A concept of operations (abbreviated CONOPS, CONOPs, or ConOps) is a document describing the characteristics of a proposed system from the viewpoint of an individual who will use that system. Examples include business requirements specification or stakeholder requirements specification (StRS). CONOPS is used to communicate the

quantitative Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis ...

and qualitative system characteristics to all stakeholders. CONOPS are widely used in the military, governmental services and other fields. A CONOPS generally evolves from a

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...

and is a description of how a set of capabilities may be employed to achieve desired

objective Objective may refer to: * Objective (optics), an element in a camera or microscope * ''The Objective'', a 2008 science fiction horror film * Objective pronoun, a personal pronoun that is used as a grammatical object * Objective Productions, a Brit ...

s or end state. The first standard was ''1362-1998 - IEEE Guide for Information Technology - System Definition - Concept of Operations (ConOps) Document'' that was superseded by the document ''29148-2011 - ISO/IEC/IEEE International Standard - Systems and software engineering -- Life cycle processes --Requirements engineering''. Then came the 2012 AIAA revision proposal ''Guide: Guide to the Preparation of Operational Concept Documents (ANSI/AIAA G-043A-2012) (Revision of G-043-1992)'', and today we have ''ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015 Systems and software engineering -- System life cycle processes''. In the field of joint

military operations A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations ma ...

, a CONOPS in DoD terminology is a verbal or graphic statement that clearly and concisely expresses what the joint force commander intends to accomplish and how it will be done using available resources. CONOPS may also be used or summarized in system acquisition

DODAF The Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) is an architecture framework for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) that provides visualization infrastructure for specific stakeholders concerns through viewpoints organized b ...

descriptions such as the OV-1 High Level Operational Concept Graphic.

Description

Concept of Operations documents can be developed in many different ways but usually share the same properties. In general, a CONOPS will include the following: * Statement of the

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

s and

s of the system *

Strategies Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " ar ...

, tactics, policies, and constraints affecting the system *

Organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

s, activities, and interactions among participants and stakeholders * Clear statement of responsibilities and authorities delegated * Specific

operational An operational definition specifies concrete, replicable procedures designed to represent a construct. In the words of American psychologist S.S. Stevens (1935), "An operation is the performance which we execute in order to make known a concept." F ...

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

es for fielding the system * Processes for initiating, developing, maintaining, and retiring the system A CONOPS should relate a

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc. ...

of the process to be followed in implementing a system. It should define the roles of the stakeholders involved throughout the process. Ideally it offers clear

methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for br ...

to realize the goals and objectives for the system, while not intending to be an implementation or transition plan itself. A CONOPS Standard is available to guide the development of a CONOPS document. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard is structured around

information systems An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...

, but the standard may be applied to other complex systems as well.

References

IEEE standards Military science Systems engineering {{mil-stub

Description

See also

References