Understanding Capability Concepts

This one day workshop is designed to introduce participants to the OCD development process. Participants will learn the stages of OCD development, how to identify a well written OCD and how to avoid common mistakes.

The Operational Concept Document (OCD) is the capstone document for the introduction of new capability into the ADF

• For the user community the OCD must describe the new capability within its operational context; what it brings to the battle space
• For the engineers who are to build the new system, the OCD must capture the user’s needs in enough detail to prepare specifications
• For senior committee members the OCD must provide sufficient detail to compare potential solution classes

You will benefit by being able to:

• constructively critique existing OCDs
• identify balanced and unbalanced OCDs, and
• provide clearer guidance to companies contracted to produce OCDs

Designed for practitioners at all levels of the capability development process. It has a practical flavour and would be suitable for:

• capability staff who need to conduct requirements analysis
• capability staff who are contracting out the development of an OCD
• system engineers who need to critique an OCD
• staff who need to contribute to the OCD development process, and
• staff preparing to participate in a requirements analysis workshop

Workshop Objectives

On completion of this workshop participants will:

• identify the criteria for preparing a well written OCD
• understand the purpose of each section of the OCD
• have practiced the preparation and conduct of an operational requirements workshop
• understand the use of integrated scenarios to develop a complete OCD

Workshop Content

OCD Purpose

• The capability process: building the right system
• A living document or a life well lived?
• The audience: war fighters, operators and engineers

OCD Problems

• Tom Clancy –V- Technical Manual
• Measures of Effectiveness
• Solution Class or Solution

Section 1 – Setting the ground rules

• Format for process
• Who, what, why, when, ‘how’
• Using the Defence Architecture Framework

Section 2 – Clarity from chaos: capturing operational requirements

• Who really knows them?
• Running a workshop
• Using operational scenarios

Section 3 – How much more is enough?

• Avoiding complacent descriptions
• Measuring the delta
• Consistent internal scenarios

Section 4 – Candidate Solution Classes

• Solution –V- solution class
• How much detail is enough?
• Tailoring to the committee

Our approach

This workshop is delivered in a face-to-face workshop environment over one day. The delivery method includes presentations, a series of practical

participant exercises and discussion of several real life examples. The exercises include written tasks and role play to allow participants to test the various techniques discussed.

Participants receive

• Expert instruction by experienced Codarra capability developers
• Comprehensive workshop notes

Writing Capability Concepts

Three Day Extended Course (Participants must complete day one before attending this extension course.)

The Writing Capability Concepts course runs over three days. The course consists of the standard one-day workshop, followed by an additional two day practitioner extension class. The one-day workshop is a pre-requisite to attend the extension class: the extension class consolidates the workshop material by guiding students through the practical steps of developing an Operational Concept Document (OCD). The activities are based around a realistic case study which students use to progressively build their own OCD. Students are introduced to a systems engineering softwaretool and learn how to capture and manage their capability requirements.

Benefits to you

• Your organisation will benefit by being able to:
• direct the development of your OCD,
• select appropriate requirements definition methods for your capability, and
• provide clearer guidance to companies contracted to produce OCDs.
• The workshop will particularly enhance your organisational skill set for in-house development of an OCD.

Designed for

This course is designed for practitioners who will be directly involved or responsible for defining capability requirements. It is a hands-on course that provides:

• an introduction to capability development software tools,
• practical exercises in drafting an OCD,
• a requirements workshop practicum,
• an architectural framework for scenario development

.

Extension Class Objectives

On completion of the workshop participants will have:

• practiced defining capability scope,
• been introduced to a capability development software tool,
• practiced the preparation and conduct of an operational requirements workshop,
• drafted the different sections of the OCD,
• defined a top-level capability function set.

Workshop Content

• Defining a Case Study
• Case study presentation.
• Understanding the scope.
• What don’t you know?
• Capturing Requirements Using Architectural Frameworks
• Bringing structure to chaos.
• Developing a capability architecture.
• Software tools for capability development
• Why use a tool?
• Integrated, federated or disparate.
• Tools in practice.
• Process leading format
• Defining scope – recording scope.
• Selecting scenarios
• Building scenarios

Capturing requirements

• Running a requirements workshop.
• Helpful/Unhelpful preparation.
• Managing the people.
• Capturing the need.
• Putting it all together
• Recording your findings.
• Deriving top-level functions.
• Mission –V- materiel systems
• Traceable solution classes.

Our approach

This course is delivered in a face-to-face workshop environment over three days. The delivery method includes presentations, a case study and a series of practical participant exercises. The exercises include written tasks, software-based tasks and role play to allow participants to test the various techniques discussed.

Participants receive:

• Expert instruction by experienced Codarra capability developers.
• Comprehensive workshop notes.
• An annotated OCD template for Microsoft Word
• An example OCD.