The Pre-Engagement phase refers to preparatory period before an ICT project is approved and/or the IV&V Provider is hired.
Universally, under international standards for systems and software engineering (ISO/IEC 12207 and ISO/IEC 15288), this phase involves key activities related to:
(a) Stakeholder Requirements & Definitions,
(b) Acquire ICT.
Similarly, in the Malaysian public sector, The Agency needing to acquire ICT project will also embark on this Pre-Engagement phase consistent with the official governance. Typically, for this purpose, The Agency would be guided by the Malaysian government’s guidelines for ICT procurement i.e. MoF “1PP/PK2.1: Kaedah Perolehan Kerajaan” issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
Typically, The Agency acquiring the ICT project limits itself to consider the technology and services offerings of the Development Team only. In line with both ISO/IEC 12207 and ISO/IEC 15288, this is equivalent to:
(a) Stakeholder Requirements Definitions,
(b) Acquire ICT.
As IV&V engagement becomes an additional need to The Agency’s ICT projects (especially for critical and high-impact projects), this IV&V Handbook has expanded the Pre-Engagement phase to include activities to engage IV&V services.
In order to engage the right IV&V Provider under the right contract terms, The Agency shall work through a series of steps defined in MoF’s “1PP/PK2.1:Kaedah Perolehan Kerajaan”.
By completing the Pre-Engagement Phase, The Agency would:
(a) have successfully engaged the IV&V Provider in accordance with the procurement processes with various technical due diligence incorporated through the utilization of this IV&V Handbook,
(b) be able to conduct a joint Project Kick-Off, signifying both the IV&V Provider and Development Team can officially commence their respective engagement activities in a coordinated manner.
3.1.1 Application and Approval Process
Figure 3.1 below depicts the full details of the Pre-Engagement Phase, Application and Approval process.
Pre-Application: Engagement Definition: The Agency is to define the requirements for an IV&V engagement ICT project’s need from a quality perspective. This includes:
- defining the scope of engagement, and any technical considerations and constraints,
- preparing the budget and its planned allocations based on the scope of works,
- assessment on urgency, and other extenuating factors that justifies the IV&V engagement,
- seeking the advice and recommendations from MyTCoE on the IV&V engagement.
Further explanations: Pre-Application: Engagement Definition
Similar to all other ICT procurements procedures as described in MoF “1PP/PK2.1:Kaedah Perolehan Kerajaan” circular, The Agency is to perform the following and adding into each document the information related to the IV&V services to be engaged.
- Produce one (1) Project Initiation Document for the overall ICT project which will include IV&V service needs.
- Produce one (1) Project High-Level Requirement which will include components related to both Development (in-sourced, co-sourced, or outsourced) and IV&V work.
- Produce a detailed set of Project Requirements covering both Development (in-sourced, co-sourced, or outsourced) and IV&V work.
Pre-Application:
- perform an Early & Quick Function Point (E&Q FP) count to gauge the size of the software component in the ICT procurement,
- seek the advice and recommendations from MyTCoE on the tender specifications.
Review & Recommendation: If required, MyTCoE assists The Agency during the review of The Agency’s pre-application, and makes the necessary recommendations, where:
- MyTCoE provides the advice and recommendations on the IV&V engagement, especially on IV&V technical scope of work and process,
- MyTCoE reviews the pre-application checklists prepared by The Agency,
- MyTCoE finalises recommendations to be presented to JTISA.
Application for Final Approval: The Agency obtains the necessary approval from the relevant authorities as per the typical ICT project approval process described in MAMPU circular “Garis Panduan Permohonan Kelulusan Teknikal dan Pemantauan Projek Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi (ICT) Agensi Sektor Awam”. This is done, either:
- from within The Agency’s organization i.e. JPICT, or
- the central approval committee i.e. JTISA.
3.1.2 Critical Success Factors for Pre-Engagement Process
During the Pre-Engagement phase the following stakeholders shall ensure the following.
The key activities in this Pre-Engagement phase therefore prepares The Agency to commence the subsequent phase i.e. Engagement phase.
3.1.3 MyTCoE Activities
One of the roles and mandates of MyTCoE, is to obtain measurements of the quality level(s) at each milestone, designated as ‘Quality Gates’.
Quality Gate is a review milestone where stakeholders discuss ‘go/no go’ decision regarding the project progress and next course of actions toward the next stages of development.
There are five (5) Quality Gates described in this IV&V Handbook, and they are:
- Quality Gate 0 (QG 0) – at the end of Pre-Engagement phase,
- Quality Gate 1 (QG 1) – during Engagement phase, end of requirements,
- Quality Gate 2 (QG 2) – during Engagement phase, end of design & coding, including Unit Testing,
- Quality Gate 3 (QG 3) – during Engagement phase, end of System & Integration testing,
- Quality Gate 4 (QG 4) – during Engagement phase, end of Acceptance Testing.
Table 3.2 below illustrates the Quality Gate 0 (QG 0) measurements to be obtained by MyTCoE at the end of the Pre-Engagement phase,
3.1.4 Measurement and Sizing
One of the key activities towards implementing effective Software Quality Assurance (SQA) is to capture measurements and benchmark them. Capturing of measurements should be done throughout the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
Quality Gate 0 (QG 0) is the initial review milestone, where one of the key measurements to be captured is Function Point count (more specifically, Early & Quick Function Point (E&Q FP) count).
Function Point Analysis (FPA) is about understanding the size of the software component in an ICT acquisition.
The outcome of the E&Q FP measurement and sizing activity can be used, among others, for the following:
- Rationalising the budget requested and allocated for the ICT software to be built or procured by The Agency.
- Rationalising the effort required by both the vendors i.e. Development Team and IV&V Provider, to build/implement and augment test respectively.
- Rationalising the risks of the ICT project.
- Build a reference database of software sizes (Function Point count) in the Malaysian public sector.
- Rationalising the scope of work and effort required for COTS certification.