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)
Stakeholder may refer to:
* Stakeholder (corporate), a group, corporate, organization, member, or system that affects or can be affected by an organization's actions
*Project stakeholder, a person, group, or organization with an interest in a proj ...
. 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
Qualitative descriptions or distinctions are based on some quality or characteristic rather than on some quantity or measured value.
Qualitative may also refer to:
*Qualitative property, a property that can be observed but not measured numericall ...
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 s ...
and is a description of how a set of
capabilities may be employed to achieve desired
objectives 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- IEEE Guide for Information Technology - System Definition - Concept of Operations (ConOps) Document'' that was superseded by the document ''29148-2011 - ISO/IEC/IEEE International Standard - Systems and software engineering -- Life cycle processes --Requirements engineering''.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 ...
, 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 ...
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
objectives of the system
*
Strategies, tactics,
policies
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...
, and constraints affecting the system
*
Organization
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived fro ...
s, activities, and interactions among participants and stakeholders
* Clear statement of
responsibilities and
authorities delegated
* Specific
operational 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
Thriller may r ...
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 bri ...
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
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...
(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.
See also
*
Software requirements specification
*
Requirements engineering
Requirements engineering (RE) is the process of defining, documenting, and maintaining requirements in the engineering design process. It is a common role in systems engineering and software engineering.
The first use of the term ''requirem ...
*
Theory of operation
A theory of operation is a description of how a device or system should work. It is often included in documentation, especially maintenance/service documentation, or a user manual. It aids troubleshooting by providing the troubleshooter with ...
*
ISO/IEC 15288
*
Business process management
Business process management (BPM) is the discipline in which people use various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes. Any combination of methods used to manage a company's business ...
*
High-Level Operational Concept Graphic
References
IEEE standards
Military science
Systems engineering
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