Definition of process, methods, and techniques for system and software life cycles, standards management, and SEI CMMI and OCG PMMM benchmarking. Staff development, mentoring, and training including developing and delivering learning materials, work shops and lecturers, on-site support, assessing and mapping competency’s to task planning and defined processes.

We have experience in the development of software applications to support processes, integrating COTS products, to bring together development and project management tools, in to a workflow environment, together with on-line or intranet process and methods manuals and training materials. A feature of our approach is the provision of digital dashboards to show progress, process adherence, and efficacy, and the tight relationship between process definition and implementation.

Our main requirements service is preparing business, user, system, interface and service level requirements specifications, or undertaking V&V or compliance assessments against requirements. We also specialise in requirements database management and configuring requirements tools such as DOORS^® and Requisite Pro^®, to support specification development or ITT, tender assessment, and acceptance . Our full range of requirements services include;

• Defining processes and implementation with attributes, views and scripts as part of an information model for DOORS and Requisite Pro, establishing the various types of links between specifications and documents represented as modules, and establishing the linking strategy and implementing link modules. The information model establishes the relationships and hierarchies between use cases, displays and reports, performance requirements, test specifications, and results, the information associated with the requirements, the views and reports which are produced, while maintaining integrity of the life cycle.

   

• Reviewing existing information models to identify problem structures and assess how well a process is implemented by a tool and how accurate the results are likely to be (integrity).

   

• Developing import / export routines for the tools, producing tables to be provided to suppliers for negotiation or compliance, and periodically importing and reviewing the completed tables.

   

• Specifying, developing or testing tools to automate parts of a process using DOORS^® DXL.

   

• Preparing reports detailing progress through the process, the level of process compliance, and quality of specifications against defined criteria, generated from the requirements database.

   

• Prepare requirements or design review information packages at key lifecycle milestones, at both a technical and process compliance level, using information contained in the requirements database.

   

• Importing existing specifications, memos and documents into DOORS or Requisite Pro from Word, Excel or other formats, or OCR / scanning of paper copies. We advise on alternative approaches to handling tables and graphics and what that means to the V&V strategy implemented in the requirements tool. We then apply quality tests to any existing or derived requirement wording, and producing action reports, where requirements are suspect.

   

• Suggesting and agreeing templates specifications at business, user, system and testing levels, populating the specifications, and apply quality tests to them, before publishing. We populate specifications using a variety of methods e.g. use cases, scenario reviews, existing system and problem studies, performance analysis.

   

• Building traceability matrix and arguments between specifications, tests, and test result evidence to ensure each requirement is fulfilled and each element of a solution or proposal is traceable to a requirement.

   

• Conducting informal and structured interviews, planning and delivering work shops or scenario sessions, and prototyping reviews, to capture or validate information or move towards consensus and buy-in, and gaining Stakeholder acceptance.

   

• Undertake searches on new methods or applications, technologies, conducting product enquiry’s, and preparing appraisal’s.

   

• Preparing specifications for, and undertaking, prototype and User acceptance tests based on Use Case / scenarios, load tests etc.

Our RAM and LCC studies are performed either during the requirements phase to apportion RAM and cost budgets to individual segments in a cost effective manor so that parent (often emergent) requirements are met, or at a latter stage during detailed design or V&V, to ensure the solution or particular product meets the requirements. This is often necessary where a product has no track record because it is new or is being applied to a new use or environment. Such studies are also necessary where the system performance is dependant on the sum of the products, the geographical distribution, and maintenance and operating strategies applied. Our services include:

Existing and comparative system data analysis for performance, RAM, safety, and cost including database development to support predictive analysis and performance logging. Development of mission profiles or required reliability or availability driven from the business need. Analysis of functional or physical solutions using HAZOP, FMEA and fault tree analysis to establish the behaviour effects of a failure and the potential causes. At a functional failure analysis level the process of applying these methods identifies where additional functions are needed to ensure acceptable behaviour under intrusion or internal failure conditions. These often translate into additional functional requirements. Availability and reliability modelling of alternative configurations based on candidate products and the results from the failure analysis. The results from a series of analyses provides insights to performance, resourcing levels, spares provisioning, and corrective and preventative maintenance concepts, for example determining the efficacy of alternative approaches such as fault tolerance, BIT and condition monitoring, or preventative maintenance, as part of RCM studies. Software and systematic failures analysis (CMF, CCF) to include the analysis of the product technologies, solution architecture, and operation and maintenance concept, and operating environment to establish potential dependant failures, and feeding this information back into reliability and availability simulations. Software (COTS or custom) reliability and dependency assessment includes an assessment of the development and test process and methods used, the architecture, and language. Life cycle costing or TCO based on product costs, predicted future costs based on maintenance factors such as life expectancy, obsolesance, technology refresh, and including the cost of failures or down time (production loss), and the predicted income streams.

We combine the results from these analysis activities, to establish the drivers through pareto analysis, and propose the configurations, based on a set of cost-benefit (trade-off) studies. Our approach to RAM and LCC is closely linked to our systems analysis services, particularly where the timing / loading characteristic are related to the physical architecture and its reliability.

When performed in the requirements phase, the RAM and cost parameters used in the model which produced an acceptable solution against parent requirements, become the derived requirements for the lower level specification, or if at the latter stage they become the detailed design solution.

Our services cover the full range of safety assessment, and is geared to the assessment of electronic programmable systems including apportionment, while being able to assess the installed environment.

We have considerable experience in integrating the above COTS applications, and developing digital dash boards to provide integrated, role based, reporting capabilities, extending the facilities for example from MS Project Central, DOORS, and ROSE.

We can assist you with compliance and auditing.;

Legislative Safety Requirements including;

• Consumer Protection Act,
• Health and Safety at Work Act, and HSAWA Regulations including Management of Safety and Health, Display Screen Equipment Regulations, and Construction and Design Management.
   
  

Beaver maintains a reference library which includes current and past standards detailed above.