XLC Reviews & Templates

Based on your project’s complexity level a number of reviews will be required or recommended which will be documented in the Project Process Agreement (PPA). Most projects will require a subset of the reviews listed below. For additional information regarding the reviews, what exact artifacts are required, and related process detail please refer to the CMS XLC Detailed Description Document. 

The following figure depicts the XLC phases and corresponding reviews. Reviews are conducted per the Project Process Agreement (PPA).

Page Contents

Reviews by phase:

• Initiation, Concept, and Planning
• Requirements Analysis and Design
• Development and Test
• Implementation
• Operations and Maintenance
  

INITIATION, CONCEPT, AND PLANNING   back to top

Architecture Review (AR)

Purpose: Determine whether the proposed project potentially duplicates, interferes, contradicts or can leverage another investment that already exists, is proposed, under development, or planned for near-term disposition.  The business need is assessed to determine if it is sound and conforms to the CMS Enterprise Architecture.

Review by: Business Architecture and Technology Solutions (BATS) Board

Scheduling: Send an email request to schedule the review

AR Template

Investment Selection Review (ISR)

Purpose: Determine if it is a sound, viable, and worthy of funding, support and inclusion in the organization’s IT Investment Portfolio.  The business need and objectives are reviewed to ensure the effort supports CMS’ overall mission and objectives and will not comprise initiatives on the horizon.  This is an outward focused review designed to ensure funding and approval to proceed from senior leadership.

Review by: IT Investment Review Board (ITIRB)

Project Baseline Review (PBR)

Purpose: Obtain management approval that the scope, cost and schedule that have been established for the project are adequately documented and that the project management strategy is appropriate for moving the project forward in the life cycle.  The PBR includes review of the budget, risk, and user requirements for the investment; emphasis should be on the total cost of ownership and not just development or acquisition costs.

Review by: IPT

Scheduling: Scheduled by the IPT to meet IPT needs.

REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN   back to top

Requirements Review (RR)

Purpose: Verify that the requirements are complete, accurate, consistent and problem-free; evaluate the responsiveness to the business requirements; ensure that the requirements are a suitable basis for subsequent design activities; ensure traceability between the business and system requirements; and affirm final agreement regarding the content of the Requirements Document by the Business Owner.

Review by: IPT

Scheduling: Scheduled by the IPT to meet IPT needs.

Preliminary Design Review (PDR)

Purpose: Verify the preliminary design satisfies the functional and nonfunctional requirements and is in conformance with CMS’s Technical Reference Architecture (TRA); determine technical solution’s completeness and consistency with CMS standards; raise and resolve any technical and/or project-related issues, to identify and mitigate project, technical, security, and/or business risks affecting continued detailed design and subsequent development, testing, implementation, and operations and maintenance activities.

Review by: Technical Review Board (TRB)

Scheduling: Send an email request to schedule the review

PDR Template

Detailed Design Review (DDR)

Purpose: Verify the final design satisfies the functional and nonfunctional requirements and is in conformance with CMS’s Technical Reference Architecture (TRA); determine technical solution’s completeness and consistency with CMS standards; raise and resolve any technical and/or project-related issues, to identify and mitigate project, technical, security, and/or business risks affecting continued detailed design and subsequent development, testing, implementation, and operations and maintenance activities.

Review by: Technical Review Board (TRB)

Scheduling: Send an email request to schedule the review

DDR Template

DEVELOPMENT AND TEST  back to top

Environment Readiness Review (ERR)

The ERR is a representation of three distinct reviews, as listed below. These reviews are needed to enter the various CMS environments to test the solution and its contingency operations. Not all solutions will go through all environments. Specific requirements for running in each environment are provided by the environment’s owner.

Validation Readiness Review (VRR)

Purpose: Ensure the system/application completed thorough Development Testing and is ready for turnover to the formal, controlled test environment for Validation testing.

Review by: Environment Owner

Scheduling: Scheduled by the IPT to meet IPT and environment owner needs.

Implementation Readiness Rev (IRR)

Purpose: Ensure the system/application completed thorough Integration Testing and is ready for turnover to the formal, controlled test environment for Production Readiness.

Review by: Environment Owner

Scheduling: Scheduled by the IPT to meet IPT and environment owner needs.

Production Readiness Review (PRR)

Purpose: Ensure that the Consolidated Information Technology Infrastructure Contract (CITIC) operational staff has the appropriate startup and shutdown scripts, accurate application architecture documentation, application validation procedures, and valid contact information to ensure operability of infrastructure applications.

Review by: Environment Owner

Scheduling: Scheduled by the IPT to meet IPT and environment owner needs.

IMPLEMENTATION   back to top

Operational Readiness Review (ORR)

Purpose: Ensure the system/application completed its implementation processes according to plan and that it is ready for turnover to the Operations & Maintenance team and operational release into the Production environment.

Review by: Technical Review Board (TRB)

Scheduling: Send an email request to schedule the review

ORR Template

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE   back to top

Post Implementation Review (PIR)

Purpose: Assess how well the system/application performance meets its goals and recommend continued operations, changes to operations, or retirement.  Often PIR is combined with the first Annual Operational Assessment (AOA).

Review by: Technical Review Board (TRB)

Scheduling: Send an email request to schedule the review

PIR Template

Annual Operational Analysis (AOA)

Purpose: Evaluate system performance, user satisfaction with the system, adaptability to changing business needs, and new technologies that might improve the system. This review is diagnostic in nature and can lead to development or maintenance activities. Ultimately AOA determines whether the IT Investment should continue, be modified or terminated.

Review by:  Executive Steering Committee

Scheduling: Investment Managers will be notified by the Division of IT Investment Management.

AOA Template

AOA Checklist

AOA Practices Guide

Disposition Review (DR)

Purpose: Ensure the IT investment has been completely and appropriately transitioned /disposed thereby ending the life cycle of the IT project. A Disposition Closeout Certificate is issued upon successful completion of this review.

Review by: Technical Review Board (TRB)

Scheduling: Send an email request to schedule the review