Technical Solution

Purpose:

Establishes organizational expectations for addressing the iterative cycle in which product or product component solutions are selected, designs are developed, and designs are implemented.

Objective:

Select, design, and implement solutions to requirements. Solutions, designs, and implementations encompass products, product components, and product-related lifecycle processes either singly or in combination as appropriate.

Description:

Technical Solution develops technical data packages for product components to be used by the Product Integration or Supplier Agreement Management process area. Alternative solutions are examined to select the optimum design based on established criteria. These criteria can be significantly different across products, depending on product type, operational environment, performance requirements, support requirements, and cost or delivery schedules. The task of selecting the final solution makes use of the specific practices in the Decision Analysis and Resolution process area.

Entrance Criteria:

• Design Specification Tools
• Simulators and Modeling Tools
• Prototyping Tools
• Scenario Definition and Management Tools
• Requirements Tracking Tools
• Interactive Documentation Tools

Exit Criteria:

• Product, Product Component, and Interface Designs
• Technical Data Packages
• Interface Design Documents
• Criteria for Design and Product Component Reuse
• Implemented Designs
• User, Installation, Operation, and Maintenance Documentation

Process and Procedures:

• Select Product Component Solutions
• Develop the Design
• Implement the Product Design

Tailoring Guidelines:

Organizations may choose to purchase a technical solution process and procedures rather than to develop them.  Using the Causal Analysis and Resolution process, they can tailor the process to fit their organization.

Process Verification Record(s):

• Product architecture
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• Product component design
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• Technical Data Package
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• Interface design specifications
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• Interface control documents
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• Interface specification criteria
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• Rationale for selected interface design
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• Criteria for design and product component reuse
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• Make-or-buy analyses
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• Guidelines for choosing COTS or SaaS product components
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• Results of the Make, Buy, or Reuse Analysis
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• Design defect density
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• Results of applying new methods and tools
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• Alternative solution screening criteria
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• Evaluation reports of new technologies
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• Alternative solutions
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• Selection criteria for final selection
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• Evaluation reports of COTS or SaaS products
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• Product component selection decisions and rationale
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• Documented relationships between requirements and product
  components
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• Documented solutions, evaluations, and rationale
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• Implemented Design
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• End-user training materials
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• User’s manual
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• Operator’s manual
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• Maintenance manual
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• Online help
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Measure(s):

• Establish and maintain criteria against which the design can be evaluated.
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• Identify, develop, or acquire the design methods appropriate for the product.
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• Ensure that the design adheres to applicable design standards and criteria.
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• Ensure that the design adheres to allocated requirements.
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• Document the design
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• Determine the number of levels of design and the appropriate level of documentation for each design level.
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• Determine the views to be used to document the architecture.
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• Base detailed design descriptions on the allocated product component requirements, architecture, and higher level designs.
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• Document the design in the technical data package.
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• Document the key (i.e., significant effect on cost, schedule, or technical performance) decisions made or defined, including their rationale.
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• Revise the technical data package as necessary.
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• Define interface criteria.
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• Identify interfaces associated with other product components.
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• Identify interfaces associated with external items.
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• Identify interfaces between product components and the product related lifecycle processes.
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• Apply the criteria to the interface design alternatives.
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• Document the selected interface designs and the rationale for the selection.
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• Develop criteria for the reuse of product component designs.
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• Analyze designs to determine if product components should be developed, reused, or purchased.
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• Analyze implications for maintenance when considering purchased or non-developmental.
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• Cost, schedule, and effort expended for rework
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• Percentage of requirements addressed in the product or product component design
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• Size and complexity of the product, product components, interfaces, and documentation
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• Defect density of technical solutions work products
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• Schedule for design activities
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• Identify screening criteria to select a set of alternative solutions for consideration.
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• Identify technologies currently in use and new product technologies for competitive advantage.
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• Identify candidate COTS or SaaS products that satisfy the requirements.
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• Identify re-usable solution components or applicable architecture patterns.
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• Generate alternative solutions.
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• Obtain a complete requirements allocation for each alternative.
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• Develop the criteria for selecting the best alternative solution.
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• Evaluate each alternative solution/set of solutions against the selection criteria established in the context of the operational concepts and scenarios.
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• Based on the evaluation of alternatives, assess the adequacy of the selection criteria and update these criteria as necessary.
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• Identify and resolve issues with the alternative solutions and requirements.
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• Select the best set of alternative solutions that satisfy the established selection criteria.
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• Establish the functional and quality attribute requirements associated with the selected set of alternatives as the set of allocated requirements to those product components.
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• Identify the product component solutions that will be reused or acquired.
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• Establish and maintain the documentation of the solutions, evaluations, and rationale.
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• Use effective methods to implement the product components
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• Adhere to applicable standards and criteria.
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• Conduct peer reviews of the selected product components.
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• Perform unit testing of the product component as appropriate.
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• Revise the product component as necessary.
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• Review the requirements, design, product, and test results to ensure that issues affecting the installation, operation, and maintenance documentation are identified and resolved.
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• Use effective methods to develop the installation, operation, and maintenance documentation.
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• Adhere to the applicable documentation standards.
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• Develop preliminary versions of the installation, operation, and maintenance documentation in early phases of the project lifecycle for review by the relevant stakeholders.
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• Conduct peer reviews of the installation, operation, and maintenance documentation.
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• Revise the installation, operation, and maintenance documentation as necessary.
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References:

• CMMI^® for Development, Version 1.3, Software Engineering Process Management Program, November 2010
• CMMI^® for Acquisition, Version 1.3, Software Engineering Process Management Program, November 2010
• CMMI^® for Services, Version 1.3, Software Engineering Process Management Program, November 2010