Concept of Operations

Challenges:
When an organization makes the decision to move to a product line approach for acquiring or developing software, it must address several key issues:

What is the product line?
How will the product line be introduced?
What are the key organizational elements involved in defining, developing, and fielding the product line?
What is the relationship between the product line and systems within the product line?
How will the architecture be developed and maintained?
What are the sources of software components and other assets?

Overview:
An organization develops a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) to establish the desired product line approach that it wishes to take. The CONOPS service works with organizations to document the decisions that define the approach and the organizational structure needed to put the approach into operation.

Benefits:
The Concept of Operations provides a forum for exchange of information among the stakeholders on major technical and programmatic issues related to core asset development/acquisition. It describes the use of the architecture and assets in producing products and the reflection of that use back into the product line assets for their continued improvement.

Who Would Benefit:
Software product or project managers, software product line managers, software architects

Example Use:
During a recent engagement, the SEI and a customer team developed a three-phase approach for fielding a product line. The phases spanned seven years and covered initial asset development, fielding of initial products, and long-term sustainment of the product line. The CONOPS document the phased development.

Description:
The CONOPS for a product line will contain the following:

A clear statement of the goals and objectives of the product line
The strategies, tactics, policies, and constraints that describe how the product line process will effect the fielding of the product line
The organizations, activities, and interactions that describe who will participate in fielding the product line and what these stakeholders do in that process
A clear statement of the responsibilities and authority of the roles played in the process
The specific operational processes, in overview fashion, that provide a process model for fielding the product line in terms of when and in what order these operation processes take place, including such things as dependencies and concurrencies
Processes for initiating the product line, developing the products and components, maintenance of the products, product line, and components, and possibly for retirement of the product line and its products and components

The CONOPS should relate a narrative of the process to be followed in fielding the product line. It must define the roles of the various product line stakeholders involved in the process. The CONOPS is not intended to be an implementation or transition plan since it does not provide managers with the detailed steps involved in planning for the transition: establishing accountability, managing risk, scheduling, and budgeting. However, it does offer a clear methodology to realize the goals and objectives of the product line approach to software development/acquisition of core assets and systems within the product line.

Outputs of Concept of Operations development include:

Organizational Roles and Responsibilities
Characteristics of the process for fielding the product line
Basis for long-term planning for the product line

Availability:
SEI staff will work with a customer organizational team to develop a Concept of Operations.

Additional Information:

Technical details: Sholom Cohen
Cohen, S. "Generic Concept of Operations for Product Lines" (CMU/SEI-99-TR-008).
Arranging Concept of Operations services: Linda Northrop

Keywords:
Operations