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What is a CONOPS anyway?

What is a CONOPS anyway?. Avoiding Brook’s “law”: “All major mistakes are made on the first day of the project”!. Topics. Motivation Recipe for a CONOPS The intended use of the system The Actors Scenarios Operational Requirements Where the CONOPS fit into the System Engineering Process

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What is a CONOPS anyway?

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  1. What is a CONOPS anyway? Avoiding Brook’s “law”: “All major mistakes are made on the first day of the project”!

  2. Topics • Motivation • Recipe for a CONOPS • The intended use of the system • The Actors • Scenarios • Operational Requirements • Where the CONOPS fit into the System Engineering Process • How to create the CONOPS • CONOPS heuristics • CONOPS qualification • Discussion and Questions

  3. Motivation • Initiate Conceptual Integrity • “I will contend that conceptual integrity is the most important consideration in system design” .. Fred Brooks • Discover the client’s aspirations, needs, conditions, and ideas that will influence the design of the system • Control customer expectations early • Define operational performance measures • Baseline for factors / impact analysis • Invoke the client’s reflective loop

  4. Recipe for a CONOPS Actors Intended Use Operational Requirements Scenario of Use The CONOPS is a model of function and behavior

  5. Intended use of the system • Client’s goals for the system • Why would a person use the system? • What are the “Business” processes that the system supports • Innate (problem invariant) vs. artifacts of technology • How will system earn a profit (why build it?)

  6. The Actors People who support the system Users People who are affected by the system Client

  7. Scenarios (system engineering, not OOA) • Science fiction story • Illustrates solution processes & system participation • Sequential or concurrent • In problem / usage domain terms • Interaction of users & environment with the solution or system

  8. Operational Requirements ... Scenario Behavioral Requirements Functional Requirements Constraint Requirements Functional Requirements Functional Requirements

  9. Where the CONOPS fits in CONOPS Operational Information Exchange Matrix Operational Concept Graphic Operational Node Connectivity Diagram C4ISR Operational View Essential & Supporting Products

  10. Establish Goals Collect Facts Induce Concepts Determine Needs State the Problem How to create the CONOPS

  11. How to create the CONOPS continued Establish Goals Collect Facts Induce Concepts Determine Needs State the Problem General Process Client Users Define Specifics Define Representative Elaborate Refine Categories Intended Use Actors Scenarios Operational Requirements

  12. CONOPS Heuristics • Know the business and how it earns profit • Users as an integral part of the CONOPS team • Beware of user inputs • Bring order to chaos (Conceptualize!!) • Unique and important performance requirements which will shape system design • Major business concepts which will affect system design • Attitude toward initial budget and its influence on structure of system • Implications of change / growth on long range performance of system • Genius is in finding and discarding irrelevant or trivial information • Take your time and play with the problem • Don’t just think happy path • Investigate alternative concepts with critical thinking • Seek judgment & experience to organize instead of paralyze • Maintain conceptual integrity • Verify and validate the CONOPS

  13. CONOPS Qualification Pilots & Prototypes Presentations (Reviews) “Executable” Models The customer is not always right, but must always think so

  14. Discussions and questions • Lets talk

  15. Backup Slide: Architecture, bloody architecture • Architecture – The structure or schematic misnomer • An architecture description is a representation, as of a current or future point in time, of a defined “domain” in terms of its component parts, what those parts do, how the parts relate to each other, and the rules and constraints under which the parts function. (C4ISR) • Architecture – The original meaning • The user interface (conceptual and physical) (Peña)

  16. Discussion Question A Why is experience essential to the successful derivation of a Conops?

  17. Discussion Question B How can users mislead a Conops effort? How can management mislead a Conops effort?

  18. Discussion Question C What is the difference between a functional operational requirement and a functional design requirement? What is the difference between a functional operational requirement and system functional requirement?

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