Standard Repository for Reference Documents

• A data management office should be responsible for maintaining a library of reference documents. These should be current with a standard name used for the latest version, and a standard means for accessing previous versions.
  
  
• There should be a searchable description catalog that makes it easy to find document by topic.
  
  
• There should be a means of capturing assessments of applicability of each document to various IPTs, functional areas, and tasks.

Hierarchical Navigation Structure for Entire Organization

• It should be possible to tree down from the activities and information relevent to the highest levels of the organization; through the various teams and directorates/divisions/offices; through the functional areas / products of the teams; down to the individual tasks and information perspectives of particular individuals as necessary.
  
  
• These hierarchical structures should reflect the natural hierarchies that exist within the organization. Navigation should be intuitive and obvious.

Standardized Interfaces between Teams within the Organization

• Teams that recognize a need to interface should meet and create the interface needed to allow them to function effectively together.
  
  
• Team interfaces should define the format and expected content for information that the teams require from one another.
  
  
• Team interfaces should also define how services are requested and statused, and the expected turnaround time for various services. In some cases this will have to be negotiated based on current team workload and the priority of various tasks.

Standardized Management Interfaces

• Management feedback is required for teams to operate effectively. Individuals and teams need feedback to understand what they are doing right, and where they could improve.
  
  
• This requires that management be given the necessary information by which to assess how well the team is performing its tasks.
  
  
• This also requires that teams have a means for informing management of resource constraints and impacts on delivery of products so that management can be involved in prioritizing tasks and mitigating impacts of resource shortfalls.
  
  
• Management also needs to provide the larger picture that shows how tasks are interrelated and that assigns priorities to various mission objectives and tasks.

Official Information versus Working Information

• Official information requires a higher degree or configuration management and in general must go through some kind of review and approval cycle before it can be released.
  
  
• Working information is less polished and less formal and may contain information that while valuable at the working level, is not suitable for release outside the team or the organization.
  
  
• Working information is generally subject to rapid change/revision and may be in various states of "draft".
  
  
• Working information should permit a freedom of expression that may or may not be appropriate for official release.
  
  
• Working information should capture the basis for various analyses and decisions. Further, it should capture the real status of everything that is being worked by the organization. If possible, this should be captured in a manner so that others can continue any tasks in the event that the primary POC becomes unavailable for any reason.

Maintaining Configuration Control

• Configuration Control responsibility for each official document should be explicitly assigned to some IPT or organization.
  
  
• Configuration Control for working information should be governed by working level process definitions of the individual IPTs. Where possible, working level processes should be standardized at the SE IPT level to provide consistency in the working environment for individuals that move from one IPT to another or that support multiple IPTs.

Media for Distribution

• Official information might be made available at web sites so that users outside the organization can access it.
  
  
• Official and/or working information might be written to CD ROMs on a monthly basis and disseminated to those with a need to know.
  
  
• Information that changes between "releases" and new information that is generated could be disseminated via e-mail, or zip drive disks to the organizations and individuals that need the new or changed information.