SP 1.1 Establish Guidelines for Decision Analysis

CMMI for Acquisition, version 1.2

4. Generic Goals and Generic Practices, and the Process Areas

4.9. Decision Analysis and Resolution

SG 1 Evaluate Alternatives

SP 1.1 Establish Guidelines for Decision Analysis

Process Area	DAR
Level	3
Goal	SG 1
Practice	SP 1.1

Establish and maintain guidelines to determine which issues are subject to a formal evaluation process.

Not every decision is significant enough to require a formal evaluation process. The choice between the trivial and the truly important are unclear without explicit guidance. Whether a decision is significant or not is dependent on the project and circumstances and is determined by established guidelines.

Typical guidelines for determining when to require a formal evaluation process include the following:

· A decision is directly related to topics that are medium or high risk.

· A decision is related to changing work products under configuration management.

· A decision would cause schedule delays over a certain percentage or amount of time.

· A decision affects the ability of the project to achieve its objectives.

· The costs of the formal evaluation process are reasonable when compared to the decision’s impact.

· A legal obligation exists during a solicitation.

· There is a risk that the decision will have a significant adverse effect on cost, quality, resources, or schedule.

· Legal or supplier agreement issues must be resolved.

Refer to the Risk Management process area for more information about determining which issues are medium or high risk.

Examples of when to use a formal evaluation process include the following:

· On decisions to trade off performance, cost, and schedule requirements during an acquisition

· On selecting, terminating, or renewing suppliers

· On selecting training for project personnel

· On selecting a testing environment to be used for product validation

· On determining the items to be selected for reuse in related projects

· On selecting an approach for ongoing support (e.g., disaster recovery, service levels)

Typical Work Products

1. Guidelines for when to apply a formal evaluation process

Subpractices

1. Establish guidelines for when to use a formal evaluation process.

2. Incorporate the use of guidelines into the defined process as appropriate.

Refer to the Integrated Project Management process area for more information about establishing the project’s defined process.

Keywords : acquisition ; appropriate ; configuration management ; defined process ; establish and maintain ; formal evaluation process ; objective ; process ; process area ; product ; project ; quality ; reference ; requirement ; risk management ; service ; service level ; solicitation ; subpractice ; supplier ; supplier agreement ; training ; typical work product ; validation ; work product