Project 2003 & DCMA

[Tony K.]

Has anyone yet had the experiance of having their project subjected to a DCMA
evaluation?
I'm curious as to what others may have experianced / learned from an
evaluation.

 

[Jim Aksel]

Yes. DCMA is using some third party tools to assist in scoring schedules
prior to site visits. Some of the scoring is useless, but here are the main
points:

Thou shall:
1. Have no tasks with actual start/finish dates to right of status date.
2. Baseline for every task
3. Predecessors/Successors for "every" non-summary task.
4. No logic or resources on summary tasks.
5. Each task as ASAP (instead of SNET) makes them very happy. FNLT, MFO,
etc are instant arguments -- use a deadline instead.
6. Cost/Schedule integration
7. IMP/IMS important if assigned to your contract.
8. Every task with [Finish] to the left of the status date shall be 100%
9. No task with a [start] to the right of the status date may have a
%Complete other than 0%

Plenty of discussion -- Logic tells us that a task cannot start until every
predecessor for that task has achieve 100% complete. In reality, this does
not usually happen because tasks are not usually planned with such
granularity.

Have procedures for everything. Config management on schedules and some
type of board process for changes. make sure the procedures are followed.
Be able to prove, with evidence, that any item with 100% has evidence to back
it up. In God We Trust, all others put your evidence on the table.

Keep in mind that no one knows your schedule better than you do. As such,
they sometimes ask some obvious (or evening nieve) questions, or, questions
you may feel are useless. Just remember, you live your schedule, they are
looking at a score card... education is the answer. Example, it is perfectly
fine for some tasks not to have a successor-- such as "CDRL A0023 submitted"

They are quite interested in schedule integration --- if you intertwine
between schedules, be prepared to show the linking, etc. Running something
like Risk+ is also a good idea. Integration with your cost accounting system
is a must.

Automated updates are good if you can get them.... showing them you "copy
and paste" data as opposed to keying it makes a good point. Tell them this
is how you avoid keypunch error.

Generally, you will be much more rigorous in your preparation than they can
be over a few days of meetings. Just make sure "it sings" up and down,
requirements/tasks are traceable back to the SOW.

Expect some actions, expect some friction. Generally, you will do fine.

This is what I do for a living, if you would like additional help or
information, try clicking on my name.


--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim
It''s software; it''s not allowed to win.

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

Has anyone yet had the experiance of having their project subjected to a DCMA
evaluation?
I'm curious as to what others may have experianced / learned from an
evaluation.

--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim
It''s software; it''s not allowed to win.

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Tony K.]

Wil they have a field day if my IMS is comprised of several differant files
embedded into one master file with logical connections between them?

Yes. DCMA is using some third party tools to assist in scoring schedules
prior to site visits. Some of the scoring is useless, but here are the main
points:

Thou shall:
1. Have no tasks with actual start/finish dates to right of status date.
2. Baseline for every task
3. Predecessors/Successors for "every" non-summary task.
4. No logic or resources on summary tasks.
5. Each task as ASAP (instead of SNET) makes them very happy. FNLT, MFO,
etc are instant arguments -- use a deadline instead.
6. Cost/Schedule integration
7. IMP/IMS important if assigned to your contract.
8. Every task with [Finish] to the left of the status date shall be 100%
9. No task with a [start] to the right of the status date may have a
%Complete other than 0%

Plenty of discussion -- Logic tells us that a task cannot start until every
predecessor for that task has achieve 100% complete. In reality, this does
not usually happen because tasks are not usually planned with such
granularity.

Have procedures for everything. Config management on schedules and some
type of board process for changes. make sure the procedures are followed.
Be able to prove, with evidence, that any item with 100% has evidence to back
it up. In God We Trust, all others put your evidence on the table.

Keep in mind that no one knows your schedule better than you do. As such,
they sometimes ask some obvious (or evening nieve) questions, or, questions
you may feel are useless. Just remember, you live your schedule, they are
looking at a score card... education is the answer. Example, it is perfectly
fine for some tasks not to have a successor-- such as "CDRL A0023 submitted"

They are quite interested in schedule integration --- if you intertwine
between schedules, be prepared to show the linking, etc. Running something
like Risk+ is also a good idea. Integration with your cost accounting system
is a must.

Automated updates are good if you can get them.... showing them you "copy
and paste" data as opposed to keying it makes a good point. Tell them this
is how you avoid keypunch error.

Generally, you will be much more rigorous in your preparation than they can
be over a few days of meetings. Just make sure "it sings" up and down,
requirements/tasks are traceable back to the SOW.

Expect some actions, expect some friction. Generally, you will do fine.

This is what I do for a living, if you would like additional help or
information, try clicking on my name.


--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim
It''s software; it''s not allowed to win.

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

Has anyone yet had the experiance of having their project subjected to a DCMA
evaluation?
I'm curious as to what others may have experianced / learned from an
evaluation.

--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim
It''s software; it''s not allowed to win.

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

Has anyone yet had the experiance of having their project subjected to a DCMA
evaluation?
I'm curious as to what others may have experianced / learned from an
evaluation.