Information Technology Policies and Standards

Title
Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) of IT Projects
Type
Policy
Category
Web
Status
Approved
Approved
10/12/2005
To Be Reviewed
01/09/2015
Scope
Requires third-party, independent review of major information technology software projects. Applies to all City software projects that meet at least one of the following criteria:
  • Software projects with a professional/technical services component reasonably expected to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000);
  • Software projects determined by the Information Services Committee, at their discretion, to require independent validation and verification.
Policy
Major software projects must budget and obtain independent verification and validation (IV&V) services at inception and for the duration of the project.

For governance, the IV&V team will report to the project's Steering Committee. Periodic IV&V reports will be delivered to the project's Steering Committee and to the Information Services Committee.

Project budgets should allocate ten percent (10%) of the project total for IV&V services.

Definition

Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) are services performed by a contractor or government agency that is not responsible for developing the product or performing the activity being evaluated. IV&V is an activity that is conducted separately from the software development activities governed by this standard.
Rationale
The City frequently enters into major information technology projects that have large budgets and span multiple years. These projects can also affect multiple stakeholders across many departments. Major projects contain considerable risk and require effective change management. This policy ensures that the City obtains independent review of such projects so that risks can be minimized and schedules and budgets can be maintained.

See also:
  • Project Management Policy.
  • Project Initiation Report (PIR) Standard.

Contact: Brian A. Osterloh, (505) 768-2922