A White Paper on IV&V Cost
  A White Paper on the DPMA
   Managing A Large Complex Program Made Easier
   Evaluating Government Policies and Regulations Made Easier
   Managing Procurements and Contracts Made Easier
   Fixing Software Problems Made Easier

A White Paper on IV&V Cost
Philip W. Ching
Aplix Research, Inc.
April 1, 2010
1. SUMMARY

IV&V stands for Independent Verification and Validation. It is “the” method of operation for project development and management. A large government project usually has three teams: The government-team which is the program office responsible for the project, the contractor-team which actually builds the system, and the IV&V-team which has the responsibility of Independent Verification and validation (IV&V) to ensure the project progresses smoothly and meets all the contractual requirements.

IV&V scope of work can include workflow management across the life cycle of a project. In particular it includes the process of building Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM). It also includes conducting audits and reviews like FCA (Functional Configuration Audit) and PCA (Physical Configuration Audit), data collection and compiles many reviews and reports.

Many companies, big or small, are doing IV&V contracts. It is a labor intensive process. Therefore the real difference is the cost. Traditional approach is labor intensive that can incur great cost but are acceptable by default. Modern approach costs less because they can harness more on the power of computers and communication. The most cost effective approach is using web based dynamic matrices (like Aplix Research, Inc does). Because it is web based it creates a single global view open to all member of the project. Its IV&V process is thorough, complete, and efficient.

This white paper is a case study on the IV&V effort based on 1000 contractual requirements and its associated Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM). It is estimated that under old approach the effort will be about 46 man-weeks. Under the current approach the effort will be about 23 man-weeks. Using our (i.e., Aplix Research, Inc) approach the effort will be about 7 man-weeks.

2. STATE OF BUSINESS TEN YEARS AGO

The FAA communication system project called VSCS (Voice System and Control System) in the late 80s and early 90’s was a $2 billion project in two phases (prototype phase and production phase). It is an en-route air traffic control system that is still in use in nation’s en-route air traffic control centers. The project has approximately 5000 requirements based on its original requirement specification. Its prototype phase took about four years to complete. I was a software (technical) lead during the prototype phase. I was heavily involved with IV&V process during the prototype phase to ensure that all software requirements are met. The following was one of the scenarios of doing the IV&V:

The method of operation used was largely manual effort and independent verification was only able to be done by statistical sampling. When it comes to requirement audit the IV&V tasks can include activities like FCA (Functional Configuration Audit and PCA (Physical Configuration Audit). A group of 10 staff members (one from the government-team, four from the IV&V-team and five from the contractor-team) can stay in a hotel for a full week with numerous hard copy documents spreading the entire room. The group was physically chasing documents to trace the requirements statements.

To build a Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) the core of the work is each “shall sentence” (i.e., the requirement statement) has to be extracted from the requirement specification and be synchronized with statements in other project documents. The following formula uses five typical such documents: The SOW (Statement of Work), the System Level Specification, the Hardware Design Document, the Software Design Document, and the Testing Documents. It is estimated that for each requirement it could take at least 20 minutes to process (e.g., locate, copy, paste, and synchronize). Note this does not include the effort from the contractor-team.

RTM build-effort:       20 minutes X 5 documents X 1000 requirements =
                               100000 minutes = 1666.6 man-hours = 41.6 man-week

Other support-effort: 4.16 man-weeks

Total effort:              45.76 man-weeks

Note: There were many meetings, traveling, tiger-team activities to resolve requirement issues and yet the process still could not conduct a full tracing during the audit. With that much effort, the program manager could not see the real actions of the IV&V activities. He or she could only see reports from the IV&V-team.


3. CURRENT STATE OF BUSINESS

The current approach is using spread sheets extensively and heavily relied on PC to do the processing. IV&V tools like DOORS (Dynamic Object Oriented Requirement System) are very difficult to use. Their training is restricted to technical people and the cost of training is high.

At current state of business the improvement appears to be the IV&V-team is able to conduct a full tracing of all the requirements. It is estimated that it will take 10 minutes to extract and process one shall statement when building the RTM.

RTM build-effort:       10 minutes X 5 documents X 1000 requirements =
                               50000 minutes = 833.3 man-hours = 20.8 man-week

Other support-effort: 2.08 man-weeks

Total effort:              22.88 man-weeks

The program manager must depend on technical people to sense the progress of the project. Mostly, he or she still relies on report from the IV&V-team.


4. Aplix Research, Inc. APPROACH

Aplix Research uses web based dynamic matrices using its search engine technology in “search, compare and contrast” of documents. Aplix Research owns two US patents to protect its business operations. This technology allows Aplix Research to synchronize multiple documents and to map large number of multiple documents to the RTM efficiently. It is estimated that Aplix Research can process one “shall statement” in about 3 minutes when building a RTM. Since the RTM is web based there is a minimal training cost for members of the project.

RTM build-effort:       3 minutes X 5 documents X 1000 requirements =
                               15000 minutes = 250 man-hours = 6.3 man-week

Other support-effort: 0.63 man-weeks

Total effort:              6.93 man-weeks

A web based dynamic matrix which is openly accessible to all members of the project team. This includes the program manager who can view the details of project status at any time. The tracing can be full and complete.

A White Paper on DYNAMIC PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AID (DPMA)
Philip W. Ching
Aplix Research, Inc.
January, 2000
1. SUMMARY

The Dynamic Program Management Aid (DPMA) is a Web based system developed by Aplix Research, Inc. to improve productivity through automation of various program management tasks. Large projects present a managerial challenge to control and coordinate a wide variety of program documentation. DPMA provides a simple and intuitive tool to aid project management, and configuration management while providing simultaneous, convenient, on-line access to all necessary documentation.

Aplix Research, Inc. specializes in Web based information services to help customers simplify complex documentation tasks. Aplix Research will provide DPMA with supporting services to help customers replace time - consuming manual tasks with automated electronic processing.

2. CAPABILITIES AND APPLICATIONS

2.1 Dynamic Tracking Center

The DPMA system provides a "Dynamic Tracking Center" which is a centralized matrix to manage and track issues. By clicking on any data item in the matrix, the system will display specific information related to that item.

Applications

a. CDRL Tracking Matrix -
User can establish a centralized matrix to monitor CDRL (Contract Data Requirements List) delivery status. For example, by clicking on a section number of the SOW (Statement Of Work) the system will display the paragraph in the SOW that states the requirement, or, by clicking on a CDRL comment number, the system will display a specific government CDRL comment and the status of its resolution.

b. Cost Tracking Matrix -
User can establish a centralized matrix to manage the cost of a project. For example, by clicking on a CLIN (Contract Line Item Number) the system will display the specific CLIN and view any Cost Breakdown Structure associated with the CLIN. Note: DPMA is not an accounting system. Rather, it dynamically links relevant documents to aid the validation of the accounting data.

c. Security Requirements Tracking Matrix -
User can establish a centralized matrix to track information systems security requirements. For example, by clicking on a test number the DPMA will display its test procedure and test result of that security requirement.

2.2 Side-By-Side Cross Referencing of Multiple Documents

The DPMA system allows users to do side-by-side cross-referencing of multiple documents. User can enter a phrase and the system will display a list of section numbers from multiple documents that contain the user's phrase. Multiple documents can include engineering specifications, SOW (Statement Of Work), FAT (Factory Acceptance Test), proposals, PTRs (Problem Trouble Reports), PMRs (Program Monthly Reports), memos, contract letters, or even e-mails.

Applications

a.
Tracking Correspondence -
A large program always has hundreds of memos and e-mails between the vendors and the program office. To understand what had been said or agreed upon can be a formidable task. Side-by-side cross-referencing is a time saving way to isolate relevant information and to track specific issues across multiple documents.

b. Multiple Proposal Evaluation -
This formidable task usually takes several staff members to do the job. When evaluating multiple proposals, the DPMA can locate specific paragraphs from proposal A, proposal B, proposal C ... and display them side-by-side against the requirement document, for example, the RFP (Request For Proposal).

c. Technical Audits -
Technical audits, such as a Functional Configuration Audit (FCA) or a Physical Configuration Audit (PCA), require the validation of all contractor (and sub-contractors) provided documents (e.g., System and subsystems specification, Top level design document, Hardware design document, Software design document, Interface design document, Test plans and Factory Acceptance Test, etc.) against all government requirements. This can be an extremely time consuming process. The DPMA system can automate the technical audit process by allowing user to conduct dynamic requirements tracing. DPMA allows the user to easily accomplish the audit process.

2.3 Intelligent Library

DPMA provides an Intelligent Library that allows users to quickly and accurately identify specific pieces of information that contain specific words. "Specific pieces of information" can be sections or paragraphs from a large document. "specific words" can be a phrase supplied by the user.

Applications

a. Training Aid -
Since DPMA can find specific information swiftly and accurately, it can be used by the user to learn complex program requirements, definitions, acronyms, and relevant information that is usually buried in documents. In particular, the DPMA will be a good facility for new employees to learn a complex system.

b. Problem Analysis -
By using the advanced search capability in the "Analysis mode", DPMA can help the user analyze problems and identify correlations among different technical terms or concepts. For example, suppose you are faced with hundreds of reports, memos, and large documents. You want to find all reports, memos, or paragraphs that contain Word A and Word B - let's say you found 95 of them. Second time you want to add one more conceptual word in your search. That is you want to identify them as long as they contain Word A, Word B, and Word C - let's say you get 25 of them this time. You can add another conceptual word and filter down to just a few of them. Now you have a better view of the problem because you are able to see all those reports, memos, or paragraphs that contain these conceptual words.

c. Archival Storage -
All documents are stored on-line in an Electronic Library for review by any user (via username and password) at any time. This reduces the need to carry hard copies of the documents, which is especially convenient when attending meetings.

2.4 Side-By-Side Comparison of Documents

The DPMA system allows users to view the changes made to documents by using the side-by-side comparison of documents.

Applications

a. Contract Modifications -
Contractually, it is important to know exactly where changes are made to a contract. Many times it can be difficult for a human being to catch precisely the changes, for example, when "system" becomes "systems". DPMA can be used to view and validate changes made to a contract in a side-by-side and user friendly display.

b. Large Engineering Specifications -
A large engineering specification (e.g. with 1000 pages) usually has many changes over a period of time. To view exactly where the changes were made is beyond the capability of a word processor on a user's desktop machine. DPMA can provide the user with a hierarchical side-by-side display of differences between two documents. For example, DPMA can identify differences based on sub-volumes of the document, or based on sections from the document, or based on sentences from the document and its individual words. Since DPMA is Web based its side-by-side display can be viewed by different users in different locations at the same time.

3. OPERATION

3.1 Configuration Options

DPMA is flexible and can be configured to use on: the Internet, the Intranet, or on a standalone Notebook computer.

a. Internet option -
DPMA can be configured on the Internet, where users in different locations of the country can access and use the DPMA. In this case the DPMA system will be put under tight security control.

b. Intranet option -
DPMA can be configured on the Intranet, and users from different offices that are connected by the LAN can use the DPMA capabilities. Users will be authenticated by username and password.

c. Notebook computer option -
DPMA can be configured on a Notebook computer as a standalone system. The DPMA capability can be carried with the user while traveling. In addition, the Notebook computer can also be configured as "network ready". This means at any time the Notebook computer can be plugged into the LAN and the DPMA can be accessed by other users on the LAN.

3.2 User Community

Users access the DPMA system via a standard web browser. There are two types of users: regular users or special users.

a. Regular users -
A regular user can be any one authorized by the system. For example, the user can be technical staff, administrative support, or a manager. To access the DPMA, the user must have a username and password.

b. Special users -
A special user is the same as a regular user except that user will have the additional privilege of modifying or updating files that are under the control of the DPMA system. For example, updating the status of a test requirement from "pending" to "completed".

3.3 System Setup and Maintenance Support

Aplix will provide initial setup of the DPMA system and the subsequent processing of the documents. Customers who choose to do their own document loading and processing should go through separate training on DPMA "System Administration."

Aplix Research will provide training to the end-user on how to use the system. Aplix Research will also provide regular maintenance support to ensure the smooth operation of the DPMA system.

4. BENEFITS

4.1 High Productivity

What used to be hours or days of manual work can now be accomplished in few seconds or minutes. For example, the FCA (Functional Configuration Audit) or PCA (Physical Configuration Audit) process usually takes a dozen staff and more than a week to perform the audit. By using the DPMA facility the FCA audit process can now be accomplished within a few days with a lot less people. DPMA enables the entire project to be much more visible for project management. It helps synchronize the project team, providing a substantial increase in team productivity.

4.2 Low Cost

Currently, for FAA users Aplix Research, Inc. imposes no per-seat or per-user license on the usage of the DPMA. There is no hardware or software per-user cost, and there is no hardware and software installation or maintenance cost for the users' desktop machines. Aplix Research will charge a fee for document processing and a nominal fee to ensure smooth operation of the system.

4.3 Easy to Use

There is no technical training necessary for the end-user to use the DPMA system other than how to use a standard Web browser. Of course, it is assumed that user has a Web browser on his/her desktop machine.

4.4 Flexibility in Operation

The DPMA system can be configured on a notebook computer, or for access via the Intranet or Internet. A web based design allows users to access the DPMA from anywhere in the country. Arrangements can be made for the DPMA to be setup for hands-on user evaluation.

5. CONCLUSION

The DPMA system takes advantage of latest Web based technology to achieve cost effective services providing high productivity in many areas of work that are document driven. It is user friendly and easy to use. Please contact Aplix Research, Inc. for more information or a demonstration: 13820 Appaloosa Court, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, U.S.A. (Phone) 301-762-8552, (Fax) 301-762-0793.

Managing A Large Complex Program Made Easier
Title: Managing A Large Complex Program Made Easier
Time and Date: 11:00am Monday September 27th, 2004
Place: En Route Program, FAA ATO Independence Ave, Washington DC
1. Introduction

Speaker: Philip W. Ching Ph.D., president of Aplix Research, Inc. and adjunct faculty in computer science (epp) at Johns Hopkins University.

2. Electronic File Cabinet

User can swiftly isolate and get specific paragraphs (or sentences) from a large document. This capability has many advantages. For example, learning a large complex system can become a lot easier since user can quickly retrieve relevant paragraphs (or sentences) on a particular subject from a mountain of documents within seconds.

3. Dynamic Tracking Matrix (DTM)

A Dynamic Tracking Matrix can provide a bird's eye view of all the requirements starting from the original Requirement Document to System Level Specification, to the Design Document, and so on. User can find out the status of a requirement by clicking an appropriate entry in the DTM. User can see the original requirement statement and where it leads to a paragraph in the Design Document, and which test procedure is associated with the requirement in the Test Document and some associated PTRs. All these can indeed be accomplished within minutes of time.

For example, conducting FCA (Functional Configuration Audit) can be made a lot easier. We can generate a Dynamic Tracking Matrix quickly, and FCA activities will become simple tasks. What used to be several weeks of effort can indeed be accomplished in a few days with a lot less supporting staff.

4. Side-by-Side Cross-Referencing (of multiple documents)

Giving a particular term (i.e., keywords) user can view those (and only those) sentences from multiple documents. User can display them side-by-side to view any consistence, duplications, or dependency among multiple documents.

This capability can be very useful for evaluating multiple proposals, government standards, systems specifications and contract documents. What used to be days or hours of manual work can indeed be accomplished in minutes.

5. Side-by-Side Comparison (of different baseline documents)

User can compare two documents side-by-side. User can see what add, delete, or change has been made to the documents. For example, if some letter was changed from upper case to lower case, user can see an underline at the words.

This capability can be very useful when comparing two different versions of the same document. For example, contract modification or ECP (Engineering Change Proposal) verification.

6. PTRs (Problem Trouble Reports) Scrubbing

User can conduct side-by-side cross-reference of different PTRs against system level specification and design documents. PTRs (or review comments) scrub meetings can be conducted in a much more efficient way. Different parties at different locations can simultaneously and precisely review multiple PTRs for their redundancy and consistency without requiring the participants to travel. A tremendous saving in the time and the cost.

7. How Does It Work?

There will be no disturbance to your existing computer environment. This means there shall be no hardware or software installation on any of your existing computers. Since the tool is browser based it is easy to use. We shall deliver a plug&play computer for the Program Office as an add-on capability.

Initial Phase: We shall deliver a plug&play laptop computer (with your documents setup) for the Program Office to use. The laptop computer can be shared simultaneously among different users on your office LAN. You can also bring the laptop computer to the contractor site for PMR meetings, Critical Design Reviews, etc.

8. Questions and Discussion

Evaluating Government Policies and Regulations Made Easier
Title: Evaluating Government Policies and Regulations Made Easier
Date and Time: 10:00am Tuesday August 31st, 2004
Place: APO-300, FAA Headquarter, 800 Independence Ave, Washington DC
1. Introduction

Speaker: Philip W. Ching Ph.D., president of Aplix Research, Inc. and adjunct faculty in computer science (epp) at Johns Hopkins University.

2. Electronic File Cabinet

User can swiftly isolate and get specific paragraphs (or sentences) from a large document. This can be very useful if you try to understand a particular term from a large regulatory document.

3. Side-by-Side Cross-Referencing

Giving a particular term (i.e., keywords) user can view those (and only those) sentences from multiple documents. User can display them side-by-side to view any consistence, duplications, or dependency among multiple documents. This can be very useful for evaluating multiple government policies and regulations. What used to be days or hours of manual work can indeed be accomplished in minutes.

4. Side-by-Side Comparison

User can compare two documents side-by-side. User can see what add, delete, or change has been made to the documents. For example, if some letter was changed from upper case to lower case, user can see an underline at the words. This can be very useful when comparing two versions of the same Policy document.

5. How Does It Work?

There shall be no disturbance to your existing environment. This means there shall be no hardware or software installation on any of your existing computers. Since the tool is browser based, it is very easy to use. Therefore no heavy user training is necessary. We shall deliver a plug & play laptop computer (with your documents setup) for your evaluation.

6. Questions and Discussion

Managing Procurements and Contracts Made Easier
Title: Managing Procurements and Contracts Made Easier
Time and Date: 10:00am Wednesday October 13th, 2004
Place: Maryland Judicial Center, Annapolis, Maryland
1. Introduction

Speaker: Philip W. Ching Ph.D., President of Aplix Research Inc. (a Maryland MBE company) and adjunct faculty in computer science (epp), Johns Hopkins University.

2. Summary

This presentation is about a set of capabilities (or tools) that can be used in managing procurements and enforcing contract compliance. The goal is to demonstrate that tremendous amount of paper work can be reduced.

3. Electronic File Cabinets

We can organize all your documents (or records) into Electronic File Cabinets. You can swiftly isolate and get specific paragraphs (or sentences) from large documents.

This capability has many advantages. For example, you can extract all pieces of descriptions of a particular State Code (e.g., for building construction) from a mountain of state-regulatory documents within seconds.

4. Side-by-Side Cross-Referencing (of multiple documents)

Giving a particular term (i.e., keywords) you can view those (and only those) sentences from multiple documents. You can display them side-by-side to view any consistence, duplications, or dependency among multiple documents.

This capability can be very useful for evaluating multiple proposals, government policy and regulations, and contract documents. It can also be used effectively for enforcing contract compliance. What used to be days or hours of manual work can indeed be accomplished in minutes.

5. Side-by-Side Comparison (of different versions of a document)

You can compare two documents side-by-side. You can see what add, delete, or change has been made to the documents. For example, if some letter was changed from upper case to lower case, user can see an underline at the words.

This capability can be very useful when comparing two different versions of the same document. For example, it can be used for validating contract modifications.

6. Manage Contractual Issues

There are usually many contractual (or procurement) issues that must be resolved in time. We can electronically setup a centralized database so you can manage all your contractual issues effectively. For example, you can sort these contractual issues by dates, priority, assignees, and status, etc. You can also conduct side-by-side cross-reference of different issues against the Statement Of Work or system requirements document. You can review all these contractual issues in a much more efficient way. Different parties at different locations can simultaneously and precisely review multiple issues for their redundancy, consistency, and compliancy without requiring the participants to travel. This can be a tremendous saving in the time and cost for your department.

7. Dynamic Tracking Matrix (DTM)

A Dynamic Tracking Matrix can provide a bird's eye view of all contractual requirements starting from the Statement of Work to System Level Specification, to the Design Document, and so on. You can find out the status of a contractual requirement by clicking an appropriate entry in the DTM. User can see the original requirement statement and where it leads to a paragraph in the Design Document, and which test procedure is associated with the requirement in the Test Document, and some associated contractual issues. All these can indeed be accomplished within minutes of time.

8. How Does It Work?

These capabilities are easy to use. They are web based so all the user needs is a standard web browser on her desktop PC. There will be no disturbance to your existing computer environment. This means there will be no hardware or software installation on any of your existing computers. We can deliver a plug&play computer (e.g., a laptop) with your documents setup as an add-on capability in your office environment. This computer can be shared simultaneously among different users in the office. We will provide follow up service. The cost will primarily be driven by the amount of your documents that need to be imported into the system.

Other option: We can also host your documents at a dedicated Internet site (to be setup by the Aplix Research, Inc.) so you can access the Internet and use these capabilities via a standard browser.

9. Questions and Discussion

Fixing Software Problems Made Easier - A Case Study
Philip W. Ching Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University and Aplix Research, Inc.
Presented on August 5, 2004 to Harris Corporation at Melbourne, Florida
1. Summary

A major cost for any systems vendor is the cost of fixing software problems. A software problem can be either a software malfunction or a requirement compliance issue. This seminar will demonstrate that fixing software problems can be made a lot easier than it used to be. We shall focus on the following scenario:

Let's say there is a software problem. Before we can provide a solution (or a fix), we need to understand its requirement and its design. In other words we need to perform the following tasks:
1) We need to find out the original requirement and its traceability among available documentation (e.g., engineering specification, design document, test document, etc.).
2) We need to identify if there were any changes to the requirement by comparing different versions of the documents.
3) We need to validate the requirement for its consistency and dependency on other requirements.
4) We also need to find out what code changes were made to this program that we plan to modify.
5) AND, we would like to accomplish each task in few minutes of time.

Benefits: All these tasks can be accomplished in a fast, accurate and cost effective manner. User will have the benefit of understanding (or learning) a complex system easier and sooner in order to resolve a software problem.

2. Assumptions

Let's assume that we are working in a large system development and maintenance environment, and the system has reasonable amount of documentations. For example we have Requirements Document, Design Document, Test Procedures, User Manuals, Program Source Code, etc. Let's also assume that the electronic copies of these documents are available and they are organized in Electronic File Cabinets. This is because when tracing a requirement, we need some level of electronic form available to be searched, compared, and cross-referenced.

In the following discussion, a requirement statement is a shall statement (commonly used in a DOD or FAA environment). In other words, it is a sentence that contains a "shall" as its auxiliary verb in a contractual document. A requirement document consists of many requirement statements. For example, a contractual document like Statement of Work (SOW) can be viewed as a requirement document.

3. Understand the Requirement Status

For a large and complex project, a Requirements Document is often among the first few documents to be established. Other important documents (e.g., System Level Specification, Interface Design Document, Software Design Document, and Test Procedures) will become mature as the project progresses. After the system is deployed, there will be Problem Trouble Reports (PTRs) that must be tracked and managed. Each requirement is a shall statement that can be traced upward the chain of these documents and also down the chain of these documents. A requirement is traceable if its chain is validated and continuous.

We can use a Dynamic Tracking Matrix to provide a bird's eye view of all the requirements starting from the original Requirement Document to System Level Document, to the Design document, and so on. You can find out the status of a requirement by clicking an appropriate entry in this Dynamic Tracking Matrix. You can see the original requirement statement and where it leads to a paragraph in the Design Document, and which test procedure is associated with the requirement in the Test Document. All these can indeed be accomplished within minutes of time.

4. Find out any Design Changes or Requirement Changes

In a large system development and maintenance environment, requirements were often changed without good documentation. This can generate frustrations for managers and software engineers when they received a Problem Trouble Report (PTR) from the customer. If a requirement is not clear enough, we cannot provide a solution to the problem as reported from the field.

However, for baseline documents we can use a side-by-side comparison to track design changes or requirement changes easily. We can compare different versions of the Requirements Document side by side to view precisely which words were added, deleted, or modified. This can be accomplished within minutes of time.

5. Validate the Requirements

An engineering requirement in a large system can be quite complex. For example, it is possible that the original allocation of a requirement to the Design Document is not adequate. Also, there are dependencies between different requirements and inconsistencies between different software modules. These inconsistencies are difficult to spot because they are buried in multiple and large documents. They will eventually show up as problems in the field.

To help ease the problem, we can use side-by-side cross reference of multiple documents to isolate relevant paragraphs (or sentences) from multiple documents. We can then validate consistency between relevant requirement statements. We can also use side-by-side cross reference to understand dependency or redundancy among different but related requirements. This task can be accomplished in few minutes.

6. Identify any changes made to the Source Code

Another scenario in a large system maintenance environment is that many patches (i.e., code changes) had been made to the software. A programmer cannot provide a good solution if she does not understand what were the changes made to the same piece of code that she tries to fix.

We can use side-by-side comparison to view different versions of the same program. We can see precisely what add, delete, and modifications were made to a particular piece of code. A side-by-side comparison will pinpoint to a change even if it is a difference of punctuation, or a change of upper case to the lower case. This task can also be accomplished within minutes of time.

7. Benefits to the End User

The method and tools that we described above can be collectively called DPMA (Dynamic Project Management Aid). Its benefits are numerous. DPMA can help user gain productivity with high quality in many areas of work that are document-driven. What used to be days or hours of manual work can indeed be accomplished in few minutes.

DPMA allows technical documents to be easily visible to a large group of community rather than restrict access only to a few people with special training. For example, there is no need to ask for help from specially trained staff to access the on-line requirements documents. Since DPMA is browser based user can access the documents any time and anywhere. User does not need special training to access the system other than using a browser. Also, there is no software or hardware installation necessary on user's desktop computer. In other words, DPMA allows project documents to be compared and discussed simultaneously by participants in different geographical locations.

8. Other Applications (made easier)

There are other applications that can be made easier by using the DPMA. The following are a few examples:

1) FCA audit -
Conduct of FCA (Functional Configuration Audit) can be made a lot easier. For example, if Dynamic Tracking Matrix can be generated quickly and accurately, then FCA activities are simple tasks. It is estimated that what used to be several weeks of FCA work can now be accomplished in few days with man power reduction from 12 people to about 4 people.

2) PTRs scrubbing -
PTRs scrubbing (or review comments scrubbing) meetings can be conducted in a much more efficient and cost effective manner. Different parties at different locations can simultaneously and precisely review multiple PTRs for their redundancy and consistency without requiring the participants to travel.

3) Training -
Learning a large complex system can become a lot easier since user can quickly retrieve relevant paragraphs (or sentences) of a particular subject from a mountain of documents. For example, any acronyms (or compounded acronyms) can be explained quickly by isolating and retrieving only those paragraphs that contain the description of the acronym.

4) Trouble Shooting and Decision Support -
DPMA can be used to help for trouble shooting after a system failure. It can support a quick decision by isolating relevant information swiftly from a large number of user manuals or diagnostic manuals.

5) FAA-iCMM Implementation -
Using DPMA allows an organization to implement the iCMM requirements effectively without incurring substantial cost. This is because DPMA can perform many of the BP (Base Practice) list of work as required by the FAA-iCMM (see an attached table for more details).
 
 
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