Overview - With the growing interwoven dynamics of the world, speed to deployment is becoming more crucial. However, we often strive to deliver a perfect solution, sometimes warranted, sometimes not, potentially leading to cost and/or schedule overruns, and the introduction, or the appearance of poor quality systems at initial deployment. Adopting a Minimal Viable Capability (MVC) addresses this challenge, or does it? To understand the complexities for realising a successful MVC a number of interacting factors will be presented.
Context - A MVC approach supports the delivery of needed capability as soon as possible with further capabilities being incrementally incorporated. It is not however just about "descoping a project". MVC requires a lot of change and flexibility both in acquisition and sustainment. Development lifecycles, contracting models, operational scenarios, mission threads, agility, to name a few, all require to be modified under MVC. These impacts are often not understood resulting in sub-optimum MVC deliveries.
Purpose - To avoid/minimise the same problems preventing successful delivery of needed capability under a MVC, a holistic view must be taken. From this viewpoint, impacts of delivering MVC on development lifecycles, checkpoints, tailoring of practices, framework and tools, and technology evolutions must be addressed. Likewise, the importance of model-based engineering approaches increases. Underpinning these factors is being agile, particularly if speed to deployment is critical. This presentation provides the necessary guidance to deliver a MVC.
Approach - A combination of government-industry discussions, workshops, and industry experience with real life examples are used to illustrate this topic. The adaptations identified in this presentation can be readily applied to both the acquirer and supplier.
Insights - The takeaways for participants are 1) understanding the value of MVC; 2) recognising the blockers; 3) steps needed to successfully adopt a MVC approach.