1. SDOT IS Project Intake Process
Friday, February 27, 2004

2. Next Time for this presentation
Add Context: Int Syst overview, chosen architecture, tie with bus goals
Other adds: Ask audience where they are to help tailor message

3. How are IS project requests evaluated?
Project is proposed
Questions that must be answered
SDOT
IS Role? NO
Consider
Alternative
Provider
Does this project fit the Department’s defined role for SDOT IS?
YES
Fits IS
Architecture? NO
Does this project fit with existing IS Architecture (technology, data and applications)?
Estimate
additional costs
to deviate from
agreed IS
Architecture
YES
Business
need is
established
Project is
DEAD NO
Does the business need for this project justify the IS and business costs?
YES
What is the priority of this project vs. other projects on the SDOT IS Work Plan?
Project on hold
until additional
budget is allocated
or business priority is
establish NO
Priority
Setting
Establish
project priority,
readjust
Strategic Plan
YES
How will the prioritized project be funded?
Project
funding

4. How are IS project requests categorized?
As independent projects or;
as “Version” items - (packages or groups of enhancements, or fixes, to existing production applications) or;
Allows for customer flexibility when requesting assistance from IS
as trouble tickets reported to the DoIT help desk.

5. Who evaluates & prioritizes proposed IS projects and “Version” items?
SDOT IS Governance membership (a subset of the Department Executive team)
Jesse Krail - SDOT Deputy Director
Jim Dare, SDOT Street Maintenance Director
Laura Gilbert, SDOT Resource Management Director
Richard Miller, SDOT Capital Projects & Roadway Structures Director
Susan Sanchez, SDOT Policy, Planning & Major Projects Director
Rob Spillar, SDOT Traffic Management Director
TBD, SDOT Neighborhood Transportation Services & Street Use Director

6. What are the responsibilities of SDOT IS Governance members?
The IS Governance group meets monthly to...
Ensure that the SDOT IS portfolio of projects is best aligned with current business needs
Provide business-focused executive management support and strategic direction to SDOT IS
Review IS strategies (e.g. IS Architecture and policies)
Review candidate projects (proposals) and “Version” items
Review the status of current projects
Establish (or reprioritize) SDOT IS Work Plan priorities

7. How are candidate projects presented to the IS Governance group for consideration?
The Candidate Project Summary attempts to answer the following questions about proposed IS projects...
What is the purpose of the proposed project?
What is the opportunity (or problem) the project is proposed to address?
What is the strategic alignment of the proposed project?
What are the anticipated benefits of the proposed project?
What is the high-level project scope?
What is the estimated project timing or duration?
What are the estimated resource requirements and funding source of the proposed project (in FTE weeks)?
What are the known risks?
Refer to IS candidate project summary (page 1)
Talk about estimation issues:
* Questions about estimation certainty
* Current project to formalize estimation methods
Refer to Cone of Uncertainty diagram (page 2)

8. Are any tools utilized to assist IS Governance with its decision-making process when priority is less clear?
The Scored Decision Criteria Matrix is utilized to help the IS Governance group consider additional information when determining project priority, such as...
External Drivers
How high is the City’s legal liability risk if the project is not done?
How important is this project in light of any existing or expected directives?
Business Improvement
How will this project improve service for SDOT’s customers?
How will this project increase SDOT’s ability to provide the same type and quality of service at lower cost?
How does this project increase SDOT’s accountability? Does this project improving the mechanisms used for quantifying, monitoring and managing SDOT accomplishments, costs and work status?
Use a formal scoring mechanism to ensure balanced consideration of relevant issues
Identified areas of consideration are weighted, each project is scored in each area
Refer to Business Values Template and Work Plan Decision Criteria scoring sheets (pages 3 and 4)
Once scored, group can evaluate whether results make sense - perform a ‘reality check’ on scores; helpful for purposes of discussion
Technology
How well does this project fit into the overall vision, strategy and timeline for the Integrated Systems program?
Are the technical issues that this project will raise or resolve mission critical?

9. What other tools are utilized to help IS Governance prioritize approved proposals?
The Project Prioritization Matrix is utilized to help the IS Governance group consider existing SDOT IS resource limitations when prioritizing competing IS opportunities.
Matrix inputs
Complete list of proposed and current IS projects
High-level six month resource requirements for each project
Total # of available resources
Other cost considerations, if applicable
Matrix outputs
Approved high-level list of IS Work Plan projects based on current staffing levels
Output could include additional project funding
“Rising tide of despair”
Refer to project prioritization matrix (page 5)

10. What are the pros and cons of the Project Prioritization Matrix?
Allows decision-makers to easily view, sort and see the trade-offs of competing projects on the fly
Keeps discussion at a high-level, leaving daily management to the IS section
Allows for a ‘reality check’ based on an enterprise perspective
Cons
For the following reasons, may not provide an accurate view of what is possible to accomplish:
Provides a simple model that does not consider the skills or skill-levels of “available resources”
Six month window does not capture more specific timing requirements that might exist
Also, based upon best estimates at that time - requires willingness to believe in the available data.

11. What is the “Version” process?
Provides a method for logically grouping enhancements or fixes to existing production applications.
Populated via Do-IT service requests and quarterly IS/Business Unit meetings.
Includes minor enhancements usually requiring less than 1 FTE resource week to complete.
Work estimated to require more than one to two FTE weeks is normally handled as an independent project.
If beneficial, multiple enhancements may be packaged into a single release.
Refer to Version Process (page 6)

12. How does IS Governance assess the status of projects currently in the IS project portfolio?
The monthly SDOT IS Dashboard Report is utilized to help the IS Governance group evaluate the relative “health” of current IS projects. This report provides the following data for each current project:
“Red, Yellow, Green” (based on standard criteria) assessment of the following:
SCOPE; are the project deliverables meeting or exceeding stakeholder expectations?
SCHEDULE; are the milestone completion dates being met according to plan?
BUDGET; is the project spending and delivering according to plan?
Also included:
Resource and/or budget allocations currently estimated to complete the project
Refer to dashboard report/portfolio status report (page 7)
and caveats about report (page 8)

13. What is the criteria for the Red, Yellow, Green Status Report?
Red, Yellow, Green Performance Criteria.
Scope cannot be Green until the Project Charter is approved/signed-off at the conclusion of the project initiation stage.
Schedule cannot be Green until a detailed, work-based schedule estimate has been completed as part of the project planning stage.

14. Questions?