Acquisition Views (AcV) [Programme Views]
AcV-2 Programme Timelines v1.2
AcV-2 view products provide a timeline perspective on programmes.
Note: the name of this MODAF view was changed from ‘Acquisition Programmes’ following the MODAF Technical Group meeting on 9 February 2007.
Background:
The AcV-2 View is intended primarily to support the acquisition and fielding processes including the management of dependencies between projects and the integration of all the DLODs to achieve a successfully integrated military capability.
Usage:
- Project management and control (including delivery timescales)
- Project dependency risk identification
- Management of dependencies within a System of Systems (including all Lines of Development)
- Portfolio management (for System of Systems acquisition)
- Through Life Management Planning (TLMP)
Data objects:
The data in an AcV-2 can include:
- Projects
- Project Milestones
- Threads (e.g. DLOD)
- Project Dependencies
- Capability Configurations
Relationships Between Key Data Objects (Simplified from M3)
Representation:
- Timeline View
UML Timing Diagrams may also be permissible in future.
Detailed Product Description:
The Programme Timelines (AcV-2) View provides an overview of a programme of individual projects, based on a time-line. Projects may be broken into workstreams to show the dependencies at a lower level. For capability-based procurement, these workstreams might conveniently be equated with Defence Lines of Development (DLODs). Sometimes, however, it is more appropriate to consider these acquisition projects in their own right.
Where appropriate the AcV-2 View may also summarise, for each of the projects illustrated, the level of maturity achieved across the DLODs at each stage of the CADMID lifecycle, and the interdependencies between the project stages.
The AcV-2 View is intended primarily to support the acquisition and fielding processes including the management of dependencies between projects and the integration of all the DLODs to achieve a successfully integrated military capability. The information provided by the View can be used to determine the impact of either planned or unplanned programmatic changes, and highlight opportunities for optimisation across the delivery programme. The inclusion of the DLOD information allows areas of concern that are outside of the immediate scope of an Integrated Project Team (IPT) to be considered. Areas of concern identified across the DLODs, e.g. a shortfall in training resource, can be co-ordinated across a programme or group of projects, each of which require additional activity to be initiated to successfully deliver to the project/programme schedule.
An AcV-2 View Product graphically displays the key milestones and interdependencies between the multiple projects that constitute a programme. Use of AcV-2 should support the management of capability delivery and be aligned with the capability phasing view (StV-3), if one exists.
Although an AcV-2 View Product may be compiled for a single system project, with supporting workstreams, the View becomes particularly useful when considering the dependencies between the multiple projects, or increments within them, that contribute to an acquisition programme. Such an acquisition programme may be a DPA cluster organisation or any other useful grouping of projects that have strong dependencies or contribute towards a common goal (see AcV-1). Typical use of AcV-2 is that a single bar on the AcV-2 represents an individual system development, while an IPT may be delivering several systems simultaneously.
The presentational format for an AcV-2 Product is a Gantt chart that displays the entire CADMID or CADMIT cycle of each project, together with dependencies between them.
Optionally, the Gantt chart may be enhanced to show the level of maturity for each of the DLODs associated with that project at each key milestone. The coloured icon can be a segmented circular pie chart, a regular polyhedron or any appropriate graphic providing that the graphic is explained and covers all MOD DLODs.
Example AcV-2
The specific enhancements to the standard Gantt chart format are:
- Gantt Chart ‘bars’ – The Gantt ‘bars’ on the View are colour-coded or shaded to indicate the relevant phases of the CADMID / CADMIT cycle. The colour or shading aids clarity; allowing the View to be interpreted quickly by the reader.
- Coloured Icon – The coloured icon is inserted between each stage of the CADMID / CADMIT lifecycle to represent the level of maturity across the DLODs. No particular shape is required though a segmented circular pie chart is likely to be most useful. The segments represent the level of maturity within a single DLOD specifically for the project being represented by the Gantt chart ‘bar’. The cells are colour coded (or shaded) on a traffic light basis, to indicate the level of outstanding issues in the particular DLOD:
- Green cells indicate that there are no outstanding issues or areas of concern and that the DLOD is at a level of maturity appropriate to the stage of the lifecycle
- Yellow cells indicate that there are outstanding issues or areas of concern, but that there are planned activities that will provide resolution in the required timescale and the DLOD is at a level of maturity appropriate to the stage of the lifecycle
- Red cells indicate that there are outstanding issues or areas of concern, for which the are no planned activities that will provide resolution in the required timescale, or that the DLOD is below the level of maturity appropriate to the stage of the acquisition lifecycle
- White cells indicate that the DLOD relevance is not known at this time
- Black cells indicate that the DLOD is not required
This is illustrated below.
DLOD Status for AcV-2
The detail of all issues or areas of concern, or reference to relevant documents and/or points of contact, that contribute to a yellow or red cell should be included as a textual annex to the AcV-2 Product.
A template for this form of AcV-2 is shown below.
AcV-2 Template (with DLOD Status)
Example AcV-2 (with DLOD Status)
In support of the management of a programme of acquisition projects, it is desirable to have a set of common milestones at the programme level at each which the maturity of each constituent projects is judged. MODAF does, however, allow the flexibility to define individual milestones at the project level if required.
Example AcV-2 (Programme Synchronisation)
While AcV-2 would typically be expected to support acquisition management for a programme consisting of a portfolio of acquisition projects, it may sometimes be convenient to use an AcV-2 timeline view for other purposes, e.g. to show temporal relationships between transformation initiatives at the strategic level or for technology roadmapping.
Example AcV-2 (Technology Roadmap)
Page version 1.2, dated 14th August 2008