2 Part 2: A Tour through the V-Modell

2.2 Introduction into the Sample Project

2.2.1 Project Setting

The V-Modell can be applied by both, acquirer and supplier. The sample project will deal solely with the project of the acquirer, the role of which is adopted by the Technische Universität München (TUM). It is an imaginary project.

The acquirer project is subdivided into two areas of responsibility, i.e., execution and management. Executive authority is a chair of the Technische Universität München - hereinafter referred to as Project Team of the TUM. The Management is vested in the Trademark and Patent Administration of the Technische Universität München - hereinafter referred to as Trademark and Patent Administration. The information system to be realized will be referred to as Trademark and Patent Information System.

When applying the V-Modell, the project type variants defined in the model provide a rough project sequence. The project type variant relevant for our pilot project - »Project (Acquirer) with One Supplier (see Figure 1) - defines a basis which will be adapted specifically to the Trademark and Patent Information System. This project-specific planning is part of the »Project Manual and will be described in our exemplary project in the Chapter »Project Manual.

During the development of the Trademark and Patent Information System, only a part of the system - i.e. the subsystem for the application for trademarks - will be developed in the first expansion stage. Only if this system meets with adequate acceptance on part of the user, the following two expansion stages - the application for patents and the management of trademarks and patents - will be commissioned. As shown in Figure 1, the Trademark and Patent Information System will be subdivided into three »Project Stages. A project stage describes the interval between two (partial) shipments of a supplier. For each project stage the »Decision Gates beginning with »Requirements Specified up to »Acceptance Completed are planned correspondingly.

In each project stage the affected »Product Instance will be revised by the acquirer, i.e., particularly the Technische Universität München. This applies amongst others to the »Requirements Specification. For each of the project stages I to III, a supplier,who will be responsible for the realization of the respective subsystem, is determined by a request for proposal. The Technische Universität München supports the suppliers during their projects and is responsible for the final acceptances. After the final acceptances the decision, whether the delivered system needs to be modified in the next project stage or whether the following project stage may be initiated, can be made.

For a more detailed discussion of the sample project, we will concentrate on the start of the project and the first project stage. We will extract the first few decision gates from the overall sequence. Figure 2 shows the products to be submitted to the management at every decision gate. The products written in gray will be submitted multiple times. The sequence of the depicted decision gates will be described in the following paragraphs.

Figure 1: »Project Execution Strategy for the Trademark and Patent Information System Project

At the beginning stands the idea for the Trademark and Patent Information System project, which is elaborated into a »Project Proposal. The acquirer of the Trademark and Patent Information System - i.e. the Project Team of the TUM - submits this project proposal to the responsible management, i.e., the Trademark and Patent Administration. Since all circumstances are satisfactory - good idea, implementation in three sequential steps sensible and funds available - it is reasonable to assume that the »Project Progress Decision will be positive and the decision gate »Project Approved will be passed.

In the following »Project Section, which will lead to the decision gate »Project Defined, the planning and organization of the project is defined in detail. Requirements for various areas - e.g. configuration management, are specified. The products »Project Plan, »Project Manual, »QA Manual, »Product Library, »Project Status Report and »Quality Status Report will be submitted before the final »Project Progress Decision can be taken. The »Project Progress Decision includes - among other things - an evaluation of the previous deliverables and a detailed planning for the following project section.

At the decision gate »Requirements Specified, the Project Team of the TUM submits the product »Requirements Specification. The requirements are the basis for the system to be developed. During this project section, the Project Team of the TUM repeatedly prepares the product »Requirements Evaluation, the results of which will be included into the requirements document. Furthermore the Product »RFP Concept must also be defined during this project section.

Finally, the requirements will be reviewed and submitted to the Trademark and Patent Administration on a meeting, during which the »Project Progress Decision will be made. Moreover the actual Product Instances of the »Project Status Report, »Quality Status Report and »Project Plan need to be submitted.

Figure 2: Decision Gates and Products to be Submitted

The »Requirements Specification will be included in the »Request for Proposal, which can be completed in the next project section. In addition the Project Team of the TUM develops guidelines for evaluating and comparing offers received from potential suppliers. The request for proposal will be published, and the decision gate »Request for Proposal Released may be passed.

Within a legally specified period, offers can be submitted. The Project Team of the TUM records the results of the assay of the submitted offers in the product »Offer Assessment. The decision on the the award of a contract will be based on these results. Hereupon the Project Team of the TUM elaborates a contract in close contact with the Trademark and Patent Administration and the supplier. Finally the »Evaluation Specification Delivery must be worked out, in order to be able to conduct the acceptance later on. When all these product have been developed the decision gate »Contract Awarded may be passed.

Now it is up to the supplier to fulfill the obligations specified in the contract and realize the Trademark and Patent Information Subsystem I. For this purpose a consolidated plan of the upcoming iteration is necessary. The plan will be delivered at the »Decision Gate »Iteration Scheduled of the acquirer. At this decision gate revised product instances of the »Project Manual and »QA Manual may have to be submitted in addition to the usual product instances of the »Project Status Report, »Quality Status Report and »Project Plan. These products will be referred to the Trademark and Patent Administration in the scope of the Steering Committee meeting.

Finally the acquirer accompanies and supervises the project progress up to the acceptance. Synchronized with important milestones of the supplier (e.g. completion of the »Overall System Specification, or the completion of the detailed design or of the first prototype) the acquirer passes the milestone »Project Progress Revised. Within this milestone the »Project Status Report of the supplier are presented and help the acquirer to keep track of the progress of the suppliers work, which is in turn documented within the acquirers own »Project Status Report. Change requests concerning the actual expansion stage of the system and new feature requests will be collected and documented before entering the request for proposal of the second project stage.