Proposal Review Process

Summary

After OIT receives a project proposal, it is logged and classified.

Work Estimate & Technical Evaluation

• Proposals are reviewed by a Project Review Team (PRT) consisting of a number of senior technical OIT staff and subject matter experts.
• The PRT selects (or confirms) a team within OIT that will be responsible for in-depth technical evaluation, time and budget estimate, and possibly implementation of the project.
• Estimated hours for development projects include all phases of the development effort including requirements gathering, design, coding, testing, documentation, training, outreach, and implementation. Estimates for other projects such as vendor software include time for installations, coordination, tracking, training, and implementation. Often, Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) will be required for special projects.
• Most projects are also reviewed by the Architecture Review Board to make sure the project complies with OIT guidelines for security and technical architecture.

Implementation

Following classification and review, the project is reviewed with the functional unit that submitted the project to establish timelines and priorities. At this point the project enters the implementation phase.

Assignment of Resources

Projects are assigned as resources become available, starting with the highest priority project, but the following are also considered:

• OIT considers existing projects, work effort needed for the project, dependencies, and developer skill and availability when assigning resources.
• It is possible for a project further down on the priority list to start before one higher up, if required resources for the higher project are not yet available.
• A functional unit may provide funding for a project so that OIT can hire additional programming staff to work on the project.
• The PRT works to commit resources for larger projects well in advance of project start dates as these resources are harder to schedule.