Software Management

Software Critical Design Review

Software Critical Design Review (CDR) should be performed at the Computer Software Configuration Item (CSCI) level for software-intensive systems. The primary purpose of the software CSCI CDR is to determine if the completed detailed design meets the specified requirements established in the pertinent developmental baseline (functional/performance) specification, and the design is complete and ready to be implemented (i.e., coded and unit tested). The SRSs should be reviewed for changes and traceability to the completed detailed design. The impact of changes in requirements should be analyzed for impact to the detailed software design. Where necessary, software requirements should be reallocated and designs adjusted to be consistent and complete. Analysis should include internal and external interfaces. The verification requirements and procedures should be analyzed for consistency and completeness. [1]

Software CSCI designs should be analyzed for consistency with the CS&S design architecture and interfaces with other elements of the system design. Where incremental development is being used, the CSCI design should be reviewed for completeness and consistency for each increment scheduled to be completed. Design allocations between and among the planned increments should be analyzed and reviewed. [1]

The main exit criteria of the software CDR are: [1]

  • Detail-level software CSCI designs are established and reviewed and are determined to be complete and ready for implementation.
  • Confirmation that the software CSCI requirements, as specified in the contractor developmental baseline specifications, are satisfied by the detailed design description.
  • Software CSCI test descriptions are complete.
  • Draft software CSCI test procedures are complete.
  • Detailed software CSCI design and interface descriptions are complete.
  • Software CSCI development progress metrics are updated to reflect current development and design status.
  • Software CSCI development files are established and maintained current.
  • Software CSCI development estimates are updated as part of the balance and control process.
  • CS&S risks (including those related to cost, schedule, and performance) have been identified and mitigation plans have been developed.

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Updated: 7/30/2021

Rank: G1

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