IT Effort Type Definitions
To apply the DHHS IT SDLC, the DHHS IT Manager must confirm whether the business request is a production incident (i.e., problem/interrupt) resolution, maintenance, or enhancement effort for a production application/system/solution, or a new development effort.
Production Incident Resolution
Production incident resolution is an effort to immediately correct a problem or interruption for an application and/or system/solution component. This type of effort may include source code or JCL/Proc changes if the following criteria is met:
- required change is time sensitive (must be fixed quickly due to broad impacts to user base or processing schedule), AND
- change does not add or change base functionality or any database structures, AND
- scope of change introduces extremely low risk
An example of production incident resolution is the immediate correction of a problem to finish a batch cycle, but that may not address underlying data or system/solution problem, which may need to be addressed as a maintenance effort. Other examples of Production Incidents are:
- Modify existing report (e.g., change report number, report header, or increase field display characters). This only includes modifications that that do not introduce new data fields to the report.
- Modify existing screen/form (e.g., change screen/form number, screen/form data, or screen/form headers). This only includes modifications that do not introduce new data fields to the screen/form.
- Add and/or expand edits to address blank or null input.
- Sort order change.
- Increase internal variable size, provided there are no downstream impacts.
- Replace a session variable with a local variable already available.
- Comment out rarely used source code.
- Update database values to correct data entry errors or add table rows where solution design does not provide that functionality.
Maintenance
Maintenance is the process of supporting a production application and/or system/solution component after delivery to correct defects, maintain performance, and/or maintain compatibility with other elements in the technical environment to ensure that the existing system/solution and/or business functionality ultimately continues to operate as already designed. The maintenance of the application and/or component is not constrained by the time and/or size of the effort.
Examples of maintenance are:
- Provide a long-term solution for an underlying data or system/solution problem that lead to a production interrupt(s).
- For COTS products, installing releases that provide patches or fixes to the system/solution.
- Move county code from one category to another.
- Update database to reassign entire case workload (i.e., from one worker number to another).
- Add and/or expand edits (other than null/blank) to further validate existing data fields.
- Correct a problem/error with an existing interface.
- Modify tables, whether internal or external, to include new fiscal year changes within existing application design. Update batch programs or online screens that need changing to accommodate annual table changes if needed.
- Update an application program to replace a reference to an existing submodule that has been updated by an external stakeholder.
- Add edit to correct extract transformation load (ETL) process to prevent loading of duplicate data.
- Add or remove reference to value and associated program logic from modules (i.e., not decreasing or increasing functionality).
- Troubleshoot and correct application abends or infrastructure outages.
- Modify/add indices to maintain performance on the retrieval of data.
- Re-write structured query language (SQL) calls to maintain performance within an application.
- Provide assistance, direction, coordination, execution, development, and/or delivery of documentation, cross training, planning and data recovery tasks related to maintenance activities.
Enhancement
An enhancement is the process of modifying an application and/or component/solution after delivery (i.e., after initial development and implementation) intended to increase or decrease functionality and capability from the existing design. The change and/or addition to functionality and capability are not constrained by time and/or size of the effort, however, these factors, along with risk, influence classification as either a major or minor enhancement. Large-scale enhancements might be identified by the DHHS IT Director for Applications Management or the DHHS Project Management Office as needing to follow the SCIO project portfolio management process.
Examples of an enhancement are:
- Add functionality to enable end users to store addresses by a different grouping/category and provide new on-line capabilities so that state level end users can edit the addresses.
- For COTS products, installing upgrade releases that provide major updates that impact functionality.
- Add new funding types to application (i.e., that cannot be accomplished by adding entries to an existing application table) and requires modification or expansion to existing functionality.
- Add functionality that allows the end user to enter multiple adjustments to a previously entered amount that was originally designed for a single entry.
- Add/remove data elements to screens, reports and forms.
- Modify/add a screen to allow end users to view or edit additional data.
- Create new report that is added to the production solution.
- Create a new form.
- Build a new system/solution interface and/or enhance an existing interface.
- Enhance functionality that retrieves and/or displays historical data.
- Enhance security features of a system/solution.
- Add and/or remove columns of an existing table used by an application, such as a demographics table.
- Modify functionality of an existing website to add and/or expand new categories, links, design, etc.
- Modify an existing database and/or application to accommodate a new data element, an expansion of length to an existing data element and/or removal of an existing data element.
- Enhance functionality of ad hoc special processes per agency requests.
- Add new tables or indices to a database because the team is now tracking different data elements.
- Create utility jobs due to new set of databases and tables.
- Increase length of an existing data field and modify corresponding screens and reports.
- Decommission a production application either completely or to a “Lite” version.
- Provide assistance, direction, coordination, execution, development and/or delivery of documentation, cross training, planning, and data recovery tasks related to enhancement activities.
New Development
New development addresses the creation of a software solution that provides new automation for a business process, provides business relief and/or address a critical time-sensitive need. New development efforts that the DHHS PMO defines as a Project must be approved by both the DHHS ITGB and the SCIO before DHHS IT can begin Plan activities.
Examples of new development are:
- Build a solution to replace a legacy system.
- Build a new solution to automate a business process.
- Build a Microsoft Access database to replace spreadsheets used to collect data.
- Build a solution that bridges between systems to provide data needed to meet a deadline.
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