Statement of Best Practice
Fixed/regulatory projects are must-do, including:
- Building construction/renovations
- Addressing security vulnerabilities that have articulated clear and present danger
- Keeping the lights on. For example:
- Patching operating systems, programming language interpreters, system utilities, and infrastructure items
- Complying with vendor directives in order to maintain vendor support
- Work required to meet a regulatory need
Fixed/regulatory projects do NOT include:
- Enhancements or automation of existing regulatory processes/systems
- Projects in which the primary objective is to enhance or extend features/service
Fixed/regulatory projects MAY include:
- Activities to prevent the accumulation of technical debt.
- Pre-planned annual work, e.g. changes to support W2 issuance
Projects designed to address the accumulation of technical debt will be described to Change and Continuous Improvement Committee (CCIC), including a cost/benefit discussion, to assess whether they should be included as fixed work.
Every good IT policy is best described as an automotive metaphor
Fixed/regulatory automotive projects are must-do, including:
- Fixing door locks and broken windows
- Making sure the car meets basic functional requirements; for example:
- Replacing brake pads and rotors so the car stops reliably
- Simple replacements of belts, spark plugs, etc.
- Complying with oil change intervals to ensure the warranty is upheld
- Work required to meet a regulatory need
- Federally-mandated safety recall work
- Work to meet DOT standards, e.g. replacing a cracked windshield or torn seat belt
Fixed/regulatory automobile projects do NOT include:
- Projects primarily designed to improve the performance, style, etc., of the car
Fixed/regulatory project MAY include:
- Activities to reduce the likelihood of maintenance issues in the future, e.g.
- Fluid flushes
- Replacing engine accessories
- Replacing the timing belt
- Annual license and registration paperwork updates, installing new license plates
The philosophy behind Fixed Work is to avoid slowing/complicating the approval process for work that will almost never be objected to by the voting CCIC members.
Fixed work is still processed through a TeamDynamix workflow, discussed at Value Engineering, Portfolio Planning, and mentioned in CCIC emails/meetings for general awareness and discussion.
Data collection for Fixed Work is streamlined as compared to discretionary projects. For instance, cost/benefit information is not collected unless it would be particularly useful in scheduling the project.
Contact
- Manager. Project and Portfolio Management. IT Services
Reason for Best Practice
- To establish a shared understanding of what constitutes Fixed Work for IT Project Portfolio prioritization purposes
Entities Affected by Best Practice
- CCIC-governed project teams are covered by this Best Practice
- Non-CCIC-governed teams (e.g. Application Operations) may use this definition as desired
Responsibilities
- IT Portfolio Governance Participants (i.e. Business Analysts in IT Services) will make suggestions as to what is or is not Fixed Work
- CCIC voting members will ultimately vote to agree with BA suggestions or overrule by simple majority