Administration Procedures

Contract Administration consists of the set of procedures followed by both parties to a contract to ensure the contract is completed successfully. The purpose of contract administration procedures is to provide a framework for communication within the project team, and from the project team to all relevant stakeholders. Following these procedures ensures that all parties are working effectively to meet their obligations.

Deliverable Review and Approval Process

The objective of a deliverable review and sign-off process is to close a specific project milestone and confirm that the project objectives have been met to your satisfaction. This is part of the QA program and serves to validate that the design or the content of a specific deliverable has been approved.

The Deliverable Review and Approval process defines the steps that will be taken by your team and Project Manager to process deliverables completed by us. The steps outlined herein are designed to work in concert with the your Quality Assurance program.

The procedures documented here address both deliverables that are documents and software deliverables.

Implementation

Deliverable review and approval is implemented through five essential processes, all of which will be a joint responsibility of our Project Manager and your Project Manager. The processes are:

• Initiation: Our Project Manager informs your Project Manager that a deliverable is ready, and makes an entry in the deliverable log. For document deliverables, one copy will be provided.
• Process by your Project Manager: Your Project Manager verifies that the deliverable is consistent with the terms of the contract, notifies your team, and updates the deliverable log with the expected date of review completion. If needed, he will also provide any additional copies of paper documents.
  
  For software deliverables, your Project Manager will coordinate user acceptance testing with our QC/QA Manager in a timely manner so as not to adversely impact the project schedule.
• Review by your Team: Your team analyses the deliverable for content, accuracy, and correctness. Our QC/QA Manager will conduct a walk-through or presentation if needed.
  
  If the deliverable is to be accepted without significant changes your Project Manager will sign off the deliverable. Otherwise, your Project Manager will need to collate the comments, resolve any inconsistencies in the comments, and forward the comments to our QC/QA Manager. We will update the deliverable to address the comments from the review step that are within scope. The deliverable log will be updated showing the status.
• Approval and closure: Once your Project Manager has approved the deliverable, by signing a Deliverable Acceptance form, the deliverable will be safely stored. For documents, two copies will be produced and professionally bound, one for you and one for the ongoing use of the project team. Electronic versions of documents will be provided if requested. For software deliverables, two copies will be provided on CD/ROM. The deliverable log is now updated to show a closed status.
• Store in Project Library: Assure that final, approved copies are compiled into a comprehensive project library. This will hold documents in both electronic and paper form.

A sample Deliverable Acceptance Form is provided in the Appendix.

Information and Decision Request Process

From time to time during the development of the application, we will need formal answers to information requests and/or decision requests. Regardless of the extent or clarity of requirements statements or systems designs, certain details may be ambiguous or incomplete, or changes in the user’s business situation may require clarification to determine if there is a potential impact on the terms of a contract. The objective of an information and decision request process is to manage the flow of such information.

The information and decision request process is designed to solicit information, and also to provide a vehicle for the documentation and dissemination of this information. The scope of these procedures applies to situations in which:

• Specific information and/or decision requests need to be formally documented; and
• The potential impact of the response may affect the terms of contract.

If the response to a request impacts the project scope or contract, then a Change Request may need to be created. If information or decisions are not provided in a timely manner and the project schedule will be impacted then an Issue may need to be raised.

Implementation

The Information and Decision Request process is implemented through three essential processes, all of which will be a joint responsibility of our Project Manager and your Project Manager. The processes are:

• Initiation: any project member may initiate an information or decision request by documenting the request on a request form and submitting it to the project manager. The request is added to the request log.
• Review: your project team reviews the request and updates the request form with the needed information or decision. The request log is updated with the new status.
• Notification and Closure: the information or decision is distributed to all team members and the log is updated with a closed status.

A sample Information/Decision Request Form is provided in the Appendix.

Time Commitment Scheduling Process

Developing software cannot be done in isolation. Your staff are not expert in software system development, and our development team is not expert in your specific business. This means that your staff and our team will need to work together over the course of this project. During the project the nature and amount of time spent together will vary, from day to day, week to week, and month to month.

We propose a scheduling process be used to plan the time needed to communicate in depth about specifications, business rules, calculations, design, testing, and any other tasks for this project. This ensures that everyone makes effective use of their time. This will allow you to communicate ahead of time when key resources will not be available due to the demands of their existing assignments and we will be able to make effective use of their time when on-going work permits.

These procedures should be reviewed and adapted as needed over the course of the project.

Implementation

The Time Commitment Scheduling Process is implemented through three essential processes, all of which will be a joint responsibility of our Project Manager and your Project Manager. The processes are:

• Create a schedule: As needed at agreed regular intervals we will prepare a schedule of commitments for the coming period.
• Review of schedule: The parties with planned commitments on the schedule will review the schedule with respect to their other commitments and advise us of any issues.
• Set final schedule: Adjustments will be made to accommodate concerns brought up during the review. Any issues that may arise will be handled according to the issue management procedures.

A sample Time Commitment Scheduling Form is provided in the Appendix.

Issue Management

Software development projects involve change to existing business practices and norms. The culture of an organization about to receive significant new technology will not necessarily be fully equipped to handle the one-time and extraordinary demands of a technological project with existing management procedures. The clear and concise management of project problems and issues is absolutely essential to the success of system development projects.

We are fully aware of these demands, and the project management disciplines required to address them soundly and professionally. This proposal contains sample procedures which have been employed effectively in other projects for Issue Management.

These procedures feature the following key elements required to foster effective project communications:

• Organized documentation—so that all relevant information is captured consistently and completely;
• Authority—so that the documented information is qualified by the appropriate project position;
• Distribution—so that all project members having a “need to know” are included; and
• Traceabilty—so that records are kept and made available to project members for reference.

During the start-up phase of the Project, we will review these procedures with the Project Team to adapt them to the needs of the project.

Implementation

Issue management is implemented through four essential processes, all of which will be a joint responsibility of our Project Manager and your Project Manager. The four processes are:

• Initiation: any project member may initiate the issue management process by documenting the issue on an issue form and submitting it to the project manager. The issue is added to the issue log.
• Review and Resolve: The project manager will either respond directly, solicit resolution in consultation with team members knowledgeable in the topic, or solicit resolution with you if needed. The details of the means for resolution will be documented on the issue form.
• Escalation if needed: If an issue cannot be resolved in a timely manner then it will be escalated to the Project Steering Committee for discussion and resolution.
• Notification and closure: Once the resolution has been determined the information will be shared with all concerned and the issue log will be updated to indicate the issue is closed.

A sample Issue Form is provided in the Appendix.