1. What is a CONOPS anyway?
Avoiding Brook’s “law”: “All major mistakes are made on the first day of the project”!

2. Topics Motivation Recipe for a CONOPS The intended use of the system
The Actors
Scenarios
Operational Requirements
Where the CONOPS fit into the System Engineering Process
How to create the CONOPS
CONOPS heuristics
CONOPS qualification
Discussion and Questions

3. Motivation Initiate Conceptual Integrity
“I will contend that conceptual integrity is the most important consideration in system design” .. Fred Brooks
Discover the client’s aspirations, needs, conditions, and ideas that will influence the design of the system
Control customer expectations early
Define operational performance measures
Baseline for factors / impact analysis
Invoke the client’s reflective loop

4. Recipe for a CONOPS Actors Intended Use Operational Requirements
Scenario of Use
The CONOPS is a model of function and behavior

5. Intended use of the system
Client’s goals for the system
Why would a person use the system?
What are the “Business” processes that the system supports
Innate (problem invariant) vs. artifacts of technology
How will system earn a profit (why build it?)

6. The Actors People who support the system Users
People who are affected by the system
Client

7. Scenarios (system engineering, not OOA)
Science fiction story
Illustrates solution processes & system participation
Sequential or concurrent
In problem / usage domain terms
Interaction of users & environment with the solution or system

8. Operational Requirements
...
Scenario
Behavioral Requirements
Functional
Requirements
Constraint
Requirements
Functional
Requirements
Functional
Requirements

9. Where the CONOPS fits in
Operational Information Exchange Matrix
Operational Concept Graphic
Operational Node Connectivity Diagram
C4ISR Operational View Essential & Supporting Products

10. How to create the CONOPS
Establish Goals
Collect Facts
Induce Concepts
Determine Needs
State the Problem

11. How to create the CONOPS continued
Establish
Goals
Collect
Facts
Induce
Concepts
Determine
Needs
State the
Problem
General
Process
Client
Users
Define
Specifics
Define
Representative
Elaborate
Refine
Categories
Intended
Use
Actors
Scenarios
Operational
Requirements

12. CONOPS Heuristics Know the business and how it earns profit
Users as an integral part of the CONOPS team
Beware of user inputs
Bring order to chaos (Conceptualize!!)
Unique and important performance requirements which will shape system design
Major business concepts which will affect system design
Attitude toward initial budget and its influence on structure of system
Implications of change / growth on long range performance of system
Genius is in finding and discarding irrelevant or trivial information
Take your time and play with the problem
Don’t just think happy path
Investigate alternative concepts with critical thinking
Seek judgment & experience to organize instead of paralyze
Maintain conceptual integrity
Verify and validate the CONOPS

13. CONOPS Qualification Pilots & Presentations Prototypes (Reviews)
“Executable”
Models
The customer is not always right, but must always think so

14. Discussions and questions
Lets talk

15. Backup Slide: Architecture, bloody architecture
Architecture – The structure or schematic misnomer
An architecture description is a representation, as of a current or future point in time, of a defined “domain” in terms of its component parts, what those parts do, how the parts relate to each other, and the rules and constraints under which the parts function. (C4ISR)
Architecture – The original meaning
The user interface (conceptual and physical) (Peña)

16. Why is experience essential to the successful derivation of a Conops?
Discussion Question A
Why is experience essential to the successful derivation of a Conops?

17. How can users mislead a Conops effort?
Discussion Question B
How can users mislead a Conops effort?
How can management mislead a Conops effort?

18. Discussion Question C
What is the difference between a functional operational requirement and a functional design requirement?
What is the difference between a functional operational requirement and system functional requirement?