key Process Areas?
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Software Acquisition Planning KPA and Requirements Development and Management KPA need to be satisfied before performing the Solicitation KPA.
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Which of the following is true about the dependence between Key Process Areas?
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1. Contract Performance Management KPA and Contract Tracking & Oversight KPA need to be satisfied before performing the Quantitative Acquisition Management KPA.
2. Software Acquisition Planning KPA, Project Management KPA, and Contract Tracking & Oversight KPA need to be satisfied before performing the Project Performance Management KPA. 3. Contract Tracking & Oversight KPA needs to be satisfied before performing the Contract Performance Management KPA. |
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Which of the following Key Process Areas (KPAs) DOES belong to Level 2 of SA-CMM?
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1. Contract Tracking & Oversight.
2. Software Acquisition Planning. 3. Transition to Support. |
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Which of the following is not a lesson learned in applying the SA-CMM as described in "Applying the Software Acquisition Capability Maturity Model
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Not to interview groups of people based on functional responsibility.
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Which acquisition strategy is most appropriate for small size and low risk projects?
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Sole source
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Which of the following is not a typical acquisition strategy?
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Time and material
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Among the following documents, which is the most important within a solicitation package?
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Statement of work (SOW).
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3 types of acquisition & procurement strategies
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1. Competitive
2. Two-phase 3. Sole source |
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Competitive Acquisition (Acquisition Strategy)
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1. Sellers compete for the job based on an open solicitation specifying definitive system requirements.
2. The seller's proposals are evaluated based on pre-defined criteria. 3. Such criteria are usually assigned numerical values to obtain scores by which the proposals are ranked |
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Competitive Acquisition: (Acquisition Strategy)
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1. Normally, the buyer's strategy, including its detailed evaluation criteria & point system used, is not divulged to the sellers competing for the contract but the relative order of importance is usually given in the RFP.
2. In some cases, after the competitive range of offers is established, the buyer will ask for best & final offers. |
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Competitive Acquisition: (Acquisition Strategy)
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1. The buyer usually evaluates the cost realism of the offers & may look on major unexplained decrease in the best & final offers negatively.
2. If the software is proprietary, the buyer might be dependent on the seller for maintenance & support |
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Two-phase Acquisition
(Acquisition Strategy) |
1. In the first phase, sellers are selected based on a fully competitive procurement process:
a. Several sellers are then selected to further define requirements, system concepts & possibly a design b. The buyer has to ensure that all sellers are treated fairly |
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Two-phase Acquisition
(Acquisition Strategy) |
1. In the second phase, the buyer has several options to proceed
a. A contract can be awarded to the seller who has done the best job in the first phase & who submits the most attractive proposal for the follow-on phase b. To initiate the second phase with an open solicitation using the results of the first phase as a basis for competition |
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Sole-Source Acquisition
(Acquisition Strategy) |
1. The buyer simply negotiates and awards a contract to a single seller
2. Typically, this type of acquisition is appropriate when only one seller can do the job & the conduct of a competitive procurement would be a waste of time & resources 3. The buyer must take extreme care to ensure that adequate value is obtained for the funds expanded |
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What is not true about RFI?
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An RFI is a mandatory prerequisite to writing an RFP
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RFI
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Request for Information
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What IS true about RFI?
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A way for the buyer to determine whether the requested requirements are reasonable and whether appropriate technology is available.
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RFP
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Request for Proposal
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Which of the following is not usually included in the Statement of Work (SOW)?
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Acquisition budget.
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Which of the following IS usually included in the Statement of Work (SOW)?
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1. reliability
2. quality assurance 3. maintainability 4. configuration management 5. logistics 6. training 7. supportability 8. safety 9. security 10. metrics 11. documentation 12. acceptance 13. testing 14. evaluation |
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Which of the following is commonly found in all the three documents: RFI, SOW, and RFP?
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System requirements.
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What is RFP
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1. a formal request for proposals from sellers
2. Such proposals often become part of the resulting contract |
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What is RFI
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1. Use RFIs when there is a need to validate technology & requirements.
2. Typically encompasses all of the requirements & is structured just like an RFP 3. important to list not only the technical issues but also the requirements for project management, maintenance, training & support. 4. sellers are encouraged to comment to all aspects of the procurement and to establish what is possible & not possible |
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What is RFI
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1. buyers to determine what is available from suppliers who respond to its requirements
2. buyer to determine whether the requested requirements are reasonable & whether appropriate technology is available 3. used when the goals of the project are in question |
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RFI should not be interpreted as
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1. a contract (implicit, explicit, or implied)
2. implying any form of agreement to candidate sellers 3. an inference that the organisation will purchase and/or implement in the future any of the technology or systems proposed by the sellers responding to the RFI |
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SOW
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Statement of Work
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SOW Statement of Work
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1. the basis for communicating management requirements to the seller
2. part of the RFP describing the tasks that the seller must perform to meet system requirements & how the project should be managed 3. SOWs used in the commercial sector may take various formats & names |
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RFP Content
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Part I - The Schedule
Part II - Contract clauses Part III - List of documents, exhibits & other attachments Part IV - Representations & instructions Provides documentation requirements |
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RFP Contents
Part I - The Schedule |
Section A - Solicitation/contract form
Section B - Supplies/services & price/cost Section C - Description/specification/work statement Section D - Packaging & marking Section E - Inspection & acceptance Section F - Deliveries/performance Section G - Contract administration data Section H - Special contract requirements |
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RFP Contents
Part IV - Representations & instructions |
Section K - Representations, certifications & other statements of offerors
Section L - Instructions, conditions & notices of offeror Section M - Evaluation factors for award |
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RFP Contents
Provides documentation requirements |
1.Required documentation
2.Documentation formats 3.Delivery requirements 4.Review & delivery dates |
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Two basic compensation schemes
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1. Fixed-price
2. Cost-reimbursement |
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Compensation Scheme
Fixed-price |
1. buyer pays the seller a fixed sum
2. seller assumes the risk 3. profit is a direct function of the seller's ability to deliver an acceptable product for less than the price paid |
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Compensation Scheme
Cost-reimbursement |
1. buyer agrees to reimburse the seller's allowable costs plus profit
2. risk is shared 3. different profit incentives are used to motivate the seller to keep a lid on costs & to fulfil the provisions of the contract |
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2 types of Compensation schemes
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1. Fixed Price
2. Cost-reimbursement |
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Fixed Price Compensation scheme
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1. buyer pays the seller a fixed sum
2. sellar assumes the risk 3. profit is a direct function of the seller's ability to deliver an acceptable product for less than the price paid. |
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Cost-reimbursement compensation scheme
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1. buyer agrees to reimburse the sellers's allowable costs plus profit.
2. risk is shared 3. different profit incentives are used to motivate the seller to keep a lid on costs & to fulfil the provisions of the contract. |
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Time and Materials - other type of contract
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1. Provide for direct labor at fixed hourly rates (including contractor overhead, administrative loading and a profit margin) and materials (including both non-labor components and expenses) at cost
2. May be used when it is not possible to predict accurately the number of labor hours required |
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pro/cons of T&M
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1. because a profit margin is built into every hour worked, the seller has little incentive for cost control or labor efficiency.
2. contract should therefore establish a ceiling for the total dollar amount the seller can bill. 3. should only be used when no other contract type is suitable & that the contract contains a ceiling price that the seller exceeds at its own risk. |
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The primary objective of incentive clauses in a contract is to
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Synchronize objectives.
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Which of the following is not an activity of contract close-out?
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System auditing.
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Contract Termination
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1. on completion by delivery of goods & services.
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Contracts can be terminated before completion in two ways
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1. Termination for Convenience: occurs at any time during the contract even when the seller is performing satisfactorily
2. Termination for Default: occurs when the seller fails to perform satisfactorily |
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Contract Termination: Close-out
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1. Independent of the manner in which termination occurs, the contract must be closed out
2. Close-out is a clean-up activity where overhead rates are finalised, incentive & award fees are determined, excess property is disposed of, patent disclosures are made, claims are released, equipment is returned, excess funds are deobligated & performance is documented. 3. On cost-reimbursement contracts, audits are conducted to finalise overhead rates and to substantiate charges incurred during the contract - a time consuming process. |
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Contract Clauses
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1. Patent right, copyright & trade secret clauses
2. Rights in technical data & computer software clauses 3. Conflict of interest clause 4. Key personnel replacement clause 5. Use of facilities & equipment clause 6. Cost accounting standards clauses 7. Warranty clauses |
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Patent Right, Copyright & Trade Secret Clauses
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1. buyer's & seller's legal rights with regard to patents, copyrights & trade secrets must be established by clauses inserted in the contract
2. seller develops a patentable process or product using the buyer's funds, the buyer should have the right to patent it |
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Rights in Technical Data & Computer Software Clauses
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1. can provide the buyer owning unlimited rights to the technical data & computer software
2. Technical data refers to any recorded information, regardless of form or character, of a scientific or technical nature |
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General Data Rights Strategy
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1. Determine the purpose of the software product & the need for data to support that purpose
2. Develop a preliminary logistics concept that includes the use & maintenance of the software |
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Product Categories
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1. Software developed at the expense of the buyer
2. Software that will be provided by third-party suppliers |
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Warranty Clauses
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Spells out the required warranties & how they will be administered when implemented
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Software size (e.g., in terms of lines of code) is a management indicator primarily for
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Schedule
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Which is not true about the number of problem reports?
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Low number suggests good quality
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what is Six Sigma?
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1. measurement of quality
2. used to encompass concepts & tools 3. help achieve the goal of nearly perfect processes 4. management philosophy that emphasizes the need for fact-based decisions, customer focus & teamwork |
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Six Sigma Objectives
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1. Prevent defects
2. Reduce variation 3. Focus on customer 4. Make decision based on facts 5. Encourage teamwork |
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Six Sigma encompasses QA principles, it also goes beyond them to include
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1. Greater focus on the customer
2. Focus on continuous improvement 3. Analysis & confirmation of facts before making decisions 4. Emphasis on teamwork 5. Breadth & depth of program |
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Six Sigma's objective
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is a better company
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Tools for Analytic Hierarchy Process
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1. Using Expert Choice to Support AHP
2. Basic Operations 3. Modelling and Making a Decision 4. Examining and Improving Consistency 5. Sensitivity Analysis |
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Methodology for Decision Making using Expert Choice
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1. Define & research the problem
2. Eliminate infeasible alternatives 3. Structure a decision model in the form of a hierarchy to include goal, criteria & sub-criteria, and alternatives 4. Evaluate the factors in the model by making pairwise relative comparisons 5. Synthesize to identify the "best" alternative 6. Examine & verify decision, iterate as required 7. Document the decision for justification & control |
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Analytic Hierarchy Process:
Using Expert Choice to Support AHP |
Expert Choice (EC) is a multi-objective decision support tool based on AHP
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AHP
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Analytic Hierarchy Process
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Following are the steps used in AHP and EC
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1. Brainstorm and structure a decision as a hierarchical model
2. Pairwise compare the objectives and sub-objectives for their importance in the decision 3. Pairwise compare the alternatives for their preference with respect to the objectives, or assess them using one of the following: |
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Introduction to Expert Choice:
AHP |
1. Using Expert Choice to Support AHP
2. Results vs Intuition |
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Modelling and Making a Decision: AHP
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1. Specifying the Goal
2. Specifying the Criteria 3. Specifying the Alternatives 4. Alternatives Pairwise Comparisons 5. Criteria Pairwise Comparisons 6. Decision Synthesis 7. |
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Examining and Improving Consistency:
AHP |
1. Examining Inconsistency
2. Activate the Verbal Comparison Window 3. Improving Inconsistency 4. |
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Sensitivity Analysis:
AHP |
1. Five Graphic Sensitivity Graphs
2. Performance Sensitivity 3. Dynamic Sensitivity 4. Gradient Sensitivity 5. Head-to-Head Sensitivity 6. Two Dimensional Sensitivity 7. |
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Steps of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP)
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1. Decomposing
2. Weighing 3. Evaluating 4. selecting |
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techniques or tools that analyse or help to narrow the field of choice.
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Analytical Hierarchy Process
Conflict Analysis Criteria Rating Form, Weighted Ranking Gap Analysis Importance / Performance Matrix Quantitative Decision Making Strategic Assessment Model Strategic Assumptions Surfacing and Testing Strategic Choice Approach |
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Which of the following is not an axiom of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)?
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Incompleteness
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Introduction to AHP:
Analytic Hierarchy Process |
1. multi-criteria decision making approach
2. useful feature is its applicability to the measurement of intangible criteria along with tangible criteria through ratio scales. 3. The success of the approach is a consequence of its simplicity & robustness |
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Introduction to AHP:
Structuring a Decision Problem |
1. support multiple decision factors
2. Factors are structured as a hierarchy 3. From an overall goal to criteria, sub-criteria & alternatives in successive levels 4. The hierarchy provides an overall view of the complex relationships between factors inherent in the problem |
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Which Important Factors to Include in AHP?
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1. To represent the problem as thoroughly as possible
2. To identify the participants associated with the problem. 3. To consider the environment surrounding the problem. 4. To identify the issues or attributes that contribute to the solution |
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Weighting the Criteria. Basic criteria
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1. Develop a Pairwise Comparison Matrix
2. Develop a Normalized Matrix 3. Develop the Priority Vector |
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The Axioms of AHP
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1. Axiom 1 - Reciprocal Comparison
2. Axiom 2 - Homogeneity 3. Axiom 3 - Independence 4. Axiom 4 - Expectations |
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What is Outsourcing?
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1. The utilisation of world class skills, technology & resources to consult, develop & deploy business processes & IT solutions under a multi-year contractual relationship
2. long term contract in which one company manages & operates within an enterprise one or more business functions that could also be or usually have been provided in-house in a manner that helps reduce the costs & allows to focus on business strategic goals in order to increase shareholder value |
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Why Outsource?
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1. Resolve IT pain
2. Resolve IT vulnerability 3. Reduce operational IT costs |
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Why Outsource?
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1. Improve company focus
2. Reduce costs 3. Free resources for other things 4. Gain acess to world class capabilites 5. Resources not available internaly 6. re-engineering. Transition to eBiz 7. Reduce time to markect 8. Share risks 9. take advatage of off shore capabilites 10. out of control..cannot manage |
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why and what to consider when outourcing?
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1. Critical vs Strategic
2. strategic against commodity approach as a cutoff between what systems to outsource & what systems to keep in-house |
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strategic against commodity approach for outsourcing
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1. Minimising costs would be the paramount consideration in deciding whether to outsource the commodity systems
2. commodity systems that an outside supplier could probably provide as well as more cheaply than Energen could were |
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commodity systems
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1. telecommunications network
2.The three data centres 3. Support for PCs 4. Central accounting systems, e.g. payroll EDI |
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strategic systems
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1. Analysing seismic data
2. Monitoring quality control in the refineries 3. Scheduling & tracking oil from the wells, ships, and pipelines |
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An investment company would like to cut down its running expenses. Its management is evaluating the following proposals. Which one seems to be less risky?
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Outsourcing its IT support including user data backup, data restore, PC maintenance, and help desk support.
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Software Acquisition Best Practices by Management Area
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1. Risk Management
2. Planning 3. Program Visibility 4. Program Control 5. Engineering Practices & Culture 6. Process Improvement 7. Solicitation & Contracting |
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Best Practices by Management Area:
Risk Management |
1. Formalise risk tracking & review
2. Perform continuous risk management |
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Best Practices by Management Area:
Planning |
1. Activity planning
2. Joint team involvement |
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Best Practices by Management Area:
Program Visibility |
1. Effective communication structure
2. Issue-driven measures |
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Best Practices by by Management Area:
Program Control |
1. Test methodology
2. Regression testing 3. Independent verification & validation 4. Requirements change management 5. Technical quality assurance |
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Best Practices by Management Area:
Engineering Practices & Culture |
1. Include user in a multi-disciplined requirements support team
2. Encourage compatible analysis & design methods |
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Best Practices by Management Area:
Process Improvement |
1. Identifying & fostering sponsorship
2. Developing a software process improvement plan 3. Institutionalising the software process improvement plan |
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Best Practices by Management Area:
Solicitation & Contracting |
1. Use of periodic demos
2. Employ a customer/contractor integrated product team |
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Breathalyzer Test checks
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healthiness of the development effort through a set of questions
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Breathalyzer Test
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1. questions provide program managers with a "quick look" at software project health
2. To determine whether key program elements exist, without which the program is not likely to succeed |
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Breathalyzer Test test questions
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1. Do you have a current, credible activity network supported by a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?
2. you have a current, credible schedule & budget? 3. you know what software you are responsible for delivering? 4. Can you list the current top ten project risks? 5. Schedule Compression Percentage (people working abnormal hours? ) 6. estimated size of your software deliverable? Has the project scope been clearly established? 7. Controlled External Interfaces (external interface been identified?) 8. Expertise in Key Domains (your staff have sufficient expertise in the key project domains?) 9. Adequate Staff for Tasks & Schedule |
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Best practice for software acquisition
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1. Formal Risk Management
2. Agreement on Interfaces 3. Structured Peer Reviews 4. Metrics-based Scheduling & Management 5. Binary Quality Gates 6. Program-wide Visibility 7. Defect Tracking vs Quality Gates 8. 10 Configuration Management 9. People-aware Management Accountability |
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Best practice for software acquisition:
Binary Quality Gates |
1. Completion of each task in the lowest-level activity network needs to be defined by an objective binary indication
2. Problem Addressed a. focusing on detail, specific development or maintenance efforts can be more effectively identified, planned & tracked |
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Best practice for software acquisition:
Configuration Management |
1. an integrated process for identifying, documenting, monitoring, evaluating, controlling & approving all changes made during the life cycle of the program for information that is shared by more than one individual
2. Failure at configuration management is a sure way to dramatically increase complexity to the level of chaos |
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Best practice for software acquisition:
People-aware Management Accountability |
A significant part of software development & maintenance requires human intellect & creativity
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Principal Best Practices of Software Acquisition
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+ To improve software development & maintenance
productivity & quality + To reduce cost + To improve user satisfaction + Formal Risk Management + Agreement on Interfaces + Formal Inspections + Metrics-based Scheduling & Management + Binary Quality Gates at the Inch-Pebble Level + Program-wide Visibility of Progress against Plan + Defect Tracking against Quality Gates + Configuration Management + People-aware Management Accountability |
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Software size (e.g., in terms of lines of code) is a management indicator primarily for
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Schedule
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Which is not true about the number of problem reports?
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Low number suggests good quality
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